~~  Graham_Hill_1966_Indy

Memorial Day (U.S.) is a federal holiday set aside for honoring and mourning those who died while serving in the U.S. Military. Since 1971 it has been observed on the last Monday in May and is deemed to also be the beginning of summer in the U.S.  Prior to 1971 it was observed on May 30, and, while it still had the same purpose and intent, it was also all about hot dogs, potato salad, lemonade (beer for the adults), and The Indy 500..  When I was very young, Indy was almost all offys and ran pretty much all day. By my teen years it was four hours or less and some other engines were present in ever greater numbers and chassis builders like as Lotus, and Lola were not only showing up, but winning.  Shortly before my 20th birthday, a truly great English sports car and Formula One driver named Graham Hill won it in a Ford powered Lola.

1578 - The Pont Neuf or new bridge at the western end of Paris' Île de la Cité, is now the oldest bridge across the Seine in Paris.  Though Île de la Cité,  is a subway stop, that really doesn't cut it.  If you get to Paris, you must walk the Pont Neuf at least once.

the Copyright Act of 1790, while flawed, at least had a definite expiry, 14 years plus a 14 year extension.  Currently, non-musical works have a copyright term of 70 years from the author's death (or 120 years for "works for hire" ) or 95 years from the date of publication providing that the work is not Mickey Mouse.  The italicized provision isn't in the law, but, the last time Mickey was about to devolve into the public domain we got the new law which is far greater than twice the original and is quite likely to be doubled again because Disney(tm).

There are currently no public domain audio recordings, but those "fixed" before 2023 will become public domain on 01/01/2022, the next batch will have a 100 year copyright until those "fixed" in 1946, then 110 years for those in 47-56, and so on.

Orphaned Works: There is no longer a copyright registry, so you get to guess whether or not a given work is copyrighted and if so who the hell the copyright holder is.

Thanks Disney (and Sonny Bono)

On this day in history:

1578 – King Henry III laid the first stone of the Pont Neuf .
1669 – Samuel Pepys recorded the last event in his diary.
1790 – Manuel Quimper explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca
1790 – The US enacted its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament started keeping time. Good use for it
1889 – Over 2,200 people died after a dam failed sending a 60-foot wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
1909 – The forerunner to the NAACP convened for the first time.
1910 – The South Africa Act went into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.
1911 – Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico  fled the country during the Mexican Revolution.
1916 – Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of WWI, accomplished nothing
1921 – The Tulsa race massacre killed at least 39 black people, probably many more
1941 – The United Kingdom re-occupied Iraq and returned 'Abd al-Ilah to power
1961 – The South African Constitution of 1961 became effective, creating the Republic of South Africa
1971 – Memorial Day was moved to the  last Monday in May
1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed.
1985 – Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, killing 76
 
2005 – Vanity Fair revealed that Mark Felt was "Deep Throat".
2010 – Israeli commandos attacked and boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while it was in international waters and killed 9 who either attempted to defend the ships, their crews, passengers and cargoes, or who were simply targeted for execution

Born this day in:

Be curious, not judgmental

~~  Walt Whitman

1535 – Alessandro Allori, painter
1754 – Andrea Appiani, painter and educator
1773 – Ludwig Tieck, poet, author, and critic
1819 – Walt Whitman, poet, essayist, and journalist
1827 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine
1852 – Francisco Moreno, explorer and academic
1858 – Graham Wallas, socialist, social psychologist, and educationalist
1860 – Walter Sickert, painter
1875 – Rosa May Billinghurst, suffragette and women's rights activist
1887 – Saint-John Perse, poet and diplomat
1911 – Maurice Allais, economist and physicist
1912 – Chien-Shiung Wu, experimental physicist
 
1918 – Lloyd Quarterman, chemist
1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, painter and sculptor
1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, physicist and academic
1932 – Ed Lincoln, pianist, bassist, and composer
1932 – Jay Miner, computer scientist and engineer
1938 – Johnny Paycheck, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1938 – Peter Yarrow, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1940 – Augie Meyers, musician, singer and songwriter
1940 – Gilbert Shelton, illustrator
1941 – Louis Ignarro,  pharmacologist and academic
1947 – Junior Campbell, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1948 – John Bonham, musician, songwriter, and drummer
1948 – Martin Hannett, bass player, guitarist, and record producer
1952 – Karl Bartos, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1956 – Fritz Hilpert, drummer and composer
1956 – John Young, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1962 – Corey Hart, singer, songwriter, and producer
1963 – Wesley Willis, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1972 – Christian McBride, bassist and record producer

Died this day in:

You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

~~   Timothy Leary

1594 – Tintoretto, painter and educator
1809 – Joseph Haydn, pianist and composer
1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, physician and educator
1967 – Billy Strayhorn, pianist and composer
1986 – Jane Frank, painter and sculptor
1986 – James Rainwater, physicist and academic
1996 – Timothy Leary, psychologist and author
2000 – Tito Puente, jazz musician
2004 – Robert Quine, guitarist
2006 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, sculptor
2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., physicist and chemist
2009 – George Tiller, physician and martyr

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

Memorial Day (US)
World No Tobacco Day (International)
National Meditation Day
National Macaroon Day
World Parrot Day

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies

Ed Lincoln

Johnny Paycheck

Peter Yarrow

Augie Meyers

John Bonham

Tommy Emmaneuel

Christian McBride

Joseph Haydn

Billy Strahorn

Tito Puente

Robert Quine

It's an open thread, so do your thing, got it? Below this point this is a public forum, your forum, nothing is off topic, so go for it