What is Victory Day?  VE day, in the west, was and is May 8, however, very late in the day.  In fact, the instrument of Nazi Germany's surrender specified an end to combat as of 23:01 Central European Time (UTC +1:00).   As a result of this late hour, it was already May 9 in all places as little as one time zone further to the east.  Accordingly, many places celebrated and celebrate some variation of "Victory Day", even some places where great numbers of the populace joined and/or otherwise aided and abetted the Nazis in both the conduct of normal military operations and The Holocaust, murdering well over a million Jews, Romani, communists and others.

The Treaty of Windsor was entered into between Portugal and England in 1386 and is still in force, having been respected by both parties for the last 636 years.  Get that?  None other than Perfidious Albion is capable or respecting and honoring a treaty for over half of a century.  Maybe the US ought to consider trying to abide by a few of its treaties now and then, who knows what might happen?  Of course, it's far too late for huge numbers of them, such as every treaty  with the Indians, but it is never to late to start.

Hernando de Alarcon is the rebuttal to all of those apologists for the conquistadores.  Whenever one criticizes them or various "explorers", royalty or popes for their crimes against humanity and barbarity one is told that it was the way things were, that if Cortes didn't do it, then somebody else would.  No, Cortes did it not because of some zeitgeist but because he was a sociopath or psychopath.  Hernando de Alarcon who set sail up the Gulf of California on this date in 1540 and on September 26 began to ascend the Colorado River.  He and his crew are noteworthy for treating the Indians they encountered humanely and with respect.

The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio were deemed to insufficiently comply and comport with the dogma and cant of the Church of Rome and were accordingly banned by same.  Said dogma, cant, strictures and the like were, of course, indefensible, unsupported and insupportable, which is why censorship was resorted to.  Throughout history those who cannot support or defend their dogma(s) and narratives censor or otherwise eliminate works, speech and persons who challenge or fail adequately to conform to said dogmas, narratives, precepts and the like. 
  

Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.

-- Potter Stewart    (h/t Joe Shikspack)

On this day in history:

1386 – England and Portugal formally ratified their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.

1540 – Hernando de Alarcón set sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.

1662 – The figure which later became Mr. Punch made its first recorded appearance in England

1865 – President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.

1873 – The Vienna stock market crash started the Long Depression.

1877 – Mihail Kogalniceanu read the Declaration of Independence of Romania in the Chamber of Deputies

1901 – Australia opened its first national parliament in Melbourne.

1911 – The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio were placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Vatican because those that cannot justify or support their dogmas always resort to censoring everything not in conformity therewith.

1920 – The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Smigly celebrated its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.

1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claimed to have flown over the North Pole 

1927 – Old Parliament House, Canberra officially opened

1936 – Italy formally annexed Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.

1941 – The German submarine U-110  carrying the latest Enigma Machine was captured by the Royal Navy 

1942 – The SS executed 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast. The Zoludek Ghetto was destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported. (see The Holocaust in Ukraine; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine)

1945 – The final German Instrument of Surrender was signed at the Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst.

1948 – Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution went into effect.

1950 – Robert Schuman presented the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the EU

1960 – The FDA announced it would approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.

1974 –The US House Committee on the Judiciary opened formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian was executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.

1988 – New Parliament House, Canberra officially opened

2020 – The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.9 percent, its worst rate since the Great Depression,  This was blamed on Covid-19 and not on the government's failure to provide meaningful support to the populace because it is recognized in the US that the government's sole function is to serve the wealthy elites.

