Donald Sutherland

Canadian actor Donald Sutherland tragically died on 20 June 2024 in Miami at the age of 88 following a long illness. Sutherland was born on 17 July 1935 at the Saint John General Hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick, As a child, he had rheumatic fever, hepatitis, and poliomyelitis. In a letter Sutherland sent to a Saint John Free Public Library representative in 2017, he detailed how he and his family had lived in a farmhouse in Lakeside, a rural community in Kings County near Hampton, before moving to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, at the age of 12,where he spent his teenage years. He obtained his first part-time job, at the age of 14, as a news correspondent for local radio station CKBW. Sutherland graduated from Bridgewater High School. He then studied at Victoria University, an affiliated college of the University of Toronto, where he met his first wife Lois May Hardwick, and graduated with a double major in engineering and drama. He had at one point been a member of the “UC Follies” comedy troupe in Toronto. He changed his mind about becoming an engineer, and left Canada for Britain in 1957, studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

While at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Sutherland began appearing in West End productions. Sutherland acted at the Perth Repertory Theatre in Scotland in 1960. In the early-to-mid-1960s, Sutherland began to gain small roles in British films and TV (such as a hotel receptionist in The Sentimental Agent episode “A Very Desirable Plot”. He was featured alongside Christopher Lee in horror films such as Castle of the Living Dead and the anthology film Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors . He also had a supporting role in the Hammer Films production Die! Die! My Darling! with Tallulah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers. In the same year, he appeared in the Cold War classic The Bedford Incident and in the TV series Gideon’s Way, in the 1966 episode “The Millionaire’s Daughter”. In 1966, Sutherland appeared in the BBC TV play Lee Oswald – Assassin, playing a friend of Lee Harvey Oswald, Charles Givens. He also appeared in the TV series The Saint, in the 1965 episode “The Happy Suicide” In 1967, he appeared in The Avengers. epsode “The Superlative Seven”, In 1966 he also made a second, appearance in The Saint in The episode, “Escape Route”, directed by Roger Moore, who later recalled Sutherland “asked me if he could show it to some producers as he was up for an important role… they came to view a rough cut and he got The Dirty Dozen.”The film, which starred Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, and several other popular actors, was the fifth highest-grossing film of 1967 and MGM’s highest-grossing film of the year. In 1968, after the breakthrough in the UK-filmed The Dirty Dozen, Sutherland left London for Hollywood

Sutherland then appeared in two war films, playing the lead role as “Hawkeye” Pierce in Robert Altman’s MASH in 1970; and, again in 1970, as hippie tank commander “Oddball” in Kelly’s Heroes. His health was threatened by spinal meningitis contracted during the filming of the latter film. Sutherland starred with Gene Wilder in the 1970 comedy Start the Revolution Without Me and the thriller Klute. Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda co-produced and starred together in the anti–Vietnam War documentary F.T.A. consisting of a series of sketches performed outside army bases in the Pacific Rim and interviews with U.S. troops who were then on active service. As a follow-up to their appearance in Klute, Sutherland and Fonda performed together in Steelyard Blues a “freewheeling, Age-of-Aquarius, romp-and-roll caper” from the writer David S. Ward.

Throughout the 1970s Sutherland portrayed leading man roles in films such as the Venice-based psychological horror film Don’t Look Now (1973), co-starring Julie Christie, a role which saw him nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor, the war film The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Federico Fellini’s Casanova (1976), and the thriller Eye of the Needle and as the health inspector in the science fiction/horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) alongside Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum. He starred in the Canadian television series Witness to Yesterday, as the Montreal doctor Norman Bethune, a physician and humanitarian. Sutherland also had a role as pot-smoking Professor Dave Jennings in National Lampoon’s Animal House in 1978, Sutherland also starred in the heist comedy film The First Great Train Robbery, alongside Sean Connery, He was praised for his performance in the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1976 epic film 1900 and as the conflicted father in the Academy Award-winning family drama Ordinary People alongside Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton. In 1981, he narrated A War Story, an Anne Wheeler film. He played the role of physician-hero Norman Bethune in Bethune and Bethune: The Making of a Hero). In 1983, he co-starred with Teri Garr and Tuesday Weld in an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent.

