Day of the Book Smugglers takes place annually on 16 March to commemorate the birth of Lithuanian newspaper publisher Jurgis Bielinis on 16 March 1846 in Purviškiai, near Biržai. Bielinis graduated from a primary school in Riga in 1872. Bielinis was born during the Lithuanian press ban Between 1865-1904 when the Russian Empire banned all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet, in order to force Lithuanians to use the Cyrillic alphabet. Nevertheless there was an illicit smuggling of books printed in the Lithuanian Language and from 1873 Bielinis became one of the main organizers of book-smuggling during the Lithuanian press ban
He was also a publicist and contributor to the Lithuanian newspapers Aušra and Varpas and cooperated with Motiejus Valančius. Bielinis used the pseudonyms Bieliakas, and Jakulis, and is informally referred to as the King of Knygnešiai. It is estimated that during the thirty-one years when he was active, Bielinis and his organizations illegally brought about half of all Lithuanian books from East Prussia (Lithuania Minor) into the Lithuanian mainland during the entire press ban (1864–1904)
From 1890 he was actively sought by the authorities of the Russian Empire. Bielinis could not come home and had to hide. He escaped at least five times after being captured by gendarmes, despite a large monetary reward promised for his capture. This encouraged him to organize the book distribution even better. Bielinis became an ultimate professional book smuggler and the main organizer of the Lithuanian book distribution in northern Lithuania. He founded the Garšviai knygnešiai society, the largest book smuggling organization at the time. Bielinis developed a newspaper subscription system and delivered newspapers and magazines to the subscribers.His organization also delivered forbidden Latvian books to Latvia. For his active participation in underground book smuggling, Bielinis was nicknamed as knygnešių karalius (The King of the Book Carriers).
Bielinis also published his own newspaper Baltasis erelis (for this purpose he bought a printing press from Martynas Jankus) and wrote several brochures on the history of Lithuania. He was among the first who spoke openly about Independent Lithuania. Bielinis died January 18, 1918 in Katinai, near Panevėžys while walking by foot to attend the Vilnius Conference and He is buried in Suostas’ churchyard however his important contribution is commemorated and Bielinis’s birthday is celebrated in Lithuania as the Day of Knygnešys.
No Selfies day
No Selfies Day takes place annually on 16 March. The first No Selfies Day, took place in 2015 and was started by the staffs of the Ocala Star-Banner and The Gainesville Sun, at the suggestion of Khoi Ha, who said, “With all of the social media nowadays, we’re turning a lot of people into narcissists,” and warned that, once posted, the picture sharing quickly spreads beyond the control of their originators.
BLACK PRESS DAY
Black Press Day. Black Press Day was launched by the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), originally the National Negro Publishers Association in 2015, The NNPA Was originally founded in 1940 when John H. Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender organized a Black publishers meeting; the organization was re-named in 1956, and now has over 200 African-American newspaper members in the U.S. and the Virgin Islands
ST. URHO’S DAY
Saint Urho’s Day takes place annually on 16 March St. Urho is the Patron Saint of Finnish Wine makers. The day was created in 1956 by Richard Mattson, a Minnesotan of Finnish descent, as a tongue-in-cheek response to St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. The “legend” of St. Urho has now been proclaimed in all 50 states, and there are St. Urho pubs in Finland. An alternate version claims that Dr. Sulo Havumaki, of Bemidji State College, is the true originator of the St. Urho legend. Havumaki states that According to legend St. Urho drove a plague of grasshoppers out of Finland, saving the Finnish wine crop becoming the Patron Saint of Finnish Vineyard Workers.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DAY
Freedom of Information Day takes place annually on 16 March It was proposed in 1979 by Jim Bohannon, talk show host, to the Society of Professional Journalists, in order to commemorate the anniversary of the the birth of American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, philosopher, and Founding Father James Madison who was born March 16, 1751 into a prominent Virginia planting family.
Madison served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolutionary War. However he became dissatisfied with the weak national government established by the Articles of Confederation and helped organize the Constitutional Convention, which produced a new constitution to supplant the Articles of Confederation. Madison’s Virginia Plan served as the basis for the Constitutional Convention’s deliberations, and he was one of the most influential individuals at the convention.
After the ratification of the Constitution, Madison emerged as an important leader in the United States House of Representatives and served as a close adviser to President George Washington. He was the main force behind the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights, which enshrines guarantees of personal freedoms and rights within the Constitution. During the early 1790s, Madison came to oppose the economic program and accompanying centralization of power favored by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party, which was, alongside Hamilton’s Federalist Party, one of the nation’s first major political parties. After Jefferson won the 1800 presidential election, Madison served as Secretary of State from 1801 to 1809. In that position, he supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States.
Madison succeeded Jefferson as President with a victory in the 1808 presidential election and served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. After diplomatic protests and a trade embargo failed to end British attacks against American shipping, he led the United States into the War of 1812. The war was an administrative morass and ended inconclusively, but many Americans saw it as a successful “second war of independence” against Britain. The war convinced Madison of the necessity of a stronger federal government, and he presided over the creation of the Second Bank of the United States and the enactment of the protective Tariff of 1816. He retired from public office in 1817 and died in June 28, 1836. He is generally considered to be one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, and historians have generally ranked Madison as an above-average president.
Madison also co-wrote The Federalist Papers, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party, and became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the Constitution, and he joined with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in writing The Federalist Papers, a series of pro-ratification essays that is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of political science in American history and He is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the United States Constitution and the United States Bill of Rights.
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