DECEMBER 19 — PHIL OCHS
Emblematic American protest folksinger of the Sixties.
DECEMBER 19, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Hindu FESTIVAL OF THE GODDESSS ANKRANT. The gods wake up after six
months of sleep. A day for exchanging gifts, feasting and visiting.
Guatemala: FIESTA OF SANTO TOMAS (Dec. 19-25). Celebrated by the
Chichicastenango Indians. Features the flying-pole ceremony: A pole
made from a tall pine is consecrated and erected in the village. Plat-
forms and ropes are attached, dancers climb to the very top and,
attached to ropes coiled around trees, they fly into the air in
ever-widening circles.
ALSO ON DECEMBER 19 IN HISTORY…
1848 — British novelist Emily Bronte dies, Haworth, Yorkshire, England.
1875 — Black educator, historian Carter G. Woodson born, New Canton, Virginia.
1910 — Criminal, gay author Jean Genet born, Paris, France.
1940 — American protest folksinger Phil Ochs born, El Paso, Texas.
1946 — Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh launches war against French.
1968 — Socialist politico Norman Thomas dies, Huntington, Long Island, New York.
Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.