RIP December 23

First on our list is Henry Clinton, or "Sir Henry Clinton" to you.  He was a general in the British Army, and a top commander during the American Revolution, where he failed to accomplish much of anything.  His family had been kicking around England since at least 1066, and two of his sons also became high-ranking officers in the Army.  As a young lad, he lived in New York, where his father was the royal governor.  At any rate, he died in 1795, just after being named Governor of Gibraltar. 

1939 saw the death of Anthony Fokker.  Care to guess what he is known for?  Here's a hint- it has nothing to do with those asinine movies about meeting the Fokkers, or however it's spelled.  He designed the famous WWI airplanes.  He moved to the Netherlands, and then to America.  Then he died. 

Here's one for the "Rot in hell you bastard" files.  Executed on this date in 1948 was Hideki Tojo, former Prime Minister of Japan.  He ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor and basically led Japan to ruin, though he was removed from office before the War ended. 

And we have a Daily Double!!  Ding Ding Ding!  Kudos to Panzer Meyer, who was not only born on this date in 1910, but died on this date in 1961.  We won't go over all that again though. 

If you read comic books back in the day, and were concerned about getting sand kicked in your face by the bullies on the beach, then you'll recognize the name Charles Atlas.  Well, he died on this date in 1973.  You might question whether his real name was "Charles Atlas", which frankly sounds a bit too perfect for a body builder.  Since he was born in Italy, you'd be correct.  His real name was Angelo Siciliano, even though he was not born in Sicily.  Go figure. 

I try to avoid giving you "just the facts ma'am", but sometimes that's about all I can do.  RIP Jack Webb, who gave us Dragnet, Adam-12,  and Emergency. If you recall the pair of hands with a hammer and chisel at the end of his shows, well that was him also.  He died of a heart attack on this date in 1982, thus ensuring he never had to see the completely horrific version of Dragnet with Dan Akroyd.

And once again, that's it for the day.  We'll save some other, potentially interesting candidates for the RIP file for another day.  See you next year on December 23.  Same Bat-time, same Bat-station.

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