During the 1980s and 1990s Sutherland appeared in the apartheid drama A Dry White Season alongside Marlon Brando and Susan Sarandon; as a sadistic warden in Lock Up (1989) with Sylvester Stallone; as an incarcerated pyromaniac in the firefighter thriller Backdraft (1991) alongside Kurt Russell and Robert De Niro, as the humanitarian doctor-activist Norman Bethune in 1990’s Bethune: The Making of a Hero, and as a snobbish New York City art dealer in Six Degrees of Separation with Stockard Channing and Will Smith. In the 1991 Oliver Stone film JFK, he played a mysterious Washington intelligence officer, reputed to have been L. Fletcher Prouty, who spoke of links to the military–industrial complex in the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. He played psychiatrist and visionary Wilhelm Reich in the video for Kate Bush’s 1985 single, “Cloudbusting”. In 1992, he played the role of Merrick in the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Kristy Swanson. In 1994, he played the head of a government agency hunting for aliens who take over people’s bodies (a premise similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers) in the film of Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 book The Puppet Masters. In 1994, Sutherland played a software company’s scheming CEO in Barry Levinson’s drama Disclosure opposite Michael Douglas and Demi Moore, in 1994 he played a KGB officer in the video game Conspiracy, and in 1995 was cast as Maj. Gen. Donald McClintock in Wolfgang Petersen’s Outbreak. He was later cast in 1996 (for only the second time) with his son Kiefer in Joel Schumacher’s A Time to Kill. Sutherland played the famous American Civil War General P.G.T. Beauregard in the 1999 film The Hunley. He played an astronaut in Space Cowboys (2000), with co-stars Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, and James Garner. Sutherland was a model for Chris Claremont and John Byrne to create Donald Pierce, the Marvel Comics character whose last name comes from Sutherland’s character in the 1970 film M*A*S*H, Hawkeye Pierce.

In 2003Sutherland portrayed Reverend Monroe in the Civil War drama Cold Mountain, he also appeared in the drama thriller Baltic Storm (2003), in the remake of The Italian Job (2003), in the TV series Commander in Chief (2005–2006), in the film Fierce People (2005) with Diane Lane and Anton Yelchin, and as Mr. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (2005), starring alongside Keira Knightley. He also played a minor role in Mike Binder’s Reign Over Me (2007). Sutherland starred as Tripp Darling in the prime time drama series Dirty Sexy Money for ABC. He played multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycut in the 2008 film Fool’s Gold. His distinctive voice was also used in many radio and television commercials, including those for Delta Air Lines, Volvo automobiles, and Simply Orange orange juice.

Sutherland also provided voice-overs and narration during the intro of the first semifinal of Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and was also one of the Olympic flag bearers. In
2010, he starred alongside an ensemble cast in a TV adaptation of Ken Follett’s novel The Pillars of the Earth (2010). From 2012, Sutherland portrayed President Coriolanus Snow, the main antagonist of The Hunger Games film franchise, in The Hunger Games (2012), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), and Part 2 (2015). In 2013 Sutherland appeared in the European police procedural Crossing Lines, as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court named Michel Dorn. In 2017, Sutherland, received an Honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “for a lifetime of indelible characters, rendered with unwavering truthfulness”. In 2018, Sutherland portrayed an oil tycoon J. Paul Getty in the FX a historical drama series Trust. In 2020, he appeared in the HBO limited series The Undoing alongside Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman. Sutherland also plays the role of Mr. Harrigan in the 2022 Netflix film Mr. Harrigan’s Phone written and directed by John Lee Hancock, based on the novella of the same name from the book If It Bleeds by Stephen King.

During a career spanning six decades, Sutherland became one of Canada’s most respected and versatile actors and received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Honorary Award in 2017. A Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. In 2000 Sutherland was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2000 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 1978, a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012, and received the Companion of the Order of Canada (CC) in 2019.

World hydrography day

World Hydrography Day, takes place annually on 21 June. It was adopted by the International Hydrographic Organization as an annual celebration to publicise the work of hydrographers and the importance of hydrography. Hydrography deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other marine activities, including economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and environmental protection.

