APRiL 12 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1557 ~ Cuenca was founded in Ecuador on the 12th April 1557.

1606 ~ The UNiON FLAG was adopted as the flag of Great Britain on the 12th April 1606.

Union Jack Flag of The United Kingdom Great Britain since 12th April 1606
Union Jack Flag of The United Kingdom Great Britain since 12th April 1606

1932TiNY TiM the singing ukulele player who tiptoed us through the tulips in 1968, was born on the 12th April 1932 (died in 1996 aged 64).

1934 ~ The strongest surface wind gust in the world was measured at 231 mph on the 12th April 1934, on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

1935 ~ 1st flight of the Bristol Blenheim was on the 12th April 1935.

1937 ~ Sir Frank Whittle ground-tested the 1st jet engine designed to power an aircraft on the 12th April 1937, at Rugby, England.

1945 ~ U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died while in office on the 12th April 1945. Vice-president Harry Truman was then sworn in as the 33rd President.

1955 ~ The Polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, was declared safe and effective on the 12th April 1955.

1940HERBiE HANCOCK the American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer was born on the 12th April 1940.

1946 ~ ED O’NEiLL aka Al Bundy on Married… with Children and Jay Pritchett on Modern Family, was born on the 12th April 1946.

1947DAViD LETTERMAN the American talk show host was born on the 12th April 1947.

1947 ~ ALEX BRiLEY the G.i singer from the ViLLAGE PEOPLE was born on the 12th April 1947. Alex arranged most of the vocals and harmonies for the Village People.

1950DAViD CASSiDY the singer aka Keith Partridge from The PARTRiDGE FAMiLY was born on the 12th April 1950.

1961MAGDA SZUBANSKi the Australian actress from The D-Generation, Fast Forward, Kath & Kim and the film Babe, was born on the 12th April 1961.

1971SHANNEN DOHERTY the American actress best known as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills 90210 and Prue Halliwell in Charmed, was born on the 12th April 1971.

1974 ~ BELiNDA EMMETT the Australian actress and singer, married to Rove McManus , best known for her roles on Home and Away and All Saints, was born on the 12th April 1974 (died 11 November 2006 aged 32) R.i.P. Also see The Channel 7 Tribute to Belinda Emmett YouTube video

1980Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope at St. John’s, Newfoundland on the 12th April 1980.

1981 ~ The first launch of a SPACE SHUTTLE (Columbia) was launched on the STS-1 mission on the 12th April 1981.

1990 ~ Jim Gary‘s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs exhibition opened at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History on the 12th April 1990, in Washington, D.C..

1992 ~ Euro Disneyland officially opened on the 12th April 1992. The resort and its park’s name were subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.

1994Saoirse Ronan the Irish actress was born on the 12th April 1994. Saoirse is one of the youngest actresses ever to receive an Academy AwardBAFTA and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Saoirse Ronan is known for her roles in the film Atonement (2001)I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)The City of Ember (2008), Death Defying Acts (2008), The Way Back (2010)Hanna (2011), The Lovely Bones (2009) and The Host (2013).

1994 ~ Canter & Siegel posted the 1st commercial mass Usenet spam on the 12th April 1994.

1999 ~ US President Bill Clinton was cited for contempt of court on the 12th April 1999, for giving “intentionally false statements” in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.

2009 ~ Zimbabwe officially abandoned the Zimbabwe Dollar as its official currency on the 12th April 2009.

2012GLOBAL DAY OF ACTiON ON MiLiTARY SPENDiNG is promoted on on the 12th April annually. The aim of promoting awareness of the problems associated with military expenses, with the suggestion of such monies instead being used to promote human development. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated military spending as being US $1.531 billion worldwide in 2010. Research shows that bigger armies are built to keep a county safe from warfare during conflict, but the funds spent on weapons tend to drain resources from social, political, and economic development, that may actually be the root cause of conflict.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed”. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

The negative effects not only include the direct ones of money and resources being spent on the weapons systems, but also the associated costs of negative health consequences of research, development, testing and the safe decommissioning of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. So let us start to practice and promote PEACE, let’s make LOVE, not war, and then there’ll be more money for the community at an individual level, such as building and maintaining infrastructure, education, health and psychological welfare, not warfare!

~ By Anton K. Kressnig

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