**
History
This feast may represent a Christian adaptation of the pagan feast, Cervulus, integrating it with the donkey in the nativity story.[2] In connection with the Biblical stories, the celebration was first celebrated in the 11th century, inspired by the pseudo-Augustinian "Sermo contra Judaeos" c. 6th century.
In the second half of the 15th century, the feast disappeared gradually, along with the Feast of Fools, which was stamped out around the same time. It was not considered as objectionable as the Feast of Fools.[3]
Practices
A girl and a child on a donkey would be led through town to the church, where the donkey would stand beside the altar during the sermon, and the congregation would "hee-haw" their responses to the priest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Ass
World History this day
1539 -- Spain annexed Cuba.
1943 -- The Japanese began their evacuation from Guadalcanal
1943 -- The Casablanca Conference began
1953 -- Tito became the first President of Yugoslavia.
US History this day
1784 -- Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris
1954 -- Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator to become the American Motors Corporation.
Science & Technology this day
1911 -- Amundsen's expedition made landfall on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.
1950 -- The first flight of the earliest prototype of the MiG-17
The Arts this day
1952 -- The first broadcast of the Today show with Dave Garroway. (but is it art??)
Misc. this day
1967 -- The Human Be-In held in Golden Gate Park, started the Summer of Love.
Birthdays of Note this day
1875 -- Albert Schweitzer, physician and explorer
1886 -- Hugh Lofting, author
1896 -- John Dos Passos, nvelist, poet, and playwright
1901 -- Alfred Tarski, mathematician, logician and philosopher
1904 -- Emily Hahn, journalist, author, early feminist
1908 -- Russ Columbo, singer, violinist, and composer
1912 -- Tillie Olsen, writer and activist
1921 -- Murray Bookchin, author and political philosopher
1924 -- Carole Cook, singer and actress
1930 -- Johnny Grande, pianist, accordianist and comet
1936 -- Clarence Carter, singer and songwriter
1938 -- Jack Jones, singer and actor
1938 -- Billie Jo Spears, country singer, of course
1938 -- Allen Toussaint, singer, songwriter, pianist, producer
1943 -- Shannon Lucid, biochemist and astronaut
1948 -- T Bone Burnett, singer, songwriter, suitarist and producer
1969 -- Dave Grohl, singer, songwriter, guitarist, drummer
Deaths of Note this day
1742 -- Edmond Halley, astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist
1753 -- George Berkeley, philosopher
1874 -- Johann Philipp Reis, physicist, invented own phone
1898 -- Lewis Carroll, mathematician, logician, author and poet
1905 -- Ernst Abbe, physicist, optics wallah, worked with Zeiss
1965 -- Jeanette MacDonald, actress and singer
1977 -- Anais Nin, author
1978 -- Kurt Godel, mathematician and philosopher
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So now some music
The Human Be-In, 01-14-1967, included an assortment of free music
Blue Cheer was busy trying to invent Heavy Metal, with stuff like
and then there were the regulars
Jefferson Airplane
Big Brother
Quicksilver
Grateful Dead
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Photo: Image from page 309 of "Cyclopedia of farm animals" (1922)
It's an open thread, so do your thing
Crossposted from http://caucus99percent.com