The date chosen for World Hydrography Day is the anniversary of the founding of the International Hydrographic Organization which was established in 1921 for the purpose of providing a mechanism for consultation between governments on such matters as technical standards, safe navigation and the protection of the marine environment. The IHO is actively engaged in developing standards and interoperability, particularly in relation to the challenges brought about by digital technologies.

Large scale Hydrography is usually undertaken by national or international organizations which sponsor data collection through precise surveys and publish charts and descriptive material for navigational purposes. The science of oceanography is, in part, an outgrowth of classical hydrography. In many respects the data are interchangeable, but marine hydrographic data will be particularly directed toward marine navigation and safety of that navigation. Marine resource exploration and exploitation is a significant application of hydrography, principally focused on the search for hydrocarbons.

Hydrographical measurements include the tidal, current and wave information of physical oceanography. They include bottom measurements, with particular emphasis on those marine geographical features that pose a hazard to navigation such as rocks, shoals, reefs and other features that obstruct ship passage. Bottom measurements also include collection of the nature of the bottom as it pertains to effective anchoring. Unlike oceanography, hydrography will include shore features, natural and manmade, that aid in navigation. Therefore, a hydrographic survey may include the accurate positions and representations of hills, mountains and even lights and towers that will aid in fixing a ship’s position, as well as the physical aspects of the sea and seabed.

Hydrography charts normally portray what is safe for navigation, and therefore will usually tend to maintain least depths and occasionally de-emphasize the actual submarine topography that would be portrayed on bathymetric charts, which are used to avoid accident. The latter are best representations of the actual seabed, as in a topographic map, for scientific and other purposes. Trends in hydrographic practice since c. 2003–2005 have led to a narrowing of this difference, with many more hydrographic offices maintaining “best observed” databases. This has been coupled with a preference for multi-use surveys, so that the same data collected for nautical charting purposes can also be used for bathymetric portrayal.

Even though, in places, hydrographic survey data may be collected in sufficient detail to portray bottom topography in some areas, hydrographic charts only show depth information relevant for safe navigation and do not show an accurate portrayal of the actual shape of the bottom. The soundings selected from the raw source depth data for placement on the nautical chart are selected for safe navigation and are biased to show predominately the shallowest depths, if there is a deep area that can not be reached because it is surrounded by shallow water, the deep area may not be shown. The color filled areas that show different ranges of shallow water are not the equivalent of contours on a topographic map since they are often drawn seaward of the actual shallowest depth portrayed. A bathymetric chart does show marine topology accurately. Details covering the above limitations can be found in Part 1 of Bowditch’s American Practical Navigator. Another concept that affects safe navigation is the sparsity of detailed depth data from high resolution sonar systems. In more remote areas, the only available depth information has been collected with lead lines. This collection method drops a weighted line to the bottom at intervals and records the depth, often from a rowboat or sail boat. There is no data between soundings or between sounding lines to guarantee that there is not a hazard such as a wreck or a coral head waiting there to ruin a sailor’s day. Often, the navigation of the collecting boat does not match today’s GPS navigational accuracies. The hydrographic chart will use the best data available and will caveat its nature in a caution note or in the legend of the chart.

A hydrographic survey is quite different from a bathymetric survey in some important respects, particularly in a bias toward least depths due to the safety requirements of the former and geomorphologic descriptive requirements of the latter. Historically, this could include echosoundings being conducted under settings biased toward least depths, but in modern practice hydrographic surveys typically attempt to best measure the depths observed, with the adjustments for navigational safety being applied after the fact.

Hydrography of streams includes information on the stream bed, flows, water quality and surrounding land. Basin or interior hydrography pays special attention to rivers and potable water although if collected data is not for ship navigational uses, and is intended for scientific usage, it is more commonly called hydrology. Hydrography of rivers and streams is also an integral part of water management. Most reservoirs in the United States use dedicated stream gauging and rating tables to determine inflows into the reservoir and outflows to irrigation districts, water municipalities and other users of captured water. River/stream hydrographers use handheld and bank mounted devices, to capture a sectional flow rate of moving water through a section.

