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Occasional Digest, Greater London (2025)

26/07/2025

Saturday 26 July Independence Day in Liberia
The Republic of Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society (ACS), who believed black people would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States.

Between 1822 and 1861, thousands of free blacks were relocated to the settlement at Cape Mesurado on the Pepper Coast of West Africa. In 1824 the colony was named Liberia, and the main settlement was named Monrovia, which remains the present-day capital.

Monrovia is named in honour of U.S. President James Monroe, who supported the colonization of Liberia by the American Colonization Society. This makes it the only other national capital to be named after a U.S. President; Washington, D.C. being the other.

The settlers faced immense hardships in the initial years with atrocious mortality rates due to disease and conflict with the indigenous peoples. Within twenty years, the colony had grown and established economic stability.

On July 26th 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution. The constitution was heavily based on the United States Constitution and established the independent Republic of Liberia. The United Kingdom was the first country to recognize Liberia's independence, the United States only recognized Liberia's independence in 1862 during the American Civil War.

Liberia was the first African republic to proclaim its independence, and is Africa's first and oldest modern republic, maintaining independence despite the colonial expansion in Africa in the late nineteenth century.

The Liberian flag is based on the flag of the united States and was adopted on July 26th 1847. It has 11 horizontal red stripes representing the 11 men who signed the Liberian Declaration of Independence. The single star represents African freedom.

Under the "Energetic and Social Observances Law", Title 26, Liberian Code of Laws of 1956, July 26th every year is put aside as an open holiday to be known as "Independence Day" and fittingly celebrated.

https://bit.ly/44PBauy

26/07/2025

Saturday 26 July Independence Day in Liberia
The Republic of Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society (ACS), who believed black people would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States.

Between 1822 and 1861, thousands of free blacks were relocated to the settlement at Cape Mesurado on the Pepper Coast of West Africa. In 1824 the colony was named Liberia, and the main settlement was named Monrovia, which remains the present-day capital.

Monrovia is named in honour of U.S. President James Monroe, who supported the colonization of Liberia by the American Colonization Society. This makes it the only other national capital to be named after a U.S. President; Washington, D.C. being the other.

The settlers faced immense hardships in the initial years with atrocious mortality rates due to disease and conflict with the indigenous peoples. Within twenty years, the colony had grown and established economic stability.

On July 26th 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution. The constitution was heavily based on the United States Constitution and established the independent Republic of Liberia. The United Kingdom was the first country to recognize Liberia's independence, the United States only recognized Liberia's independence in 1862 during the American Civil War.

Liberia was the first African republic to proclaim its independence, and is Africa's first and oldest modern republic, maintaining independence despite the colonial expansion in Africa in the late nineteenth century.

The Liberian flag is based on the flag of the united States and was adopted on July 26th 1847. It has 11 horizontal red stripes representing the 11 men who signed the Liberian Declaration of Independence. The single star represents African freedom.

Under the "Energetic and Social Observances Law", Title 26, Liberian Code of Laws of 1956, July 26th every year is put aside as an open holiday to be known as "Independence Day" and fittingly celebrated.

https://bit.ly/44YKcpb

25/07/2025

Mullet official non-binary haircut
GEN Z has confirmed the mullet is the official hairstyle of anyone who wishes to announce they stand outside of the gender binary.

Neither boyish and short nor long and feminine, the mullet represents the younger generation’s refusal to conform to traditional standards of gender or beauty and willingness to look like a truck driver from 1987.

Sophie, not her real name, aged 20 with a nine-month-old mullet, said: “It’s inclusive. It’s neither one thing nor the other. It’s open to all who wish to be defined not by the s*x they were born into but by their resemblance to Billy Ray Cyrus.

“We’re a generation that uses our style to show off our values – look at our shapeless, oversized T-shirts bearing ironic corporate logos as an example. Mullets promote pans*xuality, as it’s impossible to tell the age or s*x of whoever you’re chatting up.

“40-year-old le***an? 19-year-old straight man? It’s a s*xual bran tub where you don’t know who you’re going home with until you get their going-out Crocs and trackie bottoms off.

“And it’s as*xual-friendly. Team a mullet with a bumbag and you’re cock-blocking the entire world.”

She added: “Mullets are massive on TikTok, the app tech experts have warned is being exploited by China to harm Western youth. Coincidence.”

https://bit.ly/3H2GxgI

25/07/2025

Friday 25 July Revolution Anniversary Holiday in Cuba
Fulgencio Batista had led a military coup on 10 March 1952 installing himself as president, supported financially and militarily by the United States government. Batista moved to suspend the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike.

Fidel Castro was a lawyer with strong communist views. He had participated in the elections that were cancelled due to Batista's coup. Castro viewed Batista as an oppressive dictator in the pocket of the US and had begun training rebels with the aim of removing Batista.

On the morning of 26 July 1953, around 160 men under the command of Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada army garrison in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city. The attack was seen as an opportunity to arm the rebels and instigate a revolution that would bring down Batista.

