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2009: Day 173

Mitre over mind or matter : One hundred seventy six years ago (1633) the Holy Office in Rome forced Galileo Galilei to recant his idea that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the universe... not that either is strictly true...

Stick 'em up! John Dillinger was born 106 years ago (1903) today. Three years later (1906), director Billy Wilder came on the scene.

On this date in 1920 voice actor Paul Frees was born. It's unlikely you've never heard his work unless you're very young and/or eschew much mass media. Among his many credits were the voices of Boris Badenov and Inspector Fenwick, Morocco Mole, Squiddly Diddly, the Burgermeister Meisterburger, all of the characters except the titular one in the U.S. version of The Adventures of Tintin, John Lennon and George Harrison in the 1965 Beatles television cartoon series, Ben "the Thing: Grimm & Uatu, the Watcher in the 1967 Fantastic Four cartoons, and a great many narration and over-dubbing credits for television, documentaries and major motion pictures. Here's a tiny slice of his work that someone posted to YouTube:


Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales was born today in 1932.

Peabody, Pulitzer and (multi-)Emmy award-winning journalist and 60 MinutesPrunella Scales was born today in 1932.

Peabody, Pulitzaer and (multi-)Emmy award-winning journalist Ed Bradley was born today in Philadelphia, PA back in 1941.

Party with Rommel! Sixty seven years ago (1942) Erwin Rommel's promoted to Field Marshal following the capture of Tobruk.

Who's your God now? Todd Rundgren turns 61 today. Here's a performance from 1973 -- a good choice not only because it's one of his best known tunes but also because it's a kick to see a skinny white guy get such a praise-drenched intro as a musician from the four black guys. On the down side, well, it was 1973 and there were "glam rock" fashions and make-up at play.


Actresses Meryl Streep and Lindsay Wagner were both born on this day back in 1949. Cyndi Lauper turns 56 today, too.

Hail to the king, baby! Bruce Campbell (1958) turns 51 today.

Grab a stick, some weenies and a gas mask: forty years ago (1969) the Cayuga River in Ohio caught fire due to massive pollution -- which definitely helped give the environmental movement a huge kick.

Finally, can you believe it's been a year already since George Carlin died? It surprised me.

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