On this day in History, in 778, Roland was killed at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. In later years the battle would be described as Muslim vs Christian, but was in fact Christian vs Christian. It is part of major poetry, the French have the Song of Roland which is their oldest work, and the Italians have Orlando Furioso, which is one of their most celebrated works. In 1018, a Byzantine General employed a ruse to capture and blind their Bulgarian opponent. In 1057, seventeen years after killing King Duncan, King Macbeth dies in Battle of Lumphanan. In 1248, the foundation stone to the Cathedral of Cologne was laid. The Cathedral was completed in 1880. Apparently the building contract was not water tight. It was built to house relics of the three wise men. In 1281, Mongols attempted to invade Japan. They were held back by what was called a divine wind. Had they been successful, history would have been different. In 1430, Francessco Sforza, Lord of Milan, conquered Lucca. In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated. In 1534, Ignatius of Loyola took initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in 1540. In 1549, Francis Xavier went ashore at Kagoshima. In 1812, the Battle of Fort Dearborn was fought in what is now Chicago. In 1824, Lafayette toured the US, touchingly two years before Adams and Jefferson passed. Lafayette had been the last surviving French General from the conflict of the US Revolution. In 1843, Tivoli Gardens was established in Copenhagen. It is the oldest surviving amusement park in continuous operation in the world. In 1914, Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home was set fire to by one of his servants who killed several people there. In 1920, Poland spanked the Soviet Union at the Battle of Warsaw. In 1935, Will Rogers was killed in an air accident. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz premiered, and in Germany thirteen Stuka Bombers failed, killing all the crew in air practice. In 1941, Nazi spy Corporal Joseph Jakobs was shot in the Tower of London. He hadn't stood a chance. He had been expected after being betrayed, broke an ankle after a parachute landing, was caught with false papers and money. The firing squad aimed for a small silk patch over his heart, but one shot when through the head. German spies weren't very popular in London. In 1947, India gained independence a day after Pakistan. In 1961, an East German border guard fled to the West. In 1962, US soldier James Dresnok defected to North Korea. Dresnok has married one woman apparently abducted to order by North Korea. When she died he married another. In 1977, SETI received a deep space signal called the Wow! Signal. In 1969, they celebrated that signal at Woodstock.
===
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed
Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.
I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.
===295 BC – The oldest known temple to Venus (Venus Anadyomene by Titian), the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was dedicated.
1534 – In Montmartre, near Paris, Ignatius of Loyola and six others took the vows that led to the establishment of the Society of Jesus.
1907 – Jamaican American Raphael Morgan was ordained as the first Black Orthodox clergyman in America.
1945 – The Gyokuon-hōsō was broadcast in Japan, announcing the unconditional surrender of the Japanese army and naval forces.
1963 – President Fulbert Youlou was overthrown in the Republic of Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. You have made your temple to love and established society. People are spreading the word. The broadcast has been made and the old order overthrown. Party on.
Matches
- 636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
- 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
- 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
- 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery nearRome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom.
- 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
- 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
- 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
- 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
- 1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
- 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
- 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
- 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
- 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.
- 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
- 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
- 1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
- 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
- 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
- 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
- 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
- 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
- 1519 – Panama City, Panama, is founded.
- 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
- 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
- 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass – Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
- 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the buildings in the city in ruins.
- 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
- 1812 – War of 1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops and Potawatomi at what is now Chicago, Illinois.
- 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.
- 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldestRoman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
- 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
- 1869 – The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
- 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
- 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
- 1914 – A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the latter's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
- 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
- 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
- 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.
- 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
- 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.
- 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
- 1939 – 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors.
- 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
- 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
- 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage.
- 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal — The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defences.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon — Allied forces land in southern France.
- 1945 – World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
- 1947 – India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire after near 190 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
- 1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
- 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
- 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
- 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York, New York, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
- 1969 – Woodstock rock and roll concert opens.
- 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
- 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
- 1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
- 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President, Park Chung-hee.
- 1975 – Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
- 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
- 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
- 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh
- 1996 – President of Turkey Süleyman Demirel approves to "Law of ban For Casino in Turkey"
- 1998 – Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles.
- 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions withMorocco.
- 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
- 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.
Hatches
- 1171 – Alfonso IX of León (d. 1230)
- 1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest and saint (d. 1231)
- 1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
- 1613 – Gilles Ménage, French scholar (d. 1692)
- 1717 – Blind Jack, English engineer (d. 1810)
- 1736 – Johann Christoph Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1803)
- 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)
- 1769 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (d. 1821)
- 1771 – Walter Scott, Scottish author and poet (d. 1832)
- 1824 – John Chisum, American businessman (d. 1884)
- 1858 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (d. 1924)
- 1875 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 1912)
- 1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
- 1892 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- 1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor, invented the Motorized wheelchair (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Julia Child, American chef and author (d. 2004)
- 1914 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer and art director (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Dina Wadia, English-Pakistani daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah
- 1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (The Drifters) (d. 2007)
- 1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 – Jimmy Webb, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1953 – Carol Thatcher, English journalist
- 1953 – Mark Thatcher, English businessman
- 1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2004)
- 1961 – Suhasini Maniratnam, Indian actress and screenwriter
- 1964 – Melinda Gates, American businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- 1970 – Maya Soetoro-Ng, American educator
- 1974 – Gry Bay, Danish actress and singer
- 1974 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian model and actress
- 1981 – Song Ji-hyo, South Korean model and actress
- 1989 – Kristina Karjalainen, Estonian-Finnish beauty queen
- 1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
- 1995 – Yui Ogura, Japanese voice actress and singer
Despatches
- 423 – Honorius, Roman emperor (b. 384)
- 465 – Libius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 420)
- 1057 – Macbeth, King of Scotland
- 1274 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne (b. 1201)
- 1935 – Will Rogers, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
- 1997 – Ida Gerhardt, Dutch poet (b. 1905)
- 2012 – Harry Harrison, American author (b. 1925)
Hockey apologises for being misquoted by media pack
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (7:52pm)
How ludicrous, to be forced to apologise for having been framed over comments which were at worse clumsy, but nevertheless true:
What Hockey actually said was that poorer Australians “either don’t have cars or don’t drive very far in many cases” - the last three words making clear this was a generalisation. Needless to say, that qualification was omitted in virtually every reference the ABC made to the remarks in one of the worst stitch-ups I’ve seen. The media reporting of this has been generally disgraceful.
And so:
===JOE Hockey has comprehensively apologised for his “obviously insensitive” comments about poorer Australians, insisting he bears no “evil intent” toward the disadvantaged.
The Treasurer, besieged over his claim on Wednesday that the poorest Australians were least vulnerable to the fuel excise because they “either don’t have cars or don’t drive very far”, issued the apology today after Tony Abbott refused to support the remark.
