This is it! The day we have all been waiting for, the most wonderful day of the year!!! That's right, today is National Chocolate Cake Day!!! It's a day dedicated to making, purchasing, decorating, serving, and consuming large quantities of chocolate cake in any of its many varieties. If you live in the Glorious Commonwealth you might consider an expedition down to Hershey to consume your chocolatey goodness in its natural environment. If that is not practical, you could always bring Hershey to your home by visiting Hershey's Kitchens on the web [here] assembling the ingredients and making their "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake [here]. Then this evening as you enjoy your concoction you might want to rent and watch the movie "Chocolat" starring Juliette Binoche. It is a wonderful tale illustrating how the miracle of chocolate can bridge and ultimately overcome even the most rigid social and cultural differences.
Opera fans don't know whether to celebrate or mourn today. On this day in 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and on the very same date in 1901 Guiseppi Verdi died.
And on this day in 1945 Soviet troops occupied the Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz- Birkenau in Poland. Here is a virtual tour of the site and a description of the horrors perpetrated there. Check it out and remember....
And also remember, on this day in 1967 astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test of their Apollo vehicle.
And on this day in 1973 the Vietnam Peace Accords were signed in Paris. In this agreement, negotiated by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, who were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, achieved a temporary halt to the fighting in Vietnam. The treaty called for a cease fire, the gradual withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, and the peaceful reunification of North and South Vietnam. In 1975 North Vietnam resumed military operations against the South, a clear violation of the treaty. When the United States threatened to respond with bombing campaigns the U. S. Senate balked, refusing to authorize funds for further military actions in Vietnam. Shortly afterwards the South Vietnam government collapsed precipitating a huge humanitarian crisis throughout Southeast Asia. While we are remembering we should take some time to contemplate the plight of the Vietnamese who were murdered, raped, or forced into "re-education camps" where many died, or the "boat people" -- refugees who fled Vietnam and Cambodia and suffered terrible deprivation on the open seas, often at the hands of pirates. Check out this site on the crisis presented by the Canadian government and remember....
