Day Tripping: February 11

Free thought, free rights, and free protest

Welcome to my daily feature where each day on the calendar marks a part of our shared history.

Release The Hounds

In far more than what can be considered a symbolic moment, in 1978 the Communist Party of China lifted a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. The move signalled a new era of openness from a place that had remained a mystery to most of the Western world.

Why these three authors in particular? Each writer in his time has been at the forefront of study into the human condition. For the Chinese, this bold move was only the beginning of a desire to join the planet in the exploration of our species. It represents a seismic shift in growth philosophy for the future of the country.

While today we still struggle with some of China’s oppressive policies, the nation has taken leaps forward in the past forty years to develop a growth economy and better living conditions for its citizens.

Release The Innocent

After 27 years spent in a South African prison for being nothing more than a voice for needed change, Nelson Mandela was set free. For almost three decades, no one had as much as seen a photograph of Mandela and because of that and other contributing factors, his legend grew.

With the future President’s release, South Africans were forced to face the reckoning that a new era in the nation’s politics was dawning. Throughout all of the turmoil to follow, Nelson Mandela held himself with grace and statesmanship.

In his book Long Walk To Freedom, Mandela wrote how he actually asked then President F.W. de Klerk the night before when they met, to delay his release for a week so his family might prepare. de Klerk responded that he did not wish Nelson Mandela to overstay his welcome, and insisted he is released on this day in 1990.

Release The Spring

The weeks of protest leading up to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, are referred to as the Arab Spring. Mubarak’s tenure as Egypt’s leader began twenty-nine years earlier with the assassination of peacemaker President, Anwar Sadat.

Although he was credited with continuing many of Sadat’s policies, it was Mubarak’s human rights issues and his forged anti-Semitic propaganda campaign which fueled his ultimate undoing.

Musical Milestones

1967 — Classic rock tune Happy Together by The Turtles is released. Lead singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman would later go on to become Flo & Eddie, singing with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

2012 — Whitney Houston is found dead in the bathtub of her suite at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.

Narratives

Jack Paar, The Tonight Show’s original star, walked off the set while taping in front of a live audience in 1960, never to return. After being cut off by a clown for five minutes on air, the host whose name was the show’s title, stormed off saying “There must be a better way of making a living”.

Hit sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati airs an episode in 1980 to commemorate eleven music fans who were killed two months previously at a rock concert in the city featuring The Who. The cause of the tragedy is attributed to festival seating which saw fans rush the stage, trampling the victims in the process.

Remembrance

Philosopher and mathematician who developed the concept of deductive reasoning first proposed by Aristotle, Rene Descartes died from pneumonia in 1650.

Writer of the epic science fiction tale, Dune, Frank Herbert in1986.

Notable Births

1847 — Thomas Edison inventor who held 1093 patents.

Sheryl Crow, Sarah Palin, Jennifer Aniston. How’s that for a combo?

Thanks for taking the time to read this article dedicated to the days of our history. I hope to see you tomorrow for another instalment.

Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Joseph M. Learned Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield