Happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911 (no one has been able to successfully explain the connection between honoring the nation's war dead and people driving around a race track).

Today in History -

Happy Birthday Marion Michael Morrison - American Patriot.




May 26 1232 -
Gregory IX issues the bull Declinante jam mundi, bringing the Papal Inquisition to Spain.



May 26 1647 -
Alse Young, a widow, is hanged for witchcraft in Hartford, Connecticut. Her daughter Alice is accused of the same offense 30 years later, in Massachusetts.



May 26 1868 -
In England's last public execution, Michael Barrett is hanged at Newgate. All subsequent hangings are held behind prison walls. Presiding over the event is executioner William Calcraft, who frequently supplements his income by selling the clothes and noose worn by the condemned.


May 26 1960 -
America's UN Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. charges the Soviets with having bugged the Moscow embassy. He shows off a large wooden carving of the United States seal which had been hollowed out to conceal a sophisticated resonant cavity transmitter. Less than 30 years later a newly-rebuilt Moscow embassy is determined to be "structurally riddled with eavesdropping devices."



May 26 1978 -
A safety officer at Northwestern University opens a suspicious package which had been delivered to a professor. The object explodes in Terry Marker's hands, making him the first victim of the Unabomber.

May 26 1980 -
By orders of military dictator Chun Doo Hwan, and with the blessing of the Carter administration, the South Korean government massacres 2,000 pro-democracy protesters in Kwangju city.



May 26 1994 -
"Price Is Right" host Bob Barker admits to having had an 18-month sexual relationship with former co-host Dian Parkinson. The onetime Playboy model was suing the game show's host and its production company for sexual harassment. Barker denies that the sex had been anything but consensual, claiming that "she volunteered the hanky-panky." Parkinson later drops the suit. Bob was 71 at the time and Viagra was not on the market.



Way to go Bob!!!

May 26 1994 -
Michael Jackson weds Lisa Marie Presley in the Dominican Republic. The couple keeps their love match secret for six weeks, then files for divorce 18 months after that. Lisa Marie has recently confirmed on the Oprah show that she had marital relations with Jackson - yuck!!



And so it goes