World Bicycle Day recognizes and celebrates "the uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries, and that it is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transport."

Per Da Wiki,

The date is the anniversary of the Mabo v Queensland (No 2) decision by the High Court of Australia, which recognised the pre-colonial land interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within Australia's common law.[2][3] It commemorates Eddie Koiki Mabo (c. 29 June 1936–21 January 1992),[4][5] a Torres Strait Islander man whose campaign for Indigenous land rights in Australia led to the court's decision, which overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius that had characterised Australian law with regard to land and title since the voyage of James Cook in 1770.

June 3, 1943 was the first day of the 5 day Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, California when white Sailors, Marines, and other racist Angelinos including off duty cops attacked and beat Mexican American, Black and Filipino American children, teenagers, and youths who were wearing Zoot Suits.

Egregious Censorship: The great KoKo Taylor once recorder a cover of the Little Milton's classic blues hit Walking The Backstreets And Crying and the first version of this OT, years ago, included it. Since that date it has been blocked as "age inappropriate", which it, of course, is not. KoKo or her producer or somebody condensed the title to simply Walking The Backstreets which appeared as the You Tube song name and, iirc, on the album cover illustration. No doubt some ignorant racist Karen saw that and immediately decided that a Black Woman singing about walking any kind of streets had to be banned, without bothering to listen to it, and the dweebs at You Tube rubber stamped the complaint, also without giving it a listen. I found another copy that sneaked by the censors because the title wasn't on the cover art and have included it both in order that you may enjoy it and so that you can appreciate how totally inappropriate the dunderheaded censorship was

On this day in history:

1140 – Peter Abelard was found guilty of heresy. Good on him.
1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod established the Russia - Norway border
1539 – Hernando de Soto claimed Florida for Espana
1621 – The Dutch West India Company landed a charter for New Netherland.
1781 – Jack Jouett began a midnight ride to warn Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of a British raid
1839 – Lin Zexu destroyed 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with an excuse to start the First Opium War.
1844 – The last pair of great auks was killed
1885 – Cree leader Big Bear, escaped the North-West Mounted Police.
1889 – The first US long-distance electric power line ran 14 miles between Willamette Falls and downtown Portland
1916 – The National Defense Act increased the National Guard by 450,000 men
1940 – Franz Rademacher proposed plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland",
1940 – The Luftwaffe bombed Paris.
1943 – The Zoot Suit Riots. Sailors, Marines and cops attacked Latino youths in L.A.
1963 – South Vietnamese troops attacked protesting Buddhists with chemical weapons
1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day NASA space mission
1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashed, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.
1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I well in the Gulf of Mexico spilled at least 3,000,000 barrels
1980 – An explosive device was detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI is still stymied
1984 – Indian troops launched a 3 day attack on the Sikh Golden Temple, killing over 5,000
1992 – Aboriginal land rights were granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2)
2013 – Chelsea Manning's trial for ratting out war criminals began
2006 – Montenegro declared independence from Serbia

Some people who were born on this day:

"I believe the true line of research lies in the noting and comparison of the smallest details."

~~ Flinders Petrie

1603 –- Pietro Paolini, painter
1853 -- Flinders Petrie, archaeologist and egyptologist
1873 -- Otto Loewi, psychobiologist and pharmacologist
1877 -- Raoul Dufy, painter
1897 -- Memphis Minnie, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1906 -- Josephine Baker, singer, dancer, actress, resistance operative, and activist
1924 -- Jimmy Rogers, singer, guitarist, harmonica player, blues legend
1926 -- Allen Ginsberg, poet, who is with you in Rockland.
1927 -- Boots Randolph, saxophonist, composer and soundtrack
1930 -- Marion Zimmer Bradley, author and poet
1930 -- Dakota Staton, singer
1936 -- Larry McMurtry, author and screenwriter
1939 -- Ian Hunter, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1942 -- Curtis Mayfield, singer, songwriter and producer
1946 -- Michael Clarke, drummer, byrd, burrito
1952 -- Billy Powell, keyboards and songwriter, confederate
1961 -- Lawrence Lessig, author, attorney, founder of creative commons
1965 – Mike Gordon, bassist and vocalist
1967 – Anderson Cooper, journalist and author
1969 – Takako Minekawa, singer and songwriter
1978 – Lyfe Jennings, singer, songwriter, musician, and producer
2000 – Beabadoobee, singer, songwriter aand guitarist

Some people who died on this day:

Dying is not a crime

~~ Jack Kevorkian

1657 -- William Harvey, physician, anatomist, physiologist
1826 – Nikolay Karamzin, historian and poet
1875 -- Georges Bizet, pianist and composer
1899 -- Johann Strauss II, composer
1900 – Mary Kingsley, explorer and author
1924 – Franz Kafka, lawyer and author
1975 -- Ozzie Nelson, actor and bandleader
2009 -- Koko Taylor, queen of the blues
2011 – Jack Kevorkian, pathologist, author, and activist
2016 -- Muhammad Ali, The Greatest

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

World Bicycle Day
Mabo Day (Australia)
National Egg Day

Today's Tunes

Bicycle Day

Flinders Petrie

Memphis Minnie

Josephine Baker

Jimmy Rogers

Boots Randolph

Dakota Staton

Ian Hunter

Curtis Mayfield

Michael Clarke

Billy Powell

Georges Bizet

Johann Strauss II

Ozzie Nelson

KoKo Taylor
Walking The Backstreets

I won't be here when this posts

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, Bicycle Day, Mabo Day, Censorship, Zoot Suit Riots, Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Rogers, Boots Randolph, Curtis Mayfield, Koko Taylor.