Interrogatories
What's the most difficult decision you ever had to make?
Have you ever successfully grown strawberries? How do you prefer to eat them?
Do you understand the metric system at all?
Do any kids of your acquaintance know how to tie shoes that have laces or tell the time from analog clocks?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1861, North Carolina seceded from the union.
In 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh left New York to make the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart began her solo transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Ireland.
In 1939, Pan Am airlines began regular transatlantic service from New York to England.
In 1940, Auschwitz began receiving its first prisoners. An estimated 1.3 million people died there before the camp was liberated in 1945.
In 1996, the Supreme Court decided the case of Romer v. Evans, ruling that Colorado's ban on any law protecting the rights of gays and lesbians was unconstitutional.
Born on This Day
1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
1726 - Gabriel-François Doyen, French painter (d. 1806)
1766 - Adam Wolfgang Töpffer, Swiss painter, caricaturist, and engraver (d. 1847)
1768 – Dolley Madison, American wife of James Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
1815 - Barthélémy Menn, Swiss painter (d. 1893)
1843 - Emil Adam, German painter, specialized in race horses (d.1924)
1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
1857 - Herman af Sillén, Swedish marine painter (d. 1908)
1876 - Henri Edmond Cross, French painter (d. 1910)
1883 - Paul Arntzenius, Dutch painter (d. 1965)
1889 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (d. 1978)
1899 – Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)
1899 - Estelle Taylor, silent film star (d. 1958) (See Tipple Jar)
1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (d. 1981)
1919 - Bernard Cathelin, French painter (d. 2004)
1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (d. 1969)
1942 – Jill Jackson, American singer (Paul & Paula)
1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (The Grease Band) (sorry, couldn't resist this version)
1946 – Cher, American singer, actress, producer, and director (Sonny & Cher)
1954 – Guy Hoffman, American singer, drummer, and composer (Violent Femmes, Oil Tasters, and BoDeans)
1954 – Cindy McCain, American businesswoman and philanthropist, wife of John McCain (jack!)
1958 – Ron Reagan, American radio host, son of Ronald Reagan
1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (The Go-Go's and Frosted)
1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Cowsills and Continental Drifters)
1961 - Nick Heyward, English musician (Haircut 100)
1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor (Deadwood)
1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor
Died on This Day
1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
1506 – Christopher Columbus, slaver (among other things) (b. 1451)
1622 – Osman II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1604)
1824 - Thomas Hickey, Irish portrait painter (b. 1741)
1956 – Max Beerbohm, English caricaturist, writer, critic (b. 1872)
1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (The Drifters) (b. 1936)
1965 - Charles Camoin, French Fauvist painter (b. 1879)
1989 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor (b. 1919) (the 3rd Dr. Who)
2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
Today is
Pick Strawberries Day
National Quiche Lorraine Day
World Metrology Day (AKA Weights and Measures Day)
Emancipation Day (Florida - anniversary of 1st FL reading of the Emancipation Proclamation)
Eliza Doolittle Day
Be a Millionaire Day