Felicitations, my Friends! It's the day before Friday, and I am Figuring out out to Fluff up this intro Field with Fabulosity and Flamboyant Flakiness.
Oh, Ferchrissakes! Fuggedaboutit. ;-)
Let's have a few tweets.
And now for today's history "lesson". Don't forget to hover your mouse over the pics!
On This Day
In 1806, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike spotted a distant mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was later named after him.
In 1859, the first modern revival of the Olympic Games was held in Athens, Greece.
In 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burned the city of Atlanta, and began his March to the Sea.
In 1920, the first assembly of the League of Nations took place in Geneva.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial. No, not that kind of laid!
Born on This Day
1815 - John Banvard, American panorama and portrait painter (d. 1891)
1879 – Lewis Stone, American actor (d. 1953)
1887 – Marianne Moore, American poet (d. 1972)
1887 – Georgia O'Keeffe, American painter (d. 1986)
1891 – Averell Harriman, American businessman (d. 1986)
1891 – Erwin Rommel, German field marshal, "The Desert Fox" (d. 1944)
1903 - Tilly Losch, Austrian born actress, dancer, painter, etc. (d. 1975)
1905 – Mantovani, Italian-born composer (d. 1980)
1906 – Curtis LeMay, U.S. wingnut Air Force general (d. 1990)
1929 – Ed Asner, American actor
1929 – Joe Hinton, American soul singer (d. 1968)
1930 – J. G. Ballard, British author (d. 2009) (Empire of the Sun, High Rise)
1932 – Petula Clark, English singer
1932 – Clyde McPhatter, American singer (d. 1972)
1937 – Little Willie John, American singer (d. 1968)
1937 – Yaphet Kotto, American actor
1940 – Sam Waterston, American actor
1945 – Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Swedish singer (ABBA)
1947 – Bill Richardson, American politician, 9th United States Secretary of Energy, and 30th Governor of New Mexico
1950 – Graham Parker, English singer-songwriter
Died on This Day
1691 – Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
1795 – Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (b. 1719)
1954 – Lionel Barrymore, American actor who is best remembered today for his performance as Dick Cheney Mr. Potter in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.(b. 1878)
1958 – Tyrone Power, American actor (b. 1914)
1961 – Elsie Ferguson, American actress (b. 1883)
1976 – Jean Gabin, French actor who starred in my favorite war movie, “Grand Illusion.” Watch it, even if you hate subtitles. You will forget you are reading them. (b. 1904)
1978 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
1981 – Enid Markey, American stage and film actress, who was the first movie “Jane” to Elmo Lincoln’s Tarzan. (b. 1894)
1996 – Alger Hiss, American government official and alleged spy (b. 1904)
1998 – Stokely Carmichael, American civil rights activist (b. 1941)
Today is
National Spicy Hermit Cookie Day
Clean Your Out Refrigerator Day
America Recycles Day
National Philanthropy Day
I Love to Write Day
National Raisin Bran Cereal Day
National Bundt Day