Monday, February 18, 2008

Happy Generic President's Day

Also Happy Birthday Matt.

Here is your Today in History -

Timur Lenk (also known as Timur the Lame, Tamerlane, Tamberlaine, and Mr Tambourine Man) died "mysteriously" during an expedition to China on February 18, 1405.




George, the English Duke of Clarence, was convicted of treason against his brother King Edward IV and murdered in the Tower of London on February 18, 1478. The legend arose that he had been drowned in a barrel of Malmsey wine. What a way to go.

Michelangelo Buonarotti died on February 18, 1564.




Elm Farm Ollie (known as "Nellie Jay" and post-flight as "Sky Queen") was the first cow to fly in an airplane, doing so on 18 February 1930, as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. On the same trip, which covered 72 miles from Bismarck, Missouri, to St. Louis, she also became the first cow milked in flight. This was done ostensibly to allow scientists to observe midair effects on animals, as well as for publicity purposes. A St. Louis newspaper trumpeted her mission as being "to blaze a trail for the transportation of livestock by air." Your life is better for knowing this.




Feb 18 1933 -
Yoko Ono born. What else is ther to say?




Feb 18 1967 -
J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, dies. His 'children' didn't even send flowers.




Feb 18 1991 -
Killer/Cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer strangles a 19-year-old man, marking his tenth (of 17) victims. Jeffrey dismembers the body and keeps the skull in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment.


Feb 18 2001 -
Race car driver Dale Earnhardt crashes into the wall at the Daytona 500, killing him instantly. His widow files a lawsuit to force the autopsy photos to be sealed, and a Florida law is subsequently passed to prevent them from ever being released. Earnhardt was the most well known and most successful driver in the history of the sport.




And so it goes.

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