It's always a red letter day!

[elguapo4]

Then why didn't Captain Kirk get included?

[Levin]

His birthday is in March

[Discordant Resonance]

Then why didn't Captain Kirk get included?

Purely a case of who was listed first, and the co-incidence was just too good not to mention.

[Benjm]

Albino Luciani was elected John Paul I in 1978.

Hey!

[Discordant Resonance]

August 27th is the National Day of Moldova (which won't be acknowledged in Transnistria), and also of the micro-nation of Elleore. The Battle of Plataea in 479 saw the Greeks defeat the Persians, while the 1798 Rebellion reached its pinnacle today with a Franco-Irish victory at the "Races of Castlebar". Krakatoa erupted in 1883, the Shortest War in History saw the UK defeat Zanzibar within 38 minutes in 1896, and Lord Mountbatten was killed in 1979. Births include Charles Rolls (1877), Man Ray (1890), Lyndon B Johnson (1908), Barbara Bach (1947) and Dietmar Hamann (1973). Titian (1576), Le Corbusier (1965), Brian Epstein (1967) and Haile Selassie (1975) all passed away today.

[Discordant Resonance]

No national holiday today. Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor was put on the throne in 475 AD, the British Empire abolishes slavery in 1833, Martin Luther King gives his "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963, and Kuwait is formally annexed by Iraq in 1990. Goethe was born today in 1749, as were David Soul (1943), David Fincher (1962), Shania Twain (1965), Rene Higuita (1966), and Florence Welch (1986). Mostly cinematic deaths today - Robert Shaw (1978), John Huston (1987) and Chadwick Boseman (2020).

[elguapo4]

Two of my friends have birthdays today, five years apart. More importantly, in the Terminator films, Skynet destroys the world today in 1997.

[Discordant Resonance]

August 29th is the UN Day against Nuclear Testing, while it's Lawyers' Day in Argentina. Atahualpa was executed in 1533, Charles II returned to London as King in 1660, St Kilda was evacuated in 1930, and Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005. The Beatles gave their last concert, in San Francisco, in 1966, while Netflix was launched in 1997. John Locke was born today in 1632, along with Maurice Mæterlinck (1862), Ingrid Bergman (1915), Charlie Parker (1920), John McCain (1936), Michael Jackson (1958) and Liam Payne (1993). Bergman later died on her 67th birthday (1982), along with Charles Darrow (1967), Éamon de Valera (1975) and Lee Marvin (1987).

[ursus arctos]

I wonder if fewer than 1/365 of the population die on their birthday

[ursus arctos]

Another commemoration

https://twitter.com/last_of_england/status/1431874257601040390?s=21

[ad hoc]

Bad day for Hungarian history, as it is marked as the anniversary of 3 major defeats, the loss of Nandorfehever (Belgrade to you) in 1521, the loss of Buda in 1541, and most devastatingly of all, defeat in the Battle of Mohacs (which is THE defeat in the Hungarian natural psyche. Well, that and Trianon), in 1526. All of them to the Ottomans.

[Sporting]

the Battle of Mohacs (which is THE defeat in the Hungarian natural psyche

Worse than Bern 1954?

[ad hoc]

Worse than Bern 1954?

In the sense that the Charge of the Light Brigade was a bigger defeat for the English than the 1990 World Cup semi final, yes.

[ad hoc]

Though to be honest, Bern 1954 is not seen in that light anyway. It's a major disappointment, but it came both at a period where everyone knew that Hungary were objectively the world's best football team (and Bern did not change that fact), and at a time in the history of the nation during which a football defeat was somewhat meaningless. The defeat to the Soviets on the streets of Budapest 2 years later renders Bern totally irrelevant

[Sporting]

I was joking, as I'm sure you know...

[Levin]

But it's an interesting question as both kinds of defeats mark themselves in national discourses. It's not for nothing that the chant is two world wars and one world cup.

Oh wow, Mohács is the trigger to Habsburg rule and partitioned the kingdom.

I read a tweet yesterday that the most common national holiday around the word was Independence from Britain day is some form. 60+ countries. That's not going to be true is it? Christmas should trump that, although there may be a split ticket between the 24 th and 25th amongst those places that celebrate it.

DR, will your updates include significant dates in the republican calendar?

[ursus arctos]

Is there any other country in the world that conflates wars and world cups in that fashion?

