6 June - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Flower of the Month

Rose

Gemstone of the Month: Pearl

First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!

Thanks to yesterday’s invention of the automatic washer and dryer all that is left to do is the ironing! The electric iron was patented on this day in 1882 by Henry W Seely. Of course irons had been around for ages but it was good old Henry who came up with the idea of an electric one. Personally, I think ironing shirts is the worst bit!


No account of June 6th in history could ignore this day in 1944, D Day. The biggest combination of land, sea and air operations took place on this day on the Northern beaches of France. An incredible 13,000 aircraft and 6,000 ships took part in the operation which successfully landed 135,000 allied troops on the Normandy beaches. The targeted 5 beachheads were established with the fiercest fighting taking place at Omaha Beach. We should never forget the sacrifices made for us on that day and the months to come. The golf course at Omaha beach still has a German bunker on the perimeter of the course. It is a grim reminder of those dark days of WWII.



On a far happier note Bill Haley and the Comets “Rock Around the Clock” hit the #1 spot on this day in 1955. One of the very best!





A few years later on this day in 1972 David Bowie released his “Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust” and the name stuck!





Two great tennis players of the late 70’s and early ‘80’s were to clash at Wimbledon on this day in 1980. The then precocious John McEnroe faced up to the Swede, Bjorn Borg, and Bjorn won the match to pick up the Men’s Singles Title. It was a great match and Nomanda remembers watching it when he should have been working! It was a double celebration for Bjorn as it was his 24th birthday!


It was on this day in 1983 that a bottle with a note in it was found on the beach in Queensland, Australia. The sender may have given up hope of a reply as the note was sent in 1910!




There are some pretty big turtles off the coast of Queensland but they pale in comparison to the 3 giant turtles found in the Bronx sewage plant on this day in 1988. No doubt this discovery was the inspiration for the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” series!



Our first celebrity for birthday honours today is Frank Tyson (1930) the renowned English fast bowler of the mid ‘50’s. The speed of his deliveries earned him the nickname “Typhoon Tyson” and he was instrumental in England retaining the Ashes in the 1954/55 season. In Australia’s second innings at Melbourne he returned figures of 7 for 27. Not at all bad!


Another cricketing stalwart, Graham Gatting (1957) shares his birthday with Frank. He was the backbone of the English batting line up during the ‘80’s and early ‘90’s.




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!!

5 June - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Gemstone of the Month

Pearl

Flower of the Month: Rose

First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!

5th June: World Environment Day. The host of this event this year will be Mexico City. The theme for this year is world climate change so no surprises there and the whole thing will probably be as boring as watching paint dry! We wish them well, but if the present weather is anything to go on we should concentrate on building arks

In a lot of cultures Mondays are often the day when the weekly washing is done. I don’t know why this should be it just is! So today is a day of celebration for all those who have to do the weekly washing as it was on this day in 1907 that the very first automatic washer and dryer was introduced. I must admit that it took a long time before Nomanda became the proud owner of one of these fine machines. Never mind the weather; we can get the washing dry. Just as well the summer we’ve had so far this year!


Now we’ve got our whites white and dry we can turn our attention to the cricket season. It was a turning point for English cricket when on this day in 1952 Freddie Trueman made his Test debut against India at the Headingly Cricket Ground. After the first 14 balls of India’s second innings the scorecard read 0 for 4 wickets with “Fiery Fred” taking three of them. He went on to be a major player of the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s and became the first bowler to take 300 Test wickets. Great man!


With the exception of the small matter of the referendum on this day in 1975 on whether or not Great Britain should remain a member of the European Common Market the other events for this day in history seem to be all about music. Good! However, suffice it to say that the population of the UK decided that it would stay in the EEC and all the trough guzzlers honked with glee! When will we ever learn?

On to the music stuff! It was on this day in 1964 that the group Davie Jones and King Bees made their debut. The group was not to be a great success but Dave Jones reinvented himself as David Bowie and the rest as they say is history. Still going strong! Here's one of our favourites from the great man!

Just a year later Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs went to #2 in the charts with “Wooly Bully” and it doesn’t get much better than that!