What Hockey actually said was that poorer Australians “either don’t have cars or don’t drive very far in many cases” - the last three words making clear this was a generalisation. Needless to say, that qualification was omitted in virtually every reference the ABC made to the remarks in one of the worst stitch-ups I’ve seen. The media reporting of this has been generally disgraceful.
And so:
Mr Hockey, speaking on Sydney radio 2GB, repeatedly said sorry for the remark and his subsequent refusals to back down, saying: “I don’t want to hurt people.What chance reform in this country, where incomes are already falling in real terms?
“I am really genuinely sorry that there is any suggestion ... that I or the government does not care for the most disadvantaged.
“As everyone who knows me knows, all of my life I have fought for and tried to help the most disadvantaged people in the community.
“And for there to be some suggestion that I have evil in my heart when it comes to the most disadvantaged people in the community is upsetting,” Mr Hockey said.
Bernardi backs free speech reforms. Other Liberals will, too
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (7:45pm)
I cannot see how
Liberals could not vote for the most minimal changes to an act they were
actually insisting had to be gutted - until the Government caved to
Jewish and Muslim lobbyists:
===Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is set to defy Prime Minister Tony Abbott and co-sponsor a bill aimed at changing the Racial Discrimination Act, which the government abandoned just over a week ago.I know of at least two more Liberal senators who feel honor-bound to vote for this, and I suspect up to half a dozen more could join them. A principle must be defended.
Family First Senator Bob Day is planning to introduce a compromise bill, which will simply strike out the words “offend and insult” from the legislation rather than entirely overhaul the section as the government has proposed.
The Bolt Report on Sunday, August 17
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (4:35pm)
On Sunday on Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm…
Editorial: No, not everyone was horrified at all by that picture, Mr Shorten. Let’s now be honest.
My guest: Alex Douglas, who quit in protest as Queensland leader of the Palmer United Party.
The panel: IPA boss John Roskam and former Gillard Government minister Craig Emerson. Is Joe Hockey finished as Treasurer? Are Liberals finished with this Government? And why is Qantas playing race politics?
NewsWatch: Spectator editor Rowan Dean. How the ABC started by criticising the Sydney Morning Herald for anti-Semitism but wound up attacking the Jewish lobby instead.
Plus bonus laughs at ABC presenter Jonathan Green.
The videos of the shows appear here.
===Editorial: No, not everyone was horrified at all by that picture, Mr Shorten. Let’s now be honest.
My guest: Alex Douglas, who quit in protest as Queensland leader of the Palmer United Party.
The panel: IPA boss John Roskam and former Gillard Government minister Craig Emerson. Is Joe Hockey finished as Treasurer? Are Liberals finished with this Government? And why is Qantas playing race politics?
NewsWatch: Spectator editor Rowan Dean. How the ABC started by criticising the Sydney Morning Herald for anti-Semitism but wound up attacking the Jewish lobby instead.
Plus bonus laughs at ABC presenter Jonathan Green.
The videos of the shows appear here.
Making the Medicare co-payment useless and racist
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (10:06am)
The AMA guts the co-payment - and makes it racist for good measure:
===VERY few patients will pay the $7 GP fee and the government will make almost no savings under the Australian Medical Association proposal being considered “seriously” by the government.So desperate is this Government now, and so ready to enslave itself to the New Racism, that I suspect it will adopt each one of those ideas.
The AMA wants Federal Government to exempt large groups of people including pensioners, nursing home patients, indigenous Australians and the chronically ill.
The government would also have to back track on plans to cut the Medicare rebate by $5 under the plan, wiping out most of the $3.5 billion in savings.
A party shamed
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (9:35am)
===
When will Labor stop wrecking?
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (9:31am)
Another business chief wants Labor to stop sabotaging the economy for cheap votes:
===AUSTRALIAN politics is in a “scary’’ and unprecedented new paradigm that has seen it become an “embarrassment on the world stage’’ over the past six years, says the man considered to be one of the most successful Australian businessmen in the world.
Dow Chemical Company chairman and chief executive Andrew Liveris yesterday also echoed the recent call by NAB and Woodside chairman Michael Chaney for the Coalition and Labor to adopt a bipartisan approach to stop minor parties in the Senate derailing the government’s legislative agenda.
“I have never seen (the like of) the last six years of Australian politics before,’’ Mr Liveris said during a lunch in Brisbane yesterday hosted by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
“We are in a complete new paradigm. The past five years before this last one were an absolute embarrassment on the world stage… “Instead of working together you just throw things at each other and yell at each other. That is really scary. I have never seen an Australia like that.
“Now to see it move into this other paradigm where there is more yelling but of a different kind — we should have got beyond that in terms of both sides of the aisle being for Australia instead of for being re-elected.’’
Last month Mr Chaney urged both major parties to work together to achieve necessary micro-economic reform across the economy.
“The Labor opposition has a lot more votes than Palmer,’’ Mr Chaney told The Australian and Deutsche Bank Business Leaders Forum in Perth.
You didn’t believe them?
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (9:13am)
And they thought these guys at the Sydney protest against an anti-Islamic film clip in 2012 were just kidding.
UPDATE
A frightening disconnect with reality, a pathological blame-shifting - and that astonishing Jew-hatred:
A senior employee of the Dutch Justice Ministry said the jihadist group ISIS was created by Zionists seeking to give Islam a bad reputation.And look how mass immigration from northern Africa and the Middle East has imported a clash of civilisations into the streets of Holland:
Yasmina Haifi, a project leader at the ministry’s National Cyber Security Center, made the assertion Wednesday on Twitter…
“ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. It’s part of a plan by Zionists who are deliberately trying to blacken Islam’s name,” wrote Haifi, who described herself on the social network LinkedIn as an activist for the Dutch Labor Party, or PvdA.
A series of rallies supporting ISIS, which is considered a terrorist organization in many Western countries, were held in the Hague in July and earlier this month. Some demonstrators called for violence. The demonstrations on July 2 and 24 featured calls to kill Jews.Jews in Britain also under siege:
When anti-ISIS demonstrators tried to march through the heavily Muslim neighborhood of Schilderswijk on Aug. 10 to express their disapproval, a crowd of approximately 200 men barricaded the main street and staged an illegal counterdemonstration in support of ISIS.
Some of the protesters hurled stones at police who tried to remove the obstacles. Six people were arrested.
A cosmetics store in Manchester, England, that sells Israeli cosmetics has been victimized by callers threatening to kill the staff and burn down the store…
The store, called Kedem, has been the scene of daily anti-Israel protests since the start of Israel’s operation in Gaza. Six anti-Israel protesters have been arrested.Also in Britain, a man atempts to photograph what seems the flag of the Islamic State, flying over the entrance to a housing estate:
Pro-Palestinian protesters also have posted threatening messages on the store’s Facebook page.
