Give warm wishes to Charles Goodyear, born on this date in 1800. He invented vulcanized rubber, and thus was able to live long and prosper. Mostly the latter.
In 1808, Andrew Johnson was born. He's one of only two US presidents to be impeached. It's kinda dicey whether AJ deserved that, unlike the other one who was a complete crook and should be in prison.
Ooh, another big inventor was born today- he probably eclipses even Charles Goodyear: Robert C. Baker. "But who was that, Historysnark?" I hear you cry. Well, he invented the chicken nugget. He also lived long, but didn't appear to prosper that much. Although that very question was apparently a subject in an episode of "the Wire". That's what you call good television, with hard-hitting coverage of controversial topics!
Heh. Here's a fun one: Happy birthday to Inga Swenson, born in 1932. Despite the name, she's a good old 'Merican. Why do you care? She had a couple appearances in the TV show "Soap", which led to her getting a full-time gig on "Benson". Remember the housekeeper, who in a storyline that I'm sure is mirrored in governors mansions every day, became the budget director? Yeah, that was her.
1936 gave us both Mary Tyler Moore and Ray Nitschke. She's an actress of course, and he was a football player. He was the star linebacker for the Lombardi Packers. Great story about him- he missed a crucial game once, being injured. His replacement was being lit up on the field, so during halftime Nitschke gave him a very short but apparently thorough lesson on how to play middle linebacker. Apparently it worked, since the guy had a great second half, and the Packers came back to win. Great story- unless it was against the Lions, in which case Screw Nitschke and everyone who likes him. Not only that, but perhaps I shouldn't compliment a Packer, since they host the Lions on Sunday. Hope I didn't curse my team! Oh, and MTM is cool too. She can turn the world on with her smile, you know.
Born on this date in 1951 was Yvonne Elliman. She's described as a "disco singer", which isn't all that accurate. She was Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar, debuting the part on stage, screen, and on the non-soundtrack soundtrack album. So the song "I don't know how to love him", which is not disco, was her first hit. She's Irish, Chinese, and Japanese, which explains her exotic good looks. And she of course is a great singer too! While the above-mentioned hit is a great song (especially if you understand the context of what it's supposed to mean) I also love her duet in "Could we start again please". Check it out on YouTube.
1972 gave us actor Jude Law. I only mention him because I mentioned Sienna Miller yesterday. They were quite a pair for a while. Then I guess they both got bored and moved on. As will we.
Ah, and here we get to the part where I emit love-stricken sighs. Happy birthday to Alison Brie, or as many prefer to call her, "Annie". She was born in 1983, and now brightens the lives of everyone who watches "Community". Alas, there aren't enough of us. So if you're reading this and you don't, then I hate you with a purple passion for causing the best show on TV to be facing the likelihood of cancellation.
And that's that.
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