By any measure, the assault was a failure, with deaths on both sides. Many of the rebels were hunted down and executed. Those that were captured, including Castro, were sentenced to long prison sentences; though they only served 22 months due to an amnesty for political prisoners.

Fulgencio Batista was removed from power on 12 January 1959.

Despite the failure of the attack on the Moncada barracks, it is seen as the catalyst for the Castro-led insurrection that eventually expelled Fulgencio Batista. The date of the attack was adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary movement. (Movimiento 26 Julio or M 26-7).

The damage to the Moncada Barracks was quickly repaired by the military after the attack. The bullet holes were recreated in the façade of the barracks after the revolution's success.

In addition to the Moncada attack, Santiago's position as the birthplace of the revolution is furthered enhanced as Castro conducted his guerrilla campaign from the nearby Sierra Maestra mountains and his remains were laid to rest in Santiago.

Fidel Castro died in 2016.

https://bit.ly/3J3GMIQ

25/07/2025

Friday 25 July Revolution Anniversary Holiday in Cuba
Fulgencio Batista had led a military coup on 10 March 1952 installing himself as president, supported financially and militarily by the United States government. Batista moved to suspend the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike.

Fidel Castro was a lawyer with strong communist views. He had participated in the elections that were cancelled due to Batista's coup. Castro viewed Batista as an oppressive dictator in the pocket of the US and had begun training rebels with the aim of removing Batista.

On the morning of 26 July 1953, around 160 men under the command of Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada army garrison in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city. The attack was seen as an opportunity to arm the rebels and instigate a revolution that would bring down Batista.

By any measure, the assault was a failure, with deaths on both sides. Many of the rebels were hunted down and executed. Those that were captured, including Castro, were sentenced to long prison sentences; though they only served 22 months due to an amnesty for political prisoners.

Fulgencio Batista was removed from power on 12 January 1959.

Despite the failure of the attack on the Moncada barracks, it is seen as the catalyst for the Castro-led insurrection that eventually expelled Fulgencio Batista. The date of the attack was adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary movement. (Movimiento 26 Julio or M 26-7).

The damage to the Moncada Barracks was quickly repaired by the military after the attack. The bullet holes were recreated in the façade of the barracks after the revolution's success.

In addition to the Moncada attack, Santiago's position as the birthplace of the revolution is furthered enhanced as Castro conducted his guerrilla campaign from the nearby Sierra Maestra mountains and his remains were laid to rest in Santiago.

Fidel Castro died in 2016.

https://bit.ly/40zgwMH

24/07/2025

Thursday 24 July Children's Day in Vanuatu
Children's Day was first celebrated in the capital city of Port Vila in response to a recommendation from the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the Rights of the Child.

This is a day to promote the welfare and well-being of children and also to celebrate children and what they contribute to society. The theme of the day changes from year to year, though the topic of fighting child abuse remains a perennial theme of the day.

As a public holiday, it's a day for families to spend extra time together.

Children's Day takes place a week before Independence Day and the parades, concerts, public speeches, sports events, and other celebratory activities held to mark Children's Day are seen as marking the start of Vanuatu's national Independence week.

https://bit.ly/4lMBJv9

23/07/2025

Wednesday 23 July Air Force Day in Peru
Lieutenant José Quiñones Gonzales was a Peruvian pilot during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War. On July 23rd 1941, his plane, a North American NA-50 fighter, was hit while performing a low-level attack on an Ecuadorian border post on the banks of the Zarumilla River.

According to Peruvian accounts, instead of parachuting to safety, Quiñones chose to make the supreme sacrifice by crashing his damaged aircraft onto the Ecuadorian position, rendering the battery out of action.

Quiñones was promoted posthumously to the rank of Air Force Captain and was declared a national hero by law on May 10th 1966.

https://bit.ly/40yzWRM

22/07/2025

Tuesday 22 July Birthday of Late King Sobhuza in Eswatini
When a roll call of world leaders who have ruled the longest is read out, King Bhumibol of Thailand (70 years), Queens Victoria (63 years) and Elizabeth II (Over 70 years and counting) of the United Kingdom are names that will be familiar to many of us.

What may be less known is that these illustrious monarchs all fall short of the reign of King Sobhuza II, who ruled Swaziland for an astonishing 82 years and 254 days, making his reign the longest verifiable in history.

Ingwenyama Sobhuza was born on July 22nd 1899. Four months later, on December 10th 1899, the infant Sobhuza became king after the death of his father. As you might expect, King Sobhuza didn't have to perform all his royal duties whilst still a child and his grandmother served as regent, until handing power to her grandson when he was 21.

From almost the start of his reign, his country was a British protectorate. It gained independence in 1968 and Sobhuza was a driving force for independence, even forming a political party which is a very unusual step by a monarch. He also changed the constitution strengthening the power of the King.

