Diego Rivera was born on December 8, 1886. He is probably best known for his murals and or being Frida Kahlo's husband. An assortment of his works, mostly parts of various murals can be found on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=diego+rivera&license=7%2C9%2C10 .
More of his work including regular paintings is included as a brief gallery at the end of his Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Rivera . The government of Mexico has declared his works to be historic monuments (monumentos historicos). He was both a Marxist and, off and on, a Communist and that ideology influenced and colored his works.

This is also the anniversary of the day in 1955 when the Flag of Europe was adopted by the Council of Europe. This empowered them to seize control of any hapless territory which lacked one, but I'm not sure they ever found any, though NATO did create at least one, but no doubt saw to it that it got its own flag.

It's National Brownie Day. Brownies are or were large, average, small or tiny humanoid creatures of folklore and fantasy. Like certain gods and godlings they are secretive and never seen by credible witnesses. They've been around since at least the sixteen hundreds. BUT, those are not these brownies.

Brownies in some places, are a subsection of the Girl Guides or Girl Scouts for kids, usually girls, considered to be too young to be real Girl Guides or Scouts; somewhere around seven or eight to twelve years old. They are deemed to be too young to take the oath necessary to be the real McCoy. This implies, by the way, that 12 year old kids are mature enough to take or swear oaths and be bound by them, which is an arguable policy. They date, at best, to 1914, when scouting was born. They too are not these brownies.

These brownies are a confection; a baked chocolate desert bar. They are often served with milk, but are better with port or a good cabernet sauvignon or zinfandel. They appear to date to somewhere around 1900 of so

On this day in history:

1504 – Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah wrote his Oran fatwa, arguing for the relaxation of Islamic law requirements for the forcibly converted Muslims in Spain.

1660 – A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appeared on an English public stage for the first time

1912 – Leaders of the German Empire held an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.

1941 – The U.S. declared war on Japan.

1941 – Japanese forces simultaneously invaded Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies.

1953 – U.S. President Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" speech

1955 – The Flag of Europe was adopted by Council of Europe.

1962 – Workers at four New York City newspapers went on strike for 114 days.

1974 – A plebiscite resulted in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.

1980 – John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman

1985 – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was established.

1987 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

1991 – The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

2004 – The Cusco Declaration was signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.

2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq killed 127 people and injure 448 others.

2010 – The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passed Venus

2013 – Metallica performed a show in Antarctica, making them the first musical act to perform on all seven continents.

2019 – First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.

2024 – Damascus fell to "rebels" after Syrian troops withdrew

Some people who were born on this day:

“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”

ALSO

“You can fool too many people, too much of the time.”

