This might be an interesting topic. I found this for today's date:
May 10, 1933 - German students from universities gather in Berlin and other German cities to burn books with "unGerman" ideas. Books by Freud, Einstein, Thomas Mann, Jack London, H.G. Wells and many others go up in flames as they give the Nazi salute.
Over a hundred years earlier, the German-Jewish poet, Heinrich Heine, had stated, "Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too."
What book by Freud would be unGerman? I suppose 'Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious' could be one. Jokes were pretty unGerman.(Never understood that title.The Unconscious? I've heard of a 'knock out gag' but not taken that as literal speaking )
And as for H G Wells, 'The War of the Worlds' ought to have appealed to Nazis.However, he never wrote any short story 'Annexing the Sudetenland' or its practical sequel ' Teach Yourself :Invading Poland, a handbook for Beginners ' ( a new addition to the popular Teach Yourself series)
Freud was a Jew. I think the Nazis had a problem with that...
He was ??? I'm shocked. (Did he have any unGerman ideas in his books?)
H G Wells was a Christian who could be read as advocating eugenics, in The World, Wealth and the Happiness of Mankind, published the year after these burnings (1934). And,in 1901, he'd published Anticipations of the Reactions of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought where he foretold of a world where inferior races were exterminated and the world was governed by a central government of elite. It's surprising that the Nazis didn't take that as a good book ! They must have been more subtle than that in their understanding of the message
Only my sex precluded me from being a Nazi book burner, myself. When I was in the police force in the UK, they were filming one of the Indiana Jones movies at nearby Stowe public school, where there was a reenactment of that very event. They needed extras to play the parts of the Nazis, and approached our police force. So all the guys got the night off, to go along and play dressup, while I got left at the station doing paperwork. My friend Brian wasn't included either, there not being much of a call for black nazis. My only consolation for the fact that I never got to meet Harrison Ford or Sean Connery, was that they were made to give the money they earned to charity.
I think the sight of them burning all those books would have been too much for me anyway.
May, 11 1720 Baron Münchhausen was born in Bodenwerder, Germany. He is remembered for his tall tales, including riding cannonballs, travelling to the Moon, and escaping from a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair (or bootstraps, depending on who tells the story). His name is given to the psychological disease, Munchausen syndrome.
This must have been the Thames Valley police (If not, they must have been too busy)
Yes I missed another major event at the time too. I was on vacation, when Michael Jackson, then very popular, played a huge concert locally. My shift was asked to do the policing for the event. They all got to meet him, and he kissed my friend, the only other woman on the shift, on the cheek. At the time I was so envious. Now, all these years later, I can only say, ' Eawwwwww!'
I like a thread about memorable dates in history, and I will move this thread to the History forum in about 24 hours, where I hope that posters stay a bit more on topic.
Posts: 17019 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Not quite "Today in History", but still pertinent:
From DayofMothers.com -
The history of Mother's Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother's festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother's Day.
In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, the white carnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.
Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother's day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.
Regardless of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us but the Mother's day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother's Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.
Posts: 17019 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Interesting clip, Dogspit. Those were the days when Britain still had an empire! Fred, was that you there, carrying His Majesty's royal train, wearing silk stockings and that rather fetching waistcoat?
On this day in 1935 Dr Robert Smith met William Wilson, by chance, for the first time.They were then, and to most are still,effectively and appropriately anonymous.They ended up discussing their personal difficulties. That discussion led them to found Alcoholics Anonymous. They were both alcoholics.
(And today is the anniversary of the birth of one Florence Nightingale. She is famous as the woman who was named after her place of birth. She was born in 1820 in Florence. She is infamous for going around military hospitals at night, startling sleeping soldiers by shining a lamp in their eyes. Weird. She must have had a good lawyer because her case was that she was just saving lives. Hmm. Not as many as the two men above did )
Originally posted by dg: Fred, was that you there, carrying His Majesty's royal train, wearing silk stockings and that rather fetching waistcoat?
No. I was another handsome young boy there. One of the Royal Family, a man, said to me privately that I could be a page. That was true,and I was, but afterwards all he wanted to do was turn me.
Actually, I always find it amusing that the high school students employed at the library are called pages.
May 12, 1925: Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
He picked up his more famous nickname from a friend who said he resembled a Hindu holy man (yogi) they had seen in a movie, whenever Berra sat around with arms and legs crossed waiting to bat, or while looking sad after a losing game. Years later, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yogi Bear was named after Berra, something Berra did not appreciate after he started being periodically addressed as "Yogi Bear."Wikipedia
Famous for his witticisms:
As a general comment on baseball: "Half of this game is 90% mental." On why he no longer went to a popular Minneapolis restaurant: "Nobody goes there no more, it's too crowded!" "It ain't over till it's over." - After Berra's 1973 Mets trailed the Chicago Cubs by 9½ games in the National League East; the Mets rallied to win the division title on the next-to-last day of the season. When giving directions to his New Jersey home, which was equally accessible via two different routes: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." On being the guest of honor at an awards banquet: "I'd like to thank all those who made this night necessary." "It's like déjà vu all over again" "Always go to other peoples' funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours." On a trip to Cooperstown, to attend a dinner, Phil Rizzuto commented to Yogi, "I think we're lost." To which Yogi responded "Yeah, but we're making great time."
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(If not, they must have been too busy)
