Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Many Happy Returns

Birthdays are a time to reflect - on life, the universe and everything!
Which, of course, got me to thinking, as Desiree celebrated another anniversary of her 31st birthday, just who she shared the auspicious date with.
It is an eclectic mix! To wit:

1367: Sigismund, German Emperor/king of Hungary/Bohemia
1476: Paul IV, [Giampietro Caraffa], inquisition/Pope (1555-59)
1867: Luigi Pirandello, Italy, writer (6 Characters-Nobel 1934)
1886: Joe Cox, cricketer (S African pace bowler in 1913-14 series v England)
1892: Edward H Carr, England, historian (History of Soviet Russia)
1902: John Dillinger, US bank robber (public enemy #1)
1902: Richard Rodgers, composer (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
1909: Eric Ambler, London, suspense writer (Epitaph for a Spy)
1914: Charles Urbanus, Dutch baseball player
1926: Mel Brooks, NYC, comedian/actor/director (Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs)
1933: Pat Morita, Berkeley CA, actor (Happy Days, Karate Kid)
1943: Bobby Harrison, England, rock drummer (Procol Harum-Conquistador)
1945: Dave Knights, London, rock bassist (Procol Harum-Conquistador)


And then, of course, I had to find out what else of note (apart from Desiree's birth) HAPPENED on said date:

1461: Edward IV crowned king of England
1762: 1st reported counterfeiting attempt (Boston)
1762: Russian tsarina Catharina II grabs power
1770: Quakers open a school for blacks in Philadelphia
1820: Tomato is proven non-poisonous
1838: Britain's Queen Victoria crowned in Westminster Abbey
1859: 1st dog show held (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England)
1902: US buys concession to build Panama canal from French for $40 million
1914: Austria invades Siberia (WW I)
1917: Potato entrepreneurs begins in Amsterdam
1917: Raggedy Ann doll invented
1919: Treaty of Versailles ending WW I signed in France
1934: Hitler flies to Essen (Night of Long Knives)
1941: German troops occupy Galicia Poland
1958: Brazil becomes world soccer champ in Sweden
1964: Organization for Afo-American Unity forms in NY by Malcolm X
1967: Israel annexes East Jerusalem
1967: George Harrison is fined for speeding
1968: Daniel Ellsberg indicted for leaking Pentagon Papers


I've absolutely no idea if there is any message in any of this! Probably not. Or, maybe, I won't know until next year, on this same date! Very Zen!

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