Ifnyou have a brother or sister, then you ARE a brother or sister, andnthis day is for you!
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nYes,nhalf-brothers and sisters, step-brothers and sisters, and adoptednbrothers and sisters count. Twins are of course amazingly closensiblings, and some cousins seem almost to be sibs as well.
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nTodaynis the day to thank your siblings for the good things they do for younand with you. Hopefully they will end up thanking you back! Perform angood deed for your brother, make a card for your sister, surprisenyour sister by doing one of her chores, or make brownies for all ofnyour siblings to share.
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nFamousnSiblings
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nVenusnand Serena Williams are sisters who helped push each other tonhigher and higher levels of playing tennis. They have each been #1 innthe world—and sometimes they have to play hard, competitive matchesnagainst each other. Sometimes they play doubles—hooray! then theynget to play on the same side, and win together! Venus Williams wasnthe first African American woman to be ranked #1 in the Open Era, butnSerena has had even more success. Recently she became the oldestnworld #1 player in WTA history, when she regained the top spot, andnshe is the only female player to have won more than $40 million innprize money! The two sisters have each won more Olympic gold medalsnthan any other female tennis player.
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nSarahnand Angelina Grimke were sisters who helped make a big differencenin the United States. They were raised on a plantation in the Southnin the early 1800s, and their father—who was an important man, anjudge of the Supreme Court of South Carolina—believed that slaverynwas a good thing and also that women must be subordinate to men. Henwouldn’t allow his daughters to get higher education, for example.
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nSomehow,nthe girls realized that many things that their parents taught themnwere wrong—that their whole lifestyle, on the plantation and withnthe slaves, was wrong. As a child, Sarah taught her personal slave tonread, although that was against the law. She even tried to run awaynto a place without slavery! Can you imagine? n
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nThenGrimke sisters worked to abolish slavery. They also spoke and wrotenabout racial acceptance. At the time, most white people who hatednslavery didn’t want to accept black people as equals, or amongstntheir own society. The Grimke sisters met with enormous amounts ofncriticism every time they gave a speech or wrote an article—butnthey also started accumulating followers who agreed with theirnstance.
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nI’mnhappy to report that the Grimke sisters lived to see the slaves freednand the 15th Amendment pass—and they were almost 80nyears old, but they also lived long enough to vote in an election!
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nWilburnand Orville Wright were brothers who taught themselves aboutnmachinery and engineering and invented the world’s first successfulnheavier-than-air powered-controlled airplane. After this success,nthey gave up their joint bicycle business to focus on building flyingnmachines!
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nOwennand Luke Wilson are brothers and actors who have succeededntogether (in movies such as “The Royal Tenenbaums”) andnseparately (in movies such as “Legally Blond” and “Cars”).nJake and Maggie Gyllenhaal are brother-and-sister actors. Younmay have seen Jake in “October Skies” or Maggie in “The DarknKnight.”
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversarynof the first bananas sold in England
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