Condolences to Hiram Maxim, American born inventor who later moved to England and became a citizen there. He invented the Maxim Gun, an early and very effective machine gun. If you're ever tempted to build a better mousetrap, good luck with it: Maxim had the same idea. Unlike you, he succeeded, and his design is still the most commonly used. Alas, his design for an airplane is not so commonly used, which could be because it didn't fly; which some people saw as necessary. Happily though, he did live long enough to see how effective his machine gun was, as it got a lot of use in the early years of WWI He died in 1916. I wonder how many people met their fate the same day by means of his gun, while he presumably died in bed. I suppose there's a lesson to be learned there.
Doris Miller, who despite the name was a guy, also died on this date, in the midst of WWII. He's best known for his role at Pearl Harbor, when he took over a machine gun aboard his ship and engaged the Japanese planes. In history books, it's very famous now, because he was Black, and a cook. If you had the misfortune of seeing the god-awful film "Pearl Harbor", he was the guy played by Cuba Gooding Jr. By the way, while he's touted for his bravery-which I think should not be questioned- his competence at the machine gun is far over-rated. I seem to recall reading someplace that other survivors felt he was honestly as dangerous to the Americans as he was to the Japanese. Apparently he didn't quite grasp the idea that you shouldn't shoot at a target if your buddies are right behind it.
Lee Harvey Oswald also died today. You know the whole story, so I will merely mention that, if you read what I wrote the other day, his death conveniently ensured he would never be asked about his marriage to Marina, and her Soviet connections.
A very sad day for music fans in general, and yours truly in particular. Eric Carr, the replacement drummer for KISS died on this date in 1991. You probably missed out on that momentous news if, like me, you were too busy crying over the other musical death that day, the incomparable Freddie Mercury. Arguably the greatest showman and singer in rock history, he also took the 70s habit of bombastic rock to it's highest pinnacle. I can think of many things I could snark on him about, but I still miss him, so I won't. RIP Freddie. You ROCKED!
There were also a few other noteworthy people on the list today, and I mean truly noteworthy- they would easily have made the list, except that I want to end it with Freddie. So next year, you'll see a couple really cool names added to the list.
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