The Middle of Nowhere
May 13, 2008 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
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Leprechaun Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Alaka’i: Leader PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Haus Piksa: Theater HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “He is ruthless with the hands of a gale.” HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “People everywhere confuse what they read in the newspapers with news.” (A.J. Leibling) WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — FactCheck.org WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — Voter Watch PODCAST OF THE WEEK — Podango Podcasts BLOG OF THE WEEK — Twitter.com
May 13th, 1865: The Clipper D.C. Murray arrives in Honolulu and by nightfall everyone in Hawaii has heard the shocking news: President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. True, he was assassinated on April 15 and long buried, but out here, a month was about right for news to travel.Hawaii is the most isolated chain of islands in the world, as measured by distance in any direction to any continent. Even today, this location gives one pause — you can’t “get away” from it all any further than this location, for to move in any direction will move you closer to “it all,” however you define IT. We think it’s why people moved here in the first place. HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — May 13th
- 1610: King Henry IV is assassinated by Francois Ravaillac
- 1637: France’s Cardinal Richelieu creates the table knife (a knife with its point rounded off) to replace the use of daggers at his dinner table (until now daggers are used to cut meat and to pick teeth)
- 1846: U.S. declares war on Mexico (two months after fighting actually began)
- 1888: Brazil abolishes slavery
- 1890: Nikola Tesla is granted a patent for an electric generator
- 1917: The first appearance of Mary is seen by three peasant children in Fatima, Portugal
- 1958: The Velcro trademark is registered for the fabric hook and loop fastener
- 1985: Philadelphia police drop an explosive onto the headquarters of the radical group MOVE; 11 people died in the resulting fire.
- 1989: Approximately 2,000 students begin a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square in China
- 1991: Apple releases Macintosh System 7.0
BORN ON THIS DAY — May 13th
- 1842: Sir Arthur Sullivan,Of Gilbert & Sullivan fame
- 1907: Daphne du Maurier, novelist
- 1927: Clive Barnes, NY Times drama critic
- 1930: Mike Gravel, (Sen-R-Alaska)
- 1931: Jim Jones, Christian minister/mass murderer
- 1939: Harvey Keitel, actor
- 1941: Ritchie Valens, singer
- 1950: Peter Gabriel, rocker
- 1950: Stevie Wonder, singer/musician
- 1963: Julian Brookhouse, rocker
- 1964: Stephen Colbert, comedian/satirist
