It's National Apricot Day but why today? Apricots are fine and wonderful, but waaay out of season. So many of these special days have no real connection to the date on which they occur. As near as I can tell, National Static Electricity Day has no particular link to today either. Sure, you can stick a toy balloon to a wall using static, but, those are toys, and nobody ascends in them, so no indirect link there. Word Nerd Day? How is that even a thing and what kind of thing is it? Are such folk pro or anti sesqupedalian and why today? It's National Clean Off Your Desk Day, but it has been argued that a clean desk is the sign of an empty mind, so I'm not even sure that it should be celebrated at all, let alone today.

Balloon Ascension Day, however, has a bona fide connection to this date. On this day in 1793 Jean-Pierre Blanchard became the first person to fly in a balloon in the US. He had already done so elsewhere, but it was a first for the fledgling Estados Unidos.

Panama's Martyrs' Day also has a meaningful connection to this day. On this date in 1964 some students had the audacity to try to raise the Panamanian flag in the "Panama" Canal Zone. By the time the dust settled US troops had fired on some Panamanians, some of whom died and became celebrated on this date in Panama. Some even believe that this was the beginning of serious efforts to get the US to return control of the Canal Zone to Panama. Of course, that assumes that we really ever did. As GHW Bush clearly demonstrated, it doesn't take much of a pretext for us to invade Panama, and there's no real chance they could stop us from taking the place over, which was just possibly the whole point of that "war" in the first place.

On this date in 1792, the Treaty of Jassy between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was signed. This is an interesting event in an intesesting period involving a couple of hundred years of craziness and chaos.

The setting: The Golden Horde's demise had left the landscape scattered with assorted Khanates, Khaganates, Hetmanates, and the like, many of which were vassals of other states. There was a lot of fighting among them and sometimes between them and some of the Great Powers. Though the Treaty of Jassy ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792, the same period saw the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) and the Cranberry War (1788-1789) between a Danish-Norse alliance and Sweden.

Dramatis Personae:

Sweden fka The Swedish Empire, a "Great Power" until Charles XII decided to attack Russia. Those not in the US and NATO political elites have seen multiple versions of this movie (Teutonic Knights, Napoleon, Hitler) and can guess how it ends. For Sweden it ended at Poltava, where Peter the Great demolished the Swedish army, the remnants of which ran and hid out with the Ottomans. Sweden ceased being a great power and held a grudge against Russia ever after. In addition, King Gustav, like some of the Bush family, felt that a war would enhance his political standing.

Some say that Eugene of Savoy demolished the Ottoman Empire, a Great Power, but while he thrashed them and momentarily stopped their advance into Europe, they bounced back and desired to regain some of the territory that they lost to Russia in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, including one of their main sources of slaves - The Crimean Khanate.

England, a great Power, always looking to stir the pot in order to ensure that nobody ever could threaten them economically or militarily. Back then this was called "maintaining the balance of power", while today we call it full spectrum dominance. They Promised to support and stand by the Ottomans if they should go to war with Russia.

John Paul Jones, US naval hero and no fan of Britain. An individual who had been but recently unemployed and then hired and made a Rear Admiral by Catherine the Great and deployed to the Black Sea.

France also promised to support the Ottomans. Yet another Great Power but soon to become a republic.

The Holy Roman (Austrian) Empire a Great Power for whom the legendary Eugene of Savoy fought against the Turks, no fan of the Ottomans and, at the time, a Russian ally.

Russia a somewhat young nation growing by accretion and ruled by Catherine the Great.

The Crimean Khanate a former Ottoman vassal state that made it's living by engaging in slave raids into non-Ottoman neighboring states and selling the captives to the Ottomans. It also claimed to inherit the Golden Horde's mantle and attacked and burned Moscow. Heh. It soon wound up a Russian vassal and then was annexed by Russia. The Ottomans wanted it back.

When the dust settled, things were pretty much as they were before it started. Austria made some meagre territorial gains and trashed its own economy. Sweden pretty much gained nada and King Gustav was subsequently assassinated. Russia gained some additional territory in the Black Sea including Odessa and the Ottomans were forced to recognize its prior annexation of the Crimean Khaganate. John Paul Jones won at least one naval engagement and kept the Ottoman Navy at Bey bay, but pissed off Grigory Potemkin in the process. What came next is debatable, but he wound up essentially exiled from Russia and more or less unemployable.

On this day in history:

1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire was signed, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92

1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard became the first person to fly in a balloon in the US

1816 – Humphry Davy tested his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery

1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil chose to stay in Brazil beginning the Brazilian independence process.

1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype photography process.

1857 – The 7.9 Mw  Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California

1909 – Ernest Shackleton planted the British flag 112 miles from the South Pole

1914 – The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity was founded by African-American students at Howard University

1916 – The Battle of Gallipoli concluded with an Ottoman Empire victory

1923 – Juan de la Cierva made the first autogyro flight

1957 – Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigned from office following for failing to rseize the Suez Canal from Egypt

1964 – Several Panamanian youths tried to raise the Panamanian flag in thePanama Canal Zone, leading to attacks on Panamanian civilians by U.S. military forces

1992 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets were announced by astronomers

2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs iintroduced the ioriginal iPhone at an iMacworld ikeynote

Some people who were born on this day:

Everybody counts in applying democracy. And there will never be a true democracy until every responsible and law-abiding adult in it, without regard to race, sex, color or creed has his or her own inalienable and unpurchasable voice in government.

~~ Carrie Chapman Catt

Hmmm, what's that tell ya?
~~ Enhydra

1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic
1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter and illustrator
1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer
1823 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic
1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist, founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women
1868 – S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist and academic introduced pH concept
1870 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co-designed the Golden Gate Bridge
1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art
1886 – Lloyd Loar, musician, sound engineer and instrument designer
1890 – Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright
1897 – Karl Löwith, German philosopher, author, and academic
1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author
1914 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader
1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist and academic,
1928 – Judith Krantz, American novelist
1931 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic
1941 – Joan Baez, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist
1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1948 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer-songwriter and producer
1959 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan activist and politician,
1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer and musician
1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Some people who died on this day:

What is history but a fable agreed upon

~~ Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle,

1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet, translator, and scholar
1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright
1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher
1833 – Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician and theorist
1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist
1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter
1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and essayist
1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author
1946 – Countee Cullen, author, poet and playwright
1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect, designed the Tour de la Bourse and Pirelli Tower
1988 – Peter L. Rypdal, Norwegian fiddler and composer
1992 – Bill Naughton, English playwright and screenwriter
1996 – Abdullah al-Qasemi, Saudi atheist, writer, and intellectual
1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic,

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

National Apricot Day
National Clean Off Your Desk Day
National Word Nerd Day
National Static Electricity Day
Balloon Ascension Day
Martyrs' Day (Panama) 1964

Today's Tunes

Balloon Ascension Day

Martyrs' Day

Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi

Kenny Clarke

Joan Baez

Jimmy Page

Crystal Gayle

Haddaway

Dave Matthews

Paolo Nutini

Bonus:

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

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

open thread, Apricot DayBalloon Ascension Day, Martyrs Day, Treaty of Jassy, John Paul Jones, Carrie Chapman Catt, Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Baez, JImmy Page