Happy Jan 6 birthday

First on the list is Richard II of England. He was born in 1367, and was not as awful as Shakespeare said. But since Will lived under the Tudors, who weren't fans of the Plantagenets, it was a smart move for him.

Next up is a possible date, rather than a confirmed one. Happy birthday to Joan of Arc, possibly born on this date in 1412. She of course dies young but only after doing what the men of France couldn't do: defeat a foreign invader. Some things never change, eh?

Remember a week or so ago when Heinrich Schliemann died? Well guess what? Before that, he was born. On this date in 1822. So I won't repeat it all, but I will mention he kinda brought archaeology to the masses. And he was basically the last one who became an archaeologist just because he had money and desire- after him, and in part because of him, it became less fashionable, and more common to leave it to people who didn't destroy everything they were trying to find. Oh, and go watch "in search of the Trojan War". You won't be sorry.

Born in 1878 was a lad named Carl Sandburg. He's best known, I suppose for writing a life of Abraham Lincoln, for which he won a Pulitzer. Or for writing poetry, for which he won two Pulitzers. But since I'm not a big fan of poetry, we'll move on. He lived in Michigan for a brief time before going back to Illinois. And he was apparently a socialist, which I'm not impressed with. Oh well.

Two years later. We got legendary film cowboy Tom Mix. Interesting factoid- he served in the Spanish-American War, and later deserted from the Army. He apparently got off scot-free, never being charged for it. And even more interesting, he apparently never even got discharged from the army either. So he's probably due a crap-ton of back pay, and a helluva pension!

Happy 1912 birthday to Danny Thomas. He was born in Michigan, but raised in Ohio. Which is usually a bad thing. He actually founded the Shriners Hospital, which explains why he supported them all his life. And why his daughter Marlo still does.

1925 was when John Delorean was born. His car was kinda neat, though it wasn't the most reliable thing on wheels. But here's a piece of advice for any aspiring entrepreneurs out there: if your company needs money, trafficking in drugs is probably not your best approach. Have somebody else do it and give you the money. Geez.

Blackadder himself was born in 1955, only he was called Rowan Atkinson. He was also Mr. Bean. Not a big fan of the latter, but the whole Blackadder show was awesome. Especially the last series "Blackadder goes forth". Watch it. Especially the final couple scenes.

Wow. I could do a whole other posting featuring the people I've skipped, but that'll wait for another time. Like 2013!

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