Meanwhile, also in Manchester, two 13-year-olds were charged this week with criminal damaging for vandalizing gravestones last month at a Jewish cemetery.
I WAS told this morning by a community activist in east London to be kind in this article to the Bengali Muslim youths who threatened violence last night…and who told me to “F*** off Jew, you’re not welcome here.”
In Ireland:
Irish trade union Mandate has released a petition calling on Irish food retailers to cease selling Israeli produce.The Left is now fanning the worst wave of anti-Semitism we’ve seen in the West since World War II. And our culture is degrading so fast that I can’t see this being checked for a long, long time.
The Mandate petition, entitled ‘Stop Selling Israeli Produce’, has already attracted over 6,300 signatures since it was launched last Friday.
(Thanks to readers Jenny, Craig and Alan RM Jones.)
Middle East burns, but at least Obama beats Tiger
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (8:54am)
Remember when the Left - and much of the media - decided it was a crime for a president to play an occasional round of golf?
===Recall that Bush was loudly criticized when he didn’t hold press conferences frequently enough to satiate a badgering press, though he averaged one about every two months. Over the course of his presidency, he held 45.Why is the Left no longer worried about golfing presidents, even when Barack Obama is about to beat even Tiger Woods?:
Bush was also constantly ridiculed and criticized for playing golf, most memorably by Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11. In August 2003, Bush gave up the game, believing it sent the wrong message to grieving parents of soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, he was ridiculed for that as well.
As Barack “Eldrick” Obama approaches his 200th round of golf since his election as president, here’s a fact to put that into perspective: Since January 2009, Tiger Woods has played 269 rounds of golf. And Tiger, beleaguered by injury, is almost certainly done for the year.After nearly six years of this remarkably disengaged presidency the media is finally, cautiously, yes-but catching on:
So that means the president, if he keeps up with his pace of play during his 15-day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard (a round a day) and his normal weekly round, will pass Tiger sometime next spring. Think about that for a minute. The president of the U.S., juggling the American economy and the entire world’s problems — Iraq is in full meltdown, the Middle East is a powder keg, Russia is moving on Ukraine — has played golf nearly as much as a guy whose day job is playing golf.
(Thanks to reader Gab.)
Hockey needs a goal
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (8:22am)
Joe Hockey badly needs a win:
It is astonishing and grim for Hockey to already need this deep-sigh defence from Dennis Shanahan:
===JOE Hockey has fuelled internal criticism of his performance as chief salesman of the budget, prompting colleagues to question his ability to lock in support for the Abbott government’s economic narrative.David Crowe can’t believe Hockey is fighting on Labor’s preferred territory - the lurid “fairness” front - to defend a lousy 1 cent a litre rise:
As some backbenchers privately warn the Treasurer needs to steer off the politics of fairness, frontbencher Jamie Briggs dismissed as “a bit of hyperbole’’ the criticism unleashed by Mr Hockey’s comments that the poor wouldn’t be hit as hard as the rich by a proposed fuel excise increase because they didn’t have cars or didn’t drive far.
The government’s most senior economic minister has got Senate crossbenchers offside as well as facing renewed criticism from his partyroom over his handling of the government’s first budget. “It’s like walking into dog poo, ignoring everyone and insisting on walking into every room,’’ said one of his colleagues.
The Treasurer has driven his budget sales caravan into another ditch by trying to turn a simple but unpopular idea into something it’s not — a Robin Hood tax…All this takes the heat off the real wrecker:
Given there is no easy way to tell voters to pay more tax, the government’s challenge is to find the best number to estimate the damage. A starting point would be 1 cent, the amount the budget adds to the excise per litre this year.
But putting things that way would be too easy. Trying to justify his remark about poor people not driving as much as rich people, the Treasurer came up with numbers like $53.87, the amount a wealthy family spends each week on petrol…
It is amazing, hilarious and disheartening that the national debate on the budget has turned into a fight over 1 cent — in a country where the smallest coin is 5c…
Given Australian motorists drive 15,000 kilometres a year on average (according to Roy Morgan) and 10 litres per 100km is a reasonable yardstick for fuel efficiency, it is not hard to figure out the annual impact: $15 a year…
The malaise goes beyond the budget. If the government cannot sell a 1 cent policy at a time of $30 billion deficits, what hope is there for bigger plans?
Every minister’s stumble vindicates Shorten’s decision to fight each budget measure… The cost is yet to be tallied. Labor now rejects $40bn in budget savings including $5bn of its own ideas from the last government. It must eventually offer an election policy that explains how this will not hurt the budget bottom line.UPDATE
It is astonishing and grim for Hockey to already need this deep-sigh defence from Dennis Shanahan:
IT could already be said “it’s time for Joe to go” but, before there’s an avalanche of calls to replace the Treasurer, it should be recognised it won’t happen — for the simple fact it can’t.Oh dear:
Just like the idea of holding a mini-budget, the merest hint from Tony Abbott that Hockey’s job is not secure would destroy the Coalition’s first budget, its first year in office and any hope of revival…
The Prime Minister has no choice but to forge ahead with the budget and the treasurer that he has.
Just to add to the woes:
Education Minister Christopher Pyne has declined six times to back Treasurer Joe Hockey’s comments that the poor “don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far’’.
A key fund-raiser for federal Treasurer Joe Hockey’s electorate conference has been called to give evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into alleged illegal political donations
John Hart is chairman of the North Sydney Forum, a controversial fund-raising body attached to the Liberal Party federal electoral conference in Mr Hockey’s seat of North Sydney.
Carlton to the reluctant rescue of the “Bolt laws”
Andrew Bolt August 15 2014 (7:43am)
Chris Merritt says Mike Carlton could be a very reluctant crusader for the free speech I was denied:
For instance, the Left has badly wanted to characterise the Abbott Government’s proposed reforms to 18C as “Bolt’s law” - to make it seem just a favor for a mate and of no benefit to anyone. The most spiteful and childish iteration of this was probably that of Bruce Haigh in the Guardian:
Should the Carlton case go ahead, this false construct will no longer be tenable. That is the only reason I hope this dangerous and offensive law is used against Carlton - not because I want him silenced, but because I want this law exposed as a crime against free speech.
But all is not lost for the Left. Carlton is of the Left, too, and the institutions will therefore seek to give him a pass, as the Race Discrimination Commissioner has already done, declaring:
More evidence that the HRC has hopelessly confused its twin roles of advocacy and judgment.
UPDATE
Former Howard Government Minister David Kemp says the Abbott Government has offended its base by dropping the fight for freedom:
===AFTER Tony Abbott’s backdown on reform of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, all might have seemed to be lost.Oh, no. I’ve always thought your commitment to free speech was best measured by your defence of the freedom of those with whom you disagree most strongly. On that score, most in the Left have failed, choosing a side above a principle.
Then along came Mike Carlton and his anti-Semitic mates at The Sydney Morning Herald. With any luck, the proceedings launched against them this week might turn Carlton into the reluctant vehicle for reform of this odious provision.
