Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has a warning:
Hili: Did you read the story about a bear in California?
A: No.
Hili: It climbed into an open car, shut the door and later ripped the seats and made a mess.
A: Why are you telling me this?
Hili: Be careful, Kulka also jumps into the car when you leave the door open.
In Polish:
Hili: Czytałeś tę historię o niedźwiedziu w Kaliforni?
Ja: Nie.
Hili: Wlazł do otwartego samochodu, zatrzasnął drzwi, a potem ze strachu poszarpał siedzenia i zrobił kupę.
Ja: Dlaczego to opowiadasz?
Hili: Uważaj, bo Kulka też wskakuje do samochodu jak zostawiasz otwarte drzwi.
Thank you Matthew! (I presume) Wow nice and early GMT posting for us U.S. Atlantic coasters.
Whew – short and sweet – and clever –
And looks like I’ll be able to accomplish something today, besides my recent level up on html italics!
Have never seen a cat close the door. Open, yes.
This presents a new dimension to Schrödinger’s Box / Cat I must ponder…
There are a number of “bear gets into car” news stories out there. Imagine a kitty cat that was as large as a bear. Wait. The Cougar is almost as large as a bear. Yea, but the Cougar is a shy, retiring beast that would not break into a car. What I mean is: Imagine a *house cat* that is as big as a bear. Such a beast *would* break into cars and would destroy what’s inside in an instant! Worse than a bear.
On this day:
1492 – Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.
1851 – Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine.
1865 – Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs 1st antiseptic surgery.
1883 – The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1914 – World War I: The United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary.
1944 – Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which time at least 40,000 people are killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.
1944 – Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
1952 – The Night of the Murdered Poets: Thirteen prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.
1953 – First thermonuclear bomb test: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of “RDS-6s” (Joe 4) using a “layered” scheme.
1964 – South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country’s racist policies.
1969 – Violence erupts after the Apprentice Boys of Derry march in Derry, Northern Ireland, resulting in a three-day communal riot known as the Battle of the Bogside.
1981 – The IBM Personal Computer is released.
1985 – Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes into Osutaka ridge in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520, to become the worst single-plane air disaster.
1990 – Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota.
2000 – The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew.
2021 – Six people, five victims and the perpetrator are killed in the worst mass shooting in the UK since 2010 in Keyham, Plymouth.
Births:
1452 – Abraham Zacuto, Jewish astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian (d. 1515).
1591 – Louise de Marillac, co-founder of the Daughters of Charity (d. 1660).
1774 – Robert Southey, English poet and author (d. 1843).
1831 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist and scholar (d. 1891).
1880 – Radclyffe Hall, English poet, author, and activist (d. 1943).
1881 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director and producer (d. 1959).
1887 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961).
1918 – Guy Gibson, Anglo-Indian commander and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1944).
1925 – Norris McWhirter, Scottish publisher and activist co-founded the Guinness World Records (d. 2004).
1925 – Ross McWhirter, Scottish publisher and activist, co-founded the Guinness World Records (d. 1975).
1927 – Porter Wagoner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007).
1930 – George Soros, Hungarian-American businessman and investor, founded the Soros Fund Management.
1931 – William Goldman, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2018). [Won Academy Awards for his screenplays Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President’s Men (1976).
1945 – Ron Mael, American keyboard player and songwriter.
1949 – Mark Knopfler, Scottish-English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer.
1950 – August “Kid Creole” Darnell, American musician, bandleader, singer-songwriter, and record producer.
1954 – Pat Metheny, American jazz guitarist and composer.
1963 – Sir Mix-a-Lot, American rapper, producer, and actor.
1975 – Casey Affleck, American actor.
To rush into the secret house of death:
30 BC – Cleopatra, Egyptian queen (b. 69 BC).
1827 – William Blake, English poet and painter (b. 1757).
1848 – George Stephenson, English engineer and academic (b. 1781).
1964 – Ian Fleming, English spy, journalist, and author (b. 1908).
1973 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881).
1973 – Karl Ziegler, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898).
1982 – Henry Fonda, American actor (b. 1905).
1992 – John Cage, American composer and theorist (b. 1912).
2000 – Loretta Young, American actress (b. 1913).
2006 – Victoria Gray Adams, American civil rights activist (b. 1926).
2007 – Merv Griffin, American actor, singer, and producer, created Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (b. 1925).
2009 – Les Paul, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1915).
2014 – Lauren Bacall, American model, actress, and singer (b. 1924).
2021 – Una Stubbs, English actress, TV personality, and dancer (b. 1937).
Some connections local to me:
• Sue resides at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. https://www.fieldmuseum.org/visit/maps-and-guides/visiting-sue-t-rex-what-know-you-go
• The Theosophical Society has its American headquarters in Wheaton, Illinois, ironically also the home of Wheaton College, which Billy Graham attended. https://www.theosophical.org/
• I once rode an elevator in the Chicago Cultural Center with John Cage. We engaged in a brilliant conversation, apropos to the occasion: We said nothing. https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_culturalcenter.html
The aphorist who summed up Hollywood in just three words: “Nobody knows anything.”
And he wrote Marathon Man 🙂
Is it safe?
You’re talking to me?
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. How can you talk about the accomplishments of William Goldman without mentioning that he wrote The Princess Bride and the screenplay for its movie adaptation.
Inconceivable!
Today is National Vinyl Records Day, for the retro-hepsters amongst us.
From my listenings/readings, RCA raised the art form of music by developing album cover art and liner notes – along side their development of recording technology (if I understand).
See Ted Gioia’s material – he said it on an interview.