Aromanian National day

Aromanian National Day (: Dzua Natsionalã a Armãnjilor) takes place annually on 23 May. the Aromanians, are an ethnic group of the Balkans scattered in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. It is normally celebrated by Aromanians from various countries in which they are native and also by the Aromanian diaspora, however many Aromanians of Greece do not observe it. The date was chosen by Aromanian associations and organizations to commemorate the date Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II recognized the Ullah millet (“Vlach millet”) for the Aromanians a day earlier on 22 May 1905 it also coincides with the day of the anniversary of the Romanian Declaration of Independence.

The creation of the Ullah millet was achieved with the help of Romania and external powers, notably Austria-Hungary and the German Empire, and it granted the Aromanians the right to have their own churches and to have more autonomy over education. Due to the importance of the recognition itself, the holiday is sometimes celebrated on 22 May instead.

In 2002, the (then) Romanian state secretary Doru Vasile Ionescu announced at the University of Bucharest that Romania would start supporting the Aromanian communities of Albania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia but not Greece, because pro-Greek Aromanians consider the Ullah millet a diplomatic defeat for Greece, and the Romanian authorities are keen not to provoke a hostile struggle for influence over the Aromanians by Romania and Greece.

Another reason may be the fact that the Ullah millet was established by a Turkish Ottoman Sultan, causing his word to not be widely accepted or respected due to the bad relations between Greece and Turkey. In North Macedonia however, the holiday is known as the “National Day of the Vlachs” (Macedonian: Национален ден на Власите, romanized: Nacionalen den na Vlasite) and it has been congratulated by officials such as the former Macedonian Prime Minister or the current President of North Macedonia. It has been an official public holiday in North Macedonia since 2007 and a non-working day for Macedonian citizens of Aromanian ethnicity according to a 2007 law issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of North Macedonia.

In Romania, the Balkan Romanianness Day (Ziua Românității Balcanice) was established in 2021 as a holiday in the country to be celebrated every 10 May. This day is also meant to be a holiday for the Aromanians, but also for the Megleno-Romanians and the Istro-Romanians, albeit in the perspective that these three peoples are Romanian subgroups living south of the Danube. In the Balkan Romanianness Day, the establishment of the Ullah millet is also celebrated, but in this case, the date of the holiday is based on the Old Style, as Romania only adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1919. Later in the same year, it was proposed that the Aromanian National Day also be approved as a Romanian holiday celebrated every 23 May. However, the Parliament of Romania rejected this.

Roger Moore KBE

English actor Sir Roger George Moore KBE tragically died 23 May 2017 following a short battle with cancer. He was born 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London. He attended Battersea Grammar School, but was evacuated to Holsworthy, Devon, during the Second World War, and attended Launceston College school. He was further educated at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire and then attended the College of the Venerable Bede at the University of Durham, but did not graduate. At 18, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Moore was conscripted for national service. On 21 September 1946, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to captain, commanding a small depot in West Germany and also oversaw entertainers for the armed oforces passing through Hamburg. Immediately prior to his national service, he studied for two terms at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, during which his fees were paid by film director Brian Desmond Hurst, who also used Moore as an extra in his film Trottie True. At RADA, Moore was a classmate of his future Bond co-star Lois Maxwell, (Miss Moneypenny) Moore left RADA after six months in order to seek paid employment as an actor. At the age of 17 Moore appeared as an extra in the film Caesar and Cleopatra alongside Stewart Granger (1945).

During the early 1950s, Moore worked as a model, appearing in print advertisements for knitwear (earning him the amusing nickname “The Big Knit”). Moore’s first television appearance was in 1949 in The Governess by Patrick Hamilton, portraying Bob Drew alongside Clive Morton and Betty Ann Davies. Moore signed with MGM in 1954, appearing in Interrupted Melody—billed third under Glenn Ford and Eleanor Parker—a biographical movie about an opera singer’s recovery from polio and in The King’s Thief starring Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven and George Sanders. He appeared In the 1956 film Diane, portraying Prince Henri alongside Lana Turner and Pedro Armendariz. He also appeared in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959 titled “The Avon Emeralds and starred in The Miracle (1959), alongside Carroll Baker. Moore Moore also appeared in “The Angry Young Man”, an episode of the television series The Third Man starring Michael Rennie as criminal mastermind Harry Lime.

