Interrogatories
It's Henry VIII's birthday. Which of his wives is your favorite? What movie/TV/book version led to that choice?
Do you love or hate tapioca?
Gay or straight, when did your activism/standing up for gay rights begin?
What's the better human invention: words or music?
The Twitter Emitter
On This Day
In 1846, Adolphe Sax received a patent for his saxophone. (Thanks, 'dolphe!)
In 1894, Labor Day became a Federal Holiday (though not out of any good feelings for labor unions).
In 1896, 58 miners were killed after an explosion in Pennsylvania's Twin Shaft Mine.
In 1914, World War I was precipitated by the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.
In 1969, the Stonewall riots began in NYC, seen today as the birth of the Gay Rights movement.
In 2001, Slobodan Milosevic was handed over to the Hague to face a war crimes tribunal.
Born on This Day
1491 – Henry VIII of England (d. 1547)
1529 - Bartolomeo Passarotti, Italian painter (d. 1592)
1577 – Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (d. 1640)
1609 - Pieter van Lint, Dutch painter (d. 1690)
1616 - Lucas Franchoys II, Flemish painter (d. 1681)
1674 - Pier Leone Ghezzi, Italian painter, engraver, and caricaturist (d. 1755)
1703 – John Wesley, English theologian, founder of Methodism (d. 1791)
1846 - Otto Piltz, German painter (d. 1910)
1852 – Charles Cruft, English showman, founded Crufts Dog Show (d. 1938)
1866 - Otto Pilny, Swiss orientalist painter (d. 1936)
1884 - William Victor Higgins, American painter (d. 1949)
1894 - Lois Wilson, American actress (d. 1988)
1902 – Richard Rodgers, American composer (d. 1979)
1909 – Eric Ambler, English writer (d. 1998)
1923 – Pete Candoli, American trumpeter (d. 2008)
1926 – Mel Brooks, American actor, director, producer, and writer
1932 – Pat Morita, American actor (d. 2005)
1934 – Carl Levin, American politician
1938 – Leon Panetta, American politician, 23rd United States Secretary of Defense
1945 – David Knights, English bassist and producer (Procol Harum)
1946 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (d. 1989)
1958 – Donna F. Edwards, American politician
1959 – Clint Boon, English singer and keyboardist (Inspiral Carpets and The Clint Boon Experience)
1966 – John Cusack, American actor
1966 – Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress
1977 – Mark Stoermer, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (The Killers)
Died on This Day
767 – Pope Paul I (b. 700)
1385 – Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1348)
1670 - Hendrick Maertensz Sorgh, Dutch painter (b. 1611)
1721 - Isaac Sailmaker, Dutch marine painter active in England (b. 1633)
1801 - Martin Johann Kremser-Schmidt, Austrian painter (b. 1718)
1801 - Francis Wheatley, British painter (b. 1747)
1836 – James Madison, American politician and theorist, 4th President of the United States (b. 1751)
1848 - Jean-Baptiste Debret, French painter who worked primarily in Brazil (b. 1768)
1900 - Paul Trouillebert, French painter (b. 1829)
1965 – Red Nichols, American cornet player, bandleader, and composer (The California Ramblers) (b. 1905)
1975 – Rod Serling, American scriptwriter, producer, and author (b. 1924)
1980 – José Iturbi, Spanish pianist and conductor (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) (b. 1895)
1980 - Helen Gahagan Douglas, actress and politician (b. 1900)
1993 – GG Allin, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Murder Junkies and The Jabbers) (b. 1956)
1993 - Olga Costa, German-born Mexican painter (b. 1913)
2009 – Billy Mays, American advertising pitchman (b. 1958)
2010 – Robert Byrd, American politician (b. 1917)
Today is
National Tapioca Day
Paul Bunyan Day
Insurance Awareness Day (how about Lack of Insurance Awareness Day?)