It all started with a Biblical verse: Revelation 13:18, "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six."
I have been hearing the craziest stories all week. Brides and grooms who have planned their weddings for the 6th day of the 6th month of the 6th year and even adding at the 6th hour. Or how about the big party everyone is invited to in Hell, Michigan that is.
The Netherlands national news agency, ANP, recently reported an unusually high number of couples planning to tie the knot on June 6 — which is unusual, given that it falls on a Tuesday.
The agency reported that in the Dutch city of Enschede, 17 couples had already applied to marry on June 6. Normally, there are just two weddings in the city on any given Tuesday. One couple even requested to be married at 6:06am.
American satanic radio station Radio Free Satan, for example, will celebrate the “sin-tennial” with Satan’s Rockin’ 666 Eve party, featuring performances by heavy metal and death metal bands, while the Church of Satan in Los Angeles is hosting a satanic high mass, which has already sold out.
There are also those who are cashing in on the date, with marketers seizing the day to launch movies, books and albums with anti-religious or satanic themes. 20th Century Fox will release its remake of the 1976 horror film The Omen, retitled The Omen 666, on June 6.
Provocative author Ann Coulter will launch her latest anti-liberal book, Godless.
On the same day, heavy metal band Slayer begins its Unholy Alliance Tour: Preaching to the Perverted, while a string of heavy metal and death metal artists will release albums on that day, including David Lee Roth’s Strummin’ with the Devil.
Me, I am going to think about my Grandmother, who if alive, would be celebrating her 126th birthday.
And, some of the other things worth thinking about besides superstitions and devil worship such as:
D-Day, June 6th, 1944
Was D-Day hell on earth? Think about it. Think about what the headlines would be screaming today if we had a military operation that, "When it was over, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead."
Scene on "Omaha" Beach on the afternoon of "D-Day", 6 June 1944, showing casualties on the beach, a bogged-down "Sherman" tank, several wrecked trucks and German anti-landing obstructions. A LST is beached in the left distance and invasion shipping is off shore. (June 6, 1944).
D-Day: It is hard to conceive the epic scope of this decisive battle that foreshadowed the end of Hitler's dream of Nazi domination. Overlord was the largest air, land, and sea operation undertaken before or since June 6, 1944. The landing included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and over 150,000 service men.
After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the Allied Forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. Many of the first young men (most not yet 20 years old) entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection. Blanketed by small-arms fire and bracketed by artillery, they found themselves in hell.
When it was over, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead. Yet somehow, due to planning and preparation, and due to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Fortress Europe had been breached.
After you have finished reviewing this site, return to this page and click the links below to find out more about D-Day.
http://normandy.eb.com/
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/d-day/2.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday
http://www.edmondsun.com/Krt/dday/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0206/
http://www.americandday.org
Related D-Day Museums or Organizations:
National D-Day Memorial (Bedford, Virginia)
D-Day Museum (Portsmouth, England)
National D-Day Museum (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Cantigny First Division Foundation (Wheaton, Illinois)
Imperial War Museum
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, D.C.)
The Marshall Museum (Lexington, Virginia)
The National World War II Memorial
And via Deb's Fun Pages: This Day in History
1513 - Swiss papal forces defeated the French at the Battle of Novara in Italy during the War of the Holy League.
1523 - Regent Gustav Vasa was crowned King Gustav I of Sweden. During his reign, Gustav I laid the foundations of the Swedish national state. The church was turned into a national institution, its estates were confiscated, and the Protestant Reformation was introduced. His political strength grew with the "Stockholm blood bath" of 1520.
1660 - The Peace of Copenhagen was signed, ending the war between Sweden and Denmark.
1683 - The first public museum, The Ashmolean, was opened at Oxford, England.
1801 - The war between Spain and Portugal known as the War of the Oranges ended with the Treaty of Badajoz being signed.
1816 - In one of the latest snowfalls ever, ten inches of snow fell on New England.
1833 - Andrew Jackson became the first United States President to ride in a railroad car. He boarded a Baltimore & Ohio, B&O, passenger train in Baltimore, Maryland.
1844 - The Young Men's Christian Association, the YMCA, was founded in London.
1862 - After a brief battle between Confederate and Union gunboats, Memphis, Tennesee, surrendered to Union forces in the American Civil War.
1882 - H.W. Seely of New York City patented the first electric flatiron. Today we call his invention the electric iron.
1890 - In New York City, the United States Polo Association was formed.
1904 - The National Tuberculosis Association was formed in New Jersey's Atlantic City.
1925 - Walter Percy Chrysler founded Chrysler Corp.
1932 - The first federal tax on gasoline in the United States was enacted. Then the rate was only a penny per gallon.
1933 - The world's first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey. It had parking accommodations for 500 cars and displayed a projection screen forty by fifty feet.
1934 - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was established to protect the interests of investors.
1938 - The NBC Red radio network presented "Stella Dallas" for the first time. The serial was supposedly “the true to life story of mother love and sacrifice.” Until 1955, "Stella Dallas" continued to do all this and more.
1942 - In Hartford, Connecticut, Adeline Gray made the first nylon-parachute jump.
1942 - Japanese forces retreated in the World War II Battle of Midway.
1944 - With this its first presentation, CBS radio saluted America’s war doctors with "The Doctor Fights."
1944 - "D-Day": the Allied forces began the invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II. The assault was led by the largest invasion fleet in history - 1,200 fighting ships, 10,000 planes, and more than 150,000 soldiers. The successful landing was hailed as the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany.
1946 - New York City was home to the formation of the Basketball Association of America.
1949 - "1984," George Orwell's vision of a world ruled by Big Brother, was published.
