Happy 4th of July!
Interrogatories
Do you celebrate 4th of July? Do you hold your own celebration, or attend parties at friends’ houses, town events, block parties?
What kind of food do you have to have on 4th of July? Are you taking any dish to any cookouts? If so, what?
Do you like the fireworks? Do your pets?
The Twitter Emitter
my neighbor's practicing Layla on his guitar so if anyone can do a Kickstarter to raise my bail money may as well start now
— Matt Oswalt (@Puddinstrip) June 29, 2013
Lance Armstrong is ruining things for every respectable drug user out there.
— José Covaco (@HoeZaay) June 29, 2013
I've read the whole of Twitter, from beginning to end, and have come to the conclusion that some people have too much time on their hands.
— Mr Roger Quimbly (@RogerQuimbly) July 1, 2013
Note to NC GOP: If you cannot pronounce 'obstetrics,' you should not be writing a bill regulating it. #CommonSense #HB695 #StandWithNCWomen
— Jaclyn Munson (@OnwardnFword) July 3, 2013
Did Morsi know about the Stand Your Ground Law?
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) July 3, 2013
While the nation celebrates, Mohammed Morsi is furiously unfriending all his generals on Facebook.
— juicymorsel (@juicymorsel) July 3, 2013
Keep seeing the phrase "Texas style abortion-restrictions." Because I like my abortion restrictions described in the same manner as my BBQ.
— Miles Kahn (@mileskahn) July 3, 2013
Firecrackers are a great way to show patriotism and scare the shit out of every dog in the neighborhood. America, I hear you barking.
— Joseph Scrimshaw (@JosephScrimshaw) July 3, 2013
Darmok and Jalad, Live at Budokhan.
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) July 4, 2013
I find it rather curious that these legislators have such objection to Sharia law, given their implementation of the Christian version. #p2
— Joan (@LibertyBelleJ) July 3, 2013
On This Day
In 1054, SN (Supernova) 1054 was first observed, and recorded in China, Japan, and the Arab world (and possibly by the Anasazi, though that is disputed). It was visible for two years, and its remnants now form the Crab Nebula.
In 1636, Providence, RI was founded.
In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.
In 1802, the famed Military Academy at West Point, NY, opened.
In 1817, construction began on the Erie Canal, connecting Albany NY (Hudson River) to Buffalo (Lake Erie). Oh damn, now I have that song struck in my head…
In 1827, Slavery was abolished in New York State.
In 1855, Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass was first published.
In 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published.
In 1881, the Tuskegee Institute opened in Tuskegee, AL, as Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers.
In 1910, race riots broke out across the U.S. after black heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson knocked out white boxer Jim Jeffries. (How DARE those people celebrate!)
In 1939, Baseball player Lou Gehrig announced his retirement due to his illness (now called Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in his famous speech at Yankee Stadium.
In 1966, LBJ signed the Freedom of Information Act into law.
In 2009, The Statue of Liberty reopened for the first time after 9/11.
Born on This Day
1790 – George Everest, Welsh surveyor and geographer (d. 1866)
1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (The Scarlet Letter) (d. 1864)
1816 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club whiskey (d. 1899)
1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
1837 – Carolus-Duran, French Academic painter (d. 1917)
1840 – Marcus Stone, English painter (d. 1921)
1845 – Pál Szinyei Merse, Hungarian painter (d. 1920)
1845 – Frank Montague Holl, British painter and illustrator (d. 1888)
1872 – Calvin Coolidge, American politician, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
1882 – Louis B. Mayer, Canadian-American film producer (d. 1957)
1883 – Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)
1895 – Massimo Campigli, Italian painter (d. 1971)
1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, English actress (d. 1952)
1902 – Meyer Lansky, Russian-American gangster (d. 1983)
1902 – George Murphy, American actor and politician (d. 1992)
1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
1905 – Lionel Trilling, American critic, author, and teacher (d.1975)
1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
1911 – Mitch Miller, American singer, musician, and producer (Sing Along With Mitch) (d. 2010)
1912 – Viviane Romance, French actress (d. 1991)
1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian abstract expressionist painter
1918 – Eppie and Pauline Friedman, aka Ann Landers and Dear Abby. Ann died in 2002, Abby in 2013.
1920 – Leona Helmsley, American businesswoman, mean girl (d. 2007)
1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress (On the Waterfront, North by Northwest)
1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress (Come September)
1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright (The Odd Couple, Lost in Yonkers)
1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and musician
1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American lawyer, “journalist,” and ex-hoodie wearer
1943 – Alan Wilson, American singer-songwriter and musician (Canned Heat) (d. 1970)
1946 – Michael Milken, American financier felon
1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English musician (Fleetwood Mac)
1950 – Tonio K, American singer-songwriter
1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
1955 – John Waite, English singer-songwriter and musician (The Babys and Bad English)
1971 – Koko, American sign language gorilla
1971 – Andy Creeggan, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies and The Brothers Creeggan)
1972 – William Goldsmith, American drummer (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters, and The Fire Theft)
Died on This Day
965 – Pope Benedict V
1592 – Francesco Bassano the younger, Italian painter (b. 1549)
1667 – Christiaen van Couwenbergh, Dutch painter (b. 1604)
1671 – Jan Cossiers, Flemish painter and draftsman (b. 1600)
1672 – Govert Dircksz Camphuysen, Dutch Baroque painter (b. 1623)
1742 – Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician (b. 1671)
1821 – Richard Cosway, English artist (b. 1742)
1826 – John Adams, American politician, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
1826 – Thomas Jefferson American politician,3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
1831 – James Monroe, American politician, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
1874 – Wouter Verschuur, Dutch painter, draftsman, and lithographer (b. 1812)
1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, American politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (b. 1809)
1931 – Buddie Petit, American cornettist (b. 1895)
1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1867)
1975 – Georgette Heyer, English author of the “Regency Romance” genre (b. 1902)
1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)
1995 – Bob Ross, American painter (b. 1942)
1997 – Charles Kuralt, American journalist (b. 1934)
2003 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944)
2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (The Drifters) (b. 1925)
2008 – Thomas M. Disch, American science fiction author (b. 1940)
2008 – Jesse Helms, American hate-mongering politician (b. 1921)
2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916) (Gone With the Wind, Here Comes Mr. Jordan)
2009 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (b. 1917)
2009 – Allen Klein, American businessman and talent agent and from all reports a fraud and a jerk (b. 1931)
2009 – Drake Levin, American guitarist (Paul Revere & the Raiders) (b. 1946)
Today is
Liberation Day (Rwanda)
Independence Day (US of A)
Independence from Meat Day
Indivisible Day
Boom Box Parade Day
National Country Music Day
Sidewalk Egg Frying Day
National Spare Ribs Day
Tom Sawyer Fence-Painting Day
National Barbecue Day
Caesar Salad Day
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