~~  Dark Navy Rum

Canada and the US signed The Migratory Bird Treaty on this day in 1916, with the intention of saving the lives of migratory birds.  It is not nearly as well known as it should, but it does protect such birds  from killing for sport by US citizens to some degree.  Unfortunately, the US permits  the so-called incidental take (killing) by wealthy individuals and corporations in pursuit of increased profits as well as killings by the USDA's "Wildlife Services" which wantonly slaughters vast amounts of wildlife in the hopes of enhancing farm profits.

An utterly Un-American farce known as the House Committee on Un-American Activities, created and perpetuated to harass and persecute those suspected of wrong thinking launched hearings on this date in 1966 to attack those who engaged in any way in Anti-Vietnam War behavior.   As might be expected, the hearings were protested and the witnesses were hostile and defiant, and, since the activities they hoped to criminalize weren't, at the time, remotely criminal per se, nothing was accomplished.

On this day in history:

1777 – Rebels routed the British the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.

1793 – A levée en masse was decreed by the French National Convention.

1858 – U.S. President Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria 

1863 – The Dominican Restoration War begian

1869 – A Paraguayan battalion largely made up of children was massacred by the Brazilian Army at the Battle of Acosta Ñu

1896 – Gold was found in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

1916 – The Migratory Bird Treaty between Canada and the United States was signed.

1927 – The Dole Air Race from Oakland, CA, to Honolulu, Hi, began

1929 – The 1929 Palestine riots broke out in Mandatory Palestine 

1930 – The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, was released by Ub Iwerks.

1933 – The Christie Pits riot took place in Toronto, Ontario.

1942 – A naval blimp blew in from the Pacific and crashed in Daly City, CA. The two-man crew was never found.

1944 – First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.

1946 – Mass riots in Kolkata began; more than 4,000 people were killed in 72 hours.

1946 – The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress was founded in Secunderabad.

1960 – Cyprus gained independence from the UK

1966 – The Un-American House Committee met to begin attempting to persecute those who engaged in the Anti-Vietnam War effort.

1975 – Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically handed over land to the Gurindji people after the 8-year Wave Hill walk-off,.

1989 – A solar particle event affected computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.

2017 – The Minamata Convention on Mercury enters in force.

Born this day in:

Every piece of progressive social legislation passed by Congress in the 20th century bears a union label.

Economics was the only profession where a person could be considered an expert without having once been right.

~~       George Meany

1557 – Agostino Carracci, painter and etcher
1744 – Pierre Méchain, astronomer and surveyor
1761 – Yevstigney Fomin, pianist and composer
1821 – Arthur Cayley, mathematician and academic
1832 – Wilhelm Wundt, physician, psychologist, and physiologist
1842 – Jakob Rosanes, mathematician, chess player, and academic
1845 – Gabriel Lippmann, physicist and academic
1865 – Mary Gilmore, socialist, poet and journalist
1888 – Armand J. Piron, violinist, composer, and bandleader
1892 – Otto Messmer, cartoonist and animator, co-created Felix the Cat 
1894 – George Meany, plumber and labor leader
1900 – Ida Browne, geologist and palaeontologist
1902 – Georgette Heyer, author
1902 – Wallace Thurman, author and playwright
1904 – Wendell Meredith Stanley,  biochemist and virologist
1908 – Orlando Cole, cellist and educator
1908 – William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist
1909 – Paul Callaway, organist and conductor
1915 – Al Hibbler, baritone singer
1920 – Charles Bukowski, poet, novelist, and short story writer
1922 – Ernie Freeman, pianist and bandleader
1925 – Mal Waldron, pianist and composer
1928 – Ann Blyth, actress and singer
1928 – Eydie Gormé, singer
1928 – Eddie Kirkland, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1929 – Bill Evans, pianist and composer
1930 – Flor Silvestre, singer and actress
1934 – Ketty Lester, singer and actress
1937 – David Behrman, composer and producer
1939 – Billy Joe Shaver, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1939 – Eric Weissberg, singer and multi-instrumentalist
1942 – Barbara George, singer and songwriter
1942 – Robert Squirrel Lester, singer
1944 – Kevin Ayers, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1945 – Gary Loizzo, guitarist, singer, recording engineer, and record producer
1948 – Joey Spampinato, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1949 – Scott Asheton, drummer
1949 – Bill Spooner, guitarist and songwriter
1953 – James "J.T." Taylor, singer and songwriter
1958 – Madonna, singer, songwriter, producer, actress, and director
1972 – Emily Robison, singer, songwriter, and banjo player

Died this day in:

 Charity begins at home, but should not end there.

~~     Thomas Fuller

1661 – Thomas Fuller, historian and author
1678 – Andrew Marvell, poet, satirist, and author
1705 – Jacob Bernoulli, mathematician and theorist
1733 – Matthew Tindal, philosopher and author
1836 – Marc-Antoine Parseval, mathematician and theorist
1893 – Jean-Martin Charcot, neurologist and academic
1899 – Robert Bunsen, chemist and academic
1938 – Robert Johnson, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1949 – Margaret Mitchell, journalist and author
1952 – Lydia Field Emmet, painter and academic
1957 – Irving Langmuir, chemist and physicist
1973 – Selman Waksman, biochemist and microbiologist
1977 – Elvis Presley, singer, guitarist, and actor
1992 – Mark Heard, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1997 – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, musician and Qawwali singer
2005 – Vassar Clements, fiddler
2008 – Dorival Caymmi, singer, songwriter, and actor
2008 – Ronnie Drew, musician, folk singer and actor
2013 – David Rees, mathematician and academic
2015 – Jacob Bekenstein, physicist, astronomer, and academic
2018 – Aretha Franklin, singer and songwriter

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States)
Cupcake Day (Australia)
Natonal Bratwurst Day
National Rum Day
Stay Home With Your Kids Day

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies

Rum:

ARMAND PIRON

AL HIBBLER

ERNIE FREEMAN

MAL WALDRON

BILL EVANS

BARBARA GEORGE

ROBERT SQUIRREL ZESTER

GARY LOIZZO

JAMES "JT"TAYLOR

MADONNA

EMILY ROBISON

ROBERT JOHNSON

ELVIS PRESLEY

VASSAR CLEMENTS

ARETHA FRANKLIN

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?