Did you her the one about how politicians are so concerned for the need for everyone to always speak the complete, unvarnished, full truth that they worked tirelessly to censor, outlaw, and otherwise eliminate disinformation and fake news?

Gotcha, didn't I?

On this day in history:

1545 -- Potosi, Bolivia, was founded

1572 -- The Watergeuzen captured Brielle, gaining the future Dutch Republic a toe-hold on land

1625 -- The Portuguese began the recapture of Bahia

1826 -- Samuel Morey got a patent on a "Gas or Vapor Engine".

1854 -- Dickens' "Hard Times" began serialisation

1924 -- Hitler got five years for the "Beer Hall Putsch" but only served nine months

1939 -- Franco announced the end of the Spanish Civil War

1944 -- The US accidently bombed the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.

1960 -- The TIROS-1 satellite transmitted the first television picture from space.

1969 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational V/STOL fighter aircraft entered service

1976 -- Apple Inc. was formed

1979 -- Iran became an Islamic republic, officially getting rid of the Shah

2001 -- The Netherlands instituted marriage equality

2004 – Google launches its Email service Gmail.

Some people who were born on this day:

I profess to learn and to teach anatomy not from books but from dissections, not from the tenets of Philosophers but from the fabric of Nature.

~~ William Harvey

1578 -- William Harvey, physician
1640 – Georg Mohr, mathematician and academic
1755 -- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, gastronome
1776 -- Marie-Sophie Germain, mathematician, physicist, philosopher
1815 -- Otto von Bismarck, politician
1834 – James Fisk, Infamour crook and robber baron
1866 -- Ferruccio Busoni, pianist, composer, and conductor
1868 – Edmond Rostand, poet and playwright
1873 -- Sergei Rachmaninoff, pianist, composer, and conductor
1875 – Edgar Wallace, journalist, author, and playwright
1895 -- Alberta Hunter, singer, songwriter, and nurse
1901 – Whittaker Chambers, journalist and spy
1906 – Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, engineer
1908 -- Abraham Maslow, psychologist
1909 -- Eddy Duchin, pianist and bandleader
1910 -- Harry Carney, sax and clarinet player
1920 -- Toshiro Mifune, actor, quintessential man-bun wearer
1921 -- Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, guitarist (no shit?), fiddler, and composer
1922 -- Duke Jordan, pianist and composer
1926 -- Anne McCaffrey, author and dragon rider
1927 -- Amos Milburn, singer, songwriter and pianist
1932 -- Debbie Reynolds, actress, singer, and dancer
1942 -- Samuel R. Delany, author
1946 -- Ronnie Lane, bassist and songwriter
1948 -- Jimmy Cliff, singer and musician
1949 -- Gil Scott-Heron, singer, songwriter, and author
1954 -- Jeff Porcaro, drummer and songwriter
1961 – Mark White, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1963 – Teodoro de Villa Diaz, guitarist and songwriter
1975 – John Butler, singer, songwriter, and producer
2017 – Lonnie Brooks, blues singer and guitarist
2017 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, poet and writer

Some people who died on this day:

Art has nothing to do with taste. Art is not there to be tasted

~~ Max Ernst

1580 -- Alonso Mudarra, guitarist and composer
1917 -- Scott Joplin, pianist and composer
1968 – Lev Landau, physicist and academic
1976 -- Max Ernst, painter and sculptor
1984 -- Marvin Gaye, singer and songwriter
1999 -- Jesse Stone (aka Charles Calhoun), pianist and songwriter
2001 – Trịnh Công Sơn, guitarist and composer
2014 – King Fleming, pianist and bandleader

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

US Air Force Academy Day
April Fools Day
National Sourdough Bread Day
International Edible Book Festival aka Edible Book Day
IF yesterday was Easter, then it is also:
Easter Monday
Dingus Day
White House Egg Roll Day
Egg Salad Sandwich Day

Today's Tunes

April Fools Day

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Eddy Duchin

Harry Carney

Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith

Duke Jordan

Ronnie Lane

Jimmy Cliff

Gil Scott-Heron

Jeff Pocaro

Teodoro de Villa Diaz

John Butler

Lonnie Brooks

Alonso Mudarra

Scott Joplin

Marvin Gaye

Jesse Stone

King Fleming

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

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

I won't be here when this posts

Open Thread, Watergeuzen, Schaffhausen, Rachmaninoff, Arthur Smith, Jimmy Cliff, Alonso Mudarra, Scott Joplin, Marvin Gaye