Little Bighorn Day

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer died on this date in 1876.

Custer's younger brothers Thomas and Boston were also killed in the engagement.

The illustration is by Kicking Bear and was obtained from a June 21, 2011 post on a blog called The First Scout.

Today's observance may not be an occasion for celebration, but it's certainly worth remembering.

And it's not as if there are lot of great alternatives. On this day in 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, triggering the Korean War (today is referred to as "Fatherland Liberation War Day" in the Hermit Kingdom). You do realize that, technically, that war never actually ended, right? There is a truce in place, some days more firmly than others, but peace has never actually broken out.

Hallmark offers "National Catfish Day" as a micro-mini-holidayette; American Greetings suggests that today is "Leon Day," L-E-O-N being N-O-E-L spelled backwards -- and, thus, a reminder (an early warning) that it's only six months more until Christmas.

I'd prefer to remember the Little Bighorn, thank you.