Moore appeared as, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in the TV 1958–59 series Ivanhoe, adapted from Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 romantic novel. Set during the era of Richard the Lionheart, and focussing on Ivanhoe’s conflict with Prince John. The series also featured Robert Brown as the squire Gurth, Peter Gilmore as Waldo Ivanhoe, Andrew Keir as villainous Prince John, and Bruce Seton as noble King Richard. Christopher Lee and John Schlesinger were also among the show’s guest stars. Moore also portrayed “Silky” Harris in the 1959–60 western The Alaskans, set during the Klondike Gold Rush around 1896, alongside Dorothy Provine as Rocky, Jeff York as Reno and Ray Danton as Nifty. He then appeared as “14 Karat John” in the two-part episode “Right Off the Boat” in the drama The Roaring 20s, with Rex Reason, John Dehner, Gary Vinson and Dorothy Provine.

Moore was then cast as Beau Maverick, the English cousin of frontier gamblers Bret Maverick (James Garner), Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) and Brent Maverick (Robert Colbert) in the series Maverick, debuting as Beau Maverick in “The Bundle From Britain”. He also appeared with Garner, as a different character in a retooling of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 comedy of manners play entitled “The Rivals”. Director Robert Altman wrote and directed the episode “Bolt from the Blue” featuring Will Hutchins as a frontier lawyer plus Lee Van Cleef and John Carradine as vicious bank robbers. Leading ladies included Kathleen Crowley Mala Powers, Roxane Berard, Fay Spain, Merry Anders, Andra Martin and Jeanne Cooper. In 1962 Lew Grade cast Moore as Simon Templar in a new and highly successful adaptation of The Saint, based on the novels by Leslie Charteris. This gave Moore international stardom and established his suave, quipping style. Moore also directed several episodes of the later series. The Saint ran from 1962 for six seasons and 118 episodes. Moore also appeared in two films: Crossplot, and The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) Directed by Basil Dearden. Between 1971 and 1972 Moore starred alongside Tony Curtis in 24 episodes of The Persuaders! Featuring the adventures of two millionaire playboys across Europe. Both True Entertainment andChannel 4 have since repeated The Avengers and The Persuaders!

In 1964 Moore made a guest appearance as suave British Secret Agent James Bond in the comedy series Mainly Millicen. By 1966 Moore became aware that he might be a contender for the role. However, George Lazenby was cast in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Connery played Bond again in Diamonds Are Forever 1971. Moore was approached, took over the role of Bond from Sean Connery in 1972, and made his first appearance as 007 in Live and Let Die becoming the third actor to portray Bond, after Sean Connery and George Lazenby. Moore portrayed Bond as a debonair playboy with of sense of humour and a skilled detective with a cunning mind. Following Live and Let Die, Moore continued to portray Bond in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); Moonraker (1979); For Your Eyes Only (1981); Octopussy (1983); and A View to a Kill (1985). In 2004, Moore was voted ‘Best Bond’ in an Academy Awards poll, and he won with 62% of votes in another poll in 2008. In 1987 he hosted Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond.

Moore also starred in Gold alongside Susannah York, and also portrayed an adventurer in Africa opposite Lee Marvin in Shout at the Devil (1976), a commando alongside Richard Burton, Stewart Granger and Richard Harris in the The Wild Geese (1978), a counter-terrorism expert opposite Anthony Perkins in the thriller North Sea Hijack (1979), an obsessed millionaire who looks like Roger Moore in Cannonball Run (1981) and posed as a famous movie star, in Curse of the Pink Panther (credited as “Turk Thrust II). In1990 he appeared in the films My Riviera and Bed & Breakfast. He also appeared in the The Quest and portrayed the Chief in Spice World. Between 1998 and 2002 he starred in all four ITV Pantos: Jack and the Beanstalk; Cinderella; Aladdin and Dick Whittington as Baron Wasteland; the Master of Ceremonies; Widow Twankey and The Mayor And played an amorous homosexual man in Boat Trip. The British comedy show Spitting Image also parodied Roger Moore in the spoof, The Man with the Wooden Delivery, featuring James Bond, Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev. Moore appeared in an advertisement for the Post Office in 2009 and portrayed a secret agent in the Victoria Wood Christmas Special whose mission was to eliminate another agent who looked like Pierce Brosnan. In 2010 Moore provided the voice for Lazenby in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. In 2011 Moore co-starred in the film A Princess for Christmas with Katie McGrath and Sam Heughan and also guest-hosted Have I Got News For You.