Each World Hydrography Day has a different theme, these are determined by the Member States of the International Hydrographic Organization in order to promote the importance of hydrography internationally. The theme for World Hydrography Day 2018 is “Bathymetry – the foundation for sustainable seas, oceans and waterways”. Previous themes for World Hydrography day have included Safety at sea and protection of sensitive areas, multilateral cooperation and effective collaboration in data exchange, charting and standards development, Mapping our seas, oceans and waterways, charting our seas and waterways, Hydrography – underpinning the Blue Economy, Hydrography’s importance in managing seas and waterways, supporting safe navigation, Human Resources regarding Hydrography, the Importance of the Hydrographic Services, Hydrography for Protecting the marine environment, The importance of Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs), safety at sea and efficient maritime practices.

John Lee Hooker

American Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lee Hooker was born circa August 22, 1912 or 1917. in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in Tallahatchie County, although some sources say his birthplace was near Clarksdale, in Coahoma CountyIn 1922 his mother married William Moore, a local blues singer and guitarist In Shreveport, Louisiana who provided John Lee with an introduction to the guitar (and whom he would later credit for his distinctive playing style) , off whom Hooker learned to play a droning, one-chord blues that was strikingly different from the Delta blues of the time. Another influence was Tony Hollins, who dated Hooker’s sister Alice, helped teach Hooker to play, and gave him his first guitar. For the rest of his life, Hooker regarded Hollins as a formative influence on his style of playing and his career as a musician. Among the songs that Hollins reputedly taught Hooker were versions of “Crawlin’ King Snake” and “Catfish Blues”.

. At the age of 14, Hooker ran away from home, reportedly never seeing his mother or stepfather again. In the mid-1930s, he lived in Memphis, Tennessee, where he performed on Beale Street, at the New Daisy Theatre and at house parties. He worked in factories in various cities during World War II, eventually getting a job with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit in 1943. He frequented the blues clubs and bars on Hastings Street, the heart of the black entertainment district, on Detroit’s east side. In a city noted for its pianists, guitar players were scarce. Hooker’s popularity grew quickly as he performed in Detroit clubs, and, seeking an instrument louder than his acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar.

Hooker’s recording career began in 1948, when Modern Records, based in Los Angeles, released a demo he had recorded for Bernie Besman in Detroit. The single, “Boogie Chillen’ became a huge hit. Despite being illiterate, Hooker was a prolific lyricist. In addition to adapting traditional blues lyrics, he composed original songs. In the 1950s, like many black musicians, Hooker earned little from record sales, and so he often recorded variations of his songs for different studios for an up-front fee. To evade his recording contract, he used various pseudonyms, including John Lee Booker, Johnny Lee, John Lee, John Lee Cooker, Texas Slim, Delta John, Birmingham Sam and his Magic Guitar, Johnny Williams, and the Boogie Man. His early solo songs were recorded by Bernie Besman.

Hooker rarely played with a standard beat, but instead he changed tempo to fit the needs of the song. This often made it difficult to use backing musicians, who were not accustomed to Hooker’s musical vagaries. As a result, Besman recorded Hooker playing guitar, singing and stomping on a wooden pallet in time with the music. He recorded and toured with Eddie Kirkland. In Hooker’s later sessions for Vee-Jay Records in Chicago, studio musicians accompanied him on most of his recordings, including Eddie Taylor, who could handle his musical idiosyncrasies. “Boom Boom” and “Dimples”, two popular songs by Hooker, were originally released by Vee-Jay.

Hooker performed “Boom Boom” in the role of a street musician in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1989, he recorded the album The Healer with various other notable musicians, including Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt. He recorded several songs with Van Morrison, including “Never Get Out of These Blues Alive”, “The Healing Game”, and “I Cover the Waterfront”. He also appeared on stage with Morrison several times; some of these performances released on the live album A Night in San Francisco. On December 19, 1989, Hooker performed “Boogie Chillen’” with the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton in Atlantic City, New JerseY.

As part of the Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels tour, the show was broadcast live on cable television as a pay-per-view program. His last studio recording on guitar and vocal was “Elizebeth”, a song he wrote with Pete Sears, accompanied by members of his Coast to Coast Blues Band, with Sears on piano. It was recorded on January 14, 1998, at Bayview Studios in Richmond, California. The last song Hooker recorded before his death was “Ali d’Oro”, a collaboration with the Italian soul singer Zucchero, in which Hooker sang the chorus, “I lay down with an angel.”

