Interrogatories
It's Festival of Popular Delusions Day. On the political right there are a lot of popular delusions. Which one is your favorite? Do any of them worry you?
Don't you think National Gingerbread Day should be in the fall or winter?
What's your favorite love song?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1851, Uncle Tom's Cabin was first published in serial form in an abolitionist publication called National Era.
In 1916, Louis Brandeis became the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice.
In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard. Today, wingnuts dream of going back on the gold standard.
In 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on The Milton Berle Show to premiere his new single, Hound Dog, and scandalized all the fogies with his gyrations (which to me appear to be more leg-shaking than hip-swiveling).
In 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded while at a campaign stop at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He died the next day.
In 2007, Scooter Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail for his part in the Valerie Plame leak.
Born on This Day
1523 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1573)
1660 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1744)
1718 – Thomas Chippendale, English furniture designer and author (d. 1779) (there is no truth to the rumor that he supplemented his income by stripping)
1850 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff, killer of Billy the Kid (d. 1908)
1878 – Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1923)
1881- Jerzy Merkel, Austrian painter (d. 1976)
1882 - Antonin Prochazka, Czech painter (d. 1945)
1883 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist (d. 1946)
1894 - Mané-Katz, French painter of Jewish life (d. 1962)
1895 – William Boyd, American actor (d. 1972)
1895 – William Roberts, English painter (d. 1980)
1928 – Tony Richardson, English director (d. 1991)
1934 – Bill Moyers, American journalist
1941 – Spalding Gray, American actor and writer (d. 2004)
1946 – Freddie Stone, American singer, guitarist, and pastor (Sly & the Family Stone)
1947 – Laurie Anderson, American singer, musician, and composer (and Lou Reed's wife, which I somehow did not know until recently)
1947 – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and musician (Badfinger) (d. 1983)
1949 – Ken Follett, Welsh author
1951 – Jill Biden, American educator, wife of Joe Biden
1956 – Richard Butler, English singer-songwriter (The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love)
1959 – Robert Lloyd, English singer (The Nightingales and The Prefects)
1971 – Mark Wahlberg, American model, actor, producer, and rapper (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch)
1974 – P-Nut, American bassist (311)
1977 – Christian Martucci, American singer-songwriter and musician (Black President, The Strychnine Babies, and The Chelsea Smiles)
1981 – Sebastien Lefebvre, French-Canadian singer and musician (Simple Plan)
1982 – Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombone player (Suburban Legends) (d. 2005)
Died on This Day
1316 – King Louis X of France (b. 1289)
1568 - Willem Key, Flemish artist (b. ca 1515-1520)
1667 – Pietro Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
1688 – Constantine Phaulkon, Greek adventurer (b. 1667)
1781 - Noël Hallé, French painter (b. 1711)
1806 - Gabriel Francois Doyen, French painter (b. 1726)
1854 - Jenaro Pérez Villaamil, Spanish painter (b. 1807)
1879 - Frederick Richard Lee, British landscape painter (b. 1798)
1900 – Stephen Crane, American author (b. 1871)
1910 – O. Henry, American author (b. 1862)
1923 - George Hendrik Breitner, Dutch painter (b. 1857)
1930 – Pascin, Bulgarian painter (b. 1885)
1930 - Nicolas Tarkhoff, Russian painter (b. 1871)
1966 - Natacha Rambova, American designer (b. 1897)
1976 – Violet Wilkey, American actress (b. 1903)
1993 – Conway Twitty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
1998 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
1998 – Sam Yorty, American politician, 37th Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1909)
1999 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (b. 1925)
2002 – Dee Dee Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bassist (Ramones) (b. 1951)
2004 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (b. 1911)
2012 – Ray Bradbury, American author (b. 1920)
Today is
National Gingerbread Day
Festival Of Popular Delusions Day
World Environment Day
National Running Day
National Tailors Day