chocolate candy

Chocolate Candy Day, Yeah.

OK, that's over with, so on with it. 

A tough day today, X-Rays, Endangered Species Act, Pops Staples, Earl (Fatha) Hines, Johnny Otis, Maurice Ravel and many others, but I'm going with the Greek dude: Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes.  As a kid he wanted to be a band leader, as in "big band" and he more or less did. He also had a hit with Harlem Nocturne and wrote another hit, Willie and the Hand Jive, discovered Sugar Pie DeSanto and many others, and wound up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as Johnny Otis.  Here's some of what da Wiki has to say:

Johnny Otis ... was an American singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, talent scout, disc jockey, record producer, television show host, artist, author, journalist, minister, and impresario. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He discovered numerous artists early in their careers who went on to become highly successful in their own right, including Little Esther Phillips, Etta James, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Ace, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and The Robins (who eventually changed their name to The Coasters), among many others. Otis has been called the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".

He grew up in Berkeley, CA, where he famously decided to live and perform as a member of the black community.  He later wrote "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black."  His full wikipedia entry is moderately awe inspiring, as was his career and impact on R&B and Rock.

On this day in history:

1836 – Spain recognized the independence of Mexico with the signing of the Santa María–Calatrava Treaty.

1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, later known as x-rays.

1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars hit the streets in San Francisco.

1918 – Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons.

1973 – The United States Endangered Species Act was signed into law by Pres. Richard Nixon.

Born this day in:

There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about.

  ~~  John von Neumann

1722 – Eliza Lucas, agriculturalist
1789 – Catharine Maria Sedgwick, novelist of "domestic fiction"
1865 – Félix Vallotton, painter
1882 – Arthur Eddington, astronomer, physicist, and mathematician
1895 – Carol Ryrie Brink, author and playwright
1903 – Earl Hines, pianist and bandleader
1903 – John von Neumann, mathematician and physicist
1910 – Billy Williams, singer
1914 – Pops Staples, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1921 – Johnny Otis, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and producer
1922 – Stan Lee, publisher, producer, and actor
1928 – Moe Koffman, flute player, saxophonist, and composer
1932 – Dorsey Burnette, singer and songwriter
1938 – Dick Sudhalter, trumpet player, scholar, and critic
1944 – Sandra Faber, astronomer and academic
1944 – Kary Mullis, biochemist and academic
1946 – Edgar Winter, singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1947 – Dick Diamonde, bass player
1948 – Ziggy Modeliste, drummer
1950 – Alex Chilton, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1950 – Clifford Cocks, mathematician and cryptographer
1953 – Charlie Pierce, journalist and author
1953 – Martha Wash, singer and songwriter
1954 – Gayle King, television journalist
1954 – Denzel Washington, actor, director, and producer
1955 – Liu Xiaobo, author, academic, and activist
1962 – Michel Petrucciani, jazz pianist
1964 – Tex Perkins, singer and songwriter
1969 – Linus Torvalds, computer programmer, developed Linux kernel
1974 – Jocelyn Enriquez, singer
1981 – Elizabeth Jordan Carr, journalist
1981 – Frank Turner, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1989 – Salvador Sobral, singer and Eurovision winner

Died this day in:

Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art.

~~ Susan Sontag

1503 – Piero the Unfortunate, ruler
1663 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, mathematician and physicist
1706 – Pierre Bayle, philosopher and author
1795 – Eugenio Espejo, physician, lawyer, and polemicist
1859 – Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, historian and politician
1890 – Dennis Miller Bunker, painter
1916 – Eduard Strauss, violinist and composer
1918 – Olavo Bilac, poet and journalist
1919 – Johannes Rydberg, physicist and academic
1935 – Clarence Day, author and illustrator
1937 – Maurice Ravel, pianist and composer
1945 – Theodore Dreiser, novelist and journalist
1959 – Ante Pavelic, Ustaše war criminal, part of the case against Pius XII
1963 – Paul Hindemith, violinist, composer, and conductor
1983 – Dennis Wilson, the only Beach Boy who surfed, drummer, songwriter, and producer
1986 – John D. MacDonald, author
1989 – Hermann Oberth, physicist and engineer
1992 – Sal Maglie, barber
1993 – William L. Shirer, journalist and historian
1999 – Clayton Moore, Kee Mo Sah Bay
2004 – Susan Sontag, novelist, essayist, critic, and playwright
2008 – Irene Lieblich, painter and illustrator
2010 – Billy Taylor, pianist and composer
2012 – Mark Crispin, computer scientist and academic, designed the IMAP 
2014 – Leelah Alcorn, transgender teenager
2015 – John Bradbury, drummer and songwriter
2015 – Lemmy, musician, singer, and songwriter
2016 – Debbie Reynolds, actress, singer and dancer

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

National Chocolate Candy Day
National Download Day
National Call a Friend Day
National Short Film Day
National Card Playing Day

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies

It's an open thread, so do your thing