An Appeal to Holiday Spirit
As Christmas quickly approaches us...indeed, it is already Christmas in some parts of the world...I feel that it would be beneficial to us as a community to put this day into perspective.
The following are important events which occured on December 25th-Christmas Day :
* 1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
* 1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire.
* 1946 - The first in Europe artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.
* 1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneouver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
* 1990 - The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web.
The last, I believe, is of special interest to us as a community. It is, essentially, our birthday, regardless of when or how our founders decided to put our servers up. The beginning of us social networking sites, of social networking as a whole, of the common people, strangers, coming together for the good of the common Man.
Merry Christmas.
Also : Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians worldwide, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations.
In the spirit of Christmas, perhaps you would consider indulging in a gift-giving and making donations. To nowhere specific, of course, but it is indeed a day where giving is celebrated all over the world. There are always non-profit organizations in need of funding, especially those that work to further the knowledge of mankind.
The following are important events which occured on December 25th-Christmas Day :
* 1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
* 1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire.
* 1946 - The first in Europe artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.
* 1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneouver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
* 1990 - The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web.
The last, I believe, is of special interest to us as a community. It is, essentially, our birthday, regardless of when or how our founders decided to put our servers up. The beginning of us social networking sites, of social networking as a whole, of the common people, strangers, coming together for the good of the common Man.
Merry Christmas.
Also : Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians worldwide, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations.
In the spirit of Christmas, perhaps you would consider indulging in a gift-giving and making donations. To nowhere specific, of course, but it is indeed a day where giving is celebrated all over the world. There are always non-profit organizations in need of funding, especially those that work to further the knowledge of mankind.