TODAY

  NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS ON: JANUARY 31 New 2021 edition TODAY’s LENGTH: This day is here in Belgium 1 hour and 15 minutes longer than December 21. Its length is 9 hours and 12 minutes – from 08.20 to 17.32. See more – also in English – about where you are on:   www.dagenslaengde.dk TODAY’s NAME: Today’s name is VIGILIUS’ DAY . He was a bishop in Trient ( now Trentino ) in the Dolomites in the north of Italy. He is known for building many churches and also for an energetic fight against all the Roman gods.   The legend tells that once he turned over a statue for the Roman god for harvest, Saturnus , just with his prayers. This made people kill him. It happened in 405 AC.   This day’s name in Belgium is:   SAINT JEAN BOSCO’s DAY – named after Jean Bosco, called Don Bosco, an Italian catholic priest, teacher and writer, who lived in the years 1815-88.   TODAY’s EVENT: 1943:   The German troops under field marshal Paulu...

  NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS ON: JANUARY 30 New 2021 edition TODAY’s PERSON: It is the former Swedish prime minister OLOF PALME . He was born in Stockholm on this day in 1927 and was murdered in 1986.   He was of a noble family – also with connections to Latvia.   He made part of his studies in Ohio in the US. And back in Sweden he became a very active student leader.   He was very upset about the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe after WWII. And he actually married a Czech girl pro-forma in 1949 to get her away from the Czech secret police.   Soon he came a member of the Swedish Social Democratic party, and already when he was 26 years old he was the personal assistant to prime minister Tage Erlander.   When he later became leader and prime minister himself he was in particular active in building the Swedish welfare state and in organizing a very pro-active Swedish foreign policy – in particular in supporting the developing countries. At the same t...

  NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS ON: JANUARY 29 New 2021 edition TODAY’s PERSON: I have this time chosen the Danish king CHRISTIAN IX.   He was born in Schleswig in 1818 and died on this day in Copenhagen in 1906.   He made his mark in several ways. First, he took over the throne without being a descendant of the previous king. The reason was that there were no children to take over.   Secondly, he became king in one of the most serious crisis of Denmark.   It was about to go to war with Germany. And the following year it lost the war and had to hand over 10 % of its area to Germany ( Prussia ). Thirdly, the coming years were politically very troublesome with a huge political fight between the conservatives and the new liberals.   Only in 1901 the king accepted the introduction of a real democracy, where the government always had to be in line with the majority in Parliament. And fourthly, he was called the “Father in Law of Europe”, because 4 of his 6 ch...

  NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS ON: JANUARY 28 New 2021 edition TODAY’s PERSON: This day is devoted to the Frankish-European emperor CHARLEMAGNE .   He was born in 748 and died on this day in Aachen in 814.    He managed to rule over most of Europe – as the first since the Roman times.   He is by many considered to be the father of modern Europe.   See more below under TODAY’s NAME.    And see his photo below. TODAY’s LENGTH: We have reached January 28, and the day is here in Belgium 1 hour and 5 minutes longer than December 21.   Its length is 9 hours and 3 minutes – from 08.24 to 17.27. See more – also in English – about where you are on:   www.dagenslaengde.dk   TODAY’s NAME: This day is called CHARLEMAGNE’s DAY .   It has its name from the German-Roman emperor Charles the Great / Charlemagne , who died on this day in the year 814 AC in Aachen . This was his city of residence. He was the ruler over the German...