Hooker spent the last years of his life in Long Beach, California. In 1997, he opened a nightclub in San Francisco’s Fillmore District called John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room, after one of his hit songs. Among his many awards, Hooker was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Two of his songs, “Boogie Chillen” and “Boom Boom”, were included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. “Boogie Chillen” was also included in the Recording Industry Association of America’s list of the “Songs of the Century”.He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Some of his other songs include “B”Crawling King Snake”, “Dimples” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”, The Healer, Mr. Lucky, Chill Out and Don’t Look Back” which won a Grammy Award in 1998.

Sadly Hooker fell ill just before a tour of Europe in 2001 and died in his sleep on June 21, 2001, in Los Altos, California. He was interred at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland. He was survived by eight children, 19 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren.

National day of the gong

National Day of the Gong takes place annually on June 21. A gong is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. A gong is a flat, circular metal disc that is typically struck with a mallet. They can be small or large in size, and tuned or can require tuning. The earliest possible depictions of gongs is from the details on the surface of the Ngọc Lũ I bronze drum (c. 3rd to 2nd century BC) from the Dong Son culture of northern Vietnam. It depicts what looks like seven-gong ensembles along with other instruments (including cymbals/bells and the bronze drums themselves).

The oldest undisputed historical mention of gongs can be found in sixth century AD Chinese records, which mentioned it as a foreign instrument that came from a country between Tibet and Burma. The term gong (Javanese: ꦒꦺꦴꦁ) originated in the Indonesian island of Java. Scientific and archaeological research has established that Burma, China, Java and Annam were the four main gong manufacturing centres of the ancient world. The gong found its way into the Western World in the 18th century, when it was also used in the percussion section of a Western-style symphony orchestra. A form of bronze cauldron gong known as a resting bell was widely used in ancient Greece and Rome: for instance in the famous Oracle of Dodona, where disc gongs were also used.

Gongs generally fall into three types: Suspended gongs are more or less flat, circular discs of metal suspended vertically by means of a cord passed through holes near to the top rim. Bossed or nipple gongs have a raised centre boss or knob and are often suspended and played horizontally. Bowl gongs are bowl-shaped and rest on cushions. The latter may be considered a member of the bell category. Gongs are made mainly from bronze or brass, though there are many other alloys in use. Gongs produce two distinct types of sound. A gong with a substantially flat surface vibrates in multiple modes, giving a “crash” rather than a tuned note. This category of gong is sometimes called a tam-tam, to distinguish it from the bossed gongs that give a tuned note. In Indonesian gamelan ensembles, some bossed gongs are deliberately made to generate an additional beat note in the range from about 1 to 5 Hz.

Fête de la Musique

The Fête de la Musique, also known as Make Music Day or World Music Day, is celebrated annually on June 21, around the world. The purpose Of Fête de la Musique is to promote music in two ways with both professional musicians and amateur musicians being encouraged to perform in the streets, under the slogan “Faites de la musique” (“make music”, a homophone of Fête de la Musique).

Music is an important art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the “color” of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; “art of the Muses”). Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as “the harmony of the spheres” and “it is music to my ears” suggest that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, “There is no noise, only sound.”

The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Indeed, throughout history, some new forms or styles of music have been criticized as “not being music”, including Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge string quartet in 1825, early jazz in the beginning of the 1900s and hardcore punk in the 1980s. There are many types of music, including popular music, traditional music, art music, music written for religious ceremonies and work songs such as chanteys. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions–such as Classical music symphonies from the 1700s and 1800s, through to spontaneously played improvisational music such as jazz, and avant-garde styles of chance-based contemporary music from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Music can be divided into genres (e.g., country music) and genres can be further divided into subgenres (e.g., country blues and pop country are two of the many country subgenres), although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to personal interpretation, and occasionally controversial. For example, it can be hard to draw the line between some early 1980s hard rock and heavy metal. Within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art or as an auditory art. Music may be played or sung and heard live at a rock concert or orchestra performance, heard live as part of a dramatic work (a music theater show or opera), or it may be recorded and listened to on a radio, MP3 player, CD player, smartphone or as film score or TV show.