Some people who were born on this day:

“Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries. ”

~~     Jose Ortega y Gasset

1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, composer and educator
1746 – Gaspard Monge, mathematician and engineer
1800 – John Brown, activist
1836 – Ferdinand Monoyer, ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart & diopter 
1845 – Gustaf de Laval, engineer and businessman
1850 – Edward Weston, chemist
1860 – J. M. Barrie, novelist and playwright
1874 – Howard Carter, archaeologist and historian
1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, philosopher, author, and critic
1893 – William Moulton Marston, quack who invented the so-called "lie detector"to the great harm of many, but who also created Wonder Woman
1895 – Lucian Blaga, poet, playwright, and philosopher
1905 – Lilí Álvarez, tennis player, author, and feminist
1906 – Eleanor Estes, librarian, author, and illustrator
1909 – Don Messer, violinist
1909 – Gordon Bunshaft, architect, designed the Solow Building
1912 – Géza Ottlik,  mathematician and theorist
1914 – Patricia Swift Blalock, librarian
1914 – Denham Fouts, prostitute
1914 – Hank Snow, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1916 – William Pène du Bois, author and illustrator
1918 – Mike Wallace, journalist, media personality and one-time game show host
1920 – Richard Adams, novelist
1921 – Daniel Berrigan, priest, poet, and activist
1921 – Sophie Scholl, activist
1921 – Mona Van Duyn, poet and academic
1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, singer, poet, and author
1927 – Manfred Eigen, chemist and academic,
1928 – Ralph Goings, painter
1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, historian and linguist
1935 – Nokie Edwards, guitarist
1935 – Roger Hargreaves, author and illustrator
1937 – Sonny Curtis, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1937 – Rafael Moneo, architect, designed the  Valladolid Science Museum
1937 – Dave Prater, singer
1939 – John Ogbu, anthropologist and professor
1941 – Danny Rapp, musician
1942 – Tommy Roe, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Anders Isaksson, historian and journalist
1943 – Colin Pillinger, astronomer, chemist, and academic
1944 – Richie Furay, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Gamal El-Ghitani, journalist and author
1945 – Steve Katz, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1946 – Ayse Nur Zarakolu, author and activist
1948 – Hans Georg Bock, mathematician, computer scientist, and academic
1949 – Billy Joel, singer, songwriter and pianist
1961 – Sean Altman, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Dave Gahan, singer, songwriter
1962 – Paul Heaton, singer, songwriter
1968 – Graham Harman, philosopher and academic
1971 – Dan Chiasson, poet and critic
1975 – Tamia, singer, songwriter, producer, and actress
1979 – Pierre Bouvier, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Andrew W.K., singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, motivational speaker, and music producer

Some people who died on this day:

“The voice of the majority is no proof of justice”

~~     Friedrich Schiller

1707 – Dieterich Buxtehude, organist and composer
1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, violinist and composer
1805 – Friedrich Schiller, poet, playwright, and historian
1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, chemist and physicist
1850 – Garlieb Merkel, author and activist
1931 – Albert Abraham Michelson, physicist and academic
1935 – Ernst Bresslau, zoologist
1944 – Han Yong-un, poet and social reformer
1950 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, mathematician and engineer
1957 – Ezio Pinza, actor and singer
1959 – Bhaurao Patil, activist and educator
1965 – Leopold Figl, engineer and politician
1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, author, poet, and playwright
1970 – Walter Reuther, union leader
1976 – Ulrike Meinhof, militant, co-founded the Red Army Faction 
1977 – James Jones, novelist
1978 – Giuseppe Impastato, journalist and activist
1979 – Eddie Jefferson, singer and lyricist
1980 – Kate Molale, activist
1986 – Tenzing Norgay, mountaineer, took Edmund Hillary up the mountain
1993 – Penelope Gilliatt, novelist, short story writer, and critic
1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, activist
2004 – Brenda Fassie, singer
2010 – Lena Horne, singer, actress, and activist
2018 – Per Kirkeby, painter, poet, film maker and sculptor
2020 – Little Richard, singer, songwriter, and pianist

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

National Women's Check Up Day
Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration. (European Union)
National Tear the Tags off the Matress Day
Victory Day observances, celebration of the victory over Nazi Germany. 

Today's Tunes

Howard Carter

Giovanni Paisiello

Don Messer

Hank Snow

Bulat Okudzhava

Nokie Edwards

Sonny Curtis

Dave Prater

Danny Rapp

Tommy Roe

Ritchie Furay

Steve Katz

Billy Joel

Tomaso Antonio Vitali

Eddie Jefferson

Brenda Fassie

Lena Horne

Little Richard

Please reserve Covid-19 commentary for a separate thread. Thank you.

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?