Today we recognize a Black Cat because it’s National Black Cat Day. This day is observed annually on October 27th.
Black cats have been many times given a bad rap in life, especially to people who are superstitious. They always associate Black cats with bad omens. According to the saying, whenever a Black cat crosses your pathway or walks in front of you, it indicates bad things will happen. Many superstitious people associate Black cats with witches.
The folklore surrounding black cats varies from culture to culture. Scottish lore holds that a strange black cat’s arrival to the home signifies prosperity. In Celtic mythology, a fairy known as the Cat sith takes the form of a black cat. Black cats are also considered good luck in the rest of Britain and Japan.
In Western history, black cats have typically been looked upon as a symbol of evil omens, specifically being suspected of being the familiars of witches or shape-shifting witches themselves. In Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain, this is considered as Cats Protection celebrating Black cats’ virtues to encourage people to adopt an unwanted Black cat. Cats Protection’s own figures suggest that Black cats are more difficult for them to find a new home for than other colors.
In 2014, RSPCA reported that 70% of the abandoned cats in its care were black, suggesting a possible reason was that people considered Black cats “un-photogenic”, although a more likely and obvious explanation is that Black cats look more plain and less eye-catching than ats with patterns or bright colors, and thus night be perceived as more “boring” and less “cute”.
So, today, if you are a cat lover and considering to adopt a cat, consider a beautiful Black cat. Visit a shelter near you and open your options to adopting a darker color cat. If you cannot adopt, just consider volunteering in your community shelter, and focus your attention especially with Black cats. Bear in mind Black is Beautiful. Share on social media to raise awareness in caring for commonly overlooked Black cats using #BlackCatDay.
1962 The United States and Soviet Union step back from the brink of nuclear war
Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union finally result in a plan to end the two-week-old Cuban Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which nuclear holocaust seemed imminent began to come to an end.
Since President John F. Kennedy’s October 22 address warning the Soviets to cease their reckless program to put nuclear weapons in Cuba and announcing a naval “quarantine” against additional weapons shipments into Cuba, the world held its breath waiting to see whether the two superpowers would come to blows. U.S. armed forces went on alert and the Strategic Air Command went to a Stage 4 alert (one step away from nuclear attack). On October 24, millions waited to see whether Soviet ships bound for Cuba carrying additional missiles would try to break the U.S. naval blockade around the island. At the last minute, the vessels turned around and returned to the Soviet Union.
On October 26, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev responded to the quarantine by sending a long and rather disjointed letter to Kennedy offering a deal: Soviet ships bound for Cuba would “not carry any kind of armaments” if the United States vowed never to invade Cuba. He pleaded, “let us show good sense,” and appealed to Kennedy to “weigh well what the aggressive, piratical actions, which you have declared the U.S.A. intends to carry out in international waters, would lead to.”
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-united-states-and-soviet-union-step-back-from-brink-of-nuclear-war)
