Tuesday, March 19, 2013

March 19 - Operation Iraqi Freedom Day

On this day in history (2003), then President George W. Bush announced "Operation Iraqi Freedom", intended to rid Iraq of "tyrannical dictator" Saddam Hussein. Ten years later, we still celebrate and remember this day.

To learn more about Operation Iraqi Freedom and its fallout, check out this link: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bush-announces-the-launch-of-operation-iraqi-freedom

If this is something that interests you, check out these books we have in the library:
 
"A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies", by James Bamford
 

 
"My Year in Iraq: the Struggle to Build a Future of Hope", by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III
 
 
"Ignorant Armies: Sliding Into War in Iraq", by Gwynne Dyer
 
 
"Dancing in the No-Fly Zone: a Woman's Journey Through Iraq", by Hadani Ditmars
 
 
"Love in a Torn Land", by Jean Sasson
 

Today is also National Agriculture Day, National Chocolate Caramel day, and Swallows Return to San Juan Capistrano Day!

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

- The Hudson's Bay Company established For Vancouver on the Columbia, near present-day Portland, Oregon in 1825
- The SS Georgiana was destroyed on her maiden voyage in 1863, with a cargo valued over one million dollars. The wreck was discovered on the same day and month, exactly 102 years later by then teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence.
- At Batoche, a provisional government of the North-West was proclaimed, with Louis Riel as President and Gabriel Dumont and Adjutant-General in 1885
- John Fauquier, the only Canadian airman to be awarded a second Distinguished Service Order bar, was born in Ottawa in 1909
- Pluto was photographed for the first time in 1916 (though it was unknown at the time).
- A Court of Appeal ruling legalized same-sex marriage in Quebec in 2004.

Stay tuned for our next "On This Day in History".

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