otd

<p>It is a land of wee<br>hard men and all I<br>am wanted for is to<br>stand and cheer…</p><p>Prof Alan Riach considers the life &amp; work of the poet &amp; playwright Joan Ure (1918–1978) – born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 22 June</p><p>1/6</p><p><a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/17455955.joan-ure-the-scots-poet-and-playwright-who-set-a-precedent/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thenational.scot/news/17455955.joan-ure-the-scots-poet-and-playwright-who-set-a-precedent/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thenational.scot/news/1745</span><span class="invisible">5955.joan-ure-the-scots-poet-and-playwright-who-set-a-precedent/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/poet/" rel="tag">#poet</a> <a href="/tags/drama/" rel="tag">#drama</a> <a href="/tags/playwright/" rel="tag">#playwright</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 22 June 1812, Canadian Laura Secord is said to have walked 19 miles to warn British forces of an impending American attack in the War of 1812.</p><p><a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/canadianhistory/" rel="tag">#CanadianHistory</a></p>

<p>“ A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human.”</p><p>By Alan Turing (born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1912). In: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/may/14/alan-turing-gary-kasparov-computer" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/may/14/alan-turing-gary-kasparov-computer"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theguardian.com/uk/the-nor</span><span class="invisible">therner/2012/may/14/alan-turing-gary-kasparov-computer</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/computer_science/" rel="tag">#computer_science</a></p>

<p>Schyr Hanry myssit the noble king…</p><p>Robert I, King of Scots, killed Sir Henry de Bohun in single combat on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 23 June 1314. The epic vernacular poem “The Brus” by John Barbour (c.1320–1395) describes the event</p><p>1/3</p><p><a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/aboutus/resources/stella/projects/starn/poetry/the-brus/book-12/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/aboutus/resources/stella/projects/starn/poetry/the-brus/book-12/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical</span><span class="invisible">/aboutus/resources/stella/projects/starn/poetry/the-brus/book-12/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/medieval/" rel="tag">#medieval</a> <a href="/tags/14thcentury/" rel="tag">#14thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/middleages/" rel="tag">#MiddleAges</a> <a href="/tags/bannockburn/" rel="tag">#Bannockburn</a> <a href="/tags/epic/" rel="tag">#epic</a> <a href="/tags/vernacular/" rel="tag">#vernacular</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 23 June 1972, US President Nixon signs into law Title IX, prohibiting sexual discrimination in federally funded education programs/activities. </p><p>The image is from 1979, as obviously women still had to fight to get the law followed.</p><p><a href="/tags/americanhistory/" rel="tag">#AmericanHistory</a> <a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 24 June, in 1314, the Scottish army under King Robert I destroyed a much larger English invasion force at Bannockburn, in one of the most decisive battles in medieval history. In 1793 Robert Burns composed “Scots Wha Hae”, originally entitled “Robert Bruce’s March To Bannockburn”</p><p>⚔️🧵</p><p>1/5</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/bannockburn/" rel="tag">#Bannockburn</a> <a href="/tags/battleofbannockburn/" rel="tag">#BattleofBannockburn</a> <a href="/tags/14thcentury/" rel="tag">#14thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/medieval/" rel="tag">#medieval</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/robertburns/" rel="tag">#RobertBurns</a></p>

<p>Here lies our land: every airt<br>Beneath swift clouds, glad glints of sun,<br>Belonging to none but itself…</p><p>—Kathleen Jamie, “Here lies our land”</p><p>This poem was commissioned in 2014 to mark the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn – fought <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 24 June, 1314. The poem is inscribed on the Bannockburn monument.</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/here-lies-our-land/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/here-lies-our-land/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/poem/here-lies-our-land/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/bannockburn/" rel="tag">#Bannockburn</a> <a href="/tags/battleofbannockburn/" rel="tag">#BattleofBannockburn</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 24 June 1916, Mary Pickford becomes the first Hollywood star to sign a million-dollar contract.</p><p>This is Pickford, who was a queen of PR as well as the screen.</p><p>At the time, standard studio contracts were for a year. She signed a *two-year* contract as both an actor *and* a producer. That bumped its value across the $1m barrier and got her the headlines.</p><p><a href="/tags/reclaimtheframe/" rel="tag">#ReclaimTheFrame</a> <a href="/tags/hollywoodhistory/" rel="tag">#HollywoodHistory</a> <a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a></p>