Carlton and the SMH now find themselves in a very strange position. If they surrender and settle, they will be affirming what their critics have been saying about the nature of their coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
But if they fight hard — and let’s hope they do — they will be making it possible for the courts to undertake the reform process that has just been squibbed by Abbott.
The case against Carlton offers the tantalising possibility of undoing the damage done by Mordecai Bromberg’s 2011 judgment against Herald-Sun columnist Andrew Bolt…
If they succeed, Australian legal history will remember Carlton as the man who took up the fight that was started by Bolt. They will be locked together forever as the catalysts for reform — a prospect unlikely to bring either much joy.
For instance, the Left has badly wanted to characterise the Abbott Government’s proposed reforms to 18C as “Bolt’s law” - to make it seem just a favor for a mate and of no benefit to anyone. The most spiteful and childish iteration of this was probably that of Bruce Haigh in the Guardian:
The [Government’s] highest profile disaster came from a favour to a supporter, Andrew Bolt. The amendment of section 18C of the racial discrimination act was sold as a positive gain for freedom of speech, which fooled no one.
Should the Carlton case go ahead, this false construct will no longer be tenable. That is the only reason I hope this dangerous and offensive law is used against Carlton - not because I want him silenced, but because I want this law exposed as a crime against free speech.
But all is not lost for the Left. Carlton is of the Left, too, and the institutions will therefore seek to give him a pass, as the Race Discrimination Commissioner has already done, declaring:
Commentators you would hope would be cantankerous or controversial… Obviously Fairfax decided to take some action against him. Look, I’m agnostic on this.How can the Human Rights Commission fairly conciliate the complaints against Carlton when the Race Discrimination Commissioner has already cleared him?
More evidence that the HRC has hopelessly confused its twin roles of advocacy and judgment.
UPDATE
Former Howard Government Minister David Kemp says the Abbott Government has offended its base by dropping the fight for freedom:
A core tenet of the Liberal Party is that freedom of speech is an essential foundation of democracy. Tony Abbott himself has said that. That the defence of freedom of speech and the press (as 18C has led to the censorship of a journalist’s articles) should be abandoned to buy the support of special interests — however strategically positioned in marginal seats they may be — has shocked many Liberals…
Our liberal political culture — based around fundamental freedoms of speech, press, religion and association — exists because, historically, leaders have defended it…
To describe reforms to restore freedom of speech as a “needless complication” in the effort to appease certain interests is to seriously misunderstand, and to affront, many Liberals, and I suspect a good number in the communities concerned. To suggest that national unity requires a legal prohibition on offending certain select groups is unbelievable and demeaning to all…
Today a journalist’s articles are still banned, and the Liberal Party government accepts that. This is unacceptable to many Liberals.
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=== Posts from last year ===
Pastor Rick Warren
God didn't bring you this far just to abandon you.
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Growth is nurtured by humility and strangled by pride. I can't learn from others until I admit what I don't know.
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Pastor Rick Warren
The way you win a fight with God is by surrendering. He knows what's best for you. You don't.
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Israel seems alone in acting with honor. - ed
Doctors at Ziv Hospital in the Galilee town of Safed (Tsfat) were shocked when the girl got up and walked around just one day after having her leg amputated as a result of massive shrapnel injuries.
The young girl had been hit by shrapnel all over her body. The Israelis worked hard to save her left leg, but were certain she would not be mobile for some time.
The doctors were taken aback when just 24 hours later, the girl stood up, and with the help of crutches began to move around the hospital with little trouble. Dr. Alexander Lerner, head of orthopedic department at Ziv Hospital, told Israeli media that his entire staff was filled with an amazing joy to see this girl smiling and walking around.
The hospital has treated dozens of Syrians hurt in indiscriminate attacks by both government and rebel forces.
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Dinner time - ed
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Happy anniversary -- 37 roses for 37 years!
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Congratulations to Andrew Rohan, Liberal for Smithfield on raising more than $22,000 for Cancer Research by walking 60km around the State Electorate for Smithfield. I don't think too many politicians would manage that, certainly not the other local Labor MP's.
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The mistreatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Lebanese authorities always reminds one of those university professors and political commentators living in the U.S. who pretend to be "pro-Palestinian." They focus their attacks on Israel, and ignore the real suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of Arab countries.
As Israeli authorities issued permits last week to hundreds of thousands of West Bank Palestinians to visit Israel, the Lebanese government decided to ban Palestinian refugees fleeing the war in Syria from entering Lebanon.
So while Palestinians are being slaughtered and forced out of their homes in Syria, the Lebanese government is preventing them from entering Lebanon.
The Israeli permits, which were issued on the occasion of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, enabled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to visit shopping malls, restaurants and beaches in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Jerusalem and Acre.
But as the West Bank Palestinians were celebrating the feast in Israel, thousands of their brethren found themselves stranded along the border between Syria and Lebanon.
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'Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. ~ George Eliot
Greetings! I've created this page because I want to make a difference. I'm a great animal lover! Whether big or small, they are such amazing creatures. I have a dog and four cats at the moment, but I used to have fish and ducks too! I lost Lemon (my duck) a couple of years ago due to a broken leg. She was attacked by the neighbor's dog. I hope the money I raise will help to subsidize the me...
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C. H. Spurgeon
God has so made man's heart that nothing can ever fill it but God himself.
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Larry Pickering
DOPING IS HERE TO STAY... and there’s not a damned thing they can do about it!
The greatest problem government agencies or sports administrations have is that drugs are becoming available quicker than they can be identified, and they can’t ban something they don’t know about yet.
“Oh”, many say, “but if something is performance-enhancing it should automatically be made illegal.”
Well, if you have a headache, an Aspirin will enhance your performance, so will vitamins. If a bowler polishes one side of a cricket ball, performance is enhanced. Gloves will assist you to mark a ball. Spikes on shoes. Oil on wheels... it’s endless.
Many a time I’ve had cortisone legally injected into a sore joint at half-time and that was certainly performance enhancing.
The whole idea of competitive sport is to enhance your performance, so that cannot be the benchmark for illegality.
A "drug" is identified only as a "substance” and can be anything from fruits and nuts to household products and flowers... and everything in between.
Blood doping is nothing more than preserving (for later use) your own red cells with no foreign substance involved. There are many natural foods and vitamins that will ostensibly increase your red cell count.
Blood and urine tests are not calibrated to identify natural foods or supplements that our bodies have varying degrees of anyway, only a surfeit of that natural substance.
A test cannot be calibrated to detect an unknown Mexican “drug”.
Unless a synthetic agent is used to administer a substance it will not raise an alarm. And drug detection agencies have been trying to detect synthetic agents exclusively for decades simply because they can’t detect the “drug”, only the method of administration.
