Kids, it's fun to go off your diet now and then but for heaven sakes don't be like Mr. Creosote. Say NO to the last thin mint.
It the halfway point in Spring today (Summer is almost here!)
May 6, 1856 -
Sigmund Freud, cigar smoking Austrian, cocaine sniffing, father of psychoanalysis, was born on this date.
Even though Freud claimed he took his cigar out of his mouth every now and then, he battled cancer of the jaw from 1923 until his death in 1939 in London (from doctor assisted suicide.)
Kids, it's fun to smoke a stogie now and then but for heaven sakes don't be like Siggy. Say NO to cigars.
May 6, 1950 -
The late Elizabeth Taylor gets married for the first time to Conrad Hilton Jr on this date.
While that marriage barely lasted a year, Ms. Taylor liked to get married and married and married and married (twice) and married and married again and never got carried away.Kids, it's fun to take the plunge now and then but for heaven sakes don't be like Ms. Taylor. Say NO to serial monogamy.
Today in History:
May 6, 1864 -
Generals James Longstreet (one of the foremost Confederate generals) and Micah Jenkins were both seriously injured by their own troops at the Battle of Wilderness. (What is it with southern generals and friendly fire?) Unlike Stonewall Jackson, who also suffered from friendly fire and Gen. Jenkins, who died of his head wound a few hours later, Gen. Longstreet recovered, although his hearing was lost.
After the war, he spent the remainder of his life in an attempt to reconcile South with North (along with his West Point roommate, U. S. Grant) and was one of the last of Lee's top generals to die in 1903. His brilliance as a commander and tactician have only recently become widely accepted .Kids, it's fun to lead your troops into battle now and then but for heaven sakes don't be like Gen. Longstreet. Say NO to Civil War re-enactment.
May 6, 1910 -
Albert Edward Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, known as the 'Uncle of Europe' because he was related to nearly every other European monarch, was not having a good day. Dealling with a case of severe bronchitis (brought on by his life long heavy cigar smoking) and urged by his family to rest, Edward VII suffered a series of heart attacks on this date. Trying to lighten his father's mood, the future George V, the Prince of Wales informed his father that his horse had won a race that afternoon. The King replied, "I am very glad" and promptly lapsed into a coma. He died 15 minutes later.
Edward's wife, Alexandra of Denmark, is the patron saint of understaning wives. She was known to be quite fond of and enjoyed the company of Edward's mistress, Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston.) Alexandra was equally fond of Agnes Keyser and it was said also enjoyed her company and approved of her utter need of discretion. She apparently permitted, Alice Keppel, one of the king's many mistresses, at Edward's side when the King was on his deathbed.
Keppel's great-granddaughter, Camilla Parker Bowles, (later Duchess of Cornwall) became the mistress and, later, wife of Charles, Prince of Wales.
Oh, death and love among the royals.
And what did we say about cigar smoking!
May 6, 1915 -
George Orson Welles, magician, director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio, was born on this date.
Considered washed up by age 28, Welles had to struggle the rest of his life to complete some of film history's most complex films.
It must have sucked to be Orson Welles.
May 6, 1937 -
At 7:25 pm, the German dirigible The Hindenburg (Pride of the Nazi Zeppelin fleet) burned while landing at the naval air station at Lakehurst, NJ. On board were 6l crew and 36 passengers. The landing approach seemed normal, when suddenly a tongue of flame appeared near the stern. Fire spread rapidly through the 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen that filled the balloon.
Within a few seconds the zeppelin exploded in a huge ball of fire. The ship fell tail first with flames shooting out the nose. It crashed into the ground 32 seconds after the flame was first spotted; 36 people died. Captain Ernst Lehmann survived the crash but died the next day. He muttered 'I can't understand it.'
The cause remains the subject of debate even today. Once again, it's fun to take flight in a lighter than air dirigible now and then but for heaven sakes don't be like Capt. Lehmann. Say NO to taking rides in Nazi vehicles.
May 6, 1961 -
George Clooney, award-winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter and humanitarian, was born on this date.
He was also named People's 2006 Sexiest Man.
It must totally suck to be George Clooney.
May 6, 1962 -
The first US nuclear warhead fired from a Polaris submarine was launched. The submerged USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608) test-fired a Polaris A-2 missile with a live nuclear warhead across the Pacific Ocean toward Christmas Island, 1,700 miles (2,700 km) away.
The test, code-named Frigate Bird, was the only one the US ever conducted of any nuclear ballistic missile from launch through detonation. After a 12.5-minute, 1,200-mile (1,900 km) flight, the warhead exploded in the air between 10,000 and 15,000-ft (3,000 and 4,600-m) high with a yield of 600 kilotons.
Kids, don't get me started about living on a South Sea Island in the middle of a nuclear test zone.
And so it goes.
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