Happy birthday to Emperor Titus of Rome, born in 39. He only ruled for a few years, but is remarkable for being the first Roman emperor to succeed his actual biological father. Previously, they were adopted. Or were proclaimed by the Army after the previous emperor fell on his sword- or more likely, fell on somebody else's sword.
Happy birthday also to Rudyard Kipling. He was a poet, you know. And an author. And and Englishman. Not necessarily in that order. He was born, by the way, in 1865.
There he is, the late Bert Parks. He's been late for almost twenty years now, which is of no particular interest right now. However, he was born on this very date in 1914. They still use his recording of "There she is, Miss America" in the Miss America Pageant.
If you like the current version of Hawaii-5-0, then you have low standards. The guy who plays McGarrett sucks. However, the original Steve M was awesome. And that would be Jack Lord, born on this date in 1920. I tried watching the original version a couple months ago. Maybe it was just because it was the pilot, but it was truly gawd-awful. The villain was one of the worst actors I've ever seen. However, the show as a whole turned out alright, so I guess we can overlook that. Besides, it allows those of us actors who aren't Olivier or Hoffman to have hope.
Bo knows birthdays!! And its the really cool Bo, instead of the less cool, but still fairly cool athlete Bo. And not Bo the coach or Bo the hot actress from 10 either. Nope, this is Bo Diddley, the legend himself. He was born in 1928, and left us a few years ago.
Also born today, Sandy Koufax, one of only two (I think) pitchers with more than 2 career no-hitters. His 4 was assumed to be almost untouchable, until Nolan Ryan touched it, and then blew past it. Next up? Justin Verlander, who is sitting at 2, and only now heading into his prime. No reason he can't equal or pass Koufax, but we'll see. Anyhow, Koufax was born in 1935.
Sigh. This one is a personal heartbreaker. The man who I consider to be the greatest American musician of the 20th century was born on this date. Mr. John Hartford. You probably know him from his composition "Gently on My Mind"- which is a damn fine thing to be known for, and which he admitted allowed him a lot of freedom in his career- and for the music he played in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" (though he didn't appear on camera". However, give a listen to some of the stuff he wrote in between, and you'll begin to understand. He was able to work in the genres of Country, Bluegrass and Americana, as well as being a great String Band Musician. He interpreted and recorded some great traditional stuff in addition to being a terrific songwriter. When he died, I felt it was a crime that he never got the recognition he deserved for his role in music. I still feel that way, but also recall the words of a clerk at Elderly Instruments when he died "He might not have gotten the recognition he deserved, but those of us who know him understand." He was born in 1937, and left us far too soon. Oh, and Noel Stookey, aka Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary was born that same day.
Another great American musician was born on this date in 1942: Michael Nesmith. Yes, that Michael Nesmith. Don't judge him solely on his Monkees career, though he wrote some good stuff then. Did you know that he won the first ever Grammy for Video? If you can find it, check out Elephant Parts. Good music, and good comedy. He also wrote the song "Different Drum", which essentially launched the career of a chick named Linda Ronstadt. Oh, and his mom invented liquid paper. All in all, a far more interesting and successful man than you give him credit for, you bastard!
Wanna know what's really weird? Guess who else was born on this date, in 1945? Davy Jones. No, not the one who you now know as Bowie, but the REAL Davy Jones, Papa Nez's bandmate. So girls, start screaming, cuz Davy is dreamy! Or so I'm told.
On our music theme, 1946 gave us Patti Smith (as someone once said, not the one from the band Scandal, but the one who was a scandal.) Her album "Easter" is pretty cool, and that's probably got every song you know her from, including the Springsteen composition "Because the Night", which kicks ass.
And the next year? Jeff Lynne of ELO and the Traveling Wilburys. Again, if you don't know him, it's your loss. He did some great music, and I recall the horrible scandal when it was revealed that, rather than take along an entire orchestra when they toured, in order to recreate the music from their albums, the Band used a backing track. Think about that the next time you go to a concert and see whatever marginally talented chick with a big rack dancing on stage while lip-syncing her latest auto-tuned hit.
A non-musician whose name I recognize was also born on this date, in Knoxville Tennessee: Henry Cho. All I really remember about him is that he wore cowboy boots and had a Southern accent. Which is undeniably odd for a Korean guy. At any rate, he was born in 1962.
I guess I should complete my multi-culti bonafides by mentioning the 1975 birth of Tiger Woods. Not a big golf fan, so I never really bought into the Whole worship Tiger routine.
And finally, in 1982, we have Kristin Kreuk. Hot as all get out, and talented too! Though I think she peaked early on when she shimmied across Matt Damon as he "sang" "Scotty Doesn't Know" in the awesome flick "Euro-trip".
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