01/24 - Frederick the Great
~~ Frederick_The_Great_Flute_ Concert
Frequent readers may have noted that I rarely include rulers and potentates, emperors, kings, queens, khans and kagans, sultans, presidents, dictators and the like among the noteworthy who were born or died on a given day. Today, however, there are two exceptions.
The first, the emperor Claudius, is included mostly for the manner in which he ascended to power. The praetorian guard, having just assassinated Caligula found him hiding in a closet or under a bed or something, thought, "ah, harmless, he'll do just fine", and put him on the throne.
The other, a most noteworthy person, is Frederick the Great of Prussia, a man who well earned the sobriquet "The Great" and about whom relatively few seem know very much; "a king, a great military leader, yeah, yeah, so what". He actually was a most interesting person who led a most interesting life meriting at least one good read. A flautist, composer, patron of the arts and enlightenment, author, modernizer, friend and promoter of science who was surprisingly liberal for a potentate of the era, let along a Prussian King. A probable homosexual whose youthful behavior gave his father absolute fits and more.
On this day in history:
41 – Claudius was proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard
1679 – King Charles II of England dissolved the Cavalier Parliament.
1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, staged a revolt
1848 – James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento, California
1857 – The University of Calcutta was formally founded
1908 – The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1916 – The Supremes declared the federal income tax constitutional (Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.)
1918 – The Gregorian calendar was introduced in Russia
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified
1943 – FDR and Winston Churchill concluded a conference in Casablanca.
1946 – The UN General Assembly passed its first resolution establishing the UN Atomic Energy Commission.
1961 – A bomber carrying two H-bombs broke up in mid-air over North Carolina.
1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burned up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.
1990 – Japan launched the country's first lunar probe, Hiten
2003 – The US Department of Homeland Security officially began operation.
Born this day in:
“If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.”
~~ Edith Wharton
1664 – John Vanbrugh, architect and dramatist
1670 – William Congreve, playwright and poet
1679 – Christian Wolff, philosopher and academic
1712 – Frederick the Great, flautist king
1754 – Andrew Ellicott, soldier and surveyor
1776 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, jurist, author, and composer (see "tales of ...")
1814 – John Colenso, mathematician
1848 – Vasily Surikov, painter
1850 – Hermann Ebbinghaus, psychologist
1858 – Constance Naden, poet and philosopher
1862 – Edith Wharton, novelist and short story writer
1863 – August Adler, mathematician
1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, painter
1882 – Harold D. Babcock, astronomer
1901 – Cassandre, painter
1906 – Wilfred Jackson, animator and composer
1910 – Doris Haddock, political activist
1915 – Robert Motherwell, painter and academic
1920 – Jimmy Forrest, saxophonist
1926 – Ruth Asawa, sculptor
1928 – Desmond Morris, zoologist, ethologist, and painterr
1930 – John Romita Sr., comic book artist
1931 – Lars Hörmander, mathematician and academic
1932 – Éliane Radigue, electronic music composer
1936 – Doug Kershaw, fiddle player and singer
1938 – Julius Hemphill, saxophonist and composer
1939 – Ray Stevens, singer, songwriter, and actor
1941 – Neil Diamond, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1944 – David Gerrold, science fiction screenwriter and author
1947 – Michio Kaku, physicist and academic
1947 – Warren Zevon, singer and songwriter
1955 – Alan Sokal, physicist and author
1958 – Jools Holland, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1965 – Margaret Urlich, singer and songwriter
1968 – Antony Garrett Lisi, theoretical physicist
1972 – Beth Hart, blues-rock singer and piano player
1974 – Rokia Traoré, singer
Died this day in:
The function of art is to struggle against obligation.
~~ Amedeo Modigliani
1125 – Franciabigio, painter
1881 – James Collinson, painter
1920 – Percy French, songwriter, entertainer and artist
1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, painter and sculptor
1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, physician, created Muesli
1962 – André Lhote, sculptor and painter
1971 – Bill W., activist, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
2016 – Marvin Minsky, computer scientist and academic
2017 – Butch Trucks, drummer
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
National Peanut Butter Day
National Just Do It Day
Belly Laugh Day
Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies 
Frederick the Great
Jimmy Forrest
Doug Kershaw
Ray Stevens
Neil Diamond
Warren Zevon
Jools Holland
Beth Hart
Rokia Traoré
Percy French
Butch Trucks
Please Note: Please do not post any Covid-19 related commentary in the comments. Thank you. There is a separate OT, aka The Dose, where all such material is welcome. Thanks again.
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Comments
Belly laugh day?
I figured that would be in spring instead of winter, but what do I know. Like the idea for sure. Laughter is curative.
We used to be covered up with whippoorwills and at a gathering here someone asked, "We call them whippoorwills cause that's what they constantly say. Wonder what they call us?" Some quickly answered, "HaHa's". That became a tribal theme.
At the FL folk fest we call our site "The Fish Camp". No matter where we're gathered, the fish camp is on the banks of the Amahaha River where you can be a HaHa too.
So I'm all for laughing and silliness.
Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Laughter is the lubricant
of our social friction so
have a laugh today!
Quite true, QMS, quite true. Thanks
for reminding us.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good morning lookout. Goatsuckers! Another
classic name for the Caprimulgidae, which includes all those whippoorwills, poor wills widows, and related species. I must say that Hahas has a more civilized and joyous sound to it than goatsuckers and must also admit that I have sadly never heard the call of any of the poorwill tribe, at least that I know of. The whole tribe is pretty cool, as, no doubt, are the Hahas.
