Happy 86 BC birthday to Marcus Antonius Creticus, or as you probably know him, Marc Antony. Though it could have been an 83 BC birthday, it probably wasn't. We'll assume it was the earlier date. As a young man, he was apparently pretty careless of his money, and fled to Greece to escape his debtors. Which nowadays is vaguely amusing, given the Greek view of debt, but I digress. He studied rhetoric while he was there, which turned out to be a good career move. After being sent to fight in Judea and Egypt, where he showed himself to be a good officer and a bit of a pervert; he wound up working in Gaul and Germany for his new-found friend. Hmmm. Wondering who that could be? Does the name Caesar ring a bell? By the way, they were not just friends, but also related in some fashion. Which in Rome meant a lot. In the confusing manner of Roman politics of the time, Antony later held an important position or two in Rome, in order to protect Caesar and his interests (mostly Caesar, as he had powerful enemies there and Caesar's interests seemed to be protecting Caesar, at least in the short term). At any rate, Antony was kicked out of the Senate- apparently in a pretty literal sense- and that action prompted Caesar to cross the Rubicon, in a completely literal sense, and thus the Civil War began. Given that Antony, as a Tribune of the Plebs was not supposed to be under any risk of physical attack, and that his veto in the Senate couldn't be overturned, the fact that he showed up in Caesar's camp covered in bruises and blood explaining how he had vetoed the anti-Caesar decrees and been beaten up and over-ruled made for a good argument in Caesar's favor. At least with Caesar's troops, who were really all that mattered at that point. Later, because Antony was such a dirtbag, and so corrupt, the two had a falling out. They made up however. Not all that well, since the men who conspired to kill Caesar apparently approached Antony with a somewhat oblique invitation to join them. Antony clearly understood, and clearly rejected them. And clearly said nothing to Caesar either. He was co-consul with Caesar in 44 BC, offered him a chance at becoming king (which was a trick, since Caesar rejected it, showing he didn't want to be king); and then was warned that the gods would strike Caesar. The next day, The Ides of March, they did. Using a bunch of senators, of course. (As expected, Antony received the warning from a conspirator). He didn't get to Caesar in time to warn him, and thus endeth Caesar. Antony hauled butt away from Rome, but then came back when he concluded that all Caesar's friends were still alive, and Antony of course was still a Consul... Then lots more stuff happened, but if I tell the whole story here, we won't have anything for the Ides, or for Antony's death.
In 1131 a future king of Denmark was born. But since it was only 1131, he wasn't required to be named Frederick or Christian, so his parents named him Valdemar. I think I'd prefer Christian myself.
A highly controversial figure was born on this date in 1741. His name was Benedict Arnold. Yup, that one. On the one hand, he betrayed the American cause in the Revolutionary War, while on the other hand, he saved the Revolution from being crushed in 1776 and 1777. He was incredibly brave, and a terrific battlefield commander, by every account. However, he couldn't fight a battle every single day, much as he personally might have enjoyed it. And it was the long periods when there wasn't any shooting that got him into trouble. He often seized "supplies", but without paying for them or giving any receipts. And other officers often failed to see the military usefulness of said supplies, and felt that it was more a matter of "stealing' than "requisitioning". Since his paperwork was usually pretty scarce, even for legitimate expenses, Congress got pretty hesitant to give him the money he might have deserved. Add to that, his tendency to get into disagreements with other officers, and you have a brilliant officer who was kind of a poopy-head. And in the end, the poopy-headedness won out. Ah well. As is often said, if his wound in the Saratoga campaign had been fatal (a matter of a couple inches), he would today be the Number 2 ranked general in the final BCS Poll of the American Revolution, behind unanimous Number 1, George Washington.
German General and all around stud, Hasso von Manteuffel was born on this date in 1897. He was a highly skilled and successful panzer general. Why do I say he was a stud? As the War drew to a close, he was fighting the Russians (again) and his entire army command was under a pounding attack. As the battle raged, a couple Soviet soldiers burst into his headquarters, and shot up his staff. The General shot one, and then knifed the other. That, my friends, is a stud. When you're a general and you take down a couple enemy soldiers in hand to hand combat, you earn a title like "stud". He then managed to surrender to the Western Allies rather than the Russians, which probably did wonders for his lifespan. After the War, he went into politics. You know how the post-war German Army was named the Bundeswehr? Guess who thought up that name? He was sentenced in 1959 to two years in prison for ordering the death of a deserter, which sounds a lot like sour grapes on someones part. It was a legal move, since the execution of deserters was not a crime in the Wehrmacht- or the US Army, as Eddie Slovik could attest, (if he hadn't been executed in WWII by the US Army for desertion). So he was eventually freed, and with his excellent English skills, became a popular lecturer and adviser to US historians and generals- he lectured at West Point, and even visited Eisenhower in the White House. And finally, he appeared in "The World at War" which, if you haven't seen it, you need to.
1944 gave us Marjoe Gortner. He was an evangelist even as a child- like at the age of 4! His parents were crooked, apparently, or at least his dad was. Marjoe (a combination of Mary and Joseph) later returned to evangelism, only he secretly taped off-stage scenes, to show how many of his peers were scammers. The resulting film won an Oscar. Later, he did some acting, including one of my favorite crappy films "the Gun and The Pulpit", where he played a gunman who disguised himself as a preacher to flee a lynch mob (he was of course "unjustly accused" of murder). If you can find it, check it out- it's got some great scenes. However, I've only found it once, on dvd, and it was paired with a movie that was so god-awful that it makes Gun/Pulpit look like Citizen Frigging Kane.
Speaking of studs, happy birthday to Carl Weathers, born in 1948. As a football player, he was coached in college by Don Coryell, and in his very brief NFL career, by John Madden. Then he became an actor, and played Apollo Creed and Action Jackson (a film that was even worse than I could ever have imagined. I had high hopes for it, but alas). He was in Predator with two future governors, Jesse Ventura and of course Ahnuld.
The next year, along came Lawrence Kasdan. He has written some of the best movies of our time, of course. Like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Return of the Jedi". He also wrote and directed "Silverado", one of my favorite films. On the other hand, he never did a sequel to it, so he sucks for that reason. Oh, and he wrote "the Bodyguard" which was supposed to star Diana Ross and Steve McQueen. Alas, by the time it was produced, they were reduced to using Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. So don't hold that against him. He did go to the University of Michigan and lived in Detroit, so he's pretty cool. As long as you don't hold the UM thing against him.
And here's a bit of irony: A couple paragraphs up, we talked about Carl Weathers. What we didn't mention was his small role in one of the best TV shows ever, "Arrested Development". He played himself. Well, the star of that show, Jason Bateman? Also born on this date, but in 1969. His kinda hot sister Justine, apparently was not, so I guess they're not twins. Never was too clear on that one.
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