4/3 - Howl Day (unofficial)

Believe it or not, there was a time when the ACLU would rush to the defense of speech, even if, or especially if, it was deemed offensive to or by some person(s), group(s) or government agency or agencies; regardless of whether it was declared to be offensive, obscene, hateful, unpatriotic, seditious, erroneous or anything else. ("misinformation", "disinformation" and "conspiracy theory" were generally not a thing back then) Armed with the knowledge that

Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.

― Henry Louis Gates Jr., and

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.

― Benjamin Franklin,

the ACLU of that era stepped up to defend Allen Ginsberg's Howl against charges that it was somehow "obscene" and should therefore be suppressed. On this day in 1955 the ACLU announced that it would defend the work against the preposterous and inherently obscene charges made and, in October '57 they won in California Superior Court. The people, the state, the country and the whole damned world were all better off.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night, who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz, ...

A. Ginsburg; Howl

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On this day in history:

1860 -- The first successful Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California started, 1882 -- Robert Ford killed Jesse James 1885 -- Gottlieb Daimler received a patent for his engine - a good idea at the time 1895 -- Oscar Wilde's libel case against Queensberry began - a bad idea, but Ballad of Readng Gaol 1922 -- Stalin became General Secretary of the Soviet Union's Communist Party - a very bad idea 1948 -- Truman signed the Marshall Plan 1948 -- The Juju uprising in South Korea began 1955 -- The ACLU announced it would defend Ginsberg's Howl - an excellent idea 1968 -- MLK Jr. delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech 1981 -- The Osborne 1 was unveiled 2007 –- A French TGV train set another new world speed record. 2000 -- Microsoft was ruled to have violated US antitrust law but was not punished and no victims were recompensed 2010 -- Apple Inc. released the first iPad, foreshadowing ifrenzy to come. 2016 -- The Panama Papers leaked information on 214,488 offshore companies

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Some people who were born on this day:

Cockroaches and socialites are the only things that can stay up all night and eat anything.

~~ Herb Caen

1639 -- Alessandro Stradella, composer 1778 -- Pierre Bretonneau, doctor who performed the first successful tracheotomy 1783 -- Washington Irving, writer 1791 -- Anne Lister, diarist, mountaineer, and traveler, "the first modern lesbian". 1807 -- Mary Carpenter, educational and social reformer 1822 -- Edward Everett Hale, writer and preacher 1823 -- Boss Tweed, typical politician 1885 -- Bud Fisher, cartoonist, think Mutt & Jeff 1886 -- Dooley Wilson, actor and singer 1895 -- Zez Confrey, pianist and composer 1898 -- Henry Luce, publisher, co-founded Time Magazine 1904 -- Russel Wright, dinnerware and furniture designer 1916 -- Herb Caen, writer, the Sakamenna Kid 1919 -- Ervin Drake, songwriter and composer, it was a very good year 1924 -- Marlon Brando who couldda been a contender 1924 -- Roza Shanina, Russian sniper 1936 -- Jimmy McGriff, organist and bandleader 1936 -- Harold Vick, saxophonist and flautist 1938 -- Jeff Barry, songwriter 1941 -- Jan Berry, singer and songwriter, (Jan & Dean) inspiration and mentor of the Beach Boys 1942 -- Billy Joe Royal, guitarist, singer, songwriter and boondocker 1943 -- Richard Manuel, pianist, singer, songwriter and bandmember 1944 -- Tony Orlando, Captain Kangaroo look-alike 1946 -- Dee Murray, bassist, mostly with Elton 1949 -- Richard Thompson, singer, songwriter and guitarist 1951 -- Mitch Woods, singer, songwriter and pianist 1965 –- Nazia Hassan, pop singer, songwriter, lawyer and social activist

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Some people who died on this day:

No man knows what he can do until he tries.

~~ Carter G. Woodson

CE 33 -- Jesus of Nazareth, or some other date, or year, but wait, he didn't die anyway, did he? What? 1882 -- Jesse James, criminal and outlaw, sometimes folk hero 1897 -- Johannes Brahms, pianist and composer 1901 -- Richard D'Oyly Carte 1902 -- Esther Hobart Morris, lawyer and judge 1950 -- Kurt Weill, composer and pianist 1950 -- Carter G. Woodson, historian, author, and journalist, founded Black History Month 1978 -- Ray Noble, bandleader, composer, and actor 1990 -- Sarah Vaughan, singer 1991 -- Graham Greene, writer 1998 -- Mary Cartwright, mathematician of chaos 2014 -- Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, guitarist, fiddler, and composer 2015 -- Bob Burns, drummer and songwriter 2016 –- Joe Medicine Crow, anthropologist, historian, and author

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: I'm inventing Howl Day, so there.

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