Happy Chinese New Year
February 7, 2008 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
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Wave Your Fingers Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Kopa‘a: Sugar PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Kalenda: Calendar HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY— “Shut the mouth, keep the hands busy.” WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — Project Gutenberg WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — “Porn Star Politics” PODCAST OF THE WEEK — Baxter Black on How to Pick a President UPCOMING EVENTS — Feb. 22: “Give Peace a Dance” 
TODAY - February 7th 2008: Chinese New Year - 4706 - Year of the Rat.
Traditional Chinese New Year (called Tet by the Vietnamese) begins at sunset on the day of the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice. Festivities start on the first day of the first month and continue until the fifteenth (Full Moon). In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year. Read more … Those of Chinese descent constitute about 5% of Hawaii’s population and can trace their roots in Hawaii back to the mid-1800’s. Read more …
February 7th, 1916: The sugar business and its workers on Maui are dealt a serious blow when the U.S. Government removes all but three Hawaii-America steamers from sugar transportation and moves them to the “Atlantic Trade”, a euphemistic term which really means ships which shuttle supplies to Great Britain in its war on Germany.The three ships supplying Hawaiian sugar to San Francisco cannot carry the sugar available. Workers on Maui are laid off, prices fall on Hawaii, sugar rots in warehouses and costs rise on the mainland. The stress is somewhat relieved in 1917 when two more steamers are added to the fleet.
HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — February 7th
- 1891: The Great Blizzard of 1891 begins
- 1964: The Beatles land at NY’s JFK airport, for the group’s first U.S. tour
- 1964: Cassius Clay becomes a Black Muslim and takes the name Muhammed Ali
- 1965: U.S. begins regular bombing & strafing of North Vietnam
- 1966: NBC-TV commits to the first season of Star Trek for its Fall schedule
- 1971: Women win the right to vote in Switzerland
- 1984: Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart become the first humans to fly free of a spacecraft
- 1991: The Reverand Jean-Bertrand Aristide is sworn in as Haiti’s first democratically-elected president
- 1995: Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad Pakistan
BORN ON THIS DAY — February 7th
- 1478: Sir Thomas More, lawyer/lord chancellor of England
- 1804: John Deere, pioneer manufacturer of agricultural implements
- 1812: Charles Dickens, novelist
- 1817: Frederick Douglas, abolitionist
- 1883: Eubie Blake, ragtime composer
- 1885: Sinclair Lewis, novelist/social critic
- 1932: Gay Talese, author
- 1960: James Spader, actor
- 1960: Steve Bronski, rock synthesizer (Bronski)
- 1962: David Bryan, rock keyboardist (Bon Jovi)
- 1962: Troyal Garth Brooks (aka Garth Brooks), country singer/songwriter
- 1965: Chris Rock, actor/comedian
- 1965: Jason Gedrick, actor
- 1978: Ashton Kutcher, actor
