Welcome to my sporadic series on cultural birthdays. If today is your birthday, best wishes. Consider this diary my gift to you. If it is not your birthday, enjoy anyway.
Quite a few anniversaries to note before continuing on. Two of the most important battles in ancient Western history were fought on this day. The Battle of Chaeronea established Macedonian hegemony over most of the Greek peninsula, while the battle of Cannae, the second worst defeat in the history of the Roman Republic, was the high point in Carthaginian fortunes against Rome. Calvin Coolidge took office on this date, replacing the little-mourned Warren G. Harding. Adolph Hitler was proclaimed Fuhrer on this date in 1934. It is somehow fitting that on this same date in 1943, prisoners revolted at the death-camp Treblinka. Most did not survive the attempt, but I do know that at least one Kossack has an ancestor who did. For those who believe in the irony of history, it seems fitting that both the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait occurred on this same date. And last and probably least, cable cars ran in San Francisco for the first time on this date, 140 years ago:
On to cultural birthdays below the fold:
Note before we begin: the list is agnostic and non-discriminatory. You may find some listings not to your liking, and others may float your boat. Feel free to skip around to find what you like. This diary is dedicated to Kossack x, whom I haven't seen around these parts lately...
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor.
Irving Babbitt, critic.
Ernest Dowson, poet.
John French Sloan, painter.
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, painter.
Arthur Bliss, composer.
Lorenzo Herrera, singer and composer.
Karl Amadeus Hartmann, composer.
Myrna Loy, actress.
Félix Leclerc, singer and poet.
Big Walter Price, blues musician.
James Baldwin, writer.
Carroll O'Connor, actor.
Vali Myers, artist.
Peter O'Toole, actor.
Hank Cochran, country singer-songwriter.
Wes Craven, filmmaker.
Will Tura, singer.
Ede Staal, singer.
Isabel Allende, writer.
Naná Vasconcelos, musician.
Jim Capaldi, musician and singer.
Andrew Gold, singer.
Joe Lynn Turner, singer.
Freddie Wadling, musician and singer.
Donnie Munro,singer.
Jim Neidhart, professional wrestler.
Isabel Pantoja, singer.
Mojo Nixon, psychobilly singer.
Apollonia Kotero, singer/actress.
Neal Morse, contemporary Christian singer/musician.
Cold 187um, rapper.
Lee Mavers, singer.
Kevin Smith, filmmaker.
Michael Weiss, figure skater.
Britt Nicole, contemporary Christian singer.
Nayer, singer.
Charli XCX, singer.