Germany declared war on Portugal.
Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Monday, March 9, 2026
Thursday, March 9, 1916. Germany declares war on Portugal,
Germany declared war on Portugal.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Thursday, December 10, 1925. The first apparition at Pontevedra.
Then a novitiate at the Dorothean convent of Pontevedra, Spain, Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, later Maria Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, the only survivor of the children who received the apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, received a new apparacition in the form of the Virgin Mary, covered in thorns, with the Child Jesus, who addressed her first:
Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.
Virgin Mary then spoke:
Look, My daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and announce in My name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me..
The apparition did not receive canonical investigation, but it is the origin, along with Fatima, of the First Saturday Devotion.
I'll admit that I tend not to be up on devotions, so I'm posting this from Catholic Answers on this one:
The Five First Saturdays Devotion is a request made by Our Lady of Fatima. The Blessed Mother promised to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all who, as an act of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the first five Saturdays of consecutive months:
- Go to confession
- Receive Holy Communion
- Say five decades of the rosary
- Keep Mary company for fifteen minutes meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the rosary
The sacramental confession can be received within twenty days either before or after the reception of Communion, as the Holy See’s Apostolic Penitentiary has decreed, provided the communicant is in a state of grace for Communion.
Reception of Holy Communion must take place within twenty-four hours of the first Saturday. The reception of Communion need not be part of participating in a Mass.
The fifteen minutes of meditation are in addition to the recitation of the Rosary.
For information on our Blessed Mother, check out Bible Mary by Fr. John Waiss.
One of the interesting things about this event, put in overall context, is that Fatima, which is by far the best remembered apparition, can be viewed as potentially one in a series of apparitions, of which it was the most signficant.
Last edition:
Wednesday, December 9, 1925. Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy arrested.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Tuesday, November 11, 1975. Angola independent and at war.
Angola, a Portuguese colony for 500 years, became independent. A civil war for control of the country was already raging.
Australia was in political turmoil.
November 11, 1975: The Australian Constitutional Crisis
It was Veterans' Day.
Last edition:
Monday, November 10, 1975. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Wednesday, July 9, 1975. The start of the Angolan Civil War.
Angolan liberation movements broke out in civil war, with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), attacking the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto. The country had not yet officially received independence.
Dutch photographer and artist Bas Jan Ader left Cape Cod in an attempt to make an unassisted voyage from west to east of the North Atlantic Ocean. He would disappear and never be heard from again.
Rock musician John Anthony Gillis, better known as Jack White, was born.
Last edition:
Thursday, July 3, 1975. The U.S. Civil Service Commission ended restrictions on hiring homosexuals.
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Thursday, May 3, 1945. Dönitz sends a surrender delegation.
Karl Dönitz arranged to send a surrender delegation to Bernard Montgomery's headquarters.
The Portuguese government ordered official flags to fly at half-mast in a day of national mourning for Adolf Hitler.
The British Army entered Hamburg unopposed.
The German liner Cap Arcona was sunk by the RAF in the Bay of Lübeck. It was carrying 5,000 concentration camp prisoners. Over 400 SS personnel made it to lifeboats and were rescued but only 350 of the prisoners survived.
The British Army took Rangoon.
US troops landed near Santa Cruz in the Gulf of Davao.
Work commenced on the United Nations Charter.
Last edition:
Wednesday, May 2, 1945. Berlin taken.
Friday, April 25, 2025
Friday April 25, 1975. White Christmas.
The U.S. Embassy in Saigon decided that to signal "Evacuation Day" for Americans, the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) radio station would broadcast the phrase "the temperature is 105 degrees and rising" followed by playing Bing Crosby's recording of the song "White Christmas".
The last Australians, including their ambassador, were evacuated by the RAAF.
91.7% of eligible Portuguese voters turned out for the first multiparty election in the country in nearly fifty years. The Socialist Party won 116 of the 250 seats, Social Democrats won 81 and the Portuguese Communist Party 30 seats.
There had been real fears the Communist Party would win.
The Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre raided a branch of the Banco de Comercio at Villa Coapa, Mexico City, killing six police who were guarding the bank. They killed two more policemen and two bystanders in their escape.
Last edition
Thursday, April 24, 1975. Wings of Freedom
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Tuesday, April 15, 1975. Xuân Lộc,
The far left Socialist government of Portugal, which swept into power by way of a junior officers revolt brought about by disgust with conscription and colonial wars, nationalized most of the nation's industries and commenced land reform.
Karen Ann Quinlan collapsed after drinking several gin and tonics in addition to having already taken the tranquilizers Valium and Darvon.
She's be the subject of major controversy over the battle to take her off of life support, which occured on May 22, 1976. She lived until June 11, 1985.
Last edition:
Monday, April 14, 1975. Collapse In Viet Nam
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Wednesday, January 15, 1975. Independence for Angola.
The Alvor Agreement was signed at the Penina Golfe Hotel in Alvor, Portugal by Angolan independence figures Jonas Savimbi, Agostinho Neto and Álvaro Holden Necaca Roberto Diasiwa and Portugese President Costa Gomes.
November 11, 1975 was set as the Angolan independence date.
It can't be said that independence for the country went well. It would nearly immediately fall into civil war.
CIA Director William Colby confirmed that the agency had violated its charter by spying on American citizens for activities within the United States.
Last edition:
Tuesday, January 14, 1975. Un-American.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Monday, October 16, 1944. Fascist Hungary.
The German backed fascist coup in Hungary, designed to keep the country in the war, completed with the leader of the banned fascist Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Szálasi, becoming prime minister of a "Government of National Unity" w hich was controlled by the Germans. Horthy was taken prisoner.
Horthy, who appears here a lot, died in Portugal in 1957 at age 88. Szálasi was executed in 1946 at age 49.
Who the crap could think that the fascist were going to win in late 1944?
The Soviets launched the Gumbinnen Operation with the goal of penetrating the borders of East Prussia.
Albanian partisans liberated Vlorë.
The U.S. launched an offensive towards Bologna.
The 10th Indian Division crossed the Savio River.
A U.S. bombing raid on Salzburg destroyed the dome of the cathedral and most of the Mozart family home.
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Tuesday, September 19, 1974. Recognizing independence.
Portugal recognized the independence of its former colony, Portugese Guinea, which had become the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
Last edition:
Blog Mirror: September 8, 1974: President Ford Pardons Former President
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Saturday. September 7, 1974. Independence for Mozambique.
Portugal and FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) recognized independence for Mozambique, with it to formally occur on June 25, 1975. The negotiations took place in Zambia.
FRELIMO, a far left wing political party that was formally Communist, has governed the country continually since that time. It has evolved into a democratic socialist party.
Last edition:
Wednesday, September 4, 1974. Recognizing East Germany.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Saturday, July 27, 1974. Articles of Impeachment.
The bipartisan House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, obstruction of justice.
Richard M. Nixon, using the powers of his high office, engaged personally and through his subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation.
Back when Congress actually acted responsibly, although 11 of the 17 Republicans did vote no.
The Rhodesian Army began Operation Overload, the relocation of 49,690 black civilians within the Chiweshe Tribal Trust Land to "protected villages" away from the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA).
Portugal's military government announced that it was granting independence to Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Portuguese Guinea.
Last prior:
Wednesday, July 24, 1974. United States v. Nixon.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Tuesday, June 11, 1974. The arrival of the end of Portuguese colonialism.
Portugal's new government promised independence to Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea on the condition that ceasefires could be agreed upon in the ongoing wars and if democratic voting would be guaranteed on the form of post-colonial government.
Portugal had been one of Europe's first modern colonial powers, with an empire dating back to 1415.
Bill Clinton won the Democratic Party runoff for the Congressional nomination for the party in Arkansas. Then employed as a law professor, he'd lose in the fall.
William Cann, police chief of Union City, California, was assassinated at a public gathering by former members of the Brown Berets, a Chicano group, in retaliation for a police killing of a Hispanic man.
Last prior edition:
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