THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS

 

In an Ethiopian Christmas gift giving plays a very small part in the festivities.

Ethiopian Children will receive a present but it is something very simple and is more often or not an item of clothing.

IT HAPPENED ON DECEMBER 21ST

 

1163 Hurricane hits villages in Holland and Friesland, causing devastating floods

1582 Flanders adopts Gregorian calendar

1620 The Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock

1835 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard sails into the Bay of Islands New Zealand

1864 General Sherman conquers Savannah
1898 Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium
1910 An Explosion in a coal mine in Hulton England kills 344 mine workers
1912 Denmark, Norway and Sweden declare neutrality in the Comende war
1913 The 1st 32 clue crossword puzzle was printed in New York World
1919 J Edgar Hoover deported anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman to Russia
1923 Nepal changes from British protectorate to an independent nation
1925 Eisenstein's movie the battleship Potemkin premieres in Moscow
1933 20^th century Fox signs Shirley Temple aged 5 to a studio contract

1937 Snow White the 1st feature length color and sound cartoon premiered
1941 German submarine U-567 sinks

1946 Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," premiered

1946 An Earthquake in Southern Japan, kills 1,086
1948 State of Eire formerly called the Irish Free State declared its independence

1951 Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement

1954 Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered and the Dr is accused of the crime

1958 Charles De Gaulle wins 7 year term as 1st President of 5th Rep of France

1959 10th largest snowfall in New York City’s history 13.7"
1966 U.S.S.R. launches Luna 13 for soft-landing in Oceanus Procellarum

1968 Apollo 8 (Borman, Lovell & Anders) the 1st manned Moon voyage launched
1971 UN Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim as 4th secretary General

1975 Madagascar adopts constitution

1976 UN General Assembly passes a resolution declaring 1979  the Year of Child
1978 Police in Des Plaines Illinois arrest John Wayne Gacy, Jr. for murder
1979 Zimbabwe adopts constitution
1988 NY bound Pan Am jumbo jet explodes over Lockerbie Scotland all 258 aboard die

1989 Dan Quayle sends out 30,000 Xmas cards with the word beacon spelled beakon
1991 Soviet Union formally dissolves 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States
1991 95 ticket holders share in the Madrid Spain $1.3 billion lottery

1992 Dutch DC-10 caught fire on landing at Faro Airport Portugal, 56 die

1994 Bomb goes off on #4 train on Fulton Street station New York City

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MISTLETOE AND MELODY (2015)

Mistletoe and Melody, is the story of a fashion designer, Kristin Parson (Lacey Chabert), who sells her house in LA, and with her daughter Emily (Fina Strazza), she moves to the town, where she used to live as a child.

In Silver Falls, Ohio, she meets a music teacher Danny Collier (Brennan Elliott), who had a crush on her when they were a kids, and now that he is Emily’s music teacher he finds that he still does, and that’s where the story really starts.

This is singer Mariah Carey's directorial movie debut and it’s a delight, it’s a gift of music transporting people back to another time and place where they find their truest feelings.

It's a great movie, Mariah Carey, did a good job as the nightmare parent Melissa McKean-Atkinson, and as a director.

Lacey Chabert is one of my favourite actresses and the chemistry between her and Brennan Elliott is magical, but for me the star of the film was Fina Strazza as Emily. 

FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS CAROL # 32 THE STABLE COW

 

The Stable Cow

Written by Yvonne Machin

 

Unfortunately, I have no lyrics for this song and have been unable to find any.

I only saw it performed on one occasion which was performed by the Arts Educational School Choir, Tring Park, under the direction Choral Director Yvonne Machin.

It was on the BBC television program, Christmas with Val Doonican, first broadcast on 24th Dec 1986.  

I would be very interested if anyone is aware of the lyrics or any other performances.

CHRISTMAS IN LALIBELA

 

On Christmas Eve the city of Lalibela In Ethiopia is packed with pilgrims from the four corners of the country.

They spend the whole night outside praying and chanting and then on Christmas morning they form into a colorful procession which is led by Three young men, lashing whips left and right as it makes its way to a nearby hilltop where a special service takes place.

The congregation is fed with bread and wine blessed by priests then when the service is over the remainder of the day is spent feasting, dancing and playing or watching sport.

20 PEOPLE WHO ARRIVED IN THE WORLD ON DECEMBER 21ST

 

1117 Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury

1537 Johan III, king of Sweden (1569-92)

1804 Benjamin Disraeli, British Tory Prime Minister (1868, 1874-80)

1879 Joseph Stalin, Russian dictator murdered 11,000,000 during his reign

1913 Raich Carter, English footballer

1918 Kurt Waldheim, Austrian President, Nazi, 4th United Nations Secretary General 

1928 Ed Nelson, New Orleans Louisiana actor

1937 Jane Fonda, New York City, actress 

1940 Frank Zappa, Baltimore, rock musician 

1940 Ray Hildebrand, (Paul), Texas, singer (Hey Paula)

1946 Carl Dean Wilson, Hawthorne California, rock vocalist 

1948 Samuel L Jackson, actor

1953 Betty Wright, American gospel singer

1954 Chris Evert, Fort Lauderdale Texas, tennis pro

1957 Lisa Gerritsen, Los Angeles California, actress 

1959 Florence Griffith Joyner, Los Angeles California, athlete 

1962 Christy Forester, Lookout Mountain Georgia, country singer

1968 Khrystyne Haje, Santa Clara, California, actress

1969 Julie Delpy, actress

1978 Michael Vitar, Los Angeles California, actor

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A HEAVENLY CHRISTMAS (2016)

 

Upon her untimely death, Eve (Kristin Davis), a workaholic finds herself in training to be a Christmas Angel in Heaven, under the instruction of Pearl (Shirley MacLaine).

Despite being the worst recruit in the history of Christmas, she's assigned a hard luck case, Max (Eric McCormack) and his daughter Lauren (Jaeda Lily Miller).

And as she is forced to help solve their problems, she starts to discover the meaning of Christmas and despite being told not to, she falls in love along the way.