Today is an international holiday and a very important holiday in my favorite nation in the world, the Czech Republic. November 17 is International Student’s Day. It is a day we remember the students who protested dictatorships and fought for democracy and freedom. (I will try to forget those students who fought against freedom) This is a day of great changes-
On November 17 . . .
375 Emperor Valentinian I died. He was considered the last great Western Emperor. The Western Empire pretty much went downhill from there.
1558 Both Mary I of England and Reginald Pole died. Queen Mary I’s try to reverse precious policies and unite back to Rome. The Archbishop of Canterbury was Reginald Pole considered to be the last Plantagenet. At one time, Reginald and Mary were considered to be a good match. I think they would have been perfect together, but bad for the history of England. It is fitting that they died on the same day. Elizabeth I became the new Queen.
1796 Catherine the Great of Russia died. Not by a horse! She deposed her husband and made herself one the greatest rulers of Russia. She helped Russia to modernize and catch up to the West. I hope my brother and sister-in-law, who served missions in St. Petersburg can tell me more about this wonderful lady.
1800 Maybe a not so great day but today was the first day the U.S. Congress held its first session in Washington D.C.
1939 Nine Czech students and professors were executed after protesting the Nazi government. 1200 Czech students were sent to concentration camps. Here is a list of the Czechs executed:
Josef Matou??ek
Jaroslav Kl??ma
Jan Weinert
Josef Adamec
Jan ??ern??
Marek Frauwirt
Bed??ich Koukala
V??clav ??afr??nek
Franti??ek Skorkovsk??
After the Nazi government was destroyed in 1945, the Soviet Union took over. Czechs would not know freedom until . . .
1989 The Velvet Revolution begins in Czechoslavakia started by a student protest in memory of the earlier one in 1939. Soon the Soviets left and Czechoslavakia became the Czech and Slovak Republic two of the most freedom loving countries in the world. They chose as their Vaclav Klaus “the Margaret Thatcher of Eastern Europe” and one of the most awesome presidents the world has right now. (yeah very intellectual I know, but that is how I feel) He said, “The theory of global warming and the hypothesis on its causes, which has spread around massively nowadays, may be a bad theory, it may also be a valueless theory, but in any case it is a very dangerous theory” and believes that today’s green is the new red.
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