TODAY - January 30

 

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 time be built the third strongest military in the world – in order to protect a credible neutrality, as he described it.

Palme was a very important, but also a very controversial politician.

Read more about him on Wikipedia.

One of Palme’s famous slogans were:  Politics is to want something.

See photo below.

TODAY’s LENGTH:

The day is now here in Belgium 1 hour and 12 minutes longer than December 21.  Its length is 9 hours and 9 minutes – from 08.21 to 17.31.

See more – also in English - about where you are on:  www.dagenslaengde.dk

TODAY’s NAME:

Today is called ADELGUNDE’s DAY.  She was a French princess who refused to marry a guy she was supposed to marry. She ran away and was hiding as a hermit. Later she founded a monastery in Maubeuge in the north of France. She died here in the year 684 AC.

Today’s name in Belgium is:  Saint Mutien-Marie, a Christian teacher, who lived 1841-1917.

 

TODAY’s EVENT:

1847:  The city Yerba Buena in California gets a new name: San Francisco.

 

TODAY’s QUESTION:

A muse – what is that? And what does it mean?

This is a word from Greek mythology. They were the inspiration for the Gods for innovations and discoveries in literature, science and arts. They were the source of knowledge.

There were 9 muses. They were all daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Each of them looked after a special field: 

Clio:                 history

Thalia:             comedy

Erato:               poetry of love

Euterpe:           song

Polyhymnia:    hymns

Calliope:          epic poetry

Terpsichore:    dance

Urania:             astronomy

 

Nowadays, you still see the connection between some of these names and a number of words linked to the 9 special fields.

And today you also use the expression: a man’s muses. This means that there are women behind him to inspire and encourage him.

 

QUESTION FOR TOMORROW:

Gordian knot – what’s the origin? And what does the expression mean?

 

47 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT EUROPE:

EUROPE AT WORK     www.europe-at-work.be

 

TODAY’s QUOTE & FAMOUS PEOPLE :

1.  Yesterday’s quote:

I do not know any parties any more. I only know Germans.

            This was said by the German emperor Wilhelm II.

2.  Today’s quote:

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!

Who among this day’s persons said that?

3.  Famous people born on this day:

1882:  Franklin D. Roosevelt  ( died 1945 )

1927:  Olof Palme  ( died 1986 ) – see above and below.

1930:  Gene Hackman

1937:  Vanessa Redgrave

1937:  Boris Spasskij

1941:  Dick Cheney

 

4.  Famous people died on this day:

1649:  King Charles I  ( 49 years )

1928:  Johannes Fibiger  ( 60 years )

1948:  Mahatma Gandhi  ( 79 years )


Niels Jørgen Thøgersen

niels4europe@gmail.com  

www.simplesite.com/kimbrer   +  EUROPE AT WORK  www.europe-at-work.be



 

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