Tuesday, April 03, 2007

A Date Shared...

Well, not that kind of date. Besides, I was a bit young for this hunk out of history. Sigh. Why Clark Gable? No, not nostalgia. Really. Fact is I got tagged. By Mr. Avus, he of the handmade Roman-style daggers. The idea is to come up with:

#1. Two famous people who share your birthday, which is February 1. Would you believe Clark Gable? New Yorker satirist S.J. Perlman? I'll add Boris Yeltsin and operetta composer Victor Herbert for good measure.

#2. One famous person who died on my birthday. Let's do that one much better. There's Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, she of Frankenstein ... comic Buster Keaton ... Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

#3. Three major events in history that occurred on my birthday. An auspicious day it was indeed. The first portion of the OED was published in 1884 -- definitions all the way up to a-n-t. On that date in 1902, the Empress Tzu-hsi forbade binding women's feet. The first-ever session of the US Supreme Court sat on 2/1/1790, and Elizabeth I signed Mary Stuart's death warrant Feb. 1, 1587. I know, that's four, but it was impossible to choose any to drop.

#4. A holiday. I went searching, I did. I cuddled up with The Google big time. What did I find out? February 1 is not only Robinson Crusoe Day but it is also Bubble Gum Day. Worldwide, I presume.

Thank you Mr. Avus for a good change of pace. Not only that, but I located some neat sites. For example, brainyhistory.com and the illustrated American memory page of the Library of Congress, not to forget history.com (the History Channel's site). Having these sites pointed out will make matters far easier for the four I'm about to tag in turn: OmegaMom, the LazyArtist, Ms. Karen down in Scottsdale and Mr. Cat-alyst. Go to it, guys!

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:48 PM

    Y'know what? Dad had that sultry bedroom-eyed Clark Gable look when he was a young man.

    I'll do the meme tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gee! Clark Gable AND Bubblegum day.
    (the gum may have helped Clark - his leading ladies always said his breath was terrible!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:02 AM

    Oh, this one sounds like fun!
    I'll get to work on it ASAP. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:08 AM

    Interesting things you came up with.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I had fun! This tagging beat the usual "memes" dealing with pop music or young adult angst -- things that are just not my meat.

    Curious, dotter, you're right about your Dad, tho this is the first pic of Clark Gable I've seen with that sultlry look. His classic pictures are of dashing or sophisticated or dominant.

    Thanks, Mr. Avus, for a fun evening... and don't go ruining it with ugly rumors about Clark!

    Ms. Karen, it's a good challenge. Enjoy!

    And there were lots of other fascinating goodies I was limited from including, Mr.g.

    ReplyDelete