Friends,
On this day in 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev stuck a blow for striking blows and disrupted a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly by striking his desk with his shoe. Prompting this wanton display of percussive footwear was the delegate from the Philippines, who dared accuse the Soviets of hypocrisy. This single event marked the end of the Comprehensive Shoe Banging Ban of 1958 as well as the beginning of the great Race To Make A Lot Of Noise. That campaign seems to have ended with a whimper with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the United States turning its attention to the destruction of the moon.
Shhh,
– bob