08/08 - Happiness Happens Day

So, it's Happiness Happens Day and that up there is a picture of Emiliano Zapata. So what's that all about, you might ask. So, if happiness happens, it must be random or pseudo-random, fortuitous and all like that, something straight out of Taoism. It must happen at least once to anybody and everybody, even good old Emiliano, and it is his birthday, which certainly has as much right to be celebrated as some abstract theoretical assertion about happiness, n'est ce pas?

It's also International Cat Day and Global Sleep Under the Stars Night. Naturally, I cannot help but wonder whether there is a cat constellation, and if not why not. The answer, sadly is No, but there is a cat star, Felis. The Wookie Wiki tells us that:

Felis (Latin for cat) was a constellation created by French astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1799. He chose the name partly because, as a cat lover, he felt sorry that there was not yet a cat among the constellations (although there are two lions and a lynx). It was between the constellations of Antlia and Hydra. This constellation was first depicted in the Uranographia sive Astrorum Descriptio (1801) of Johann Elert Bode. It is now obsolete. Its brightest star, HD 85951, was named Felis by the International Astronomical Union on 1 June 2018 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.

Felis, or his cousin Felix, is all about happiness, making this a very felicitous conjunction of holidays, which is, again, ever so very happy, right felicity?

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On this day in history:

1576 –- The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory was laid. 1588 –- The Battle of Gravelines ended, as did the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England. 1709 -- Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrated the lifting power of hot air . 1876 -- Thomas Edison got a patent on his mimeograph. 1908 -- The Wright Brothers' first public flight, Wilbur in the plane. 1919 –- The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 was signed. confirming the Durand line as the mutual border. 1942 -- The Quit India Movement against British rule started in India 1946 -- First flight of the Convair B-36, a mass produced nuke delivery vehicle. 1967 -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed 1974 –- Tricky Dick Nixon resigned 1990 -- Iraq occupied Kuwait leading to the first Gulf War. 2004 –- A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumped approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers.

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Some people who were born on this day:

“If there is no justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government.”

~~ Emiliano Zapata

1814 -- Esther Hobart Morris, lawyer and judge, first female justice of the peace in US 1857 –- Cécile Chaminade, pianist and composer 1879 -- Emiliano Zapata, revolutionary, general, and politician 1884 -- Sara Teasdale, poet and educator 1896 -- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author and academic 1901 -- Ernest Lawrence, physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate, founded Lawrence Berkeley & Lawrence Livermore Labs. 1902 -- Paul Dirac, physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1907 -- Benny Carter, saxophonist, trumpet player, and composer 1920 –- Jimmy Witherspoon, jump blues singer 1921 –- Webb Pierce, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1928 –- Don Burrows, saxophonist, clarinet player, and flute player 1931 –- Roger Penrose, physicist, mathematician, and philosopher 1932 -- Mel Tillis, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1933 -- Joe Tex, singer & songwriter 1938 –- Connie Stevens, actress and businesswoman 1939 -- Phil Balsley, singer & songwriter 1941 -- George Tiller, physician 1942 –- John Gustafson, singer, songwriter, and bass player 1944 –- Michael Johnson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1944 -- John Renbourn, guitarist and songwriter 1950 -- Willie Hall, drummer and producer 1952 -- Anton Fig, drummer 1956 -- Chris Foreman, singer, songwriter and guitarist 1956 -- David Grant, singer 1957 -- Dennis Drew, keyboard player 1961 -- The Edge, singer, songwriter and guitarist 1961 –- Rikki Rockett, American glam rock drummer 1973 -- Scott Stapp, singer, songwriter and producer

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Some people who died on this day:

Juan Tripp was a friend. Good name for an airline man, huh? Juan Tripp after another?

~~ Fay Wray

1879 -- Immanuel Hermann Fichte, philosopher and academic 1940 -- Johnny Dodds, clarinet player and saxophonist 1965 -- Shirley Jackson, author 1975 -- Cannonball Adderley, saxophonist 1988 –- Félix Leclerc, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 2004 -- Fay Wray, actress 2017 –- Glen Campbell, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Feast of the Four Crowned Martyrs (of which there were 9) Happiness Happens Day International Cat Day Global Sleep Under the Stars Day

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Today's Tunes

Benny Carter

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