Happy Wednesday, friends! January is almost over. As I asked a friend yesterday, do you have your Christmas shopping done yet? It will be here before you know it!
I have questions: What is the most difficult dish you ever made (successfully)? As kids many of us were stubborn and very closed minded about things. Food is one. I hated everything except Macaroni and cheese, but once I was out on my own, I learned to love all kinds of food. What foods did you hate as a child that you have grown to love today? How about music? Teenagers can be awfully contemptuous about what Mom and Dad like to listen to. What music did you not like as a kid that you have grown to appreciate, if not love, today? What is your thermostat set at? What was your favorite childhood toy? Do you still have it?
From my Tweetfile to yours:
On This Day
In 1649, King Charles I of England was beheaded.
In 1661, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, was ritually executed two years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, the monarch he deposed. Can you say “overkill?”
In 1847, Yerba Buena, California was renamed San Francisco, though it is said you can still buy good herb there.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
In 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist.
In 1956, the home of Martin Luther King Jr. was bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
In 1969, the Beatles made what proved to be their last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The police broke it up (bastards!).
In 1972, thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."
In 2003, Richard Reid, a British citizen and al-Qaida follower, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston for trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.
In 2007, Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, also known as “F---ing Vista,” went on sale.
Born on This Day
1873 – Georges Ricard-Cordingley, French seascape painter (d. 1939)
1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
1890 – Bruno Kastner, German actor (d. 1932)
1899 - Martita Hunt, English actress (d. 1969)
1902 - Elise Cavanna, American actress (d. 1963)
1909 - Saul David Alinsky, radical (d. 1972)
1911 – Roy Eldridge, American musician (d. 1989)
1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (d. 1989)
1914 – John Ireland, Canadian actor (d. 1992)
1914 – David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
1915 - Dorothy Dell, American actress (d. 1934)
1915 – John Profumo, British cabinet minister (d. 2006)
1920 – Delbert Mann, American film director (d. 2007)
1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian (d. 2008)
1925 – Dorothy Malone, American actress
1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor
1935 – Richard Brautigan, American writer and poet (d. 1984)
1936 – Patrick Caulfield, British painter and printmaker (d. 2005)
1937 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
1937 – Boris Spassky, Russian chess player
1941 – Dick Cheney, evil personified and former Vice President of the United States
1942 – Marty Balin, American musician (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and KBC Band)
1947 – Steve Marriott, English musician (Humble Pie and The Small Faces) (d. 1991)
1951 – Phil Collins, English musician (Genesis and Brand X)
1951 – Charles S. Dutton, American actor
1959 – Mark Eitzel, American singer and musician (American Music Club)
1959 – Jody Watley, American singer (Shalamar)
1974 – Christian Bale, English actor
Died on This Day
1584 - Pieter Pourbus, Flemish painter (b. 1523)
1836 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress (b. 1752)
1926 – Barbara La Marr, American actress (b. 1896)
1929 – La Goulue, French dancer (b. 1866)
1948 – Orville Wright, American aviator (b. 1871)
1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian automotive engineer (b. 1875)
1958 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (b. 1878)
1976 - Mance Lipscomb, blues musician (b. 1895)
1980 – Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
1982 – Lightnin' Hopkins, American musician (b. 1912)
1984 – Luke Kelly, Irish singer (The Dubliners) (b. 1940)
1991 – John McIntire, American actor (b. 1907)
1999 – Huntz Hall, American actor (b. 1919)
2006 – Coretta Scott King, American activist; widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)
Today is
National Croissant Day
Escape Day
Inane Answering Message Day
School Day of Non-violence and Peace