May 10 - Happy Birthday, Biruté Galdikas

Posted on May 10, 2020

Lithuania, USSR, Germany, Canada, US, Indonesia...

Who could ever expect her life to be so global?

Born on this day in 1946, Biruté Galdikas had Lithuanian parents who fled from the USSR's occupation of their homeland, after World War II, to Germany. That's where little Biruté was born. But when she was just two, the family moved to Canada, and that's where Galdikas was brought up.

As a teenager, Galdikas was fascinated by Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees and Dian Fossey's work with gorillas - as reported by National Geographic Magazine. 

Galdikas's family moved again, this time to the U.S., and Galdikas attended the University of California Los Angeles. She got her Bachelor's degree in psychology and zoology and her Master's in anthropology.

...And during those studies she was able to meet Louis Leakey, the guy who fostered Goodall's and Fossey's work on primates. Galdikas was able to convince him and the staff at National Geographic to send her to Borneo, which is part of Malaysia and Indonesia, in Southeast Asia.

Why Borneo? Galdikas wanted to study the great ape that had not yet been studied with the kind of long-term observation that Goodall and Fossey had given to chimps and gorillas. That last-but-not-least great ape was the orangutan.

Galdikas arrived in Borneo at age 25, and she has led what is described as the lengthiest continuous study of a mammal ever conducted. 

By the way, Galdikas got her own National Geographic cover:

Galdikas is still living a global life. Her work continues in Borneo, she is a university professor in Canada and Indonesia, and she is president of the Orangutan Foundation International, headquartered in Los Angeles. 

Also on this date:

Día de la Madre

Anniversary of Supreme Court ruling: tomatoes are not fruit

Astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's birthda

Anniversary of Palindrome Day

Constitution Day in Micronesia

One Day Without Shoes

Birthday of astronaut and Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa

World Migratory Bird Day

Mother's Day in the U.S.

(Second Sunday in May)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• May holidays 
• May birthdays 
• Historical anniversaries in May

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• June holidays
• June birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in June

August 31 – Malaysia's Independence Day

Posted August 31, 2013

Happy Hari Merdeka! On this date in 1957, the Republic of Malaya became independent of Great Britain. 

By the way, in 1963 Malaysia was formed by combining the Federation of Malaya with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore (although a few years later, Singapore was kicked out of the federation)—and that event will be celebrated in a couple of weeks!

Malaysia is highlighted here in green.

Malaysia is an interesting nation. Part of it is located on a Southeast Asian peninsula (a bit of land that juts out into the ocean, so that it is surrounded by water on three sides). The other part is located on the island of Borneo—but just the northern part of the island! The rest of the island of Borneo is the country of Brunei and part of the country Indonesia.

(The island of Borneo is fairly large. It is the largest island in Asia, about the size of Texas. Still, to be divvied up into three countries, two of which have other land as well, is a bit surprising to me! And check out Brunei—it is made up of two tiny, unconnected bits of northern Borneo!)

Another reason Malaysia is interesting is that it has a parliament, which is a group of lawmakers elected by citizens, modeled to some extent on Britain's parliament. The nation also has a king and a Prime Minister—again, just like Britain—but Malaysia's king is elected to a 5-year term rather than just being born the king (or queen), and ruling for life, as almost all nations with a monarchy arrange things! As a matter of fact, only one other modern nation—Cambodia—has an elected monarch—and that king is chosen for a life term.

(The citizens as a whole do not elect the king. Instead, the nine hereditary rulers from the Malay states have a secret vote to see who will be the next king. There seems to be an informal decision to pass the title around to each of the nine in turn, originally based on seniority.)

Malaysia is multi-cultural, modern, and economically strong. It is one of the most diverse countries in the world in terms of number of plant and animal species. Check out this compilation of various tourism videos for great scenery and wildlife sequences as well as glimpses of posh cities and colorful culture! 

Also on this date:

White Rose Day in Australia 

Anniversary of the first tennis championship in the U.S.

IndependenceDay in Trinidad and Tobago

Plan ahead:

Here are my Pinterest pages on August holidays, historical anniversaries in August, and August birthdays.

And here are my Pinterest pages on September holidays, historical anniversaries in September, and September birthdays.