Interrogatories
Have you ever seen The Rolling Stones?
Are you a good photographer? Were you before the advent of digital photography?
Are you a fan of poetry? Do you write any?
It's Collector Car Appreciation Day? Is there a particular vintage car that you appreciate?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1543, Henry VIII married his final wife (number six) Catherine Parr.
In 1862, the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor, was authorized by Congress.
In 1917, one of the most egregious acts of union-busting occurred in Bisbee, Arizona, when 1300 striking miners were illegally deported by being forced onto a train and taken, in a 16 hour cattle-car journey with no food or water, to Hermanas, New Mexico and warned never to return. All telegraph and telephone communication was shut down and reporters were prevented from filing stories. Remaining citizens were interrogated regarding their loyalties. Hundreds of citizens were "tried" and also deported.
In 1962, The Rolling Stones played their first gig at the Marquee Club, with Dick Taylor (later of The Pretty Things) on bass.
In 1972, at the Democratic National Convention in Miami, George McGovern won the nomination as the Democratic candidate.
In 2010, Swiss authorities refused an extradition request for rapist Roman Polanski, allowing him to go free.
Born on This Day
1730 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (d. 1795)
1764 - Charles Thévenin, French painter (d. 1838)
1817 – Henry David Thoreau, American writer and philosopher (d. 1862)
1818 - Alexis van Hamme, Belgian painter (d. 1875)
1824 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (d. 1898)
1852 - Frédéric Auguste Dufaux, Swiss artist (d. 1943)
1854 – George Eastman, American businessman and inventor of Roll film, founded the Eastman Kodak Company (d. 1932)
1880 – Tod Browning, American director (d. 1962) (Freaks)
1884 – Louis B. Mayer, Russian-American film producer and founder of MGM (d. 1957)
1884 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1920)
1886 – Jean Hersholt, Danish director and actor (d. 1956) (The honorary "humanitarian award" Oscar was named for him.)
1892 – Bruno Schulz, Polish writer and painter (d. 1942)
1895 – Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (d. 1962)
1895 – Buckminster Fuller, American architect, engineer, and author, designed the Montreal Biosphère (d. 1983)
1895 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American songwriter, director, and producer (d. 1960)
1904 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
1908 – Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (d. 2002)
1917 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (d. 2009)
1920 – Beah Richards, American actress (d. 2000)
1927 – Conte Candoli, American trumpet player (d. 2001)
1933 – Donald E. Westlake, American novelist (d. 2008)
1934 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (d. 2013)
1937 – Bill Cosby, American comedian, actor, producer, and author
1943 – Christine McVie, English singer-songwriter and musician (Fleetwood Mac)
1944 – Denise Nicholas, American actress and activist
1948 – Richard Simmons, American fitness trainer
1951 – Brian Grazer, American film producer
1951 – Cheryl Ladd, American actress and model
1952 – Liz Mitchell, Jamaican singer (Boney M.)
1962 – Dan Murphy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Soul Asylum)
1964 – Tim Gane, English guitarist (Stereolab and McCarthy)
1967 – John Petrucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, and Explorers Club)
1969 – Jesse Pintado, Mexican-American guitarist (Napalm Death, Terrorizer, and Lock Up) (d. 2006)
1972 – Brett Reed, American drummer (Rancid and Devils Brigade)
1978 – Topher Grace, American actor
1978 – Michelle Rodriguez, American actress
Died on This Day
1536 – Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch writer and philosopher (b. 1466)
1712 – Richard Cromwell, English son of Oliver Cromwell (b. 1626)
1804 – Alexander Hamilton, American soldier, economist, philosopher, and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1755)
1841 - Georg Emanuel Opitz, Austrian painter, watercolorist, and engraver (b. 1775)
1849 – Dolley Madison, American wife of James Madison, 4th First Lady of the United States (b. 1768)
1904 - Hendrik Dirk Kruseman van Elten, Dutch painter (b. 1829)
1907 - David Farquharson, British painter (b. 1839)
1913 - Gaston de La Touche, French painter (b. 1854)
1916 - James Sant, English painter (b. 1820) Official court painter for Queen Victoria
1917 - Hugo Simberg, painter (b. 1873)
1924 - Henrietta Mary Ada Ward, English painter (b. 1832)
1935 – Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer (b. 1859)
1944 – Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., American general (b. 1887)
1947 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1902)
1950 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress, author, and interior decorator (b. 1865)
1973 – Lon Chaney, Jr., American actor (b. 1906)
1974 - Yuri Annenkov, Russian painter (b. 1889)
1975 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American painter and illustrator (b. 1887)
1979 – Minnie Riperton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
1983 – Chris Wood, English saxophonist (Traffic and Ginger Baker's Air Force) (b. 1944)
1988 - Julian Trevelyan, British painter (b. 1910)
1996 – Jonathan Melvoin, American keyboardist (The Smashing Pumpkins) (b. 1961)
1998 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1907)
1998 – Serge Lemoyne, Canadian painter (b. 1941)
2003 – Benny Carter, American musician, bandleader, and composer (b. 1907)
2008 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (b. 1955)
Today is:
National Pecan Pie Day (which should be in winter)
Different Color Eyes Day
Simplicity Day
Collector Car Appreciation Day