It's National Norway Day.

Please consider consuming a great deal of Fårikål (lamb and cabbage) and Hansa.



And remember, please don't pine for the fjords.


Here is your Today in History -

On May 17, 1673, Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette first set out to explore the course of the Mississippi, which they believed would lead them to paradise.



Unfortunately it only took them to New Orleans, and they weren’t even in time for Mardi Gras.


May 17, 1792 -
24 drunken stock brokers got together outside of 68 Wall Street in New York under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street which earlier was the site of a stockade fence and signed an agreement with two provisions: 1) the brokers were to deal only with each other. Thereby eliminating the auctioneers, and 2) the commissions were to be .25%.



Thus the New York Stock Exchange was born (and none of it involving the shadowy derivative market.)


May 17 1950 -
In a Lonely Place, an excellent film noir directed by Nicholas Ray was released on this date. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a big favor and go out and rent it right now.



"I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived a few weeks while she loved me."


May 17, 1974 -
During a gun battle with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the LAPD fires tear gas into their Watts hideout. The canisters ignite a fire which soon consumes the house. Three other SLA members, including kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, watch the events unfold on TV in their motel room down the street from Disneyland.



Proving once again, it is the happiest place on earth.


May 17 1992 -
Bandleader, accordion player, and soap bubble aficionado Lawrence Welk dies of pneumonia in his beachfront condo in Santa Monica, California.



"Now for my accordion solo, Myron, will you join me?"


Frank Capra was born on May 18, 1897, and Jimmy Stewart was born on May 20, 1908. Without them we would not have had such American classics as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Mr. Smith Goes Back to Washington," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Again," "Mr. Smith Is Still in Washington," "Mr. Smith Feels Your Pain," "Mr. Smith is Really Very Serious about Term Limits," and, "Mr. Smith Drops Dead in Senate Chamber."



The duo also gave us "It's a Wonderful Life" with its own magnificent sequels: "It's a Really Wonderful Life," "It Just Doesn't Get Any Better Than Life," and "Life Is Just So Damn Good I Don't Know Whether to Take a Dump or Go Blind."





And so it goes