02-06 Lame Duck Day
February 6th, 2010
Massachusetts Statehood Day:
(excerpted from http://www.netstate.com/states/government/ma_government.htm)
STATEHOOD:In 1620, the Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, set sail from England and established a colony in Plymouth. After them came the Puritans along with a royal charter allowing the Massachusetts Bay Company to promote settlement of the territory from “sea to sea” and to govern its colonies. This charter became the foundation of government for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The growth of Massachusetts spread along the coast and then to the west.
The colony seemed to be getting along fine on its own while England was preoccupied with their war with France from 1688 to 1760. In 1764, however, the Company’s charter was revoked and the colony was placed under the Dominion of England and the administration of Sir Edmond Andros. England attempted to reassert her power over the colony and conflict between the colony and England increased. Massachusetts rebelled and eventually armed conflict broke out. The so-called “Boston Massacre” of March 5, 1770 occurred when British soldiers fired into a crowd of taunting colonials. In response to the Tea Act of 1773, Boston citizens, organized by Sam Adams, disguised themselves as Indians and dumped the cargo of East India Company ships into Boston Harbor in protest. On April 19, 1775, colonials engaged the British at Lexington and Concord and touched off “the shot heard round the world.” The Revolutionary War began.
The story of Massachusetts’ statehood is the story of the birth of the United States. One of the original 13 states, Massachusetts joined the Union when it became the sixth state to ratify the new constitution on February 6, 1788. However, Massachusetts ratified the Constitution only on the condition that certain amendments concerning individual rights be added. These conditions, entered under the “Bill of Rights,” went into effect on December 15, 1791.
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Zero_Tolerance_to_Female_Genital_Mutilation)
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is a UN-sponsored awareness day that takes place February 6 each year. It is an effort to make the world aware of female genital cutting and to promote its eradication.
First, on Feb. 6, 2003, Stella Obasanjo, the First Lady of Nigeria, made the official declaration on “Zero Tolerance to FGM” in Africa during a conference organized by the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC). Then the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights adopted this day as an international awareness day.
Lame Duck Day:
(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/February/lameduckday.htm)
If you are a Lame Duck: Enjoy those final days. Reflect upon you successes, and the joys and rewards the position provided to you. Kick back a little and have some fun today, and in the remaining days.
If you know a Lame Duck: Supporters should provide recognition and support. Non-supporters can cut the Lame Duck a little slack today. They will soon be gone.
Origin of Lame Duck Day:
On February 6, 1933, the 20th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. This amendment addressed presidential succession. Now there’s a lame duck issue.
Sami National Day:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_National_Day)
The Sami National Day falls on February 6 as this date was when the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway.[1] This congress was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together across their national borders to work together to find solutions for common problems.
In 1992, at the 15th Sámi Conference in Helsinki, a resolution was passed that Sámi National Day should be celebrated on February 6th to commemorate the 1st Sámi congress in 1917. Sami National Day is for all Sámi, regardless of where they live and on that day the Sámi flag should be flown and the Song of the Sami People is sung in the local Sámi language. The first time Sami National Day was celebrated was in 1993, when the International Year of Indigenous People was proclaimed open in Jokkmokk, Sweden by the United Nations.
Since then, celebrating the day has become increasingly popular. In Norway it is compulsory for municipal administrative buildings to fly the Sami flag on February 6th. Particularly notable is the celebration in Norway’s capital Oslo, where the bells in the highest tower of Oslo City Hall play the Sámi soga lávlla as the flags go up.[citation needed] Some larger places have taken to arranging festivities also in the week around the Sami National Day.
Waitangi Day:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day)
Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, on that date in 1840.
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840, in a marquee erected in the grounds of James Busby’s house (now known as the Treaty house) at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. The Treaty made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed Māori rights to their land and gave Māori the rights of British citizens. There are significant differences between the Māori and English language versions of the Treaty, and virtually since 1840 this has led to debate over exactly what was agreed to at Waitangi. Māori have generally seen the Treaty as a sacred pact, while for many years Pākehā (the Māori word for New Zealanders of predominantly European ancestry) ignored it. By the early twentieth century, however, some Pākehā were beginning to see the Treaty as their nation’s founding document and a symbol of British humanitarianism. Unlike Māori, Pākehā have generally not seen the Treaty as a document with binding power over the country and its inhabitants. In 1877 Chief Justice James Prendergast declared it to be a ‘legal nullity’, and it still has limited standing in New Zealand law.
Bob Marley Day:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley)
Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers (1964–1974) and Bob Marley & The Wailers (1974–1981). Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited for helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.
Celebrity Birthdays:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Wilson_Reagan)
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911– June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). Prior to his political career Reagan was also a famous motion picture actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild.
As president, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed “Reaganomics”, advocated reduced business regulation, controlling inflation, reducing growth in government spending, and spurring economic growth through tax cuts. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, took a hard line against labor unions, and ordered military actions in Grenada. He was reelected in a landslide in 1984, proclaiming it was “Morning in America”. His second term was primarily marked by foreign matters, namely the ending of the Cold War, the bombing of Libya, and the revelation of the Iran-Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an “evil empire”, he supported anti-Communist movements worldwide and spent his first term forgoing the strategy of détente by ordering a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR. Reagan negotiated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries’ nuclear arsenals.
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herman_%22Babe%22_Ruth)
George Herman Ruth, Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), best known as “Babe” Ruth and nicknamed “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat”, was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke into the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder and subsequently became one of the league’s most prolific hitters. Ruth was a mainstay in the Yankees’ lineup that won seven pennants and four World Series titles during his tenure with the team. After a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1935, Ruth retired. In 1936, Ruth became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
