Good morning! Any of you have exciting plans for the day? I plan to perfect my couch potato technique.
Interrogatories
Do you get along well with your neighbors? What do you have decorating your walls? Are you a leader or a follower? Can you sing? Are you afraid of needles or is getting a shot no big deal to you? If the end of the world as we know it really was nigh, would you want to survive and deal with the fallout, or would you rather die in the first cataclysm (or whatever it may be)? How prepared are you for the Zombie Apocalypse?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1621, Myles Standish was appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
In 1801, an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr was resolved when Jefferson was elected President and made Burr Vice President by the House of Representatives.
In 1964, in Wesberry v. Sanders, the Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
In 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM supercomputer "Deep Blue," winning a six-game match in Philadelphia.
In 2002, the new Transportation Security Administration took over supervision of aviation security from the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration.
In 2005, President George W. Bush named John Negroponte to be the first national intelligence director.
In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a $757 billion economic stimulus package into law.
Born on This Day
1519 - Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (d. 1563)
1524 - Charles of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1574)
1754 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (d. 1803)
1774 - Raphaelle Peale, American painter (d. 1825)
1788 - Maurice Quentin de la Tour, French portrait painter (b. 1704)
1821 - Lola Montez, Irish dancer (d. 1861)
1848 - Louisa Lawson, Australian suffragist and writer (d. 1920)
1877 - André Maginot, French politician (d. 1932)
1910 - Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979)
1911 - Orrin Tucker, American bandleader and composer (d.2011)
1912 - Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
1914 - Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
1914 - Wayne Morris, American actor (d. 1959)
1916 - Raf Vallone, Italian actor (d. 2002)
1919 - Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001)
1920 - Curt Swan, American comics artist (d. 1996)
1922 - Enrico Banducci, American nightclub owner (d. 2007)
1925 - Hal Holbrook, American actor
1928 - Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress and singer
1929 - Chaim Potok, American author (d. 2002)
1929 - Patricia Routledge, English actress
1930 - Ruth Rendell, English mystery writer, whose Inspector Wexford series is great, and whose standalone mysteries as well as those written under the name Barbara Vine are also excellent.
1934 - Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)
1939 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress and beauty queen
1942 - Huey P. Newton, American political activist (d. 1989)
1946 - Dodie Stevens, American singer
1949 - Fred Frith, English musician and composer (Henry Cow, Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew)
1954 - Rene Russo, American actress
1962 - David McComb, Australian musician (The Triffids) (d. 1999)
1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor
1963 - Michael Jordan, American basketball player
1966 - Michael Lepond, American musician (Symphony X)
1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day)
1972 - Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters and Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders)
1981 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor
1981 - Paris Hilton, American heiress, famous for being rich
Died on This Day
1600 - Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher (burned at the stake) (b. 1548)
1609 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
1847 - William Collins, English landscape and genre painter (b. 1788)
1854 - John Martin, English painter (b. 1789)
1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
1943 - Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872)
1943 - Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer (b. 1888)
1944 - Fausto Agnelli, Italian painter (b. 1879)
1961 - Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)
1966 - Gail Kane, American actress (b. 1885)
1982 - Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)
1982 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor (b. 1901)
1994 - Randy Shilts, American author and activist (b. 1951)
2006 - Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (b. 1948)
2010 - Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
Today is
Champion Crab Races Day
National Cafe au Lait Day
National Cabbage Day
Random Acts of Kindness Day
My Way Day