You would think so, but what about “Murphy’s Law” by Cheri that went all the way to #39 on this day in 1982. I think that the traditional interpretation of Murphy’s Law can be very well attributed to this record!




And to finish things off Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” leapt all the way to the top on this day in 1984. Great!





Our first birthday celebrity is a Yorkshire man who did well in life. A cabinet maker and designer for the rich and famous, Thomas Chippendale (1718 – 1779) was born on this day. His style and work has been copied over the ages, but never bettered!



Our next birthday hero is William Boyd (1895 – 1972). After a lean patch in the 1920’s he was offered the character of “Hopalong Cassidy” in 1935. He changed the original scripted character from a boozing, smoking drop out to a cowboy hero who didn’t drink or smoke, and always let the “bad guy” throw the first punch. Pity we can’t have more role models like him today!



Final birthday wishes go to Ken Follett (1949) the Welsh thriller writer who has over 100 million copies of his books published and Nomanda’s read most of them. A good read!





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!!

21 May - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Gemstone of the Month

Emerald

Flower of the Month: Lily of the Valley

First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!




With all the justifiable public outrage at the current exposure of English MP’s expenses claims from the hard pressed taxpayer perhaps we should remind ourselves that it has been going on for ever!



With his nose firmly in the trough it was on this day in 1840 that Captain William Hobson claimed British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand. With typical colonial disregard for the Maori occupants of the Islands he just went out and declared it! Then, in an amazing stroke of good fortune, he got himself appointed Governor! He was however to get his just reward as he died a couple of years later. To pay us back the “All Blacks” have been beating England on the rugby field, with one notable exception, ever since!



The solo flying pioneers of Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart figure next in our review of today in history.

It was on this day in 1927 that Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris to become the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic. Having entered the competition to be the first to cross the Atlantic solo he designed his plane, called the “Spirit of St Louis”, and tanked it up so much that it barely got off the ground. Nevertheless 33 hours after he’d cleared the trees of New York he landed in Le Bourget airfield in Paris to claim the $25,000 prize.



Not to be outdone, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to achieve this feat in 1932 when she took off from Newfoundland and landed in Ireland on this day.



Well done to both of them!


Landing on his bottom with a bump on this day in 1966 was the popular English heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper when Cassius Clay knocked him down in the fifth round of their world title fight. Having been saved by the bell at the end of the round the referee stopped the fight in the next round because of the damage and bleeding to Cooper’s eye. After the end of his boxing career the lovable Henry went on to make a good job of promoting men’s aftershave on the box. Bit of a brute, our Henry! “Splash it all over” was his catchphrase.




Despite the Empire Striking Back, that premiered on this day in 1980, David Bowie took it all in his stride and celebrated it with his #1 single “Let’s Dance” on this day in 1983. Cool Dude!




Our first birthday wishes go to one of Nomanda’s friends, David! Don’t worry, David, we’re not going to disclose just how many you’ve had, but we know that this is a “biggie” and it’s the highest number you’ve had so far and the first number is a 6!




Other celebrities sharing this day with David as their birthday start with Elizabeth Fry (1780 – 1845). This Quaker minister and prison reformer dedicated her life to the poor. She was admired in her work by Queen Victoria who granted her several audiences and sponsored her causes.




Next up for birthday honours is Fats Waller (1904 – 1943) the renowned jazz pianist, and song composer. “Ain’t Misbehavin” is one of his best known works.





Our final birthday wishes go to “Mr T”, the actor from the “A – Team”. He is just as well known for his attitude as for his gold jewellery! He wears nearly as much as our David!



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!!

24 April - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Flower of the Month

Sweet Pea

Gemstone of the Month: Diamond

First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!



Today is a happy day for lovers of rousing songs, nature lovers and long distance travellers.



It was today in 1792 that Claude-Joseph de Lisle composed what is now the national anthem of France, the “Marseillaise”. Apparently he knocked in off in just the one evening when he obviously had nothing better to do and it was eventually adopted as the French anthem some years later.



