I hope everyone is celebrating National Day of Catalonia* (a.k.a. National Catalan Day), a holiday that commemorates the Catalans’ 1714 defeat in the Siege of Barcelona.

Apparently the defeat led to the abolishment of the Crown of Catalonia, but I’m not sure what that really means, because Catalonia had been part of Spain since Isabella married Ferdinand in 1469. Good thing I’m not a European history scholar, or I’d probably be expected to understand this.

In any case, September 11 became an official Catalan holiday in 1980.

Other important events in 1980 include:

  • Carter bails out Chrysler
  • ALEPH is created by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Bon Scott, John Bonham, John Lennon and Ian Curtis die
  • AC/DC releases Back in Black
  • Comstow Information Services (later acquired by InMagic) is founded
  • Mount St. Helens erupts, causing crappy weather all summer in Trumansburg NY
  • The Empire Strikes Back and PacMan are both released. In Empire, Princess Leia kisses Luke Skywalker. In PacMan nothing happens that will squick us all out in retrospect.

Tingui un bon cap de setmana!
– Tania

*(Out of stubborn allegiance to Patriots’ Day I am not calling today Patriot Day)