Today in History.....

Partition of India and Pakistan 1947


70 years ago the British Raj came to an end with the creation of the Dominions of India and Pakistan. Overnight Hindus were no longer safe or welcome in Pakistan and Muslims equally unwanted in India. Many millions of people became refugees and many were murdered in their homes, villages, and in transit to their new home countries. That violence reverberates through Pakistan and India today.

The Washington Post has a good article interviewing survivors who saw what happened first hand: 70 years later, survivors recall the horrors of India-Pakistan partition.

Before the clock strikes midnight on the east coast:

August 27th
Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?280561-1/2008-democratic-convention-day-3

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech 53 years ago on August 28, 1963. This was at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with 250,000 people on the National Mall in Washington DC.

I still have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream – one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, "We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream...
- Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)[25]

Click to expand...

topdog said:

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech 53 years ago on August 28, 1963. This was at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with 250,000 people on the National Mall in Washington DC.

​

Click to expand...

But wasn't it not only a dream if I'm looking at the world from today? X_X

On this day: 31st August

In 1997, the world awoke to the news that Diana, Princess of Wales, had died as the result of a car crash in Paris.

Diana’s death was met with a huge outpouring of public grief. Her funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6 drew an estimated three million mourners and onlookers in London, while 2.5 billion people are believed to have watched television coverage worldwide.


Photo: CCTV footage in the Ritz Hotel in Paris captured Diana's final hours

haiducii said:

In 1997, the world awoke to the news that Diana, Princess of Wales, had died as the result of a car crash in Paris...

Click to expand...

It still hits me out of the blue. Like when Prince Harry got an HIV test on live TV - I feel the echo of Diana still reverberating in the world. Those last couple of years she seemed to really come in to her own and find her voice that had nothing to do with royalty.

I will never forget a decade before she died when she visited children and adults with AIDS in hospital and touched and embraced them. No other public figure was doing that, much less a princess. She knew the power she had and she used it to break down barriers and bring attention to people others overlooked (people with AIDS, leprosy, and victims of land mines).

I miss her.

topdog said:

It still hits me out of the blue. Like when Prince Harry got an HIV text on live TV - I feel the echo of Diana still reverberating in the world. Those last couple of years she seemed to really come in to her own and find her voice that had nothing to do with royalty.

I will never forget a decade before she died when she visited children and adults with AIDS in hospital and touched and embraced them. No other public figure was doing that, much less a princess. She knew the power he had and she used it to break down barriers and bring attention to people others overlooked (people with AIDS, leprosy, and victims of land mines).

I miss her.

​

Click to expand...

:agree::agree::agree::agree::agree:

And thank you for this little clip of Elton John. It has brought me to tears.

On this day: 10th September

In 1989, Hungary gives permission for thousands of East German refugees to leave Hungary for West Germany. It was the first time one of the Warsaw Pact nations - who were joined in the defensive alliance between Russia and its eastern Europe satellites – broke from the practice of blocking citizens of the communist nations from going to the West.

brmstn69 said:

Aw... Look at all the Trabi's, so cute....
I want one!

Click to expand...

Really??? You must be kidding!!! Everyone in your neighborhood would hate you because of this smelly something called "Rennpappe" (racing-cardboard). We are happy not to see these so called "cars" on our streets :no: and our noses are very grateful!

On this day: 11th September

I was working in a Federal office building a block away from the US Capitol in Washington DC when we saw the news from New York about a plane crash at the World Trade Center. Before long there was another plane, then we saw the smoke rising from across the river at the Pentagon. All transportation was at a standstill so I grabbed my bag and started walking home - about 4 miles away.

There were many heroes that day, but the passengers on those flights are the ones I am remembering tonight.

On this day: 12th September

In 2015, the Slovenian men's national basketball team lost against Latvia in the elimination round of the European basketball championship.



The team will face Latvia in tonight's quarter-final match of the 2017 EuroBasket in Istanbul. Should Slovenia win tonight, the team will play the winner of the quarter-finals match between reigning European champions Spain and Germany in the semi-finals. :nail biting:

Gus Backus - 80th Birthday



12.09.1937 - 12.09.2017 - born in New York -

16 September 1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

On this day: 27th September

In 1984, Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, fashion designer Avril Lavigne was born.



According to Billboard, McAfee named aughties pop stalwart Avril Lavigne the internet's most dangerous celebrity. The cybersecurity company analyzed celebrities and their respective search results to see which ones would pull up the most infected sites. Looking at viruses and malware, Lavigne's search results on Google, Bing, and Yahoo had a 14.5% chance of coming with unwanted online stowaways.

So guys, be careful while searching for her naked pics!

my birthday

edkiko said:

my birthday

Click to expand...

Happy Birthday! :big hug:

edkiko said:

my birthday

Click to expand...

A very happy Birthday for you and all the very best for the new year of your life. May all your wishes come true - or at least the most of them. :thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up:

On this day: 1st October

In 2015, we celebrated the first International Coffee Day.



Coffee in the morning; coffee and a catch up with old friends; going for coffee with your new hot date – we drink coffee morning, day and night with friends, business associates and lovers. You have only to walk down the nearest high street and note the number of coffee chains to realise the extent of our love affair with our favourite caffeinated beverage.

Whether you favour espresso, americanos, lattes or cappuccinos; iced, decaf, instant or filter – Coffee Day is the day to savour and appreciate your beverage, and maybe even pick one up for free at certain chains in the USA.

Coffee Day also marks the long history of the drink: the properties of coffee beans are thought to have first been discovered in Ethiopia. The beans are actually the pits found in the coffee berry or cherry. The story goes that a 9th century goat herder noticed their stimulating effects on his goats and began experimenting.

Coffee drinking was originally popularised in the Arab world from around the 15th century spreading across Asia then to Italy and across Europe and to the Americas – and finally to your coffee cup.

Today, coffee is one of the world’s biggest crops so buying ethically grown coffee is all the more important – be sure to be selective in buying your cup of coffee and supporting ethical trade.

So when you drink your cup of coffee today, inhale its aroma, taste its dark and full-bodied flavour, think about its story – but most of all enjoy.