Friday, June 02, 2006

Another Weird Blog Meme

I don't usually do these things, for fear of boring y'all silly. But then, I'm new to the exciting world of blogging. Saw this meme on Ilanna's blog:

Do a Wikipedia search of your birthdate, minus the year; list three interesting events, three people who were born, and three people who died on that day.

Events:
1865 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
Always liked this one. A war ends precisely 100 years before my birth. Pretty cool.
1945 - The United States Atomic Energy Commission formed
oooh.
1999 - Ismail Omar Guelleh is elected president of Djibouti.
The thing that's good about this one is just the pronunciation of Djibouti.

People who were born:
1821 - Charles Baudelaire, French poet (d. 1867)
"We shall have beds full of subtle perfumes.."
1932 - Cheeta, animal actor, the longest living known chimpanzee in history
Go Cheeta!
1965 - Paulina Porizkova, Czechoslovakian-born actress and supermodel
My age. Much more hot. Ah well, I wasn't born in Czechoslovakia and that's obviously the problem!

People who died:
1553 - François Rabelais, French writer
1959 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
1961 - King Zog of Albania (b. 1895)
I just like that he's named King Zog. What a great name.

Well, I have no knitting content for today :-)

1 comment:

Elinoire said...

May 2nd:
Events:
1568 - Mary I of Scotland escapes from Loch Leven Castle.
I like "Mary, Queen of Scots" much better than this, her more formal title. Maybe the "Queen of Scots" thing was her gang name.

1933 - The first modern sighting of the Loch Ness monster is reported.
Cool! And probably clammy and tendrilly as well!

1955 - Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Sadly, no lochs were involved.

People who were born:
1729 - Sophie Augusta Fredericka of Anhalt-Zerbst,Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (d.1796)
Yeah, yeah, I know about the horse thing. Other than than though, she was pretty cool. Scary. Whatever.

1885 - Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (d. 1966)
The original Queen of Snark!

1892 - Manfred von Richthofen, German World War I pilot (d. 1918)
I'll bet even Carl, Master of Airplane Trivia, doesn't know that his wife shares a birthday with the Red Baron.

People who died:
1519 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian inventor and painter (b. 1452)
Also a fan of all things yarny! Here's proof .

1964 - Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (b. 1879)
Lady Astor to Churchill: "If you were my husband, I'd put arsenic in your coffee." Churchill: "Madam, if I were your husband, I'd drink it!"

1972 - J. Edgar Hoover, American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
Does anyone else wonder if he was buried with frilly pink panties under his internment-appropriate suit?