France certainly doesn't see 2006 as having anything to do with 1870 or 1940

[ursus arctos]

I would presume that the tweet referred to "national days" like the Fourth of July, Quatorze Juillet, etc, rather than to all nationally recognised holidays

[Levin]

Is there any other country in the world that conflates wars and world cups in that fashion?

Sorry, I forget just how weird we are sometimes.

Ah, that may be the qualifier that I'm missing!

[Discordant Resonance]

But it's an interesting question as both kinds of defeats mark themselves in national discourses. It's not for nothing that the chant is two world wars and one world cup.

Oh wow, Mohács is the trigger to Habsburg rule and partitioned the kingdom.

I read a tweet yesterday that the most common national holiday around the word was Independence from Britain day is some form. 60+ countries. That's not going to be true is it? Christmas should trump that, although there may be a split ticket between the 24 th and 25th amongst those places that celebrate it.

DR, will your updates include significant dates in the republican calendar?

I'll be doing every major calendar and religious festival, and already mentioned Thermidor giving way to Fructidor - now that I've the first month nearly down, the other 11 shouldn't be so hard (with the occasional double entry when I know I'll be away for a few days).

[jwdd27]

I wonder if fewer than 1/365 of the population die on their birthday

More like 1/350 if my maths is right. I think the fact that people (especially the young) are more likely to be out and about travelling, as well as more likely to be drinking heavily and /or drugging, which increases likelihood of accidents or misadventures. Plus those who are suicidal are seemingly more prone to take action on their birthday (I know of two people who sadly took this approach)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_effect

[Discordant Resonance]

August 30th is the UN Day of the Disappeared, Kazakh Constitution Day, and Azerbaijan Independence Day. Melbourne was founded today in 1835, the Battle of Tannenberg occurred in 1914, Fanny Kaplan tries to assassinate Lenin in 1918, Turkey wins the final battle of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, East Timor holds an independence referendum in 2002, and Emmanuel Macron leaves the Hollande government in 2016 to launch his presidential campaign. David (Napoleon's painter) was born in 1748, as was Mary Shelley (1797), Ernest Rutherford (1871), John Peel (1939), Pavel Nedved (1972) and Andy Roddick (1982). Max Factor died in 1938, as did Abraham Zapruder (1970), Charles Bronson (2003), Naguib Mahfouz (2006), Seamus Heaney (2013) and Wes Craven (2015).

[ad hoc]

Turkey wins the final battle of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922,

Turkey celebrates "Victory Day" today (my facebook timeline is full of pictures of Ataturk today), but I don't think it was the "final battle", more like the decisive one.

Today is also my mum's birthday, born the exact same day as John Peel (2 days before the war started)

[Discordant Resonance]

It's the 24th anniversary of the deaths of Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed, along with independence days in Kyrgystan (1991), Malaysia (1957) and Trinidad and Tobago (1962), the Day of the Moldovan Language (for which read Romanian), and Solidarity Day in Poland. The Republic of Connacht declared independence in 1798, Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the first permanent IRA ceasefire began in 1994, and Dilma Rousseff was deposed in 2016. It's the feast day of Aidan of Lindisfarne, and the birthday of Caligula (12 AD), Commodus (161), Maria Montessori (1870), Violet Gibson (1876), Cardinal Sin (1928) and Richard Gere (1949). As well as the forementioned, Henry V (1422), Charles Baudelaire (1867), Rocky Marciano (1969), John Ford (1973), Henry Moore (1986), and David Frost (2013) died today.

[Discordant Resonance]

September

The Irish Meán Fómhair means "mid-Autumn" (Aug-Oct), while the Welsh Mis Medi is the "reaping month". It's Uzbek Independence Day, Wattle Day in Australia and Slovak Constitution Day, along with the Orthodox New Year. The first Hapsburg emperor is elected in 1273, Louis XIV dies in 1715, Saskatchewan and Alberta become Canadian provinces in 1905, King Zog takes the Albanian throne in 1928, Gaddafi becomes Libyan ruler in 1969, and the wreck of the Titanic is discovered in 1985. Pachelbel (of the Canon) was born in 1653, as were Engelbert Humperdinck (1854), Roger Casement (1864), Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875), Rocky Marciano (1923), Gloria Estefan (1957) and Zendaya (1996). Eero Saarinen (1961) and Albert Speer (1985) died today.