~~ James Thurber

65 BCE – Horace, poet
1021 – Wang Anshi, economist and chancellor
1724 – Claude Balbastre, organist and composer
1765 – Eli Whitney, engineer, invented the cotton gin
1832 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, poet, author, and playwright
1860 – Amanda McKittrick Ros, author and poet
1862 – Georges Feydeau, playwright
1863 – Charles Lincoln Edwards, zoologist
1864 – Camille Claudel, illustrator and sculptor
1865 – Jacques Hadamard, mathematician and academic
1865 – Jean Sibelius, violinist and composer
1877 – Paul Ladmirault, pianist, violinist, and composer
1881 – Albert Gleizes, painter (and philosopher
1886 – Diego Rivera, painter and educator
1890 – Bohuslav Martinů, pianist and composer
1892 – Marcus Lee Hansen, historian, author, and academic
1894 – E. C. Segar, cartoonist, created Popeye
1894 – James Thurber, humorist and cartoonist
1902 – Wifredo Lam, painter
1903 – Zelma Watson George, opera singer
1908 – Concha Piquer, singer and actress
1914 – Floyd Tillman, country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1919 – Julia Bowman, mathematician and theorist
1922 – Jean Ritchie, singer, musician, and songwriter
1925 – Sammy Davis Jr., actor, singer, and dancer
1925 – Carmen Martín Gaite, author and poet
1925 – Jimmy Smith, organist
1933 – Flip Wilson, actor and comedian
1939 – Jerry Butler, singer, songwriter, and producer
1939 – Soko Richardson, drummer
1941 – Bobby Elliott, drummer
1943 – Larry Martin, paleontologist and ornithologist
1943 – Jim Morrison, singer, songwriter, and poet
1943 – James Tate, poet
1944 – George Baker, singer, songwriter
1944 – Bertie Higgins, singer and songwriter
1947 – Gregg Allman, musician
1947 – Gérard Blanc, singer, guitarist, and actor
1947 – Thomas Cech, chemist and academic
1947 – Margaret Geller, astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
1949 – Mary Gordon, author, critic, and academic
1950 – Dan Hartman, singer, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Jan Eggum, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1953 – Norman Finkelstein, author, academic, and activist
1956 – Warren Cuccurullo, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Phil Collen, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1958 – Rob Byrnes, author and blogger
1962 – Marty Friedman, guitarist, songwriter, and television host
1963 – Greg Howe, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1964 – James Blundell, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1966 – Sinéad O'Connor, singer and songwriter
1969 – Kristin Lauter, mathematician and cryptographer
1973 – Corey Taylor, singer, songwriter, musician, and actor
1974 – Cristian Castro, singer
1974 – Nick Zinner, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1976 – Brettina, singer, songwriter, and actress
1979 – Ingrid Michaelson, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1982 – Chrisette Michele, singer, songwriter
1982 – Nicki Minaj, rapper and actress
1982 – Serena Ryder, singer and songwriter
1986 – Kate Voegele, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1989 – Jen Ledger, musician and singer
2002 – Sunghoon, singer

Some people who died on this day:

In science the important thing is to modify and change one's ideas as science advances.

~~ Herbert Spencer

1550 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, humanist, poet, dramatist and diplomat
1638 – Ivan Gundulić, poet
1859 – Thomas De Quincey, journalist and author
1864 – George Boole, mathematician and philosopher
1886 – Isaac Lea, conchologist, geologist, and publisher
1894 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, mathematician and theorist
1903 – Herbert Spencer, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher
1919 – J. Alden Weir, painter
1932 – Gertrude Jekyll, horticulturist and writer
1937 – Hans Molisch, botanist and academic
1942 – Albert Kahn, architect
1954 – Claude Cahun, artist, photographer, and writer
1971 – Ernst Krenkel, geographer and explorer
1975 – Gary Thain, bass player
1980 – John Lennon, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1982 – Marty Robbins, singer, songwriter, and race car driver
1984 – Razzle, drummer
1991 – Buck Clayton, trumpet player and composer
1992 – William Shawn, journalist and editor
1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, singer, songwriter, and pianist
2001 – Betty Holberton, computer scientist and programmer
2003 – Rubén González, pianist
2004 – Dimebag Darrell, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2006 – Martha Tilton, singer
2009 – Luis Días, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2014 – Knut Nystedt, organist and composer
2021 – Robbie Shakespeare, bass guitarist and record producer

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

Bodhi Day (Japan)
National Brownie Day
National Lard Day

Today's Tunes

National Brownie Day

Claude Balbastre

Jean Sibelius

1922 – Jean Ritchie

Sammy Davis Jr.

immy Smith

Jerry Butler

James Galway

Soko Richardson,

Bobby Elliott

1943 – Jim Morrison

Gregg Allman

Sinéad O'Connor,

Gary Thain

John Lennon

Marty Robbins

Buck Clayton

Antônio Carlos Jobim

Rubén González

Robbie Shakespeare

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, Diego Rivera, Brownie Day, Jean Sibelius, Jean Ritchie, Jim Morrison, Gregg Allman, Sinéad O'Connor, John Lennon, Marty Robbins, Antônio Carlos Jobim