Evoflux

Orwell’s 1984 First Published: 8th of June, 1949

On this day, the 8th of June, in 1949 George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 was first published. It wasn’t the first dystopian novel. It won’t be the last. It is worth the read.

Link to read 1984 online for free

Remembering Tiananmen Square 20 Years later

On June 4th 1989 the chinese government shut down pro-democracy protests being held by students at Tiananmen Square in China. Never forget what a few people tried to do for a bit of change and the lengths their government is doing to make sure everyone forgets about it.

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square massacre (referred to in China as the June 4 Incident, to avoid confusion with two other Tiananmen Square protests) were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) beginning on April 14. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world.
The protests were sparked by the death of pro-market, pro-democracy and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. By the eve of Hu’s funeral, 1,000,000 people had gathered on the Tiananmen square. The protests lacked a unified cause or leadership; participants included disillusioned Communist Party members and Trotskyists as well as free market reformers, who were generally against the government’s authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change [1][2] and democratic reform[2] within the structure of the government. The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which remained peaceful throughout the protests.
The movement lasted seven weeks, from Hu’s death on April 15 until tanks cleared Tiananmen Square on June 4. In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or severely injured. The number of deaths is not known and many different estimates exist.[3][4] There were early reports of Chinese Red Cross sources giving a figure of 2,600 deaths, but the Chinese Red Cross has denied ever doing so.[4] The official Chinese government figure is 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded.[3]

Link

Happy Hindenburg Day

It was 72 years ago today when the Hindenburg disaster occurred resulting in the deaths of 36 individuals of which all but one were on the ship. And to make it even stranger is the fact that 72 years later the conspiracy theorist still crawl out of the woodwork about why and how it happened. Don’t get me wrong. Knowing how it happened is a very important yet illusive fact. Just the fact that they argue the difference between static sparks versus sabotage should be enough to make people turn off their televisions for the entertainment value.

Link

The Anniversary of The War of the Worlds

Today is the 70th anniversary of the original radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Do yourself a favor and listen to the original broadcast of this crown jewel of american media history. Don’t forget to protect yourself by wearing a pot on your head.