<p>Is there a whim-inspired fool,<br>Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule,<br>Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool,<br>Let him draw near…</p><p>Robert Burns (1759–96) died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 21 July, aged 37. “A Bard’s Epitaph” is the final poem in the 1786 Kilmarnock Edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect</p><p>1/4</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/robertburns/" rel="tag">#RobertBurns</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/romanticism/" rel="tag">#romanticism</a> <a href="/tags/epitaph/" rel="tag">#epitaph</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 26 Jun 1949, all Belgian women are able to vote in Parliamentary elections for the first time.</p><p><a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/votesforwomen/" rel="tag">#VotesForWomen</a> <a href="/tags/europeanhistory/" rel="tag">#EuropeanHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 17 July 1979, Simone Veil became the first President of the European Parliament, and the first woman to preside over any EU institution.</p><p>As Health Minister in France, Veil had passed laws enabling access to contraception and legalising abortion.</p><p><a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/europeanhistory/" rel="tag">#EuropeanHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a></p>

<p>Laid-back in orbit, they found their minds.<br>They found their minds were very clean and clear.<br>Clear crystals in swarms outside were their fireflies and larks.<br>Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “A Home in Space”<br>from CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)</p><p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 20 July, 1969, Neil Armstrong &amp; Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon</p><p><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781784109967/centenary-selected-poems/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/9781784109967/centenary-selected-poems/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/97817841099</span><span class="invisible">67/centenary-selected-poems/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/moonlanding/" rel="tag">#MoonLanding</a> <a href="/tags/moonlandingday/" rel="tag">#MoonLandingDay</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/astronauts/" rel="tag">#astronauts</a> <a href="/tags/scifi/" rel="tag">#scifi</a> <a href="/tags/scifipoem/" rel="tag">#scifipoem</a> <a href="/tags/scifipoetry/" rel="tag">#scifipoetry</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 27 Jun 1833, Prudence Crandall stands trial for running a school to educate African-American girls in Canterbury, Connecticut. She spends the night in County Jail until bail is posted, and pursues her case as far as the Supreme Court. </p><p>Read more: <a href="http://ow.ly/eGQj30kF35C" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">http://</span>ow.ly/eGQj30kF35C</a></p><p><a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/americanhistory/" rel="tag">#AmericanHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a></p>

<p>Emma Goldman — born <a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#onthisday</a> in 1869 — was a radical critic of capitalism, the state, patriarchy and colonialism during the fertile political years of the late 19th and early 20th century. More on her life and “anarchism without adjectives” here: <a href="https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/emma-goldmans-anarchism-without-adjectives" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="publicdomainreview.org/essay/emma-goldmans-anarchism-without-adjectives"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">publicdomainreview.org/essay/e</span><span class="invisible">mma-goldmans-anarchism-without-adjectives</span></a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#otd</a></p>

<p>39 years today since Jim Henson&#x27;s cult classic &#x27;Labyrinth&#x27; was released on June 27th 1986, with George Lucas as executive producer, starring Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Williams and David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King.</p><p>(Original illustration by Kevin M Wilson <a href="https://www.apemeetsgirl.com" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.apemeetsgirl.com</a>)</p><p><a href="/tags/labyrinth/" rel="tag">#Labyrinth</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/movies/" rel="tag">#Movies</a> <a href="/tags/cinemastodon/" rel="tag">#Cinemastodon</a> <a href="/tags/filmmastodon/" rel="tag">#FilmMastodon</a> <a href="/tags/80s/" rel="tag">#80s</a> <a href="/tags/jimhenson/" rel="tag">#JimHenson</a> <a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a> <a href="/tags/art/" rel="tag">#Art</a> <a href="/tags/artwork/" rel="tag">#Artwork</a> <a href="/tags/illustration/" rel="tag">#Illustration</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 18 July 1976, Romanian Nadia Comăneci becomes the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics. She broke the scoreboards as they only went to 9.99.</p><p>In 1989, having lived under tight surveillance and control since she was a child, she defected to the USA by walking through the night from Romania to Hungary.</p><p><a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/olympicwomen/" rel="tag">#OlympicWomen</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OtD</a> 27 Jun 1880 deafblind American author, socialist, and lecturer, Helen Keller was born. A member of the <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@iww" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>iww</span></a></span> union, she fought for women&#x27;s suffrage, workers&#x27; rights, and socialism <a href="https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9918/helen-keller-born" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9918/helen-keller-born"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">stories.workingclasshistory.co</span><span class="invisible">m/article/9918/helen-keller-born</span></a></p>