Using an aqueous solution takes care of that problem.
The legal nightmare begins with Essendon and will end nowhere.
A dozen new “drugs” are stumbled upon and developed daily.
ASADA is nothing more than a feminist-dominated Government Agency with no clue what to do except run around in circles calling Press conferences to claim everyone is possibly a cheat or a crook.
The latest crazy edict is that a certain “drug” becomes a banned substance only when administered intravenously yet a subcutaneous (under the skin) administration via injection renders it legal.
Crumbs, so the “drug” finds its way to the blood stream anyway but via a different method?
Competitors in all sports are light years ahead of any detection test, always have been.
All sporting bodies pay increasingly higher rewards for success and hand out career-ending penalties for failure. Loyalty is lost in mountains of money, and that’s the reason unknown, undetectable “drugs” are here to stay.
There is no answer because every drug in history that has been prohibited has found its way on to the black market.
Demonised, illegal recreational drugs damage humans in the same way as legal drugs do.
Prohibition of anything that people want simply attracts the criminal element and, without any form of quality control, ends in a far worse result.
Worse still, when a banned substance is driven underground it becomes impossible to protect those worst affected by it.
I cannot see a solution, can you?
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Real Hollywood Heroes: John Wayne 1974
http://
John Wayne talks to Michael Parkinson, 1974. The Duke talks about Hollywood's use of “Critical Theory” to depict Americans as cowards. Who Blacklisted who?
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Cupcakes and REESE'S PIECES Candies? Sounds perfectly fun to us! Nice work keriannn!http://reeses.me/11RoUPR
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Children being educated about sacrifice? - ed
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
Today last year was very special, my youngest son was conceived and he is 3 months old today, what's more special is because it's the day his parents took a train ride up to the marriages place to get married. It's our 1 yr anniversary, i feel really amazed that I'm actually married to my teenage sweetheart crush PhiLip Smi-Le Nguyen the one i really really liked but cause of my pride i ran to hide and he was shy, we only found out 15 yrs later lol even though i lived my life the sinful way around before i knew God yet He still blesses me by leading me right on track. And after our engagement a year before that we've postponed 3 times just to hear the definite confirmation from God and today the answer is very clearly that we belong together. So I feel truly blessed and thank the Lord for blessing our marriage with His Power of Love and Strength that we've made it thru..And I Pray that Lord you continue to be in the center of our lives so that we will live according to your will and be with you in heaven ~ Amen!
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This is why the Climate Institute needs to be defunded .. it is political and engaged in lying for the ALP, not research - ed
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Sustainable Energy Breakthrough? A University of Colorado Boulder research team has moved closer to what some call the Holy Grail of a sustainable hydrogen economy, splitting water with sunlight.http://oak.ctx.ly/r/9ut3
Below, an artist's conception of a commercial hydrogen production plant that uses sunlight to split water in order to produce clean hydrogen fuel.
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Lightning storm over Tucson Arizona tonight. I only got this shot. I got up to a fence line with lots of cactus and the storm stops suddenly. I am going to extend my stay here to try again tomorrow. Hoping against hope to get lucky.
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Roma Downey
Give us your spirit today, oh Lord. Help us live out what You have placed on our hearts.We choose to represent You faithfully today.Amen.
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In quite an eerie feat, physicists have floated microscopic diamonds in midair using laser beams. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/9uf9
Researchers have used lasers to levitate extremely small particles in the past, such as individual atoms, but this is the first time that anyone has ever levitated a nanodiamond.
I think Jessica Alba has done something similar to real diamonds, eh, Daniel Katz? ed
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Edu-Kingdom Bankstown
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Lindt Chocolatier Cafe, Darling Harbour.
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These Green extremists are currently holding the balance of power in the Senate. Find out how you can help stop them http://ow.ly/nCMYg
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Pastor Rick Warren
The more unselfish you are, the more attractive you become.
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Roma Downey
It is not joy that makes us grateful. It is gratitude that makes us joyful. - David Rast #gratitude
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20 Pearls of Wisdom From The Book of Job
If you're enduring a season of hardship, be encouraged and use this time to build your faith. God is still on the throne and He's in control. Let these 20 pearls of wisdom from the book of Job remind us that God always has the last say in our lives...
READ MORE ► http://r.beliefnet.com/
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The Coalition will deliver fast, affordable and reliable broadband to everyone in the Paterson electorate.
Get the facts on our plan athttp://www.liberal.org.au/
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Is this the WORST wedding cake you've ever seen? It sure doesn't look like the picture! |http://bit.ly/15GhoZK
Maybe they meant 'tiered' ? - ed
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.. a step .. and the subsequent decision to shoot them dead in future encounters is another step forward for peace.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
The moment you start getting too intellectual about love, you start creating issues in your relationships... love was never meant to be for the wise... its for fools like me!
Dukdik
===Jones said Ahmed had recently traveled to California and Yemen, returning two or three weeks ago. Jones said at some point he'd been receiving treatment for mental issues.
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August 15: Victory over Japan Day; Feast of the Assumption(Christianity); Independence Day in the Congo (1960) and India(1947); Liberation Day in North and South Korea (1945)
- 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond, the longest surviving Byzantine successor state, was conquered by Ottoman sultan Mehmed IIfollowing a month-long siege.
- 1812 – War of 1812: Potawatomi warriors destroyed the United States Army's Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois, and captured the survivors.
- 1914 – The Panama Canal (construction pictured) opened to traffic, providing a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceanthrough the Isthmus of Panama.
- 1944 – World War II: Allied forces began their invasion of southern France.
- 1998 – A car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army killed 29 people and injured approximately 220 others in Omagh, Northern Ireland.
Events[edit]
- 636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
- 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
- 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
- 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery nearRome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom.
- 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
- 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
- 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria
- 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
- 1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
- 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
- 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
- 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
- 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.
- 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
- 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.
- 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
- 1309 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
- 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
- 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
- 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
- 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
- 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
- 1519 – Panama City, Panama, is founded.
- 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
- 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
- 1540 – Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
- 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
- 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass – Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
- 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels, leaving a third of the buildings in the city in ruins.
- 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz – Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
- 1812 – War of 1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops and Potawatomi at what is now Chicago, Illinois.
- 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.
- 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldestRoman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
- 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
- 1869 – The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
- 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
- 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
- 1914 – A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the latter's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
- 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
- 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
- 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.
- 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
- 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.
- 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
- 1939 – 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. There are no survivors.
- 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
- 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
- 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower forespionage.
- 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal — The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon — Allied forces land in southern France.
- 1945 – World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
- 1947 – India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire after near 190 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
- 1948 – The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
- 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, United Kingdom, killing 34 people.
- 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
- 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
- 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
- 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
- 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland, UK.
- 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
- 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York, New York, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
- 1969 – Woodstock rock and roll concert opens.
- 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
- 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
- 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1973 – Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
- 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President, Park Chung-hee.
- 1975 – Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
- 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
- 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
- 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh
- 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
- 1996 – President of Turkey Süleyman Demirel approves to "Law of ban For Casino in Turkey"
- 1998 – Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles.
- 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions withMorocco.
- 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
- 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
- 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.
- 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivoran species found in the Americas in 35 years.
Births[edit]
- 1171 – Alfonso IX of León (d. 1230)
- 1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest and saint (d. 1231)
- 1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
- 1575 – Bartol Kašić, Croatian linguist (d. 1650)
- 1613 – Gilles Ménage, French scholar (d. 1692)
- 1717 – Blind Jack, English engineer (d. 1810)
- 1736 – Johann Christoph Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1803)
- 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)
- 1769 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (d. 1821)
- 1771 – Walter Scott, Scottish author and poet (d. 1832)
- 1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English author (d. 1859)
- 1798 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior (d. 1831)
- 1813 – Jules Grévy, French politician, 4th President of the French Republic (d. 1891)
- 1824 – John Chisum, American businessman (d. 1884)
- 1844 – Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1908)
- 1846 – Charles Woodruff, American archer (d. 1927)
- 1857 – Albert Ballin, German businessman (d. 1918)
- 1858 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (d. 1924)
- 1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1931)
- 1860 – Henrietta Vinton Davis, American actress and playwright (d. 1941)
- 1860 – Florence Harding, American publisher, 31st First Lady of the United States (d. 1924)
- 1863 – Aleksey Krylov, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
- 1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual leader, founded Reiki (d. 1926)
- 1866 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer (d. 1945)
- 1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian guru, poet, and philosopher (d. 1950)
- 1873 – Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian archaeologist and historian (d. 1942)
- 1875 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 1912)
- 1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek colonel and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1966)
- 1877 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (d. 1941)
- 1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
- 1881 – Alfred Wagenknecht, German-American activist (d. 1956)
- 1882 – Marion Bauer, American composer and critic (d. 1955)
- 1883 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Edna Ferber, American author (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
- 1890 – Elizabeth Bolden, American super-centenarian (d. 2006)
- 1890 – Jacques Ibert, French composer (d. 1962)
- 1892 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- 1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer (d. 1950)
- 1896 – Gerty Cori, Czech-American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1896 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-Canadian activist, founded the Madonna House Apostolate (d. 1985)
- 1896 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (d. 1958)
- 1898 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish author and poet (d. 1966)
- 1900 – Estelle Brody, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1901 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
- 1902 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (d. 1943)
- 1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor, invented the Motorized wheelchair (d. 1992)
- 1905 – Emile St. Godard, Canadian dog sled racer (d. 1948)
- 1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
- 1910 – Signe Hasso, Swedish actress (d. 2002)
- 1912 – Julia Child, American chef and author (d. 2004)
- 1912 – Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Amir Khan, Indian singer (d. 1974)
- 1914 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer and art director (d. 1996)
- 1916 – Aleks Çaçi, Albanian author (d. 1989)
- 1917 – Jack Lynch, Irish politician, 5th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (d. 1980)
- 1919 – Huntz Hall, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
- 1919 – Benedict Kiely, Irish journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Dina Wadia, English-Pakistani daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah
- 1921 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Leonard Baskin, American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2000)
- 1922 – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek composer (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Sabino Barinaga, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Rose Marie, American actress and singer
- 1924 – Werner Abrolat, Russian-German actor (d. 1997)
- 1924 – Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1924 – Phyllis Schlafly, American activist
- 1925 – Mike Connors, American actor and producer
- 1925 – Münir Özkul, Turkish actor
- 1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (The Drifters) (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Erik Schmidt, Swedish-Majorcan painter and writer
- 1926 – Sami Michael, Iraqi-Israeli author
- 1926 – Julius Katchen, American pianist (d. 1969)
- 1926 – John Silber, American academic (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Greek politician, 6th President of Greece
- 1927 – Eddie Leadbeater, English cricketer (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Carl Joachim Classen, German scholar (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Nicolas Roeg, English director and cinematographer
- 1929 – Georgios Roubanis, Greek pole vaulter
- 1930 – Ageeda Paavel, Estonian activist
- 1931 – Paul McDowell, English actor and writer
- 1932 – Jim Lange, American game show host (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Johan Steyn, British judge
- 1933 – Bobby Helms, American singer and guitarist (d. 1997)
- 1934 – Bobby Byrd, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Famous Flames) (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Reginald Scarlett, Jamaican cricketer and coach
- 1935 – Jim Dale, English actor, singer, and screenwriter
- 1935 – Vernon Jordan, American lawyer, businessman, and activist
- 1935 – Lionel Taylor, American football player and coach
- 1935 – Régine Deforges, French author, editor, director, and playwright (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Rita Shane, American soprano
- 1938 – Stephen Breyer, American judge
- 1938 – Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Maxine Waters, American educator and politician
- 1938 – Janusz Zajdel, Polish author
- 1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, German militant leader, founded Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
- 1941 – Jim Brothers, American sculptor (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Manolis Mavrommatis, Greek politician
- 1941 – Lou Perryman, American actor (d. 2009)
- 1943 – María Rojo, Mexican actress and politician
- 1944 – Linda Ellerbee, American journalist and author
- 1944 – Thomas J. Murphy, Jr., American politician, 56th Mayor of Pittsburgh
- 1944 – Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician
- 1944 – Sylvie Vartan, Bulgarian-French singer and actress
- 1945 – Duffy Dyer, American baseball player and coach
- 1945 – Gene Upshaw, American football player (d. 2008)
- 1945 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician, 9th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
- 1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 – Jimmy Webb, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1947 – Raakhee, Indian actress
- 1947 – Jenny Hanley, English actress
- 1948 – Uschi Digard, Swedish porn actress and model
- 1948 – Patsy Gallant, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1948 – George Ryton, Singaporean-English engineer
- 1949 – Beverly Burns, American pilot and captain
- 1949 – Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
- 1949 – Garry Disher, Australian author
- 1949 – Mark B. Rosenberg, American academic
- 1950 – Tommy Aldridge, American drummer (Motörhead, Whitesnake, Black Oak Arkansas, and Thin Lizzy)
- 1950 – Tom Kelly, American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
- 1951 – Ann Biderman, American screenwriter and producer
- 1951 – Bobby Caldwell, American singer-songwriter
