Interrogatories
Have you started sending out your Christmas cards yet? (Stop laughing!)
It's National Fritters Day. What are the best fritters? Apple? Corn? Or just frittering away the afternoon?
When was the last time you played Bingo? Have you ever been to a bingo parlor?
Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1763, the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island was dedicated, becoming the first synagogue in the United States, or even the pre-U.S..
In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I never understood (though I admit I have not tried too hard) why the French were ready to welcome an Emperor not too long after overthrowing their monarchy. Short memories?
In 1845, President James K. Polk told Congress that the United States needed to aggressively expand into the West, present occupants be damned.
In 1939, New York City's La Guardia Airport opened.
In 1942 , as part of the Manhattan Project, Enrico Fermi and his team initiated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
In 1954, the Senate voted 65 to 22 to rebuke Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute".
In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency started up.
In 1988, Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first woman to be elected as head of a primarily Islamic state.
In 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11.
Born on This Day
1775 - Joseph-Denis Odevaere, Flemish painter (d. 1830)
1786 - Albertus Brondgeest, Dutch artist (d.1849)
1819 - Diodore Rahoult, French painter (d. 1874)
1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891)
1863 – Charles Ringling, American circus owner (d. 1926)
1873 - Henri Achille Zo, French painter (d. 1933)
1891 – Otto Dix, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1969) See Tipple Jar
1894 – Warren William, American Broadway and film actor (d. 1948)
1909 - June Clyde, American actress (d. 1987)
1914 – Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001)
1923 – Maria Callas, Greek soprano (d. 1977)
1924 – Alexander Haig, American Soldier & Civil servant, 7th Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 5th White House Chief of Staff and 59th United States Secretary of State (d. 2010)
1924 - Jonathan Frid, actor (Barnabas Collins-Dark Shadows) (d. 2012)
1925 - Julie Harris, American actress (Bell Jar, East of Eden) (d. 2013)
1931 – Wynton Kelly, American jazz pianist (d. 1971)
1931 – Edwin Meese, American jurist and 75th United States Attorney General (about whom it was often said, “I hate Meeses to pieces.”)
1939 – Harry Reid, American fili-buster.
1945 – Penelope Spheeris, American director (The Decline of the Western Civilization)
1952 – Carol Shea-Porter, American congresswoman
1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress
1968 – Nate Mendel, American bassist (Foo Fighters)
1970 – Treach, American rapper and actor (Naughty by Nature)
1973 – Monica Seles, Yugoslavian-born tennis player
1978 – Chris Wolstenholme, British bassist (Muse)
1981 – Britney Spears, American tabloid fodder and recently anointed gay icon
Died on This Day
1547 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish explorer and conqueror (b. 1485)
1665 – Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, French socialite (b. 1588)
1694 – Pierre Paul Puget, French artist (b. 1622)
1733 - Gerard Hoet I, Dutch painter (b. 1648)
1814 – Marquis de Sade, French writer (b. 1740)
1918 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and dramatist (b. 1868)
1929 - Robert Lewis Reid, U.S. Impressionist painter (b. 1862)
1957 – Harrison Ford, American actor (b. 1884) (What, you thought there was only one???)
1982 – Marty Feldman, British comedian, writer and actor (b. 1933)
1983 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (b. 1904)
1990 – Robert Cummings, American actor (b. 1908)
1995 – Roxie Roker, American actress (b. 1929)
2000 – Gail Fisher, American actress (b. 1935)
2006 – Mariska Veres, Dutch singer (Shocking Blue) (b. 1947)
2008 – Odetta, American singer (b. 1930)
2009 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer and producer (The Alan Parsons Project) (b. 1945)
Today is
National Fritters Day
Special Education Day
Safety Razor Day
Coats for Kids Day
Science Fiction Day
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
Cyber Monday
This Week is
Cookie Cutter Week
Deaf Heritage Week
National Aplastic Anemia Awareness Week
National Hand Washing Awareness Week
This Month is
Bingo Month
Write a Friend Month (Christmas cards!)
National Tie Month
Universal Human Rights Month
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
National Fruit Cake Month
National Eggnog Month