Well, today's the day: for the first time in a century, it's 6/6/06. The pamphlet on the right (click to see the whole thing [Update: I had to split it up in order to get blogspot to upload it readably: part 1, part 2, part 3]) is something I ran into about 30 years ago, and it amused me enough to save it. I especially like the part where it says
666 reportedly is the most usable number for universal transfers between computers worldwide because it can be programmed in its normal position or inverted (6 or 9).The pamphlet makes a number of dire predictions, warnings of things that may come to pass by the early- to mid-1980s. Clearly, none of that's happened; still, there are lots of people who are superstitious about the number 666,[1] and about today in particular.
62 years ago today was D-Day, a general military term, but now used to refer to the start of the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II. The invasion lasted nearly two months, and the war in Europe continued for nearly a year, but 6 June 1944, the day it started, is noted as a turning point in the war.
47 years ago today, a friend of mine was born; happy birthday. Others born on 6 June include author Thomas Mann, tennis great Björn Borg, actor Harvey Fierstein, and musicians Gary U.S. Bonds, Holly Near, and Steve Vai.
Actress Anne Bancroft died on this day last year, as did jazz musician Stan Getz in 1991, and Robert F. Kennedy after being shot in 1968. Patrick Henry died on this day in 1799.
Today is the anniversary of the passage in California of Proposition 13, a landmark property-tax reform selected by voters in 1978.
Today is Queensland Day in Australia, commemorating the establishment of the colony of Queensland in 1859.
And on this day in 1973 the world's tallest totem pole was raised in Alert Bay, BC. From their web site:
Alert Bay proudly boasts the world's tallest totem pole, at 173 feet (two parts), carved by six Kwakwaka'wakw artists. Unlike most totem poles that are specific to a particular family, the fourteen figures depicted on this pole are acquired through marriage and represent some of the tribes of the Kwakwaka'wakw nation.
It's just a day. 6 June, 2006, a day like any other. Not apocalyptic, just a late spring day, sunny and cool in New York.
[1] When I bought my house, in 1989, the homeowner's insurance premium came to $666. The insurance agent was aghast, and refused to leave it that way, charging me $665 instead.
2 comments:
Too bad it's illegible, as it really is quite amusing.
Happy Sexosexysixth!
It's legible now, but not by clicking on the cover image. I split the full-sized image into three pieces, and linked them from the "part [n]" text.
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