Do Mormons celebrate "feast days"? It's a somewhat serious question, since today is the birthday of Joseph Smith. That would be the Founder of their religion, if you don't know. He was born in 1805 in Vermont, and claimed to have discovered a holy book. He successfully got the Church going, but had to keep moving since their practice of polygamy wasn't popular. In fact, I doubt that there was much about his religion that was popular at the time. The fact that he was murdered would seem to support that theory.
Next on our list is Kurt Meyer, who you probably haven't heard of. Would it help if I used his more common name "Panzer Meyer"? Probably not. At any rate, he was born in 1910, and as a young man joined the Nazis and then the SS, even before Hitler took power in Germany. He got his nickname not as you would expect, but because, after taking a fall that nearly broke lots of bones and nearly killed him, he recovered. His friends said he was as tough as a tank. He got off to a good start in WWII, allegedly ordering the shooting of a bunch of Jews during the Polish Campaign. During the Greek Campaign, he is said to have taken some... interesting... measures to keep his troops moving. Like throwing a grenade into the middle of one group of them. During the war in Russia, he was once again alleged to have ordered the destruction of a village and the killing of everyone there. He later wound up on the western front, fighting in Normandy, where- surprise surprise- more prisoners were killed by his unit. Then a few months later he was captured. After the War, he was, not surprisingly, put on trial, convicted, and sentenced to death. By the Canadians, mind you. In the end, that was commuted, and he served about 10 years in total. Not a nice guy, but kind of interesting.
Here's another interesting guy. Born on this date in 1923, was Admiral James Stockdale. He was captured by the North Vietnamese and held as a prisoner of war, where he held the distinction of being the highest ranking prisoner. Somehow I doubt he got the same privileges there that he would have if he'd been captured by say, the Germans. Tough luck. But he ended up with a medal of honor, and then became the vice-presidential candidate with Ross Perot, when he
One of the all-time greats in football was born on this date in 1935. The Golden Boy himself, Paul Hornung. He won the Heisman, was picked first overall in the NFL Draft, and has been inducted into both the college football and Pro Football Halls of Fame- an honor that he shares- probably not willingly- with O.J. Simpson. He's best known for being Vince Lombardi's er, Golden Boy, in Green Bay, despite his wild partying and gambling, which led to a suspension for him and Detroit Lion Alex Karras. After being hurt for much of the 1966 season, he was put on the list for eligible players to be picked in the expansion draft, a move which apparently made Lombardi cry, but which he felt was in the best interests of the Team. Since Hornung never played for his new team (the Saints, FYI) I suppose Lombardi was once again correct.
If you enjoy soap operas, then you might want to celebrate Soap Legend Susan Lucci, born on this date in 1946. I don't, so I won't. End of discussion.
Ah, time for the "hottest woman born on this date" winner. 1958 gave us Joan Severance. She was the hot crook in "See no evil, hear no evil" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. She wore Shalamar, if you recall, which helped Pryor identify her. She also did a lot of movies that amounted to soft-core porn. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. She also had a small role (one of her first) in the very first "Lethal Weapon", which I've been thinking I should find the dvd of and watch. Will this clinch it? Probably not, but it might make me look for her character the aptly named "Girl in black playsuit", which sounds like an important role.
Also born today, in 1963, Jim Harbaugh, former Michigan Wolverine, NFL quarterback, and now coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Had they not beaten my Lions earlier this year, thanks in part to a couple crappy calls and non-calls by the blind officials, I might like him more right now. But I don't.
The next year brought us Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. Again, if I were a big fan, I'd say more, but I just don't care.
In 1967, however Joan's biggest competition was born. Carla Bruni, currently the First Lady of France. She is, if you are dense enough to believe the media, jealous of the breath-takingly beautiful Michelle Obama. If you are smart enough to not drool when you read, and have working eyes, you know what a complete load of crap that is. In reality, it's sort of like comparing Slave Leia to Jabba the Hutt.
1970 brought us the lesser known (to me at least) of the Two Coreys, Corey Haim. He's also the lesser alive one, unfortunately. He had a tough go of it, with drugs, alcohol, and all sorts of other things being a problem for him until he died. It wasn't that long ago that the Other Corey, Mr. Feldman, claimed that the two of them, as teenagers in Hollywood, were basically passed around by the big shots as sex and drug toys. Ah well. It's a corrupt world in some ways, and nobody in California seems to want to do anything about it.
Having a birthday today, number 33 for him, is Victor Martinez. He's currently the Designated Hitter for the Detroit Tigers, so he's cool. Born that same day was Estella Warren. She might be hotter than Joan Severance, but I don't know her as well, so she doesn't take over the top spot.
Born the next year was Holly Madison, but she's too fake looking to me. Just doesn't do it for me, and she has no discernible talent. But hey, she makes money at it. Nothing wrong with that, I guess.
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