4/29 Open Thread: The Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena

On this day in history:

1429 – Joan of Arc showed up to raise the siege of Orleans

1910 – The UK Parliament passed the People's Budget with the stated intent of redistributing wealth 1916 – Irish rebel leaders surrendered to British forces, ending the Easter Rising

1945 – The German army in Italy surrendered to the Allies.

1945 – Dachau was liberated by US troops

1967 – Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title after refusing to join the war machine

1970 – The US invaded Cambodia, allegedly to hunt VC

1974 – Nixon announced the release of edited transcripts of the White House tapes

1968 – The musical Hair, which tried to co-opt hippie culture, opened

1975 – The U.S. began to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon

1986 – Assorted spy satellites imaged the ruins of the 4th Reactor at Chernobyl

1992 – Riots broke out in Los Angeles over the acquittal of the cops who brutalized Rodney King. 1997 – The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 entered into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons by its signatories. HEH, AS IF.

2011 – UK Prince William married Catherine Middleton, momentarily upstaging the Kardashians.

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Some people who were born on this day:

All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.

~~ John Arbuthnot

1667 – John Arbuthnot, satirist, physician, and polymath

1810 – Thomas Adolphus Trollope, journalist and author

1847 – Joachim Andersen, flautist, composer, and conductor

1854 – Henri Poincare, mathematician, physicist, and engineer

1863 – William Randolph Hearst, yellow journalist

1894 – Marietta Blau, physicist,

1893 – Harold Urey, chemist

1895 – Malcolm Sargent, organist, composer, and conductor

1899 – Duke Ellington, pianist, composer, and bandleader

1900 – Concha de Albornoz, feminist and exile

1922 – Toots Thielemans, guitarist and harmonica player

1928 – Carl Gardner, singer, Robin, Coaster

931 – Lonnie Donegan, singer, songwriter, and guitarist; the king of skiffle

1933 – Rod McKuen, singer, songwriter and poet

1933 – Willie Nelson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, pot-head

1935 – Otis Rush, singer, songwriter and guitarist

1936 – Zubin Mehta, bassist and conductor

1936 – April Stevens, pop singer

1938 – Bernard Madoff, classic capitalist businessman and financier

1938 – Klaus Voormann, artist, bass player, and producer, major sideman

1943 – Duane Allen, country singer

1945 – Hugh Hopper, bass guitarist

1945 – Tammi Terrell, singer and songwriter

1947 – Tommy James, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

1952 – Dave Valentin, flautist

1978 – Javier Colon, singer, songwriter, and musician

1988 – Younha, singer, songwriter, and record producer

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Some people who died on this day:

It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.

~~ Ludwig Wittgenstein

1380 – Catherine of Siena, a saint who married Jesus, the son of god, and received his foreskin for a ring

1905 – Ignacio Cervantes, pianist and composer

1951 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher 1

967 – J. B. Lenoir, singer, songwriter and guitarist

1980 – Alfred Hitchcock, director, producer and bird fancier

1993 – Mick Ronson, guitarist, songwriter, and producer

1997 – Mike Royko, journalist and author

2006 – John Kenneth Galbraith, economist

2008 – Albert Hofmann, chemist

2012 – Kenny Roberts, country singer and songwriter

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare

National Rugelach Day

National Shrimp Scampi Day

The Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena

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