3 Ιουνιου

Anniversary of the first American spacewalk

Moonshine Martini

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Moonshine Martini

On this day in 1965, in the midst of the Cold War, astronaut Ed White struck a blow for the West over Communism, by becoming the first American to walk in space, only a few weeks after his Russian opposite number became the first ever spacewalker.

White floated out of his capsule into space, attached by a 7.6 metre (25 foot) cord, and manoeuvred using a type of gas gun, achieving views of the earth few had imagined. The order to return from his 23 minutes of almost-zero gravity in the emptiness of space was, he said, the saddest moment of his life.

We suggest you mark his achievement with a Moonshine Martini, an adult take on the Wet Martini, based on a recipe from Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

Today also marks the day Watergate broke

There is only one U.S. president ever to have resigned from office - Richard Nixon. It all began in June 1972, when five men were caught at 2.30 am trying to bug the offices of the Democrat National Committee in Watergate, after breaking into the building.

Four months later, the FBI had established that they were linked to a successful campaign to re-elect Nixon as president. Over the next few months, senior government officials would resign, and the White House lawyer, John Dean, was fired, as officials endeavoured to cover the president's back.

On this day in 1973, The Post broke the story that Dean had told investigators that Nixon had discussed covering up the break-in with him "at least 35 times." But Tricky Dicky clung on, protesting his innocence, for over a year. We're marking the occasion with a Waters of Chaos, one of our own creations based on genever, Chartreuse and overproof rum.

It's also the anniversary of the Kosovo Peace Deal

On this day in 1999, as NATO air strikes pounded Serbian positions, Slobodan Milosevic agreed to make peace in Kosovo, bringing the wars that had racked the former Yugoslavia into their closing stages.

Today, the country formerly known as Yugoslavia is now seven separate nations: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and North Macedonia.

Although not everything is rosy in the garden with countries still squabbling over everything from who has first dibs on Alexander the Great, Croatia, a war zone 20 years ago, is now a holiday destination. So, we're toasting today with the national drink of many of these countries: slivovitz, in the form of a Plum Cocktail. Cheers!

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