The Wikipedia Birthday Meme

[thewayne]

An interesting concept. Go to Wikipedia, type in your birthday without the year (December 16 for me), and report back on interesting events, births, and deaths that happened on your birthday. Limit yourself to three of each if you like, me, I’m not so good at the counting.

Events
1392 - History of Japan: Nanboku-cho - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - Admiral Yi Sun Sin's outnumbered Korean navy ambushes and defeats Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Japanese fleet.
1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes.
1997 - The Pokémon episode Electric Soldier Porygon triggers attacks of photosensitive epilepsy in hundreds of Japanese children.


Births
1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)
1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
1899 - Sir Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)
1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British writer
1927 - Randall Garrett, American writer
1928 - Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)


Deaths
705 - Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b. 625)
1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)
1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
1965 - W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874)
1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
1989 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)


I knew about the Boston Tea Party and Beethoven, I found a lot of the others quite interesting.

Comments

[joecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Events
70 - Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem.
1866 - Calculations indicate Pluto reached its most recent aphelion (furthest point from Sun) on this day. The next aphelion will occur in August 2113.
1956 - Elvis Presley introduces his new single, Hound Dog, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
1967 - Six-Day War begins: The Israeli air force launches simultaneous attacks on the air forces of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
1968 - U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. (He dies on
1977 - The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale.
1986 - A 52-year old man in Auburn, Washington, United States, dies after taking an Excedrin capsule laced with cyanide; this is the first of two Excedrin deaths.
1989 - The Unknown Rebel halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Births
1718 - Thomas Chippendale, English furniture maker (d. 1779)
1723 - Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (d. 1790)
1850 - Pat Garrett, American Western lawman (d. 1908)
1883 - John Maynard Keynes, English economist (d. 1946)
1887 - Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1923])
1919 - Richard Scarry, American children's author (d. 1994)
1934 - Bill Moyers, American journalist
1947 - Laurie Anderson, American actress and composer
1968 - Ron Livingston, American actor
1971 - Mark Wahlberg, American singer and actor
1975 - Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, NBA basketball player (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Deaths
1910 - O. Henry, American author (b. 1862)
1942 - Samuel Adams, American naval officer (b. 1912)
1999 - Mel Tormé, American singer ("The Velvet Fog"), composer, and actor
2002 - Dee Dee Ramone, American bassist (The Ramones) (b. 1952)
2004 - Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States (b. 1911)

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I remember the Tylenol murders, I don't recall Excedrin. Maybe I remember Tylenol because it was the first major product tampering that I remember.

Mel Torme and Dee Dee Ramone! What a pair!