October 19 is day 300 of the Gregorian Calendar year, Prickle-Prickle, The Aftermath 7, 3186 YOLD And let us not forget 3.0.7.16.19 mlc (the Mayan Long Count)
Some bearded dragons are intersex, or hermaphroditic. This condition occurs in other animals as well.
Related factoid: Since days of yore there has been a type of sailing vessel known as a hermaphrodite brig. They're two masted, square rigged on the foremast, and schooner rigged on the main mast. That is a classic "schooner rig" with a triangular topsail above a gaff rigged main sail. I was going to use a picture of one for this column and discovered that use of the term is now limited to Europe, while modern US usage is to call such a vessel a "Brigantine", a word that used to be used for a different type of two masted vessel having a square rigged topsail and sometimes even a top gallant above the gaff rigged mainsail. (Of course, in large portions of the US, they use yawl as a pronoun instead of a noun applying to a two masted craft with the mizzen stepped aft of the rudder post.)
On this day in history:
1689 – General Piccolomini of Austria burned down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera; he died of the disease soon after. 1774 – The first Continental Congress adjourned. 1825 – The Erie Canal opened, providing direct passage from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 1860 – The Expedition of the Thousand ended when Giuseppe Garibaldi presented his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia. 1892 – Ida B. Wells published Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. 1905 – King Oscar II recognized the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden. 1921 – The Chicago Theatre opened. 1936 – The first electric generator at Hoover Dam went into full operation. 1943 – First flight of the Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil". an advanced "push-pull" design. 1955 – Austria declared that it will never join a military alliance. 1955 – Ngô Ðình Di?m declared himself Premier of South Vietnam. 1958 – Pan American Airways made the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 1967 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowned himself Emperor of Iran. 1970 – Muhammad Ali boxed for the first time after hiss three-year hiatus 1977 – The last natural case of smallpox 1985 – The Australian government returned ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals. 1999 – Britain's House of Lords voted to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament. 2001 – The United States passed the fascist and authoritarian USA PATRIOT Act into law.
Born this day in:
Audacity, more audacity, always audacity.-- Georges Danton 1685 – Domenico Scarlatti, harpsichord player and composer 1694 – Johan Helmich Roman, composer and academic 1747 – Ivan Mane Jarnovic, violinist and composer ( 1757 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, philosopher and academic 1759 – Georges Danton, lawyer and politician 1849 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, mathematician and academic 1871 – Guillermo Kahlo, photographer 1902 – Henrietta Hill Swope, astronomer and academic 1911 – Mahalia Jackson, singer 1913 – Charlie Barnet, saxophonist, composer, and bandleader ( 1919 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, usurper, tyrant, US stooge, CIA tool 1927 – Warne Marsh, saxophonist (Supersax) 1929 – Neal Matthews Jr., country/gospel singer 1935 – Gloria Conyers Hewitt, mathematician and academic 1936 – Al Casey, guitarist 1940 – Eddie Henderson, trumpet player and educator 1941 – Charlie Landsborough, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1942 – Milton Nascimento, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1944 – Jim McCann, singer and guitarist 1946 – Keith Hopwood, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1951 – Bootsy Collins, singer, songwriter ,and bass player 1951 – Tommy Mars, keyboard player 1952 – Bobby Bandiera, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1952 – David Was, singer, songwriter, and producer 1953 – Keith Strickland, guitarist and songwriter 1962 – Jack Morelli, comic book professional and author 1963 – Natalie Merchant, singer, songwriter and pianist 1966 – Sverre Gjørvad, drummer and composer 1966 – Masaharu Iwata, keyboard player and composer 1967 – Keith Urban, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist 1981 – Guy Sebastian, singer and songwriter 1984 – Amanda Overmyer, singer and songwriter
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. Every truth we see is ours to give the world, not to keep for ourselves alone, for in so doing we cheat humanity out of their rights and check our own development.”-- Elizabeth Cady Stanton 899 – Alfred the Great, king, a key to a chunk of European history 1631 – Michael Maestlin, astronomer and mathematician 1764 – William Hogarth, painter and engraver 1866 – John Kinder Labatt, brewer, 1902 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, activist 1966 – Alma Cogan, singer 1972 – Igor Sikorsky, engineer and academic 1994 – Wilbert Harrison, singer and guitarist 1995 – Gorni Kramer, bassist, songwriter, and bandleader 1999 – Hoyt Axton, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor 2002 – Sally Hoyt Spofford, ornithologist 2009 – George Na?ope, singer and dancer 2013 – Al Johnson, singer, songwriter, and producer