In 1991 he was Appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and was the voice of Father Christmas or ‘Santa’ in the 2004 UNICEF cartoon The Fly Who Loved Me. He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 14 June 2003. The citation on the knighthood was for Moore’s charity work. In 2008, the French government appointed Moore a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and he also receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard becoming the 2,350th star installed. In 2012, Moore was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Hertfordshire, for his outstanding contributions to the UK film and television industry for over 50 years. Moore was also named one of GQ’s fifty best dressed British men and he read Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Claus and Big Claus” for the children’s fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF, together with a number of other British celebrities, including Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor, Joan Collins, Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, David Walliams, Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna. Moore was also involved in the production of a video for PETA that protests against the production and wholesale of foie gras. Sadly Moore was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2013, which left him unable to drink martinis. He had to learn to walk again after a bout of pneumonia, and had a pacemaker fitted after collapsing on stage. He will always be fondly remembered for his various television and film rolls including James Bond and Simon Templar

World turtle day

World Turtle Day takes place annually on 23 May. Tortoises and Turtles comprise some of the most amazing and endangered reptiles on the planet, so World Turtle Day was set up to increase respect and knowledge of Turtles and Tortoises and to encourage human action to help them survive and thrive. Turtle Day Is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue, and celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles or wearing green summer dresses, to saving turtles caught on highways, and research activities. Turtle Day lesson plans and craft projects encourage teaching about turtles in classrooms.

Turtles are diapsids of the order Testudines (or Chelonii) characterized by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs and acting as a shield. “Turtle” may refer to the order as a whole (American English) or to fresh-water and sea-dwelling testudines (British English). The order Testudines includes both extant (living) and extinct species. The earliest known members of this group date from 220 million years ago,  making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than snakes or crocodilians. Of the 356 known species alive today, some are highly endangered.

Tortoises also belong to the family Testudinidae under the order Testudines and suborder Cryptodira. There are fourteen extant families of the order Testudines, an order of reptile commonly known as turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. The suborder Cryptodira (Greek: hidden neck) is a suborder of Testudines that includes most living tortoises and turtles. Cryptodira differ from Pluerodia (side-neck turtles) in that they lower their necks and pull the heads straight back into the shells, instead of folding their necks sideways along the body under the shells’ marginals.The testudines are some of the most ancient reptiles alive. Tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The carapace is fused to both the vertebrae and ribcage, and tortoises are unique among vertebrates in that the pectoral and pelvic girdles are inside the ribcage rather than outside. Tortoises can vary in size from a few centimeters to two meters. They are usually diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. Tortoises are the longest living land animal in the world, although the longest living species of tortoise is a matter of debate. Galápagos tortoises are noted to live over 150 years, but an Aldabra giant tortoise named Adwaita may have been the longest living at an estimated 255 years. In general, most tortoise species can live 80-150 years.

Both Turtles and tortoises are ectotherms—animals commonly called cold-blooded—meaning that their internal temperature varies according to the ambient environment. However, because of their high metabolic rate, leatherback sea turtles have a body temperature that is noticeably higher than that of the surrounding water. Turtles are classified as amniotes, along with other reptiles, birds, and mammals. Like other amniotes, turtles breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. The study of turtles is called cheloniology, after the Greek word for turtle. It is also sometimes called testudinology, after the Latin name for turtles.

American Tortoise Rescue (ATR) was founded in 1990, by Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson, and is certified by state and federal agencies as a nonprofit corporation to provide for the protection of all species of tortoise and turtle, including Foundlings that cannot be adopted because of ill health, which remain in the care of American Tortoise Rescue for the remainder of their lives. The American Tortoise Rescue also advocate humane treatment of all animals, including reptiles.

The day is featured in Chase’s Book of Annual Events, and was created as an annual observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world. Since 1990, ATR has placed about 3,000 tortoises and turtles in caring homes. ATR assists law enforcement when undersize or endangered turtles are confiscated and provides helpful information and referrals to persons with sick, neglected or abandoned turtles. Armed with knowledge and passion for these gentle animals, we can come together to preserve Turtle and Tortoise species throughout the world.

Robert Moog

Best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, The pioneer of electronic music, Robert Moog (Pronounced “Mogue”) was born on 23rd May 1934. Bob Moog’s innovative electronic design is employed in numerous synthesizers including the Minimoog Model D, Minimoog Voyager, Little Phatty, Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Moog Minitaur, and the Moogerfooger line of effects pedals.He was born in New York and attended the Bronx High School of Science in New York, graduating in 1952. Moog earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Queens College, New York in 1957, another in electrical engineering from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in engineering physics from Cornell University. Moog’s awards include honorary doctorates from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (New York City) and Lycoming College (Williamsport, Pennsylvania).Moog created the first voltage-controlled subtractive synthesizer to utilize a keyboard as a controller and demonstrated it at the AES convention in 1964. In 1966, Moog filed a patent application for his unique low-pass filter which issued in October 1969. He held several dozen patents.

