Your eyes are fine, it's supposed to look like that, it's a Renoir

On this date in 1795, the British seized Trincomalee from the Dutch, ostebsibly to keep it away from the French. This is a favorite excuse of imperialist nations. The Brits also bombarded Copenhagen in 1087 ostensibly to keep the Danish-Norwegian fleet out of French hands and attacked a French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in 1940 allegedly to keep the Italians and Germans from getting it.

Whatever, just remember to stay drunk

“Be always drunken.
Nothing else matters:
that is the only question.
If you would not feel
the horrible burden of Time
weighing on your shoulders
and crushing you to the earth,
be drunken continually.

Drunken with what?
With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you will.
But be drunken.

And if sometimes,
on the stairs of a palace,
or on the green side of a ditch,
or in the dreary solitude of your own room,
you should awaken
and the drunkenness be half or wholly slipped away from you,
ask of the wind,
or of the wave,
or of the star,
or of the bird,
or of the clock,
of whatever flies,
or sighs,
or rocks,
or sings,
or speaks,
ask what hour it is;
and the wind,
wave,
star,
bird,
clock will answer you:
"It is the hour to be drunken!”

-- Charles Baudelaire, Paris Spleen

Do, however, remember to stay away from boats while you're at it. Failure to do so would put you on Rimbaud's turf, not Baudelaire's.

On this day in history:

1795 – The British captured Trincomalee from the Dutch to keep it out of French hands. Uh huh.

1798 – Irish rebels, with French assistance, established the short-lived Republic of Connacht.

1895 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin patented his navigable balloon.

1897 – Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.

1907 – Russia and the UK signed the Anglo-Russian Convention, by which the UK recognized Russian preeminence in northern Persia, while Russia recognized British preeminence in southeastern Persia and Afghanistan. Isn't it cute how nicely nation states play together.

1935 – The United States passed the first of its Neutrality Acts.

1939 – Nazi Germany mounted a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe. Nobody would ever do such a thing these days, would they uncle? Heh.

1957 – The Federation of Malaya gained its independence from the UK.

1962 – Trinidad and Tobago became independent.

2016 – Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office.

Some people who were born on this day:

If laws are unjust, they must be continually broken until they are altered.

~~ Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

0012 – Caligula, emperor
1663 – Guillaume Amontons, physicist and instrument maker
1767 – Henry Joy McCracken, businessman and activist, founded the Society of United Irishmen
1775 – Agnes Bulmer, poet and author
1797 – Stephen Geary, architect, inventor and entrepreneur
1821 – Hermann von Helmholtz, physician and physicist
1842 – Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, journalist, publisher, and activist
1870 – Maria Montessori, physician and educator
1879 – Alma Mahler, composer and author
1893 – Lily Laskine, harp player
1897 – Fredric March, actor, and singer
1908 – William Saroyan, novelist, playwright, and short story writer

1911 – Arsenio Rodríguez, tres player, composer, and bandleader
1913 – Helen Levitt, photographer and cinematographer
1913 – Bernard Lovell, physicist and astronomer
1918 – Alan Jay Lerner, songwriter and composer
1925 – Moran Campbell, physician and academic, invented the venturi mask
1930 – Big Tiny Little, pianist
1932 – Roy Castle, dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician
1935 – Eldridge Cleaver, activist and author
1937 – Bobby Parker, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist
1939 – Jerry Allison, drummer and songwriter
1940 – Robbie Basho, guitarist, pianist, and composer
1940 – Wilton Felder, saxophonist and bass player
1944 – Christine King, historian and academic
1945 – Van Morrison, singer, songwriter and musician
1945 – Itzhak Perlman, violinist and conductor
1945 – Bob Welch, singer and guitarist
1946 – Ann Coffey, social worker and politician
1946 – Jerome Corsi, theorist and author
1948 – Rudolf Schenker, guitarist and songwriter
1949 – Hugh David Politzer, physicist and academic
1949 – Rick Roberts, country-rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1955 – Anthony Thistlethwaite, saxophonist and bass player
1955 – Gary Webb, journalist, author, and martyr who exposed CIA crimes
1957 – Gina Schock, drummer
1957 – Glenn Tilbrook, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1960 – Chris Whitley, singer, songwriter,and guitarist
1963 – Reb Beach, guitarist
1967 – Gene Hoglan, drummer
1970 – Debbie Gibson, singer, songwriter, producer, and actress
1976 – Vincent Delerm, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1977 – Craig Nicholls, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Simon Neil, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1979 – Yuvan Shankar Raja, singer, songwriter and producer

Some people who died on this day:

Always be a poet, even in prose.

~~ Charles Baudelaire

0318 – Liu Cong, emperor of the Xiongnu state
0731 – Otomo no Tabito, poet
1688 – John Bunyan, preacher, theologian, and author
1811 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, admiral and explorer
1867 – Charles Baudelaire, poet and critic
1954 – Elsa Barker, author and poet
1963 – Georges Braque, painter and sculptor
1985 – Frank Macfarlane Burnet, virologist and academic,
1986 – Elizabeth Coatsworth, author and poet

1986 – Henry Moore, sculptor and illustrator
2002 – Lionel Hampton, vibraphonist, percussionist, pianist, composer, and bandleader
2002 – Farhad Mehrad, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist
2002 – George Porter, chemist and academic
2005 – Joseph Rotblat, physicist and academic
2008 – Ike Pappas, journalist
2013 – David Frost, journalist and television show host

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

Departure Day (Afghanistan celebrates the US withdrawal)
National Trail Mix Day
Eat Outside Day

Today's Tunes

Eat Outside Day

Arsenio Rodríguez

Alan Jay Lerner

Big Tiny Little

Bobby Parker

Jerry Allison

Robbie Basho

Wilton Felder

Van Morrison

Bob Welch

Rudolf Schenker

Rick Roberts

Anthony Thistlethwaite

Gina Schock

Lionel Hampton

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, Trail Mix Day, Eat Outside Day, Zepplin, Kinetoscope, Henry Moore, Hermann von Helmholtz, Van Morrison, Lionel Hampton