So, I guess exchanging cookies is a fine thing, unless one is on a diet, builds community and all that and lets one experience different variations from those one regularly makes themselves, if any. Though I've known folks whose participation would be to hand over a plate of tray full of Costco finest, or whatever the local grocer's bakery produced. Still, it's the spirit of the thing. My first rection was I just want to get rid of cookies without getting any in return, but I was thinking of the internet and not baked goods. That does bring to mind the idea that it might be a good day to set down and clean out all of your unwelcome cookies, i.e. most of them.

This is the anniversary of the death of (Anti)Pope John XXIII in 1415 This would be no big deal, but it appears that the record is a bit crazy with respect to this dude. It seems that he was considered to be the legitimate pope and successor to Saint Peter up until 1958. At that time somebody new wanted to be Pope John XXIII and, upon re-examination of the Western Schism, the church decided that the original Pope John XXIII was, in face, an antipope and the reign of Gregory XII is now deemed to have extended until 1415. Not being some kind of religio-savant, I am left wondering about the legitimacy of all those successors to the original John XXIII for the years from 1415 to 1958. That's like half a millennium of error there. Not my problem, but ...

On this day in history:

856 – An earthquake near the Persian city of Damghan killed an estimated 200,000 people

1415 – (Anti)Pope John XXIII died

1489 – The forces of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, took control of Almería

1790 – The Turkish fortress of Izmail in Odessa Oblast was stormed and captured by Alexander Suvorov and his Russian armies during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1795

1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, was passed by the U.S. Congress

1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducted and performed in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy.

1851 – India's first freight train was operated in Roorkee

1851 – The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., burned.

1864 – Savannah, Georgia, fell to the Union's Army of the Tennessee,

1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia became the first asteroid discovered using photography.

1894 – The Dreyfus affair began in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongfully convicted of treason.

1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opened to traffic in New York City.

1942 – Adolf Hitler signed the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon

1944 – The People's Army of Vietnam was formed to resist Japanese occupation

1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place

1971 – Doctors Without Borders was founded

1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli voted to become the independent nations of Comoros.

1975 – U.S. President Gerald Ford created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the 1970s energy crisis.

1978 – The Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing, and Deng Xiaoping reversed Mao-era policies

1989 – Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opened after nearly 30 years

1990 – Lech Wałęsa was elected President of Poland.

1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia

2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, handed over power in The Islamic State of Afghanistan to the interim government headed by war-lord and President Hamid Karzai.

2001 – Richard Reid tried to destroy an airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes

2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area for a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plant in Roane County, Tennessee, 1.1 billion US gallons of toxic coal fly ash slurry in the largest "industrial spill" in U.S. history.

2010 – The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy was signed by President Barack Obama.

2016 – A study found the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70 and 100% effective

2018 - The 2018-2019 federal government shutdown, the second longest shutdown of the U.S. federal government in history, began

Some people who were born on this day:

The face of tyranny Is always mild at first.

~~ Jean Racine

1639 – Jean Racine, poet and playwright
1694 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, philosopher and academic
1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, viol player and composerr.
1765 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, \mathematician and academic
1819 – Franz Abt, composer and conductor
1819 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, mathematician and academic
1853 – Teresa Carreño, singer, songwriter. and pianist
1856 – Frank B. Kellogg, lawyer and politician, (Kellog-Briand Pact)
1858 – Giacomo Puccini,composer and educator
1869 – Dmitri Egorov, mathematician and academic
1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, poet and playwright
1874 – Franz Schmidt, cellist, pianist, and composer
1876 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, poet, futurist, and composer
1883 – Edgard Varèse, composer
1885 – Deems Taylor, conductor and critic
1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, mathematician and theorist
1898 – Vladimir Fock, physicist and mathematician
1901 – Andre Kostelanetz, conductor and composer
1905 – Kenneth Rexroth, poet, translator, and academic
1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, beautification activist;
1921 – Dimitri Fampas, guitarist and composer
1921 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, singer, songwriter, and guitarist (
1937 – Eduard Uspensky, author, poet, and playwright
1938 – Red Steagall, singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor, and poet
1942 – Dick Parry, saxophonist
1944 – Barry Jenkins, drummer
1945 – Diane Sawyer, journalist
1948 – Rick Nielsen, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1949 – Maurice Gibb, singer, songwriter, and producer
1949 – Robin Gibb, singer, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Tony Isabella, comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic
1955 – Thomas C. Südhof, biochemist and academic
1958 – Frank Gambale, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1958 – David Heavener, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and director
1960 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, painter and poet
1960 – Luther Campbell, rapper and actor
1966 – Marcel Schirmer, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1967 – Richey Edwards, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1968 – Lori McKenna, singer and songwriter
1972 – Mark Hill, musician, producer and songwriter
1972 – Vanessa Paradis, singer, songwriter, and actress
1978 – Danny Ahn, singer
1984 – Basshunter, singer, record producer ,and DJ
1989 – Jordin Sparks, singer, songwriter and actress
1993 – Meghan Trainor, singer, songwriter, and producer
1998 – Latto, American rapper and singer

Some people who died on this day:

The end is in the beginning and yet you go on

~~ Samuel Beckett - Endgame

Be here now

~~ Ram Dass

1415 – (Anti)Pope John XXIII
1554 – Alessandro Bonvicino, painter
1572 – François Clouet, miniaturist
1666 – Guercino, painter (born
1767 – John Newbery, publisher
1788 – Percivall Pott, physician and surgeon
1828 – William Hyde Wollaston, chemist and physicist
1902 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, psychiatrist and author (
1925 – Amelie Beese, pilot and engineer
1939 – Ma Rainey, singer
1940 – Nathanael West, author and screenwriter
1942 – Franz Boas, anthropologist and linguist
1943 – Beatrix Potter, children's book writer and illustrator
1985 – D. Boon, singer and musician
1987 – Luca Prodan, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1988 – Chico Mendes, trade union leader and activist
1989 – Samuel Beckett, author, poet, and playwright,
1992 – Harry Bluestone, violinist and composer
2002 – Joe Strummer, singer and songwriter
2013 – Diomedes Díaz, singer and songwriter
2014 – Joe Cocker, singer and songwriter
2015 – Peter Lundblad, singer and songwriter
2015 – Freda Meissner-Blau, activist and politician
2018 – Herman Sikumbang, Indonesian guitarist
2019 – Ram Dass, spiritual teacher and author

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

National Cookie Exchange Day
Abilities Day (US readers BEWARE! This "day" might involve "DEI")

Today's Tunes

The original Pope John XXIII suddenly morphed into an Antipope

Doctors without Borders was founded

The Brandenburg Gate Reopened

Giacomo Puccini

Franz Schmidt

Andre Kostelanetz

Dimitri Fampas

Hawkshaw Hawkins

Red Steagall,

Dick Parry

Barry Jenkins

Maurice and Robin Gibb

Meghan Trainor

Ma Rainey

Harry Bluestone

Joe Strummer

Diomedes Diaz

Joe Cocker

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, Cookie Exchange Day, Doctors Without Borders, Brandenburg Gate, Puccini, Kostellanetz, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Ma Rainey, Joe Cocker