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timefornow.bsky.social
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On Febrary 22, 1876, Zitkála-Šá (“Red Bird”), also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She went on to become a writer, translator, educator, and activist. She and William F. Hanson created The Sun Dance www.womenshistory.org/education-re...

submitted 3 hours ago • 1 comment

February 21 is International Mother Language Day. It has its roots in the struggle for the Bengali language in what is now Bangladesh, but was then East Pakistan. Here is a photo of the memorial to language martyrs in Dhaka, Bangladesh. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

On February 20, 1258, the Abbasid caliph, Al-Musta'sim, was killed in his palace in Baghdad by Hülegü Khan (aka Hulagu), grandson of Genghis Khan (aka Chenggis Khan). The story is that because Hülegü didn't want to spill royal blood, instead of having him stabbed, he had Al-Musta'sim wrapped in a

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

On February 19th, 1876, Constantin Brâncuşi was born. His work is popular, not just among people committed to 20th century art but also among those who are skeptical of this kind of art. youtu.be/7BcnbJzPWnI?...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

On February 18, 1930, Pluto was discovered. It's definitely a fan favorite in our solar system though, as most of us know, no longer classified as a true planet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAPw...

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

On February 17, 440 CE, Mesrops died. This also is the date for his feast day in the Catholic Church. He was a man of many talents and accomplishments, most notably the invention of the Armenian alphabet. It might seem odd that I'm sharing this on his feast day in the Catholic Church, rather than

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

On February 16, 1878, Pamela Colman Smith was born. You might not know her name, but there's a good chance you've seen her artwork. She did the illustrations for the Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot cards, probably the most famous set in the English-speaking world. She had an interesting life. She was raised

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

"He doesn't like my name...It's true I didn't come over on the Mayflower, but I came over as soon as I could." Anton Cermak in response to William "Big Bill" Thompson's attacks. Cermak was a Czech immigrant, and the two were rivals for the office of Mayor of Chicago. Cermak was shot on February

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

On February 14th, 2005, YouTube was launched: 25 years ago today. I remember in that year it really wasn't clear who might become the leader. I watched YouTube videos as well as those on Dailymotion, and also on a third site whose name I've forgotten. Like many people, I simply assumed that all

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

On February 13th, 1867, the Blue Danube Waltz was performed for the first time. It had its premiers that same year in New York on July 1 and in London on September 21. Lots of people associate the music with the sophistication of Austria-Hungary aka Austro-Hungarian Empire, although this did not

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

On February 12th, 1865, Dmitri Mendeleev defended his thesis, which many consider to be the basis for the development of vodka. There are at least two surprises here. First, Mendeleev is more famous for developing his periodic table of elements. Second, many people assume that vodka is an ancient

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

February 11 happens to be both National Foundation Day for Japan and also the birthday of, one of the most famous translators of Edward Seidensticker Japanese literature into English. The former celebrates the start of Japan under emperor Jimmu, although the title emperor was not used at the time.

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment