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GI4RSI > EVENT 02.09.00 02:27l 47 Lines 2591 Bytes #-9425 (0) @ WW
BID : 27228-GB7TED
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Subj: Farewell to August.............................
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Sent: 000831/1732Z 27228@GB7TED.#63.GBR.EU [Lisburn] $:27228-GB7TED
From: GI4RSI@GB7TED.#63.GBR.EU
To : EVENT@WW
FAREWELL TO AUGUST
August, as a month, began as an afterthought The Emperor Augustus Caesar, not
to be outdone by his uncle Julius (who added July to the 10 month calendar of
the Ancient Romans) inserted the month, insisted that it, too, had 31 days, and
named it after himself. The press, and the media generally scale down their
operations for the month, in the belief that nothing happened. Nothing good
seems to happen, at any rate. August, as the expression has it, is a cruel
month.Ask the people of Russia. Early in August an explosion in Moscow killed
twelve people. Later, the submarine sank with the loss of 118 lives. As the
month ends there are reports of a disastrous fire at a broadcasting tower in
the capital, in the tallest structure in Europe. The United States has been
contending with forest fires that have broken out in eleven of its western
states. At the other extreme, flooding in India has claimed many lives and
destroyed much property. An airbus which crashed en route from Cairo to Bahrein
went down into the sea with the loss of all its passengers and crew. Concord
has been grounded, following the Concord fatal crash in July. Etna is erupting
for the first time in decades. Nearer home, the August Bank Holiday, in the
Republic at the start of the month saw eleven people die on the roads, over one
weekend. The stage lost Alec Guinness, the screen lost Loretta Young, and the
world of broadcasting lost Robin Day. Dr Crippen murdered his first victim on
the last day of August.
In previous years, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Princess Diana all died in
August, and all of them before their time.
Historically, the first World War began in August, and the second War ended in
August 1945, with the dropping of the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities,
heralding a new era of fear and insecurity on the global stage.
The events of August 1969 saw communal strife on such a scale in Derry, and in
Belfast, threatened such anarchy that soldiers had to be deployed on the
streets.
Pope Paul VI died in the August of 1978, and his successor, elected towards the
end of the same month, reigned for only 33 days.
The people of Omagh will never forget the events of August 1998. The month of
August is into its final days, and there will be few who will mourn its
passing. Roll on September, season of mists, and mellow fruitfulness. And no
wasps.
Come to think of it, I got married on 18th August, but that turned out to
be a happy event......
73 - Kenny, GI4RSI @ GB7TED
Message timed: 18:30 on 31 Aug 2000
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