National Lobster Day
June 15
Lobsters were once considered the poor man’s chicken. In Colonial times, it was fed to pigs and goats and only eaten by paupers. Lobsters are not red. They turn red when cooked, but in nature they can be green or yellow or even bright blue. Maine lobsters are clawed lobsters, and have large, meaty claws. Spiny Caribbean lobsters have no claws and are sold mainly for their tails. Lobsters can grow up to four feet long and weigh as much as 40 pounds. Each year nearly $300 million worth of lobster is harvested in the U.S. There are around 6,000 licensed lobstermen in Maine.
Magna Carta Day
June 15
Magna Carta Libertatum (Medieval Latin for “Great Charter of Freedoms”), commonly called Magna Carta, is a charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons’ War. The Magna Carta still forms an important symbol of liberty today, often cited by politicians and campaigners, and is held in great respect by the British and American legal communities, Lord Denning describing it as “the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.”
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Waylon Jennings – Country Singer – born in Littlefield, Texas
Courtney Cox – Actress – Monica Geller in Friends – born in Birmingham, Alabama