Tree lovers everywhere will be happy today as today is “Arbor Day”. So get out there, plant or hug a tree, and generally show them that you love them. “Arbor Day” was started by J Sterling Morton when he moved to Nebraska and the first Arbour Day was celebrated in 1874. Prizes were offered to communities and individual to plant trees on 10th April 1874 and more than a million trees were planted on that first “Arbor Day”. The day is now celebrated on the last Friday of the month of April.




Our long distance tributes today go first of all to another Frenchman, Henri Desgrange, who on this day in 1894 rode 100 kms on his bicycle in a new world record of 2 hours and 39 seconds.




A few years later, wishing they’d had Henri to power their car, Mr and Mrs Jacob Murdock became the first to travel across the US by car. The car they had was a lovely old Packard and having left Los Angeles they arrived in New York just 32 days and 5 hours later on this very day in 1908. Well I guess they had to stop to fill it up from time to time and had at least one stopover in a Great Western!



Today was a happy day for Winston Churchill in 1953 when he was knighted on this day by Queen Elizabeth II. It’s amazing that she has been around so long and is still looking after Great Britain PLC with an iron hand!




David Bowie enjoyed this day in 1992 because it was on this day that he married the beautiful model Iman. Way to go David!





Our first birthday greetings go to Arthur Wellesley, better known as the first Duke of Wellington (1769 – 1852). As well as spanking Napoleon’s bottom at Waterloo, although in his own words “It was a close run thing”, he went on to take up a political career and served two terms as a Tory Prime Minister.




Two well known actresses were born on this day, the first being the award winning actress, Shirley MacLaine (1934) and sharing her birthday with her a few years later (1942) the indomitable Barbra Streisand. “Funny Girl” and “Hello Dolly” are two of our favourites.






Renowned for his 5 successive Ryder Cup appearances the English golfer, Lee Westwood was born on this day in 1973.






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!!

8 January - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Flower of the Month

Carnation

Gemstone of the Month: Garnet

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!



Some days no matter how much research you do there just isn’t anything very interesting, in Nomanda’s humble opinion, that happened on the day in question, and this is one of them!


A happy co-incidence of events occurred on this day for the “King” of Rock and Roll. Firstly he happened to be born on this day (1935 – 1977) and on the same day in 1956 one of Elvis’ best known songs “Hound Dog” hit the “1 spot and stayed there for a record 11 weeks afterwards!


Funnily enough we’ve just come back from taking our very own hound dog to the vet’s. He was going for his annual jab, no big deal, but that didn’t prevent him throwing up in the car all the way there and back! It’s not his first time; he just doesn’t like the car, so we were reasonably well prepared to deal with the job!



As a matter of fact we were a lot better prepared than the Prime Minister of Japan who had his top guest throw up in his lap at his welcoming dinner on this day in 1992! The now not so welcome guest was one of Nomanda’s favourites, none other than the great George Bush himself! He’d probably had his researchers find out the local customs to show your appreciation for a good nosh, a polite burp, and just literally went over the top! Let’s be fair to Georgey baby, he probably wasn’t feeling too good after he’d seen his food walk towards him on the plate, but surely he could have managed to avoid his host’s lap!


There is a host of celebrities battling it out to get on Nomanda’s birthday list today so let’s start with the funny man Roy Kinnear (1934 – 1988) and see him in action at an appropriately named sketch called “Spit that out!”



The girl with the burly chassis, Shirley Bassey (1937) may be dipping her finger in the pumpkin soup today because she loves a bit of “Goldfinger!”



Being born on this day in 1946 the guitarist from the group “Doors” will have lots of candles on his birthday cake today! He’s well prepared with both matches and fire extinguishers as he loves a good old blaze at his knees ups! “Come on Baby Light My Fire!”



With just one less candle on his cake David Bowie (1947) may be wearing his military outfit at his birthday bash when he gives you his rendition of “Major Tom!”



I’m sure the lovely ladies Elsa Benitez (1977), Amber Benson (1977) and Kristianna Loken (1979) will want an invite to David’s bash so they can all celebrate together!



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!!