In many cultures, music is an important part of people’s way of life, as it plays a key role in religious rituals, rite of passage ceremonies (e.g., graduation and marriage), social activities (e.g., dancing) and cultural activities ranging from amateur karaoke singing to playing in an amateur funk band or singing in a community choir. People may make music as a hobby, like a teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, or work as a professional musician or singer. The music industry includes the individuals who create new songs and musical pieces (such as songwriters and composers), individuals who perform music (which include orchestra, jazz band and rock band musicians, singers and conductors), individuals who record music (music producers and sound engineers), individuals who organize concert tours, and individuals who sell recordings and sheet music and scores to customeors

The concept of an all-day musical celebration on the days of the solstice, was originated by American musician Joel Cohen, who spent two seasons as a producer of musical radio programs for the French National Radio (France Musique). The idea was adapted as a national celebration each June 21 in France and made official by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. The festival later became celebrated in 120 countries around the world.

On October 1981, Maurice Fleuret became Director of Music and Dance at Minister of Culture Jack Lang’s request, and discovered, in a 1982 study on the cultural habits of the French, that five million people, one child out of two, played a musical instrument, he began to dream of a way to bring people out on the streets. It first took place in 1982 in Paris as the Fête de la Musique. Since then he festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 700 cities in 120 countries, including Germany, Italy, Greece, Russia, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada, the United States, and Japan. Many free concerts are organized during the event, to make all genres of music accessible to the public. in order to organize an official event it must be approved by the official Fête de la Musique organization in Paris and must be free to the public, with all performers donating their time for no fee.

international day of yoga

The International Day of Yoga (World Yoga Day) is held annually on June 21. It was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 2014. Yoga, is a physical, mental and spiritual practice having its origin over 6000 years ago in India aims to integrate the body and the mind. The declaration of this day came after the call for the adoption of 21 June as International Day of Yoga by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to UN General Assembly on September 27, 2014 wherein he stated:

“Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness within yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.” In suggesting June 21, which is the Summer Solstice, as the International Day of Yoga, Narendra Modi had said that the date is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has special significance in many parts of the world.”

From the perspective of yoga, the Summer Solstice marks the transition to Dakshinayana. The first full moon after Summer Solstice is known as Guru Poornima. According to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, in the yogic lore, the first transmission of yoga by Shiva, the first Guru, is said to have begun on this day. Dakshinayana is also considered a time when there is natural support for those pursuing spiritual practices. Govind Gurbani Yog Guru / Vice President of Rajasthan Swasthya Yog Parisad Jaipur India informed that on 21 June fifty thousand followers of Yoga will perform Yoga in Rajasthan.This initiative found support from many global leaders. At first, the Prime Minister of Nepal Sushil Koirala supported the proposal of Modi. More than 177 countries including USA, Canada, China and Egypt have supported this move, including 175 nations co-sponsoring the resolution. It had the “highest number of co-sponsors ever for any UNGA Resolution of such nature.”On Dec 11, 2014, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly approved by consensus a resolution establishing June 21 as ‘International Day of Yoga’. The resolution also saw a record number of 177 countries co-sponsoring it.

Prior to the 2014 UN resolution declaring June 21 as International Day of Yoga, formal and informal groups of yoga teachers and enthusiasts celebrated World Yoga Day on dates other than 21 June in support of various causes. In December 2011, international humanitarian and meditation and yoga Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and other yoga gurus, supported the cause from the delegation of the Yoga Portuguese Confederation and together gave a call to the UN to declare June 21 as World Yoga Day.

The two-day conference titled ‘Yoga: A Science for World Peace’ was organized by The Art of Living and SVYASA Yoga University, Bengaluru, jointly with Yoga Portuguese Confederation of Lisbon, Portugal on 4th and 5 December 2011, at The Art of living International Centre. On that day, under the leadership of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a proclamation was signed for having UN and UNESCO declare the 21 June as ‘World Yoga Day’ at Art of Living international Centre at Bangalore, India. HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, The Art of Living; HH Shri Swami Bala Gangadharanath of Adi Chun Chun Giri Mutt; HH Swami Paramátmánanda, General Secretary of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha; BKS Iyengar, Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune; HH Swami Ramdev, Patañjali Yogpeeth, Haridvar; HH Dr. Nagendra, Vivekánanda Yoga University, Bengaluru; HH Jagat Guru Amrta Súryánanda Mahá Ráj, President of Yoga Portuguese Confederation; HH Subodh Tiwari, Keivalyadhama Yoga Institute; Dr. D.R Kaarthikeyan, Advisor: Law-Human Responsibilities-Corporate Affairs and Dr. Ramesh Bijlani, Aurobindo Ashram, New Delhi were present for the conference.

