Happy Special 20th July Day!

Gemstone of the Month

Ruby

Flower of the Month: Larkspur

Considered by many to be the most talented composer of his generation Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) was to appear on the cover page of Time magazine on this day in 1942. Perhaps better appreciated outside of his native Russia than by his own countrymen he worked relentlessly and completed his 13th Symphony on this day in 1962 and his 10th String quartet on this day in 1964. If you’d like a taste of his music, try this.

Waltzing his way to the top of the leader board and Yellow Jersey, Eddie Merckx was to win the Tour de France at his first attempt on this day in 1969. In fact on his way to winning the race he also won the Green Jersey, awarded to the best sprinter, and also the Red Polka Dot Jersey, awarded to the “King of the Mountains” and is the only person to have ever won all three jerseys in the same race! It must have got a bit hot under all those jerseys! Well done, Eddie!

On Apollo mission 11 it was no this day in 1969 that Neil Armstrong and Eddie Aldrin landed the lunar module on the moon with just vapours of gas left in the tank. Now Nomanda used to have a “Lunar Lander” game in the years before computer games were invented and I know just how tricky this operation is. If you go down too fast you crash, and if you go down too slow and run out of gas …… you crash as well! It’s quite a delicate manoeuvre, not for the weak hearted!

After 16 years of looking and searching, the dream of one of the world’s top treasure hunters was to become reality today in 1985 when Mel Fisher’s divers discovered the sunken wreck of the Spanish Galleon “Atocha”. Its great riches and wealth intact it would be one of the most important finds of the 20th century.

Keeping his feet on firm if high ground it was on this day that the famous New Zealand mountaineer and explorer Edmund Hillary (1919 – 2008) was born.


A Butlin’s red coat entertainer who made the big time, Ted Rogers (1935 – 2001) presented the game show 3-2-1 for ten years before it was surprisingly cut despite still getting an audience of 12 million viewers. A nice and funny guy!

A couple of actresses share the same birthday on this day in 1938. Natalie Wood (1938 – 2001) the child actress who having successfully made the transition to adult roles sadly died in a boating accident. And Diana Rigg, the fearless partner of Patrick Macnee in the TV series “The Avengers”.

Next up for birthday wishes is the face that launched 20 brands and has appeared on the front cover of over 500 magazines, Gisele Bundchen (1980). Despite the fact that she’s the highest paid super model in the world Nomanda is sure that there’s a lovely woman lurking underneath!




Happy Special Day to one and all!!



If you know someone who is celebrating their birthday, anniversary or a special day today or sometime soon why not send them a nice e-card so they get it as soon as they log on! Even better, why not send this page to your friend!
Don’t know what to get for a present? Think about what your special person enjoys doing and the things they like.


For Girls, I know that flowers and chocolates are a bit cliché but nevertheless they always seem to work! Of course, if your budget stretches that far, jewellery, watches, perfume and fashion items are always appreciated!

For Boys, all boys like toys! It’s just as they get older the toys get more expensive. So gadgets and gimmicky things work. Again, if you have the budget then car accessories, sporting equipment and clothes, and man type jewellery like watches and gold chains will go down very well!

And, if all else fails, you could always send them a gift voucher and they can choose whatever they want!

If you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special event today I hope you got lots of cards and presents and that there is someone special in your life who will make this day a very happy and special day for you.



Happy celebrations to you from the Happy Special Day Blog!!