The NAACP has declared this to be Josephine Baker Day

and it is also Setting Orange, Discord 67, 3184 YOLD
(for you Discordians out there)

World History this day

1497 – John Cabot sailed west out of Bristol looking sharp as a pistol
1498 – Vasco da Gama arrived at Kozhikode, India and exclaimed Oh Calcutta!
1520 – Cortes' troops trecherously committed the massacre at the festival of Toxcatl
1570 – Abraham Ortelius issued the first "modern" atlas.
1631 – The Holy Roman Empire's troops slaughtered almost the entire population of Magdeburg
1802 – Napoleon reinstated slavery in the French colonies shouting Liberte' and all that
1883 – Krakatoa began to erupt, but Jimmy Buffet wasn't born yet
1902 – Cuba gained independence from the US
1927 – The UK recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud via the Treaty of Jeddah
2002 – Portugal recognized The independence of East Timor

US History this day

1862 – Lincoln signed the Homestead Act
1902 – Cuba gained independence from the US
1949 – The predecessor to the National Security Agency was created, freedom wept
1985 – Radio Marti began bombarding Cuba with political propaganda
1996 – The Supremes Court slapped down a Colorado law prohibiting laws protecting the rights of GLBT persons (Romer v. Evans)

Science & Technology this day

1875 – 17 countries signed the Metre Convention creating the International System of Units.
1891 – The first public display of Edison's kinetoscope.
1956 – The US detonated an H-Bomb over Bikini Atoll
1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation
1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus

The Arts this day

1609 – Thomas Thorpe was the first to publish Shakespeare's sonnets

Misc. this day

0325 – The First Council of Nicaea was opened
1932 – Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland for Ireland.

Birthdays of Note this day

1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius, anatomist
1743 – Toussaint Louverture, revolutionary
1759 – William Thornton, architect who designed the US Capitol
1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, inventor **
1799 – Honore' de Balzac, novelist and playwright
1806 – John Stuart Mill, economist, civil servant, and philosopher
1825 – Antoinette Brown Blackwell, a protestant minister
1830 – Hector Malot, author
1882 – Sigrid Undset, author
1883 – Faisal I of Iraq, leader of the Arab Revolt, used and shafted by the British
1895 – R. J. Mitchell, engineer who designed the Supermarine Spitfire
1931 – Louis Smith, trumpeter
1940 – Shorty Long, singer, songwriter and producer
1944 – Joe Cocker, singer and songwriter
1946 – Cher, singer, songwriter, producer, and actress
1958 – Jane Wiedlin, A singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1959 – Susan Cowsill, ya think maybe a Cowsill?

** He "invented" the Congreve Rocket, based directly on pre-existing Mysore weaponry

Deaths of Note this day

1506 -- Christopher Columbus, explorer, colonizer, slaver, tyrant
1896 -- Clara Schumann, pianist and composer
1909 -- Ernest Hogan, actor and composer
1956 -- Max Beerbohm, essayist, parodist, and caricaturist
1964 -- Rudy Lewis, singer
1998 -- Robert Normann, guitarist, does a cool flat foot floogie
2000 -- Jean-Pierre Rampal, flautist
2012 -- Robin Gibb, singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
2013 -- Ray Manzarek, singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
2015 -- Bob Belden, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer

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So now some music

Josephine Baker

John Cabot

Krakatoa

Shorty Long

Joe Cocker

Cher

Clara Schumann

Ernest Hogan

Rudy Lewis

Robert Normann

Jean-Pierre Rampal

Robin Gibb

Ray Manzarek

Bob Belden

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Photo: Thad Zajdowicz's photo of Aztec Josephine Baker by Alexander Calder ca. 1929 from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Now I don't know how many here remember the Ink Spots. Hell, I don't know how many here remember ink. But the Ink Spots famously started one song - "I put a nickel in the slot and all I ever got was Five Salt PeaNuts". Here, you don't even get that, nor even One Meatball(tm). However you do get access to all of this fantabulous content, the brilliant commentary, the scintillating repartee worthy of the Algonquin Round Table and, most of all, the opportunity to cast scorn and snark upon the authors thereof. So you might consider throwing a few coins into the tip jar up there in the upper left corner, it's how Johnny keeps the damn place running. Thanks.

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