January 7 RIP

RIP Catherine of Aragon, who died on this date in 1536. For those keeping score at home, he was Wife Number 1. Apparently she was quite accomplished on her own, and was a formidable person. But she didn't crank out baby boys, so she had to go. And we all know what kind of trouble that started!

In 1932, a Frenchman died. He advocated a strong national defense based upon a series of powerful forts along the German frontier. So when it happened, the whole system was named after Andre Maginot. Thank God he was already dead, or he likely would have died of humiliation.

In 1964, Cyril Davies died. He was an English Blues musician. In his final years, he ran a club. The House Band included, at times, Charlie Watts, Long John Baldry, and Jack Bruce. Unofficial jam sessions featured Rod Stewart, Eric Burdon, and pretty much all the Stones. When Davies (no apparent relation to Ray or Dave) got ill, he turned to alcohol. And that sort of thing doesn't often turn out well.

In1989, Emperor Hirohito died. Despite his denials, he was involved closely in the planning for WWII. But he managed to look innocent when necessary. While he did refuse to admit that Japan was defeated, he did, according to one article I read, keep things from ending really disastrously. Supposedly, even after the atomic bombs and his decision to order the surrender, there were some elements of the military that didn't want to surrender- supposedly, there was even a plan to kamikaze the surrender ceremonies on board the Missouri! Because that sort of action will always end well for you. At any rate, Hirohito apparently sent out members of the Royal Family to stop these idiotic and insane plans. And that might be the most important thing he ever did for Japan.

And that's about that.

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