<p>Belle Stewart (1906–1997) – singer, storyteller, tradition-bearer – was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 18 July, in a bow tent on the banks of the Tay at Caputh, near Blairgowrie. She ranks alongside Jeannie Robertson in the roll of the finest Scots ballad-singers.</p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0sMwlevTMU" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0sMwlevTMU"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0sMwl</span><span class="invisible">evTMU</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/travellers/" rel="tag">#travellers</a> <a href="/tags/folklore/" rel="tag">#folklore</a> <a href="/tags/folksong/" rel="tag">#folksong</a></p>

<p>Scotland’s a sense of change, an endless<br>becoming for which there was never a kind<br>of wholeness or ultimate category.<br>Scotland’s an attitude of mind.</p><p>—“Speaking of Scotland” by Maurice Lindsay (1918–2009) – born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 21 July<br>Published in COLLECTED POEMS 1940–1990 (AUP 1990)</p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/speaking-scotland/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/speaking-scotland/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/poem/speaking-scotland/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OtD</a> 26 Jul 1952 Eva &quot;Evita&quot; Peron, Argentinian actor and wife of president Peron, died. Commonly seen as a workers&#x27; hero, she and her husband admired Hitler and Mussolini, and provided refuge to numerous Nazi war criminals after WWII <a href="https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9831/eva-%22evita%22-peron-dies" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9831/eva-%22evita%22-peron-dies"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">stories.workingclasshistory.co</span><span class="invisible">m/article/9831/eva-%22evita%22-peron-dies</span></a></p>

<p>“When the lights come out at sundown along the shores of Scotland, I am proud to think they burn more brightly for the genius of my father.”<br>—from MEMOIRS OF HIMSELF, Robert Louis Stevenson’s uncompleted (indeed, barely begun) autobiography</p><p>Thomas Stevenson (1818–1887), lighthouse engineer &amp; father of Robert Louis Stevenson, was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 22 July </p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/lighthouse/" rel="tag">#lighthouse</a> <a href="/tags/engineer/" rel="tag">#engineer</a> <a href="/tags/engineering/" rel="tag">#engineering</a> <a href="/tags/robertlouisstevenson/" rel="tag">#RobertLouisStevenson</a></p>

<p>“I think the driving thing was curiosity about the universe. That fascinated me. I didn&#x27;t think anything about being famous or anything like that, I was just interested in the concepts involved.”</p><p>Pluto was discovered <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1930 by Clyde W. Tombaugh, making it the first known object in the Kuiper belt. It was immediately hailed as the ninth planet. However, its planetary status was questioned when it was found to be much smaller than expected. via <span class="h-card"><a href="https://wikis.world/@wikipedia" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>wikipedia</span></a></span> </p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Tombaugh" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Tombaugh"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_To</span><span class="invisible">mbaugh</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/onthisday/" rel="tag">#OnThisDay</a>, 30 June 1966 Pauli Murray, Betty Friedan and 26 others founded the National Organisation for Women (NOW) in the USA.</p><p>NOW are currently campaigning for abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial and economic justice and the end to violence against women and girls.</p><p><a href="/tags/womeninhistory/" rel="tag">#WomenInHistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/womenshistory/" rel="tag">#WomensHistory</a> <a href="/tags/americanhistory/" rel="tag">#AmericanHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a></p>

<p>😍 80 years young ❤️<br>Happy birthday to the wonderful, incredible Angela Trimble aka Deborah Ann Harry, born today in 1945 in Miami, Florida.</p><p><a href="/tags/punkrock/" rel="tag">#punkrock</a> <a href="/tags/womenofpunk/" rel="tag">#womenofpunk</a> <a href="/tags/debbieharry/" rel="tag">#debbieharry</a> <a href="/tags/blondie/" rel="tag">#blondie</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/punkrockhistory/" rel="tag">#punkrockhistory</a> <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#otd</a></p>

<p>The First Battle of the Somme began <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 1 July, 1916. Violet Jacob’s only child, Harry, was killed in action in the battle. Jacob’s war poems are some of the most poignant &amp; affecting works from the Home Front.</p><p>“To A.H.J.”, from MORE SONGS OF ANGUS &amp; OTHERS (1918)</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/warpoem/" rel="tag">#warpoem</a> <a href="/tags/warpoetry/" rel="tag">#warpoetry</a> <a href="/tags/somme/" rel="tag">#Somme</a> <a href="/tags/ww1/" rel="tag">#WW1</a> <a href="/tags/firstworldwar/" rel="tag">#FirstWorldwar</a></p>