Moog also employed his theremin company (R. A. Moog Co., which would later become Moog Music) to manufacture and market his synthesizers. Unlike the few other 1960s synthesizer manufacturers, Moog shipped a piano-style keyboard as the standard user interface to his synthesizers. Moog also established standards for analog synthesizer control interfacing, with a logarithmic one volt-per-octave pitch control and a separate pulse triggering signal. The first instrument – The Moog modular synthesizer became one of the first widely used electronic musical instruments. Early developmental work on the components of the synthesizer occurred at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, now the Computer Music Center. While there, Moog developed the voltage controlled oscillators, ADSR envelope generators, and other synthesizer modules with composer Herbert Deutsch. In 1971 Moog Music began production of the Minimoog Model D which was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers. One of Moog’s earliest musical customers was Wendy Carlos whom he credits with providing feedback that was valuable to the further development of Moog synthesizers.Moog also constructed his own theremin as early as 1948. Later he described a theremin in the hobbyist magazine Electronics World and offered a kit of parts for the construction of the Electronic World’s Theremin, which became very successful.

In the late 1980s Moog repaired the original theremin of Clara Rockmore, an accomplishment which he considered a high point of his professional career. He also produced, in collaboration with first wife Shirleigh Moog, Mrs. Rockmore’s album, The Art of the Theremin. Moog was a principal interview subject in the award-winning documentary film, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, the success of which led to a revival of interest in the theremin. Moog Music went back to its roots and once again began manufacturing theremins. Thousands have been sold to date and are used by both professional and amateur musicians around the globe. In 1996 he published another do-it-yourself theremin guide. Today, Moog Music is the leading manufacturer of performance-quality theremins. Through his involvement in electronic music, Moog developed close professional relationships with artists such as Don Buchla, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, John Cage, Gershon Kingsley, Clara Rockmore, Jean Jacques Perrey , and Pamelia Kurstin.

In a 2000 interview, Moog said “I’m an engineer. I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers. They use my tools.”During his lifetime, Moog founded two companies for manufacturing electronic musical instruments -RA Moog Co who manufactured Theramin Kits but left after a disagreement and formed a company called Big Briar. He also worked as a consultant and vice president for new product research at Kurzweil Music Systems from 1984 to 1988, helping to develop the Kurzweil K2000. He spent the early 1990s as a research professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. During his lifetime Moog received a Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement in 1970, and In 2002, Moog was honored with a Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award, and an honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music. Moog was also the inspiration behind the 2004 film Moog.

Sadly he was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor on April 28, 2005 and passed away nearly four months later, at the age of 71 in Asheville, North Carolina on August 21, 2005. The Bob Moog Foundation was created as a memorial, with the aim of continuing his life’s work of developing electronic music. He is survived by three daughters (Laura Moog Lanier, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Renee Moog) one son (Matthew Moog) one stepdaughter, Miranda Richmond, and five grandchildren.

Tina Turner

Singer, dancer, actress, and author Tina Turner a.k.a Anna Mae Bullock sadly died 23 May 2023. She was born November 26, 1939. Her career has spanned more than half a century, earning her widespread recognition and numerous awards. Born and raised in the American South, she is now a Swiss citizen.She began her musical career in the mid-1950s as a featured singer with Ike Turner’sKings of Rhythm, first recording in 1958 under the name “Little Ann”. Her introduction to the public as Tina Turner began in 1960 as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of notable hits credited to the duo, including “River Deep – Mountain High” (1966), “Proud Mary” (1971) and “Nutbush City Limits” (1973), a song which she wrote. In her autobiography, I, Tina, she revealed several instances of severe domestic abuse against her by Ike Turner prior to their 1976 split and subsequent 1978 divorce. Raised as a Baptist, she melded her faith with Buddhism in 1974, crediting the religion and its spiritual chant of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for helping her to endure during difficult times.

TINA TURNER LIVE 2009 http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-YnN6-q2s

After her divorce from Ike Turner, she rebuilt her career through performances, though she initially struggled to make an impact on the music charts as a solo artist. In the early 1980s, she launched a comeback with another string of hits, starting in 1983 with the single “Let’s Stay Together” followed by the 1984 release of her fifth solo album Private Dancer which became a worldwide success. “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, the most successful single from the album, was later used as the title of a biographical film adapted from her autobiography.

In addition to her musical career, Turner has also experienced success in films, including a role in the 1975 rock musical Tommy and a starring role in the 1985 Mel Gibson blockbuster film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, as well as a cameo role in the 1993 film Last Action Hero. One of the world’s most popular entertainers, she is sometimes referred to as “the queen of rock” or “The world’s raunchiest grandmother”. Turner has been termed the most successful female rock artist, winning eight Grammys and selling more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history. She has also been named “one of the greatest singers of all time” by Rolling Stone. Her combined album and single sales total approximately 100 million copies worldwide. She is noted for her energetic stage presence, powerful vocals, and career longevity. In 2008, Turner returned from semi-retirement to embark on herTina!: 50th Anniversary Tour.Turner’s tour became one of the highest selling ticketed shows of 2008–2009. Rolling Stone ranked her no. 63 on their 100 greatest artists of all time. In 1991, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.