To Emphasize the importance of yoga, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, “Yoga makes you like a child again. When there is yoga and vedanta, there is no lack, impurity, ignorance and injustice. We need to take yoga to the doorstep of everyone and free the world of misery.” According to Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda, “The idea to celebrate World Yoga Day originated 10 years ago. But this was the first time yoga gurus from India were endorsing it in large numbers, said Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja, president of the yoga portuguese confederation.,” even before the collective call for such a day by Indian Yoga Gurus in 2011. Following the adoption of the UN Resolution, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar lauded the efforts of Narendra Modi, stating that “It is very difficult for any philosophy, religion or culture to survive without state patronage. Yoga has existed so far almost like an orphan. Now, official recognition by the UN would further spread the benefit of yoga to the entire world.”

World humanist day

World Humanist Day is a Humanist holiday celebrated annually around the world on the June solstice, around June 21st As a way of spreading awareness of Humanism as a philosophical life stance and means to effect change in the world. It is also seen as a time for Humanists to gather socially and promote the positive values of Humanism. The holiday developed during the 1980s after several chapters of the American Humanist Association (AHA) began to celebrate it. At the time, the date on which it was celebrated varied from chapter to chapter, with selections such as the founding date of the IHEU, or International Humanist and Ethical Union. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the AHA and IHEU passed resolutions declaring World Humanist Day to be on the summer solstice.

Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition. The meaning of the term humanism differs between intellectual movements. The term was coined by theologian Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century. Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress. In modern times, humanist movements are typically aligned with secularism, and today humanism typically refers to a non-theistic life stance centred on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world

The manner in which World Humanist Day is celebrated varies considerably among local Humanist groups, reflecting the individuality and non-dogmatism of Humanism as a whole. Whilst the event might be a simple gathering, such as a dinner or picnic, with ample time for both socialising and reflection, the method of celebration is down to the individual. Some groups actually develop intricate social rituals, music, and proceedings which highlight the metaphoric symbolism of the solstice and the light (knowledge) which brings us out of darkness (ignorance).

Despite this World Humanist Day has not yet become a fully celebrated holiday in all Humanist organizations, although many of them are beginning to recognize it and plan events and activities around the holiday. International Humanist and Ethical Union lists several different ways that national and local Humanist groups celebrate World Humanist Day. For example, the Dutch Humanist Association broadcast short films about World Humanist Day on Dutch TV in 2012. In 2013, the first National Humanist Day will be organized in The Netherlands. The Humanist Association of Ireland held poetry readings in the park to celebrate the day. The Humanists of Florida Association suggested that groups hold Introduction to Humanism classes on World Humanist Day.

Gideon Sundback

Forever remembered for his work in the development of the zipper, Gideon Sundback sadly died 21 June. He was born April 24 in 1880. He was a Swedish-American electrical engineer who was born on Sonarp farm in Ödestugu Parish, in Jönköping County, Småland, Sweden.After his studies in Sweden, Sundback moved to Germany, where he studied at the polytechnic school in Bingen am Rhein. In 1903, Sundback took his engineer exam. In 1905, he emigrated to the United States. In 1905, Gideon Sundback started to work at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1906, Sundback was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey. Subsequently, Sundback was promoted to the position of head designer at Universal Fastener

Sundback made several advances in the development of the zipper between 1906 and 1914, while working for companies that later evolved into Talon, Inc. He built upon the previous work of other engineers such as Elias Howe, Max Wolff, and Whitcomb Judson. He was responsible for improving the “Judson C-curity Fastener”. At that time the company’s product was still based on hooks and eyes. Sundback developed an improved version of the C-curity, called the “Plako”, but it too had a strong tendency to pull apart, and wasn’t any more successful than the previous versions. Sundback finally solved the pulling-apart problem in 1913, with his invention of the first version not based on the hook-and-eye principle, the “Hookless Fastener No. 1″. He increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven. His invention had two facing rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slide.

