Waitangi Day is the national day of New Zealand and the anniversary of the 1840 signing of Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding Document. I should just leave it at that because I am so vastly ignorant of the matter, but my cursory reading in a feeble attempt to understand the whole thing left me wondering why, after the Maori had written and transmitted a formal declaration of independence, they would then sign a treaty giving the British control over their islands, their lands, and their persons. Of course, being of largely Hibernian descent, I readily understand why Britain, having received a document declaring the official independence of an actually independent populace would immediately send somebody aboard an armed vessel to take control of it.
At any rate, Waitangi is where the treaty was signed, hence Waitangi Day and all the celebrations, including such things as traditional feasts and the use of the waka and, of course, planty of haka.
It is also International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Should not be an isolated day, but a permanent mindset and lifestyle, imho, but that's just me it seems.
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On this day in history:
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1819 -- Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded Singapore. Slings were presumably slung.
1820 -- 86 African Americans left New York to colonize what is today Liberia.
1840 -- New Zealand became a British colony.
1899 -- The US Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris between the US and Spain
1900 – The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague was created
1918 -- British women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications got the right to vote, the rest remained serfs.
1919 – The five-day Seattle General Strike began
1922 -- The Washington Naval Treaty was signed limiting the naval armaments of the US, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
1952 -- Elizabeth II became queen
1959 -- Jack Kilby filed for the first patent of an integrated circuit.
1973 – The Ms 7.6 Luhuo earthquake struck Sichuan Province
1976 – Lockheed Corporation admitted paying $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, began
1981 -- The National Resistance Army of Uganda started the Ugandan Bush War
1987 -- Justice Mary Gaudron became the first woman appointed to the Australian High Court
2012 -- A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the Philippines
2013 -- A 8.0 magnitude earthquake in the Solomon Islands
2016 -- A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan
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Some people who were born on this day:
In times of peace, the war party insists on making preparation for war. As soon as prepared for, it insists on making war.
~~ Robert La Follette Jr.
1465 – Scipione del Ferro, mathematician, solved the morose depressed cubic equation
1695 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, mathematician and theorist
1726 – Patrick Russell, surgeon and zoologist
1802 – Charles Wheatstone, physicist and cryptographer
1811 – Henry Liddell, priest, author, and academic; Alice's Dad
1879 -- Othon Friesz, Fauvist painter
1890 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, activist and politician
1895 – María Teresa Vera, singer, guitarist and composer
1895 - Robert La Follette Jr., politician, co-founder of the progressive party
1898 -- Harry Haywood, politician, activist, CPUSA member
1902 -- George Brunies, trombonist
1903 -- Claudio Arrau, pianist and composer
1913 -- Mary Leakey, archaeologist and anthropologist
1927 – Gerard K. O'Neill, physicist and astronomer
1932 -- François Truffaut, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1939 – Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer
1940 -- Tom Brokaw, journalist and author
1941 – Stephen Albert, pianist and composer
1942 -- Sarah Brady, gun control activist and author
1943 – Fabian Forte, pop singer and actor
1944 -- Willie Tee, singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1945 -- Bob Marley, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1946 -- Richie Hayward, drummer and songwriter
1946 -- Kate McGarrigle, musician and singer-songwriter
1947 -- Bill Staines, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1949 -- Mike Batt, singer, songwriter and producer
1950 -- Natalie Cole, singer, songwriter and actress
1950 – Punky Meadows, rock guitarist and songwriter
1956 – Jerry Marotta, drummer (orleans/still the one)
1957 -- Simon Phillips, drummer and producer
1962 -- Axl Rose, singer, songwriter and producer
1964 -- Gordon Downie, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1966 -- Rick Astley, singer, songwriter, nothing to see here
1967 -- Anita Cochran, country singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1967 – Izumi Sakai, singer and songwriter
1975 – Tomoko Kawase, singer, songwriter, and producer
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Some people who died on this day:
Art is a line around your thoughts.
~~ Gustav Klimt
1378 -- Joanna of Bourbon, not to be confused with Joanna of Rye or Scotch
1804 -- Joseph Priestley, chemist and theologian
1918 -- Gustav Klimt, painter and illustrator
1976 -- Vince Guaraldi, singer, songwriter and pianist
1981 -- Hugo Montenegro, composer and conductor
1990 -- Jimmy Van Heusen, pianist and composer
2007 -- Frankie Laine, singer, songwriter and actor
2011 -- Gary Moore, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
2016 -- Dan Hicks, singer, songwriter and guitarist
2022 – Lata Mangeshkar, singer and music composer
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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in 1840.
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Today's Tunes
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María Teresa Vera
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George Brunies
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Jair Rodrigues
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Claudio Arrau
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Willie Tee
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Bob Marley
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Richie Hayward
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Kate McGarrigle
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Bill Staines
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Mike Batt
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Natalie Cole (Gives erroneous song history, actually by Moe Kaufman, as an instrumental, Tito covered it on Swinging Shepherd Blues (Goes Latin) then Ella added vocals )
Simon Phillips
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Axl Rose
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Gordon Downie
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Rick Astley
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Anita Cochran
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Vince Guaraldi
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Hugo Montenegro
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Jimmy Van Heusen
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Frankie Laine
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Gary Moore
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Dan Hicks
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Lata Mangeshkar
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Bonus: Moe Kaufman
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Tito Puente
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Ella Fitzgerald added vocals
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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
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Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com