Happy Birthday to me!
Today, I am celebrating my 34th birthday. Unfortunately, I am also working, and will probably be here pretty late tonight. On my brithday, I am reminded (by wikipedia) that a whole lot of bad things happened on my birthday throughout history and that it is entirely possible I was in one of those maternity ward cribs right next to Mr. David Chappelle, who was also born on August 24, 1973 in Washington DC.
So here are a selection of the bad things that happened on August 24 - apparently, it's a good day for a massacre!
79 - Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash.
410 - The Visigoths under Alaric begin to pillage Rome for three days.
1349 - Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.
1391 - Jews massacred in Palma de Mallorca.
1572 - Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre: On the orders of king Charles IX of France, a massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) begins.
1814 - British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.
1857 - The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in U.S. history.
1929 - Riots in Palestine of 1929: 18 Jews in Safed, 67 in Hebron, and 22 in Jerusalem killed by Arab Palestinians
1992 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida as a Category 5 Hurricane.
2004 - Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, explode within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow, leaving no survivors. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.
And a few of the notable people who share this birthday
1890 - Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer and surfer (d. 1968)
1929 - Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader (d. 2004)
1945 - Vince McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter
1951 - Orson Scott Card, American writer
1958 - Steve Guttenberg, American actor
1960 - Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player
1965 - Marlee Matlin, American actress
1965 - Reggie Miller, American basketball player
1988 - Rupert Grint, English actor
And thank goodness, today in 1853, potato chips are first prepared! Now that is reason for a celebration!
So here are a selection of the bad things that happened on August 24 - apparently, it's a good day for a massacre!
79 - Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash.
410 - The Visigoths under Alaric begin to pillage Rome for three days.
1349 - Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.
1391 - Jews massacred in Palma de Mallorca.
1572 - Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre: On the orders of king Charles IX of France, a massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) begins.
1814 - British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.
1857 - The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in U.S. history.
1929 - Riots in Palestine of 1929: 18 Jews in Safed, 67 in Hebron, and 22 in Jerusalem killed by Arab Palestinians
1992 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida as a Category 5 Hurricane.
2004 - Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, explode within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow, leaving no survivors. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.
And a few of the notable people who share this birthday
1890 - Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer and surfer (d. 1968)
1929 - Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader (d. 2004)
1945 - Vince McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter
1951 - Orson Scott Card, American writer
1958 - Steve Guttenberg, American actor
1960 - Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player
1965 - Marlee Matlin, American actress
1965 - Reggie Miller, American basketball player
1988 - Rupert Grint, English actor
And thank goodness, today in 1853, potato chips are first prepared! Now that is reason for a celebration!