In 1914, Sundback developed a version based on interlocking teeth, the “Hookless No. 2″, which was the modern metal zipper in all its essentials. In this fastener each tooth is punched to have a dimple on its bottom and a nib or conical projection on its top. The nib atop one tooth engages in the matching dimple in the bottom of the tooth that follows it on the other side as the two strips of teeth are brought together through the two Y channels of the slider. The teeth are crimped tightly to a strong fabric cord that is the selvage edge of the cloth tape that attaches the zipper to the garment, with the teeth on one side offset by half a tooth’s height from those on the other side’s tape. They are held so tightly to the cord and tape that once meshed there is not enough play to let them pull apart. A tooth cannot rise up off the nib below it enough to break free, and its nib on top cannot drop out of the dimple in the tooth above it. U.S. Patent 1,219,881 for the “Separable Fastener” was issued in 1917.

The name zipper was created in 1923 by B.F. Goodrich, who used the device on their new boots. Initially, boots and tobacco pouches were the primary use for zippers; it took another twenty years before they caught on in the fashion industry. About the time of World War II the zipper achieved wide acceptance for the flies of trousers and the plackets of skirts and dresses.

Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his “clasp locker” came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes. Judson’s clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. However, his design, like most first inventions needed to be fine-tuned. A more practical version came on the scene in 1913 when a Swedish-born engineer, Gideon Sundback revised Judson’s idea and made his with metal teeth instead of a hook and eye design. In 1917, Sundback patented his “separable fastener.” The name changed again when the B. F. Goodrich Co. used it in rubber boots, galoshes, and called it the “zipper” because the boots could be fastened with one hand. The 1940s brought about research in Europe of the coil zipper design. The first design was of interlocking brass coils. However, since they could be permanently bent out of shape, making the zipper stop functioning, it was rather bad for business and wasn’t too practical. The new design was improved after the discovery of stronger, more flexible synthetics.

Brandon Flowers (The Killers)

Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboard player with American rock band The Killers was born June 21st 1981. The killers were formed in 2001, by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards) and Dave Keuning (guitar, backing vocals). Mark Stoermer (bass, backing vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums, percussion) completed the current line-up of the band in 2002.

The name The Killers is derived from a logo on the bass drum of a fictitious band portrayed in the music video for the New Order song “Crystal”.The group has released three studio albums, Hot Fuss (2004), Sam’s Town (2006) and Day & Age (2008)and Battle Born. They have also released one compilation album, Sawdust (2007) and one live album and DVD titled Live from the Royal Albert Hall (2009). To date, the band has sold over 6 million albums in the United States, over 5 million albums in the United Kingdom, and over 15 million worldwide.Some of their best known songs are Mr Brightside,smile like you mean it, When You were Young, Bones, Read my Mind and For Reasons Unknown. The Killers have also performed at T in the Park, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury Festival, V Festival and performed a barnstorming set at the 2013 Isle of Wight Festival

Day and Age: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=2KZPP6Dpnkg
Hot Fuss: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_X7q8Bim7X4

National Aboriginal day

National Aboriginal Day (French: Journée nationale des Autochtones) is a day recognising and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada. The day was first celebrated in 1996, after it was proclaimed that year by then Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc, to be celebrated on 21 June annually. The date was chosen as the statutory holiday for many reasons-including its cultural significance as the Summer solstice, and the fact that it is a day on which many Aboriginal groups traditionally celebrate their heritage.The day of recognition came about after a series of calls for such a celebration. In 1982, the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations) called for the creation of a National Aboriginal Solidarity Day to be celebrated on 21 June.

in 1995, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples recommended that a National First Peoples Day be designated. Also in that same year, a national conference of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people chaired by Elijah Harper, titled The Sacred Assembly, called for a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada. 21 June often coincides with the summer solstice. National Aboriginal Day is now part of a series of Celebrate Canada days, beginning with National Aboriginal Day and followed by the National Holiday of Quebec on 24 June, Canadian Multiculturalism Day on 27 June, and concluding with Canada Day on 1 July. In 2001, members of the 14th Legislative Assembly passed the National Aboriginal Day Act making the Northwest Territories the first jurisdiction in Canada to recognise this day as a formal statutory holiday.