April 11 - World Parkinson's Disease Day

On this day in history, in 1997, the first World Parkinson's Disease day was held in commemoration of the birthday of Dr. James Parkinson. Every year following, World Parkinson's Disease Day raises awareness and support for people living with this neurological disorder.

Parkinson’s disease is a degressive, degenerative neurological disease. It is a movement disorder; as the disease progresses, body movements such as walking and talking become affected. Parkinson’s disease affects 1 in every 500 people; approximately four million people worldwide.

 

In 1980, J.W.S. Van der Wereld, a Dutch horticulturalist who had Parkinson's Disease, developed a red and white tulip. He later named his prized cultivar the "Dr. James Parkinson" tulip, to honour the name who gave his medical condition its name, and to honour the International Year of the Disabled. The tulip received the Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in London, England, also receiving the Trial Garden Award from the Royal General Bulb Growers of Holland.

On April 11, 2005, the Red Tulip was launched as the Worldwide Sylvan of Parkinson's Disease at the 9th World Parkinson's Disease Day conference in Luxembourg.

Today is also National Pet Day, Barbershop Quartet Day, and International "Louie Louie" Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- The last execution for witchcraft in Germany occurred in 1775.
- Ezekiel Hart became the first Jewish politician to be elected in Quebec (Lower Canada at the time), in Trois-Rivières in 1807. The session of the Assembly was coming to an end and Hart had to wait till January 1808 to be sworn in. When he eschewed the Christian Oath of Office, he was denied his seat.
- Norman McLaren, Canada's leading director of animated film, was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1914
- The International Labour Organization was founded in 1919
- Vancouver shipyards began to build corvettes and minesweepers for action in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1940
- Federal environment minister David Anderson introduced new legislation aimed at protecting Canada's endangered wildlife in 2000. The Act listed 340 species as endangered.

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!