- 1951 – John Childs, English cricketer
- 1951 – Daba Diawara, Malian politician
- 1951 – Ranjan Gunatilleke, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1952 – Chuck Burgi, American drummer and session musician
- 1953 – Carol Thatcher, English journalist
- 1953 – Mark Thatcher, English businessman
- 1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2004)
- 1954 – Hillar Mets, Estonian illustrator and animator
- 1954 – Mary Jo Salter, American poet
- 1956 – Lorraine Desmarais, Canadian pianist and composer
- 1956 – Freedom Neruda, Ivorian journalist
- 1957 – Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
- 1958 – Simon Baron-Cohen, English-Canadian psychiatrist and author
- 1958 – Laurie Bembenek, American murderer (d. 2010)
- 1958 – Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – Simple Kapadia, Indian actress and costume designer (d. 2009)
- 1958 – Victor Shenderovich, Russian radio host
- 1958 – Rondell Sheridan, American actor and director
- 1959 – Scott Altman, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
- 1961 – Ed Gillespie, American political strategist
- 1961 – Gary Kubiak, American football player and coach
- 1961 – Suhasini Maniratnam, Indian actress and screenwriter
- 1961 – Arjun Sarja, Indian actor and director
- 1962 – Tom Colicchio, American chef and author
- 1962 – Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, Estonian politician
- 1963 – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Lady Miss Kier, American singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer (Deee-Lite)
- 1963 – Valery Levaneuski, Belarussian activist
- 1963 – Jack Russell, England cricketer and coach
- 1964 – Srihari, Indian actor and producer (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Melinda Gates, American businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- 1965 – Rob Thomas, American author, screenwriter, and producer
- 1966 – Scott Brosius, American baseball player and coach
- 1966 – Shirley Kwan, Hong Kong singer, dancer, and actress
- 1966 – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1967 – Peter Hermann, American actor
- 1968 – Debra Messing, American actress, singer, and producer
- 1969 – Kevin Cheng, American-Hong Kong singer and actor
- 1969 – Bernard Fanning, Australian singer-songwriter (Powderfinger)
- 1969 – Cris Judd, American actor, dancer, and choreographer
- 1970 – Anthony Anderson, American comedian and actor
- 1970 – Maddie Corman, American actress
- 1970 – Ben Silverman, American television producer, founded Electus Studios
- 1970 – Maya Soetoro-Ng, American educator
- 1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1972 – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballet dancer (d. 2007)
- 1972 – Chris Morrissey, American actor and director
- 1972 – Matthew Wood, American voice actor and sound engineer
- 1973 – Amitabh Bhattacharjee, Indian actor
- 1973 – Adnan Sami, English-Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
- 1973 – Atom Willard, American drummer (The Offspring, Rocket from the Crypt, Danko Jones, and The Special Goodness)
- 1974 – Gry Bay, Danish actress and singer
- 1974 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian model and actress
- 1974 – Tomasz Suwary, Polish footballer
- 1975 – Bertrand Berry, American football player and radio host
- 1975 – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach
- 1975 – Brendan Morrison, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Kara Wolters, American basketball player
- 1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
- 1977 – Nicole Paggi, American actress
- 1978 – Tim Foreman, American bass player (Switchfoot)
- 1978 – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
- 1978 – Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1978 – Kerri Walsh Jennings, American volleyball player
- 1979 – Carl Edwards, American race car driver
- 1980 – Brandon Harrod, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Natalie Press, English actress
- 1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
- 1981 – Song Ji-hyo, South Korean model and actress
- 1981 – Óliver Pérez, American baseball player
- 1982 – Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
- 1982 – Heather Carolin, American model and actress
- 1982 – Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Japanese actor
- 1982 – Cori Yarckin, American actress and singer
- 1983 – Timati, Russian rapper, producer, and actor
- 1983 – Jancarlos de Oliveira Barros, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1984 – Quinton Aaron, American actor
- 1985 – Cogie Domingo, Filipino actor
- 1985 – Leah Hackett, English actress
- 1985 – Andrea Lewis, Canadian actress and singer
- 1985 – Santiago Stieben, Argentinian actor
- 1986 – Maria Fowler, English model and actress
- 1986 – Natalia Kills, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1986 – Besik Kudukhov, Russian wrestler (d. 2013)
- 1987 – Michel Kreder, Dutch cyclist
- 1988 – Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer
- 1988 – Zaira Nara, Argentinian model and television host
- 1989 – Joe Jonas, American singer-songwriter and actor (Jonas Brothers)
- 1989 – Kristina Karjalainen, Estonian-Finnish beauty queen
- 1989 – Carlos Pena, Jr., American singer-songwriter and actor (Big Time Rush)
- 1989 – Belinda Peregrín, Spanish-Mexican singer-songwriter and actress
- 1990 – Nyusha, Russian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1990 – Aglaja Brix, German actress
- 1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
- 1990 – Toomas Raadik, Estonian basketball player
- 1990 – Danny Verbeek, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Petja Piiroinen, Finnish snowboarder
- 1993 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, English footballer
- 1994 – Kosuke Hagino, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Natalja Zabijako, Estonian pair skater
- 1995 – Chief Keef, American rapper
- 1995 – Yui Ogura, Japanese voice actress and singer
Deaths[edit]
- 423 – Honorius, Roman emperor (b. 384)
- 465 – Libius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 420)
- 1038 – Stephen I of Hungary (b. 975)
- 1057 – Macbeth, King of Scotland
- 1118 – Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1048)
- 1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
- 1274 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne (b. 1201)
- 1369 – Philippa of Hainault (b. 1314)
- 1528 – Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, French general (b. 1485)
- 1552 – Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (b. 1477)
- 1621 – John Barclay, Scottish poet (b. 1582)
- 1666 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer (b. 1591)
- 1714 – Constantin Brâncoveanu, Romanian prince (b. 1654)
- 1728 – Marin Marais, French viol player and composer (b. 1656)
- 1758 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (b. 1698)
- 1799 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet (b. 1729)
- 1852 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (b. 1760)
- 1859 – Nathaniel Claiborne, American politician (b. 1777)
- 1880 – Adelaide Neilson, English actress (b. 1848)
- 1907 – Joseph Joachim, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1831)
- 1909 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian sociologist and journalist (b. 1866)
- 1917 – Thomas J. Higgins, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1831)
- 1925 – Konrad Mägi, Estonian painter (b. 1878)
- 1928 – Anatole von Hügel, Italian ethnologist, co-founded St Edmund's College (b. 1854)
- 1931 – Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani nurse (b. 1878)
- 1934 – Leo O'Connell, American soccer player (b. 1883)
- 1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
- 1935 – Will Rogers, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
- 1935 – Paul Signac, French painter (b. 1863)
- 1936 – Grazia Deledda, Italian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
- 1942 – Mahadev Desai, Indian activist and author (b. 1892)
- 1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general (b. 1887)
- 1951 – Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
- 1953 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (b. 1875)
- 1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (b. 1940)
- 1967 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
- 1969 – Abdul Malek, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1947)
- 1971 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (b. 1887)
- 1975 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bengali politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (b. 1920)
- 1975 – Clay Shaw, American businessman (b. 1913)
- 1981 – Carol Ryrie Brink, American author (b. 1895)
- 1982 – Ernie Bushmiller, American cartoonist (b. 1905)
- 1982 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese pilot, general, and politician (b. 1904)
- 1989 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general (b. 1897)
- 1990 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian singer-songwriter (Kino) (b. 1962)
- 1994 – Wout Wagtmans, Dutch cyclist (b. 1929)
- 1995 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Ida Gerhardt, Dutch poet (b. 1905)
- 1999 – Hugh Casson, English architect (b. 1910)
