Oh, man, today's gonna feel like Monday again! That's two weeks in a row with two Mondays. No fair.
Interrogatories
When do your Christmas decorations come down?
What famous landmarks or artworks have you been photographed with?
Do you carry a handkerchief? What is your sneezing strategy?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1788, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the Constitution.
In 1920, the second of two "Palmer Raids" took place across the country, with around 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. The raids were the brainchild of then Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, who was attempting to rid the U.S. of leftist leaders in the early days of the Red Scare.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed a bill to lower the maximum speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
In 2006, an explosion in a coal mine in Sago, West Virginia trapped and killed 12 miners, while leaving one miner in critical condition. The mine had received 208 MSHA violations the previous year.
In 2008, oil prices soared to $100 a barrel for the first time.
Born on This Day
1783 - Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, Danish painter (d. 1853)
1795 - Hendrik van de Sande Bakhuyzen, Dutch painter (d. 1860)
1821 - Adolphe Alexandre Dillens, Belgian painter (d. 1877)
1836 – Queen Emma of Hawaii, Consort of King Kamehameha IV (d. 1885)
1857 – Martha Carey Thomas, American educator, suffragist, and second President of Bryn Mawr College (d. 1935)
1870 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor, many of whose works were confiscated by the Nazis as "degenerate art." (d. 1938)
1873 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French Roman Catholic nun (d. 1897)
1877 – Slava Raškaj, Croatian painter (d. 1906)
1893 – Lillian Leitzel, German acrobat and strongwoman (d. 1931)
1909 – Barry M. Goldwater, American politician who was once the epitome of wingnuttery, but now seems almost moderate in comparison to his modern day party members. (d. 1998)
1913 – Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004)
1917 – Vera Zorina, German dancer (d. 2003)
1920 – Isaac Asimov, American author and biochemistry professor (d. 1992)
1936 – Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
1940 – Jim Bakker, disgraced American televangelist
1942 – Dennis Hastert, 59th Speaker of the House, general dickwad, now a lobbyist (of course)
1948 – Judith Miller, American stenographer for the Bush war machine
1954 – Dawn Silva, American singer (The Brides of Funkenstein, P-Funk)
1956 – Lynda Barry, American cartoonist
1961 – Todd Haynes, American film director whose work included "The Karen Carpenter Story" performed by Barbie dolls.
1968 – Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor
1971 – Taye Diggs, American actor
1975 – Chris Cheney, Australian musician (The Living End)
1975 – Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
1986 – Trombone Shorty, American trumpet player
Died on This Day
1557 – Pontormo, Italian painter (b. 1494)
1845 - Hortense Lescot, French painter (b. 1784)
1901 - George Smith, British painter (b. 1829) (use year of birth to get results in search)
1952 - Louis Valtat, French Fauvist painter (b. 1869)
1962 - Kurt Seligmann, Swiss-born US surrealist painter (b. 1900)
1963 – Jack Carson, American actor (b. 1910)
1963 – Dick Powell, American actor (b. 1904)
1977 – Erroll Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
1983 – Dick Emery, English comedian (b. 1915)
1986 – Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903) See Tipple Jar
1997 – Randy California, American guitarist & songwriter (Spirit) (b. 1951)
2005 – Frank Kelly Freas, American science fiction artist and illustrator (Mad Magazine, among others) (b. 1922)
2011 – Anne Francis, American actress (b. 1930)
2011 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (b. 1946)
Today is
National Cream Puff Day
National Buffet Day
Run Up the Flagpole and See if Anybody Salutes It Day
Cats’ Day
National Science Fiction Day