1956 - Gogi Grant, born Audrey Brown, reached the "Billboard" singles chart's top spot for the first and only time in her career. Her hit, "The Wayward Wind", stayed at the top for eight weeks and spent 22 weeks on the music charts. It was her second record release; the first, in October, 1955, was "Suddenly There’s a Valley" which climbed to number nine.
1960 - Singer Bing Crosby was presented a platinum disc to commemorate his 200,000,000th record sold. He achieved this from his 2,600 recorded singles and 125 albums. Ten years later, he received a second platinum disc when 300,650,000 records had been sold by Decca. Crosby's global lifetimes sales on 179 labels in 28 countries totaled 400,000,000 records.
1962 - Although he changed his mind after meeting the group, EMI Records producer George Martin said of The Beatles "They're pretty awful," when he heard the playback of their audition tapes.
1964 - I Get Around, recorded by The Beach Boys, entered Billboard's pop record charts on this date, and was in the Number 1 position for 2 weeks. It stayed on the charts for 13 weeks, and was later certified gold.
1966 - America's Gemini 9 spacecraft splashed down after a three-day mission during which astronaut Eugene Cernan walked in space for a record 2 hours 8 minutes.
1966 - Black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.
1968 - Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, a day after he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan.
1970 - The Love You Save, recorded by The Jackson 5, entered Billboard's pop charts and later hit Number 1 for 2 weeks. The single was on the charts for 12 weeks. Three Dog Night's hit single, Mama Told Me (Not To Come), also debuted on the charts on this date. It peaked at Number 1 for 2 weeks, and stayed on the charts for a total of 13 weeks. It was later certified gold.
1971 - "The Ed Sullivan Show" left CBS-TV - it had been a showcase for more than 20 years for artists who ranged from Ethel Merman to Ella Fitzgerald, from Steve and Eydie to the Beatles. "The Ed Sullivan Show" was the longest running variety show on TV.
1971 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono joined Frank Zappa's group Mothers of Invention on stage at the Fillmore East, where they performed a few numbers together.
1972 - An underground explosion at the Wankie colliery in Rhodesia killed 427 miners.
1973 - Barry White was awarded a gold record for "I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby," his first hit and his first of five number one, million copy sellers. In 1960, White began recording. He formed the group, Love Unlimited, in 1969, and eventually married one of the singers in the group, Glodean James. He also formed the 40-piece Love Unlimited Orchestra which enjoyed the number-one hit, "Love’s Theme" in 1973.
1976 - 35,000 people were left homeless when a dam burst In eastern Idaho.
1978 - California passed proposition 13. Voters supported Senator Howard Jarvis in cutting property taxes 57 percent. This was seen as the start of a taxpayer revolt against high taxes and excessive government spending.
1978 - The newsmagazine TV program, 20/20, debuted with host Ted Koppel. The initial ratings were poor; Koppel was fired, and Hugh Downs was brought on board as anchor.
1980 - For the second time in a week, U.S. nuclear forces went on red alert following a computer error warning of a Soviet attack.
1981 - In the world's worst rail disaster, seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train were blown off the tracks into the River Kosi, in Bihar, India. At least 800 people were killed.
1982 - Israel launched a full-scale invasion against Lebanon. In the operation "Peace for Galilee," Israeli troops besieged and bombed Beirut. During the invasion, 14,000 people were killed and 30,000 injured, the vast majority civilians. While Israel claimed the invasion was in self-defense, the United Nations and human rights organizations considered it illegal and immoral.
1984 - Indian troops stormed the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the Sikh's holiest shrine, killing an estimated 1,000 people.
1985 - Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" of the Holocaust.
1987 - Steffi Graf beat Martina Navratiloa for her first Grand Slam title in Paris.
1993 - Latvian Way, an alliance headed by former Communist Anatolijs Gorbunovs, won power in Latvia.
1994 - A Chinese airliner on a domestic flight from the tourist center of Xian crashed killing all 160 people on board in the country's worst reported air accident.
1995 - Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and his ruling coalition agreed to express "deep remorse" for Japan's acts of aggression in World War II.
1995 - South Africa abolished the death penalty.
1996 - Britain and Ireland named former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell as chairman of all-party peace talks on Northern Ireland.
1997 - Caoimhghin O Caolain won a seat in Ireland's election becoming the first member of Sinn Fein, political wing of the IRA, to enter Ireland's parliament.
1997 - Actress Farrah Fawcett, during a disturbing appearance on David Letterman's Late Night TV talk show, rambled incoherently, which sparked rumors of drug use or mental illness.
1998 - The Boy is Mine, recorded by Brandy and Monica, jumped into the Number 1 spot on the pop charts, and stayed there for 10 weeks.
1999 - Bob Dylan and Paul Simon - two of the most influential and prolific songwriters of the last half century - hit the road together for the first time for a historic tour beginning on this date in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Performing some the of most memorable and cherished songs of our time, Dylan and Simon - supported by their respective bands - had never performed together in public.
1994 - U.S. President Bill Clinton and other dignitaries from around the world visited Normandy, France. Many D-Day veterans joined them to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Operation Overlord and to pay respect to the thousands who died there in World War II.
Related:
Blackfive is doing the Blog Round-Up of posts about the 60th Anniversary of the landing on Normandy in 1944.
including some we think worth a second mention:
Ordinary Christian also posts General Eisenhower's address to the troops before the invasion
Sons of the American Legion Post 459 posts about Franklin D. Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer.
Confederate Yankee has General George Patton's speech to the troops before the invasionAnd who could forget this:
Ronald Reagan: Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day
delivered 6 June 1984 in Pointe Du Hoc, Normandy, France
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