We seem to have survived yet another celebration of any and all of the combined celebrations, festivities and trappings of an ancient Babylonian Sun God, a bunch of later copycat religions whose God had been born on the same exact day and even a lone Godling also miraculaously birthed on that date. The exact date, coincidentally was the date of the Roman Winter Solstice which was determined by fourth century holy scholars to have been the birthdate of the most recent of those dieties. This, after mucho ado, finally frees up our time and attention for other holidays.

Alrighty then, 'tis the first day of Kwanzaa. I have more than once made a brief familiarization foray into the writings on this holiday, but am not remotely competent to discuss it. As a result, I suggest that people go and read up on it themselves.

For those living in or having survived the English/British/UKish Empire, it is also Boxing Day. My guess is that in the distant past Royalty, petty nobility, lords of the manor, the bourgeoise and the like upon awakening after the previous day's celebrations took to combing through the detritus to find odds and ends and unwanted items that they could box up and give to their servants and serfs and eventually other useful hoi polloi as well. That's only a guess. My clan praticed no Britishisms even though our country had indeed been conquered by them and incorporated unrestfully into their empire and its people robbed, murdered, tortured, persecuted and starved like other victims of said empire; at least until we drove them out (to me Whack fol the diddle o the die do day).

Then again, it is also the Feast of Steven from whence:

(Though Pogo tells us that: "Good King Wenceslas looked out, On his feets uneven", but who am I to quibble.)

Said Feast of Steven refers to Saint Steven and, yes, it is Saint Steven's Day and a figurative Kewpie Doll and cigar to those who guessed that they'd be hearing this today

On this day in history:

1825 -- The Decembrist revolt.

1862 -- 38 Native Americans were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, a record of some sort.

1871 – The first Gilbert and Sullivan play, Thespis, debuted

1898 -- Marie and Pierre Curie announced the isolation of radium.

1941 – FDR signed a bill establishing Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

1944 -- Patton's Third Army broke through to Bastogne.

1963 -- The US release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There".

1966 -- The first Kwanzaa was celebrated

1972 -- 120 American B-52 bombers attacked Hanoi, a record of some sort.

1975 – The Tu-144, the first commercial supersonic aircraft, went into service

1978 – The inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally

1991 -- The Supreme Soviet officially dissolved the Soviet Union.

2012 – China opened the Beijing - Guangzhou high-speed rail route

Some people who were born on this day:

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

~~ Thomas Gray

1536 -- Yi I, Korean philosopher and scholar
1716 – Thomas Gray, poet and scholar
1780 -- Mary Somerville, Scottish mathematician, astronomer, and author
1791 -- Charles Babbage, mathematician and engineer, inventor of Difference Engine
1863 – Charles Pathé, record producer, co-founded Pathé Records
1864 – Yun Chi-ho, activist and politician
1867 – Phan Bội Châu, activist
1883 – Maurice Utrillo, painter
1891 -- Henry Miller, author and painter
1893 -- Mao Zedong, revolutionary & politician
1918 – Olga Lopes-Seale, social and community worker, singer, and radio host
1921 -- Steve Allen, actor, singer, talk show host, and screenwriter (Stevarino)
1939 -- Phil Spector, American singer, songwriter, and producer

1951 -- John Scofield, guitarist and composer
1953 – Henning Schmitz, drummer (Kraftwerk)
1963 -- Lars Ulrich, drummer, songwriter, and producer

Some people who died on this day:

To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves.

~~ Claude Adrien Helvetius

1771 -- Claude Adrien Helvetius, philosopher and activist
1909 -- Frederic Remington, painter and illustrator
1931 -- Melvil Dewey, librarian and educator, created the Dewey Decimal System, should be found under 921-928 somewhere
1972 -- Harry S. Truman, politician
1974 -- Farid al-Atrash, singer, songwriter, oud player, and actor; "King of the oud"
1999 -- Curtis Mayfield, singer, songwriter and producer
2010 -- Teena Marie, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer

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

First day of Kwanzaa
Boxing Day
The Feast of Stephen
St. Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland), and its related observances:

Today's Tunes

Steve Allen (on piano) with Jack Keroac (vocals)

Phil Spector (and the wrecking crew)

John Scofield

Lars Ulrich

Farid al-Atrash

Curtis Mayfield

Teena Marie

Bonus tune(s):

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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