- 2001 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (b. 1972)
- 2004 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Semiha Berksoy, Turkish opera singer (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (b. 1941)
- 2005 – Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Te Atairangikaahu, Māori queen (b. 1931)
- 2006 – Rick Bourke, Australian rugby player (b. 1955)
- 2006 – Coenraad Bron, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1937)
- 2006 – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (b. 1944)
- 2007 – John Gofman, American biologist, chemist, and physicist (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand physician (b. 1908)
- 2007 – Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman (b. 1925)
- 2008 – James Orthwein, American businessman (b. 1924)
- 2008 – Heinz-Ludwig Schmidt, German footballer and manager (b. 1920)
- 2008 – Leroy Sievers, American journalist (b. 1955)
- 2008 – Vic Toweel, South African boxer (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Jerry Wexler, American music producer and journalist (b. 1917)
- 2009 – Virginia Davis, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Denis E. Dillon, American politician (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Michael Legat, English author (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)
- 2012 – Bob Birch, American bass player and saxophonist (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Altamiro Carrilho, Brazilian flute player and composer (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Biff Elliot, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Punch Gunalan, Malaysian badminton player (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Harry Harrison, American author (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Müşfik Kenter, Turkish actor (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Carina Moberg, Swedish politician (b. 1966)
- 2012 – Mitchell Todd, Scottish rugby player (b. 1991)
- 2012 – Ray Whitney, English politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Arben Xhaferi, Macedonian politician and activist (b. 1948)
- 2013 – S. M. Laljan Basha, Indian politician (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Bert Lance, American civil servant, 23rd Director of the Office of Management and Budget (b. 1931)
- 2013 – William S. Livingston, American political scientist and academic (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (b. 1944)
- 2013 – Sławomir Mrożek, Polish-French author and playwright (b. 1930)
- 2013 – August Schellenberg, Canadian-American actor (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Marich Man Singh Shrestha, Nepali politician, 28th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Jacques Vergès, Thai-French lawyer (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Pat Wiggins, American politician (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Armed Forces Day (Poland)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation. (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi,Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland,Togo, and Vanuatu), and its related observances:
- Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches)
- Ferragosto (Italy)
- Mother's Day (Antwerp and Costa Rica)
- National Acadian Day (Acadians)
- Navy Day (Romania)
- Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the Canary Islands. (Tenerife, Spain)
- Stanislaus Kostka
- Tarcisius
- August 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation. (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi,Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland,Togo, and Vanuatu), and its related observances:
- Constitution Day (Equatorial Guinea)
- Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while August 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in August. (Argentina and Peru)
- Earliest day on which Day of Hearts can fall, while August 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in August. (area around Haarlem andAmsterdam)
- Founding of Asunción (Paraguay)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Korea from Japan in 1945:
- Gwangbokjeol, "Independence Day" (South Korea)
- Jogukhaebangui nal, "Fatherland Liberation Day" (North Korea)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Republic of the Congo from France in 1960.
- Independence Day of India, celebrates the independence of India from the United Kingdom in 1947.
- National Memorial Service for War Dead (Japan)
- The first day of Flooding of the Nile, or Wafaa El-Nil (Egypt and Coptic Church)
- The main day of Bon Festival (Japan)
- Victory over Japan Day (United States)
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:14,20 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work."
Psalm 92:4
Psalm 92:4
Do you believe that your sins are forgiven, and that Christ has made a full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be! How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world! Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to you now? Luther said, "Smite, Lord, smite, for my sin is forgiven; if thou hast but forgiven me, smite as hard as thou wilt;" and in a similar spirit you may say, "Send sickness, poverty, losses, crosses, persecution, what thou wilt, thou hast forgiven me, and my soul is glad." Christian, if thou art thus saved, whilst thou art glad, be grateful and loving. Cling to that cross which took thy sin away; serve thou him who served thee. "I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Let not your zeal evaporate in some little ebullition of song. Show your love in expressive tokens. Love the brethren of him who loved you. If there be a Mephibosheth anywhere who is lame or halt, help him for Jonathan's sake. If there be a poor tried believer, weep with him, and bear his cross for the sake of him who wept for thee and carried thy sins. Since thou art thus forgiven freely for Christ's sake, go and tell to others the joyful news of pardoning mercy. Be not contented with this unspeakable blessing for thyself alone, but publish abroad the story of the cross. Holy gladness and holy boldness will make you a good preacher, and all the world will be a pulpit for you to preach in. Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons, but the Lord must give it you. Seek it this morning before you go into the world. When it is the Lord's work in which we rejoice, we need not be afraid of being too glad.
Evening
"I know their sorrows."
Exodus 3:7
Exodus 3:7
The child is cheered as he sings, "This my father knows;" and shall not we be comforted as we discern that our dear Friend and tender soul-husband knows all about us?
1. He is the Physician, and if he knows all, there is no need that the patient should know. Hush, thou silly, fluttering heart, prying, peeping, and suspecting! What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter, and meanwhile Jesus, the beloved Physician, knows thy soul in adversities. Why need the patient analyze all the medicine, or estimate all the symptoms? This is the Physician's work, not mine; it is my business to trust, and his to prescribe. If he shall write his prescription in uncouth characters which I cannot read, I will not be uneasy on that account, but rely upon his unfailing skill to make all plain in the result, however mysterious in the working.
2. He is the Master, and his knowledge is to serve us instead of our own; we are to obey, not to judge: "The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth." Shall the architect explain his plans to every hodman on the works? If he knows his own intent, is it not enough? The vessel on the wheel cannot guess to what pattern it shall be conformed, but if the potter understands his art, what matters the ignorance of the clay? My Lord must not be cross-questioned any more by one so ignorant as I am.
3. He is the Head. All understanding centres there. What judgment has the arm? What comprehension has the foot? All the power to know lies in the head. Why should the member have a brain of its own when the head fulfils for it every intellectual office? Here, then, must the believer rest his comfort in sickness, not that he himself can see the end, but that Jesus knows all. Sweet Lord, be thou forever eye, and soul, and head for us, and let us be content to know only what thou choosest to reveal.
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Today's reading: Psalm 89-90, Romans 14 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 89-90
1 I will sing of the LORD's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
4 'I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.'"
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
4 'I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.'"
5 The heavens praise your wonders, LORD,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?
You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you....
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?
You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you....
Today's New Testament reading: Romans 14
The Weak and the Strong
1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand....
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