Wow. So many to choose from- well over 200. Should I go with Margaret of Austria, Louis of Nassau (that's in the Netherlands, not the Bahamas, in case you were wondering) or Isaac Jogues? Or none of them?
None of the above. We'll instead jump past them and go right to 1738, and wish a happy birthday to Ethan Allen. No, he wasn't a furniture maker. He was a trouble-maker. However, he was in the right place at the right time, that being Vermont (otherwise known as The New Hampshire Grants) just before the American Revolution. He and his cousin, our old friend Seth Warner had formed a highly unofficial militia they called "The Green Mountain Boys". When the Revolution began, Allen decided to attack the small British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga. Just before the attack came off, a Continental officer named Benedict Arnold appeared, and announced he was in charge, since he'd been sent for that same purpose. Lesson One of dealing with militia: They didn't like taking orders from outsiders. In the end, a deal was worked out where Arnold was sorta in charge "officially" while the troops actually took their orders from Allen. Sounds crazy, but it worked! Allen famously replied to a demand to know whose authority he was operating under replied "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" Later, they all tried to capture Montreal. No dice. He was captured by the British, and held for about 3 years. Overall, an interesting cat.
In 1834, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton was born. He's known today as Lord Acton, mostly because that was his title. He's best known for his famous quote "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Or as Tom Clancy put it in one of his books, "Power corrupts, and absolute power is actually kind of cool". Or words to that effect.
It's a big day for the Ingalls family of Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. Also of New York and Illinois. At any rate, first off we have Charles Ingalls, born on this date in 1836. His daughter Laura, whom you might know of, quoted him as saying "My wandering foot gets to itching". No kidding. All of the above states are places he dragged his family to, except for New York and Illinois. Those are the places his parents dragged their families to. At any rate, why is it such a big date for them? Because in 1865, his wife had a daughter, who they named Mary, on this same date. Quite a birthday gift, which is good because I can't really see Charles' wife making him dinner and a cake for his birthday that year. Sadly for Mary, she was taken seriously ill at age 14 and lost her sight. She never regained it. Contrary to what TV said, she apparently never married, and lived with the 'rents until they died. Then she lived with different sisters (never Laura) until she died.
In between the Ingalls family birthdays, we got Frank James in 1843. He was of course the big brother of Jesse. He fought for the Confederacy, mostly as a bushwhacker. After the War ended, he sort of gravitated towards crime, which he apparently was pretty good at. After Jesse got whacked, Frank went to visit the governor of Missouri, and told him "I have been hunted for twenty-one years, have literally lived in the saddle, have never known a day of perfect peace. It was one long, anxious, inexorable, eternal vigil", at which point he handed the governor his pistol, telling him "Governor, I haven't let another man touch my gun since 1861." (Oh, and get your mind out of the gutter- they weren't as picky then about the difference between a "firearm" and a "gun"!) He was then tried for a couple things, acquitted, and lived the rest of his life in peace. The end.
1904 gave us Ray Bolger. He was the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, but you already knew that. He did lots of other stuff too, of course.
Did you know that Max Patkin was born on this date in 1920? Do you even know who he was? He was the famous "Clown Prince of Baseball", and had a role in Bull Durham. Now you know him, don't you? He started out as a pitcher, but got hurt. However, during WWII, he was pitching for a service team, and gave up a homer to a chap named Joe DiMaggio. Pretending to be annoyed, Max tossed down his glove, and followed DiMaggio around the bases. Which apparently amused the fans. No word on how DiMaggio felt. Oh, and in 1988, the representatives of MLB voted him "King of Baseball". Then he retired a few years later, and died in 1999.
Here's an ironic twist- I pay tribute to a historian. Stephen Ambrose was born on this date in 1936. You know him from "Band of Brothers" and "Undaunted Courage" among his many books. He also was a fixture on history shows on TV, back when "history" meant things which happened in the past that influenced the world, and not a bunch of people running a pawn shop and pretending they're not acting.
David Horowitz was born on this date in 1939. He probably was actually clad in red diapers, as represented in the term "red diaper babies", which describes he and his peers who were brought up in Communist households. Eventually, he discovered that communism is a complete and utter load of crap, and became a conservative. Nowadays, he can be found defending things like freedom of speech- sometimes, he even speaks on a university campus. If the students don't riot, and the administration allows him to speak. No, university administrations and students apparently don't really understand the word "irony". That same day, singer Scott McKenzie was born. Later, he went to San Francisco, presumably with a flower in his hair. His musical career, which seems to be based solely upon that one song, was launched when the young boy met another young boy named John Phillips. Or, as he later was known, "Papa" John Phillips. They did perform together when younger, but I guess John decided if he had a more talented group of people around him, he'd do better. At any rate, Scott basically retired, though he did perform with the 1980s-90s version of The Mamas and Papas. Around that time, he helped write the song "Kokomo" for the Beach Boys. Then he retired again, this time apparently for good.
A more talented singer was born on this date in 1943. His name was Jim Croce. Just as he was hitting it big, he went to a small venue to play a makeup show for one he'd earlier had to cancel. Kudos for the integrity, but alas, it turned out to be a bad move. Or, it might be more accurate to say that hiring the pilot he did was what turned out to be a bad move. The guy plowed into what was apparently the only tree in the area, and that was it for Jim. Fortunately, his music lives on, as the saying goes. Ironic, as he was not that serious about music for much of the time. I guess sometimes being talented is enough.
1944 gave us two entertainers: First off was William Sanderson. I'll give you a hint on him- "Hi, I'M LARRY and this is my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl". Got it now? He also had a small role in Lonesome Dove (he was the piano player in the whorehouse). Which is vaguely amusing, since he is apparently a lawyer, or at least earned a law degree. He's been in other stuff too, many of them with a historical theme.... Also born on that day, a guy who claims to be a singer. Is he any good? Perhaps, but I tend to think his career has been helped immeasurably by the little fact that his name is Frank Sinatra, Jr.
The very next year, it was time to go to Scotland and observe the birth of wannabe soccer player, Rod Stewart. Currently, he's Number 17 of the Top 100 All-Time Artists, according to Billboard. Rolling Stone lists him as number 59 on their list of the top 100 singers of all time- which might be a bit on the low side. At any rate, he's already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he's apparently slated to go in again this year with the Faces. He opted out of soccer (or football) as a career, because he decided he could drink more and sleep later if he became a musician. Fair enough. He probably also got laid more, but I doubt that had any influence on his decision.
The very next year, came Aynsley Dunbar, drummer extraordinaire. He's English. He's played on all sorts of stuff you know, including the early stuff by Journey- he was with them through Infinity, if memory serves. Then he left, supposedly because they weren't the right style for a drum god. Which he is.
Rolling along the musical trail, 1948 gave us Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. Not sure what else I can say about him, ya know?
1953 gave us Pat Benatar. She was a highly trained singer, who started doing rock when she was in her early 20s. She was doing a lot of singing in clubs while her husband was in the Army. Then she got a contract, hit it big, and divorced him to marry her guitarist. Like that isn't a cliche!
There were a lot of other people to mention, but I won't. They'll be here next year, I hope!
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