Fish Camp is a "census designated place" or small town/village on HWY 41 as one approaches Yosemite.
Have a good laugh on me.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Goatsuckers? We have those in Texas...
they're called chupacabras. I hear them at night calling back and forth to each other, "chupa chupa" goes the call, "cabra cabra" goes the reply. I've yet to see one but I know they're out there.
Thass a diffrunt critter, though you also have those
of the avian ilk. You have some bona-fide whippoorwills in the esterrn half of the state and the high mountains of the trans pecos regions, and their cousins, the common night hawk around Austin and along the gulf coast and ... jackpot, found a whole flock of 'em:
from the list of boids of Tejas ...
Nightjars and allies
Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or leaves.
Lesser nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis
Common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor
Common pauraque, Nyctidromus albicollis
Common poorwill, Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
Chuck-will's-widow, Antrostomus carolinensis
Eastern whip-poor-will, Antrostomus vociferus
Mexican whip-poor-will, Antrostomus arizonae
All lack any reptilian or canine resemblance nor are any the size of a small bear.
be well and have a good one
Edit: fixed type that rendered "have" into Scots ala Robbie Burns
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Hi EL! and all!
good job on the nightjars EL!
Texas is pretty flush with them. That goatsucker name for the group would be funny if it didn't come with the negative connotation. How did people think a group of moth eaters sucked on goats? It astonishes me. I guess we were not too good at biology early on in some ways. And once people hear about goatsuckers next thing ya know, Chupacabras are being entered into ebird. 
The west TX mountains have Mexi Whips, east TX the Eastern. We have Chucks and Poor-will where I am, and Com. Nighthawks. I hear Chucks belting about 100 days a year, right out the window at some point every night all summer. Everyone should get to see a Common Nighthawk boom too. Great group of birds those goatsuckers, ahem, nightjars.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Can Revolution Take Root In Rhode Island?
Lifted from NC this AM. A bit long, but the RI Co-op, Sunrise, DSA and others are working hard to fight the grips of the establishment machine with some success.
https://www.dailyposter.com/can-revolution-take-root-in-rhode-island/
Good morning QMS. Thanks for the article.
All I can say is best of luck to those Rhode Island Reds.
be well and have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
NYSE This Morning
NAME VALUE NET CHANGE % CHANGE 1 MONTH 1 YEAR TIME (EST)
Good morning C99. Here is something we do not cover day by day. But this morning's start is eye-opening. The highlighted numbers are the percentage losses for January. This is not an area where I can offer expertise, so I'm hoping that there are members here who can and will weigh in.
DOW JONES INDUS. AVG
33,472.44 -792.93 -2.31% -6.89% +7.99% 10:11 AM
S&P 500 INDEX
4,320.74 -77.20 -1.76% -8.57% /ins>+12.48% 9:56 AM
NASDAQ COMPOSITE
13,344.01 -424.91 -3.09% -14.75% -1.47% 10:11 AM
The only bit I do understand is that the percentage drop is what to pay attention to. (Also why CNN only publishes the numerical drop on its screen. Never informing its viewers is its policy extending to all matters.)
NYCVG
Good morning NY. Thanks, I guess, for the information.
All I can say is the the market and the companies have been overvalued since the late seventies/early eighties, and get worse so annually of late. However, if the FED keeps propping it up, then it doesn't matter.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
That's a Big IF
"The Nasdaq, meanwhile, has dropped roughly 14% in January and is on pace for its worst month since October 2008 — when it plunged 17.7%."
Down 15% since this was posted.
NYCVG
welllll, in 2002 it was 2045.16, today, after that
whopping loss that you reference, it is 13,344.01, an increase of over 552%.
be well and have a good one
edit, corrected 13.344 etc to 13,344 etc
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Wrong Metric
not gonna argue this one.
NYCVG
The reasons for the big decline are understandable.
The so-called "inflation fighting" measures might
include some that would push retail banking interest rates paid to the hoi polloi upwards, possibly luring back some of the elders who had to sacrifice the security of interest bearing accounts and gamble in the market because interest rates were being kept below the rate of increase in the true cost of living, in part precisely to drive those folks and their bux into the giant rigged casino. That is always a threat that "the market" looks out for.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Right on the possible cause
I thought informing C99 of the alarming percentage drop was useful, but apparently it was unwelcome.
NYCVG
I hope you don't think that because of something I said.
It's one readout or data point concerning the state of the economy. I don't play the market, but I bet plenty of others do.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Edith Wharton
is noted on your 'born today' list. I read quite a bit of her work years ago. She had a niece named Beatrix Farrand who was an accomplished landscape architect before women were accepted into the field. Wharton helped her niece get established by using her connections in elite society. Of course Farrand's work was primarily for the same elite society but she also did some gardens in the public realm.
Here is a short bio of her:
Good morning rand, thanks for the info
and the video.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
A fools errand. Lets send more arms to the Ukraine. Everything..
will turn out just fine.
Unfortunately it just emboldens Blinken's puppet puppet Zelensky.
Openly announcing their coming attacks & offensive
which our propaganda will declare to be a false flag or defensive operation, having prepped the populace to buy it, and the populace will.
thanks
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --