UNLESS THEY ARE HOLIDAYS, OF COURSE
Happy Juneteenth! Today marks the anniversary of the end of slavery in the US. Technically this occurred in 1862 by congressional act and in 1863 by presidential proclamation, but travel and communication infrastructure being what it was back then, it took another two whole years for news of this liberation to reach far-flung outposts like Galveston, Texas on June 19th, 1865.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in the US in 2021. Boredwalk's been observing it since 2020, so we are actually closed today (still accepting orders on the website, though!), but thanks to advancements in technology, I was able to write and schedule this email last week! The future, here today!
Today is also National Take Your Cat to Work Day (hence the featuring of our sweet Catastrophizing Is My Cardio design), as well as National Martini Day! This does not constitute medical advice, but nothing calms my nerves like a martini. Those Mad Men folks must've been especially nervous, what with all those three martini lunches in the sixties!
Don't give your feline coworkers booze for lunch, though. Mostly because it's not healthy, but also because cats are surly enough as it is without getting them liquored up in the middle of the day.
Not healthy, but very adorable.
GIF via some monster feeding kittens Mike's Hard Lemonade, probably
*****
Before you resume sipping martinis while meditating on the evils of slavery and institutional racism, eat some virtual birthday cake in honor of:
• Baseball legend Lou "The Iron Horse" Gehrig (1903), singer-songwriter & dancer Paula Abdul (1962), The Craft and Empire Records actress Robin Tunney (1972), NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki (1978), actress Zoe Saldana (1978), and actor Paul Dano (1984)
• 1586: English colonists leave Roanoke Island after failing to establish England's first permanent North American settlement
• 1846: The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played in Hoboken, New Jersey between the New York Base Ball Club and the Knickerbockers. In what would become a common occurrence for the Knickerbockers basketball team, they lost in embarrassing fashion, 23-1.
• 1862: US Congress prohibits slavery in the United States territories, nullifying the Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling of 1857
• 1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved following an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate
• 1978: Garfield's first comic strip goes into nationwide syndication
• Pour one out for: Scottish novelist and Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie (d. 1937), British novelist William Golding of Lord of the Flies fame (d. 1993), "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "The Loco-Motion," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" lyricist Gerry Goffin (d. 2014), actor Anton Yelchin (d. 2016), and Koko the ASL-using western lowland gorilla (d. 2018)
*****
Alright! No new community Q&A this week. However, if you're feeling even moderately outgoing and would like to be featured in an upcoming Monday email (and are a customer with some Boredwalk tees, tanks, hoodies, towels, bags, or books to show off), just reply to this and let us know and we'll send you some fun questions!
We'll be back here in your inbox on Wednesday with some more random holidays to observe, historical tidbits to acknowledge, and fun links to entertaining content! Until next time...
Peace, love, and martinis (or some other equally valid reason to consume olives),
Matt
Leave a comment