Following the traditional tribal practice, Sobhuza had many wives, 70 according to the Swaziland National Trust Commission. His 210 offspring from these consorts earned him the sobriquet, "Bull of Swazi" and also places him at number five in the Wikipedia all-time list of males with the most children.

Sobhuza died on August 21st 1982.

For the length of his reign and his impact on overseeing Swazilands transition to an independent state, it is fitting that his birthday is marked with a public holiday.

https://bit.ly/3GC10sJ

21/07/2025

Monday 21 July Guam Liberation Day in Guam
In a list of most popular reasons for public holidays, celebrating the birthday of a ruler or the date when a country threw off the shackles of colonial rule are probably the most popular. Not far down the list is commemorating a battle or war that was crucial to the heritage and history of a nation. This is the case with Guam's Liberation Day which commemorates the Battle of Guam in 1944 which returned the island to U.S. control.

Guam is the southernmost and largest of the Marianas Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It became a U.S. territory in December 1898 after the Spanish-American War. The U.S. sold the other Marianas Islands to Germany.

In December 1941, Japan entered the second world war when it launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. With the intention to dominate the Pacific theatre, Japan invaded Guam a few days after the Pearl Harbour attack. This first Battle of Gaum lasted two days before the U.S. troops were overwhelmed by the Japanese.

Japan's early advances in the war began to wane as the U.S. Pacific Fleet retaliated with a major victory at the Battle of Midway coming in June 1942.

It would two long years of hard-fought victories before the U.S. launched its assault to liberate Guam on July 21st 1944. The Second Battle of Guam raged until August 10th, with the Japanese troops fighting to the last man.

We said "last man", but some Japanese soliders held out in the jungle and fought until December 1944, and famously one of the Japanese soldiers was discovered on the island in January 1972, having escaped the fighting and living in a cave for 28 years.

After the battle, Guam became an important base for the allied operations that would eventually end the war in 1945.

https://bit.ly/4nYUInu

20/07/2025

Woman who suddenly started posting inspirational quotes has definitely been dumped
A WOMAN who started posting generic images with inspiring quotes written across them to Instagram has definitely been chucked.

Lucy, not her real name, stopped uploading the usual photos of herself at the gym and eating nice dinners in favour of phrases like ‘Where there is no struggle, there is no strength’ on top of a picture of a sunset.

Friend Sophie, not her real name, said: “She has one hundred percent been ditched. No woman starts plastering their social media with that kind of insipid s**t unless she is on the edge of a mental and emotional spiral.

“It wasn’t initially clear at first, as ‘There’s a difference between giving up and starting over’ is pretty vague, as well as being utterly inane. But when she cracked out ‘Sometimes you’ve got to disconnect to introspect’, I just knew. Especially as it was accompanied by an image of a lone woman dancing on a beach.

“Since then it’s been wall-to-wall cheerful sunflowers and brooding mountains plastered with quotes that were initially coined by civil rights activists but have been co-opted by people who’ve been dumped after six months of on/off romance.

“I’m hoping she’ll soon move on from inner strength to drunken breakdown, as pictures of her s**tfaced and crying in clubs will be more entertaining than this vapid nonsense.”

https://bit.ly/3GNJ6mQ

20/07/2025

Sunday 20 July Women's Union Establishment Day in Lao
The Lao Women's Union (LWU) was established on July 20th 1955 to promote the role of women under the National Constitution.

The aim of the LWU is to protect the rights and interests of Lao women and children. The union also promotes the implementation of policy geared toward gender equality and the advancement of women in national socio-economic development.

The other official functions and mandates of the LWU are to:

- Mobilize and unite Lao women to become actively involved in the national protection and development process.

- Educate women of all ethnic groups and social strata to have a proper understanding of the government’s policies, constitution, laws and various international instruments concerning the legitimate rights and interests of women adhered to by the Lao PDR.

- Make considerable contributions toward the protection and the support of the rich customs, fine traditions of the people and of the Lao women of all ethnic groups in particular.

In 1962, LWU became a member of the International Democracy Women's Union, whose members attended the first Vietnamese Women's Union meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.

With a membership of over 600,000, LWU is a popular and important organisation involving women at levels of society throughout Lao.

https://bit.ly/4nZ7r9I

19/07/2025

Middle class 'just working class people with nicer stuff'
MIDDLE class people share 100 per cent of their genetic material with working class people, it has emerged.

The Institute for Studies found that the differences between the two classes were entirely cultural.

Professor Henry, not his real name, said: “While the upper class is extra-terrestrial in origin there is no biological distinction between the two lower tiers of our society.

“You may think you’ve done well, but you’re probably just one brioche away from being a prole.”

Mother-of-two Emma, not her real name, said: “Our only hope is to keep buying stuff.

“We can only afford two middle class things this week, a pomegranate to put in salad and one of those round cheeses that you bake in the oven.

“In the evenings we gather around the cheese and look at it, as if a message of hope might manifest on its rubbery exterior.”

https://bit.ly/44WHOOj

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