Sunday rolls around yet again, and this is a pretty sad one for so many. Sunday is a good day to seek distraction (never forget). All the good TV shows are on Sunday. I'm sure you have a good book you've been neglecting. Maybe some of those projects you've been putting off?
The Twitter barrage is still mostly about guns, but I tried to find some others as well.
Now let's learn some history:
On This Day
In 1707, the last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan occurred.
In 1773, the original Tea Party took place in Boston when members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawks, dumped crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act. (I wonder if the fish in the harbor got a buzz from the caffeine?)
In 1811 , the first two of a series of four severe earthquakes struck in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. An estimated 7.2 to 8.0 magnitude, the only reason it was not worse at the time was that the area was sparsely populated. Seismologists are now divided as to whether any danger of another such event occurring on that fault remains today.
In 1997, an episode of Pokémon, "Dennō Senshi Porygon", aired in Japan and allegedly induced seizures in 685 Japanese children.
In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 into law. The law established the United States' first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission to enforce its provisions (which of course they are working diligently on because every spam I receive is 100% bona fide!)
Born on This Day
1485 – Catherine of Aragon, first in a series of six wives of Henry VIII of England (d. 1536) (collect them all!)
1775 – Jane Austen, English writer (d. 1817)
1861 – Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)
1863 – George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952)
1866 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944)
1899 – Sir Noël Coward, English playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)
1901 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
1907 – Barbara Kent, Canadian-born American silent film actress (d. 2011)
1915 – Turk Murphy, American trombonist (d. 1987)
1916 – Birgitta Valberg, Swedish actress
1928 – Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
1936 – Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center
1943 – Tony Hicks, English guitarist (The Hollies)
1951 – Robben Ford, American guitarist
1961 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)
1963 – Benjamin Bratt, American actor
1967 – Miranda Otto, Australian actress
1979 – Flo Rida, American rapper and singer
Died on This Day
1935 – Thelma Todd, American actress (b. 1905)
1948 – Denham Fouts, American gigolo and socialite (b. 1914)
1956 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (but more often artist's model) (b. 1890)
1965 – W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (b. 1874)
1980 – Colonel Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
1989 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
1989 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
1997 – Nicolette Larson, American singer (b. 1952)
2001 – Stuart Adamson, English-born Scottish musician (The Skids, Big Country) (b. 1958)
2007 – Dan Fogelberg, American singer/songwriter (b. 1951)
Today is
National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
Stupid Toy Day
Barney and Barbie Backlash Day
National Re-Gifting Day