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Rogue-Scribe

Fifty years ago four students were gunned down on the Kent State University campus by the Ohio National Guard. Their crime was protesting the war, more specifically, the bombing of Cambodia.

From Wikipedia: The Kent State shootings (also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre),were the shootings on May 4, 1970, of unarmed college students by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, during a mass protest against the bombing in neutral Cambodia by United States military forces. Twenty-eight National Guard soldiers fired approximately 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

Some of the students who were shot had been protesting against the Cambodian Campaign, which President Richard Nixon announced during a television address on April 30 of that year. Other students who were shot had been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.]

There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of 4 million students, and the event further affected public opinion, at an already socially contentious time, over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.


University students gunned down by their own government for exercising the right of free speech. Lest We Forget.

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On May 5th 1862, General Ignacio Zaragoza led the Mexican Army to victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla. Around 6,000 well-armed and trained French troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez marched on the town of Puebla de Los Angeles where roughly 2000 poorly trained and equipped mostly indeginous Mexicans were waiting for them. As the French forces were confident of swift victory, little was done to conceal their movement and the small town was fortified.

One of the few advantages the Mexicans had was the possession of some heavy cannon which decimated the French assault on the town. After losing over 500 men, General Latrille de Lorencez ordered a general retreat. The Mexican army lost around 100 men.

Though a victory for Mexico, the war with France would go on for five more years. What the battle did do was to break the confidence of the French forces and the hope for a swift victory was dashed.

The victory led to the annual celebration of 'Cinco de Mayo', which is not a realy big event in Mexico itself, but is quite popular in the USA and other countries where a large Mexican ex-pat community exists. So in 2020, Taco Tuesday is on Cinco-de-Mayo but gatherings to party are frustrated by a pandemic virus names after a Mexican beer.
Interesting!

In my country, May 4th marks the day we were liberated from Nazi Germany's occupation. It's a tradition to put a lit candle in the windowsill. When we were occupied by Germany, it was mandatory to have blackout curtains so the Allies couldn't navigate using the city lights to drop bombs. When it was announced that we'd been liberated, people tore down the much hated curtains (some say they were even burned on bonfires) and placed lights in the windowsill. It's a neat little tradition.
I also know some people who light an extra candle in memory of fallen soldiers.
Ok, this is my favorite new thread to read.

1. I hadn't heard about that incident in Ohio, although I know about the tension between the government and protestors during that time. But I don't remember ever learning that national guard shot and killed college students. I'm so glad everyone has a camera these days. I think it really helps.

2. I didn't know what Cinco de Mayo was about. (The last sentence of that was just...art in it's purest form...lmao). In my hometown it's a big thing, although usually no one knows what it celebrates. In fact I thought it was about something else. I get it confused with Fiesta.

3. That's so interesting about the candle in the window and the blackout curtains.

4. Also, Napoleon died on this day in 1821. ;)
On this day in the Netherlands we celebrate Liberation Day (in Dutch Bevrijdingsdag). Were we celebrate the fact that the occupation of Nazi Germany has end.
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Penholder wrote:
Interesting!

In my country, May 4th marks the day we were liberated from Nazi Germany's occupation. It's a tradition to put a lit candle in the windowsill. When we were occupied by Germany, it was mandatory to have blackout curtains so the Allies couldn't navigate using the city lights to drop bombs. When it was announced that we'd been liberated, people tore down the much hated curtains (some say they were even burned on bonfires) and placed lights in the windowsill. It's a neat little tradition.
I also know some people who light an extra candle in memory of fallen soldiers.

That is an interesting tradition!
Cookiesareyummie wrote:
On this day in the Netherlands we celebrate Liberation Day (in Dutch Bevrijdingsdag). Were we celebrate the fact that the occupation of Nazi Germany has end.

Cool to know about the local celebrations of the ending Nazi occupation!

Abigail_Austin wrote:
I didn't know what Cinco de Mayo was about. (The last sentence of that was just...art in it's purest form...lmao). In my hometown it's a big thing, although usually no one knows what it celebrates. In fact I thought it was about something else. I get it confused with Fiesta.
Yes, I often hear people say it is Mexican Independence Day which is actually September 16th 1810.



This day in history on May 6th, the rail tunnel under the English Channel opened in 1994 connecting Britain and France.
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This day in history... 1536

Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, is beheaded on Tower Green.
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On May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opens with an intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theaters.

The incredible success of Star Wars–it received seven Oscars, and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close to $800 million worldwide–began with an extensive, coordinated marketing push by Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox, months before the movie’s release date. “It wasn’t like a movie opening,” actress Carrie Fisher, who played rebel leader Princess Leia, later told Time magazine. “It was like an earthquake.” Beginning with–in Fisher’s words–“a new order of geeks, enthusiastic young people with sleeping bags,” the anticipation of a revolutionary movie-watching experience spread like wildfire, causing long lines in front of movie theaters across the country and around the world.

With its groundbreaking special effects, Star Wars leaped off screens and immersed audiences in “a galaxy far, far away.” By now everyone knows the story, which followed the baby-faced Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he enlisted a team of allies–including hunky Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the robots C3PO and R2D2–on his mission to rescue the kidnapped Princess Leia from an Evil Empire governed by Darth Vader. The film made all three of its lead actors overnight stars, turning Fisher into an object of adoration for millions of young male fans and launching Ford’s now-legendary career as an action-hero heartthrob.

Star Wars was soon a bona-fide pop culture phenomenon. Over the years it has spawned several more feature films, TV series and an entire industry’s worth of comic books, toys, video games and other products. Two big-screen sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Return of the Jedi (1983), featured much of the original cast and enjoyed the same success–both critical and commercial–as the first film.
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June 4 1989 - Tiananmen Square China

It was a day of widespread protests, and after an ally of the students in the Politboro was censured, the tanks started rolling. The protests were put down with force and there is still no accurate number of how many were killed through that day and then next, June 5th.
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June 6 1944 - Normandy France

In the first hours of June 6th 1944, British and U.S. Paratroppers started jumping ou tof planes over Normandy France to begin the long-anticipated invasion of Western Europe to ope a second front against Nazi Germany. These airdrops were in a military sense quite chaotic, but the effects on the German communications was quite effective. So began the 'Day of Days'.

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