The Plimsoll Line is a line painted on a ship's hull. It indicated the waterline corresponding to the maximum depth to which the ship should sink under maximum load, or the maximum safe draft of the ship or the minimum freeboard. It evolved into a group of lines because the buoyancy of a floating objects depends upon the salinity and temperature of the water in which it floats. It is a boon to shippers, ship owners, captains and crews and maritime commerce.

On this day in 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the "French and Indian War". This "war" was but the North American theater of the Seven Years' War. Here the French colonists fought the British Colonists. When the Seven Years' War ended with the Prussians and British victorious, the French, among other things, ceded Quebec to Britain.

On this day in 1967 the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. If provides for a sort of peaceful coup as to the President of the USA under certain conditions as well as assorted other things.

On this day in history:

1763 – The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain.

1870 – The YWCA was founded in New York City.

1906 – The HMS Dreadnought was christened and launched setting off a Naval Arms Race

1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties were signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.

1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against US intervention in Vietnam. which he, in fact, carried out.

1962 – Roy Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for. The question, to me, is why?

1967 – The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, relating to Presidential succession and disability, was ratified.

1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.

2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collided in orbit, destroying both. What we had there was a failure to communicate

Some people who were born on this day:

Reason has never failed men. Only force and repression have made the wrecks in the world.

~~ William Allen White

1609 – John Suckling, poet and playwright, also invented cribbage
1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, botanist and physician
1775 – Charles Lamb, poet and essayist
1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, physicist and engineer
1795 – Ary Scheffer, painter and academic
1821 – Roberto Bompiani, painter and sculptor
1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, merchant and politician, inventor of the Plimsoll line.
1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, astronomer and author
1868 – William Allen White, journalist, author, and progressive
1883 – Edith Clarke, electrical engineer
1890 – Boris Pasternak, poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate
1898 – Bertolt Brecht, director, playwright, and poet
1905 – Chick Webb, drummer and bandleader
1914 – Larry Adler, harmonica player, composer, and actor

1927 – Leontyne Price, operatic soprano
1937 – Roberta Flack, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1940 – Kenny Rankin, singer and songwriter
1944 – Peter Allen, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actor
1944 – Rufus Reid, bassist and composer
1947 – Butch Morris, cornet player, composer, and conductor
1949 – Nigel Olsson, drummer, singer, and songwriter
1957 – Katherine Freese, astrophysicist and academic
1962 – Cliff Burton, musician and songwriter
1983 – Vic Fuentes, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Some people who died on this day:

Moral maxims are surprisingly useful on occasions when we can invent little else to justify our actions.

~~ Alexander Pushkin

1837 – Alexander Pushkin, poet and author
1865 – Heinrich Lenz, physicist and academic
1879 – Honoré Daumier, illustrator and painter
1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, mathematician and physicist
1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, physicist and academic,
1966 – Billy Rose, composer and songwriter
2001 – Buddy Tate, saxophonist and clarinet player
2002 – Dave Van Ronk, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2005 – Arthur Miller, actor, playwright, and author

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

Plimsoll Day
International Cribbage Day
National Have A Brownie Day
Umbrella Day

Today's Tunes

Umbrella Day

Berthold Brecht

Chick Webb's Savoy Orchestra

Larry Adler

Leontyne Price

Roberta Flack

Kenny Rankin

Peter Allen, heh

Rufus Reid

Butch Morris

Vic Fuentes

Buddy Tate

Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk

SPECIAL REMINDER tune by Dave Van Ronk

Image is Plimsoll_Line

BUT WAIT! I forgot that it's 2-10:

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, 25th Amendment, Deep Blue, Dave Van Ronk, Samuel Plimsoll, Luang Prabang