Happy Saint Sithney Day

St. Sithney is the patron saint of mad dogs.



A Breton folk story, states that God asked Sithney to be the patron saint of girls seeking husbands, but Sithney said he would rather be the patron saint of mad dogs and get some rest.

Make of this what you wish.


Barack Obama is 50 old today. Dear Mr. President, may your summer birthday be less hot and sticky than the moment of your birth (where ever you were born.).

Have Uncle Joe crack open a beer or two for you, Mr. President - you deserve it.


August 4, 1930 -
Michael Cullen was a grocer's grocer. He started working for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A & P) at 18 and worked there for 17 years. He then went to work for Kroger Stores for 11 years but he had a dream.

Cullen leased a vacant garage at the corner of 171st Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens, just a few blocks from a busy shopping district. On August 4, 1930, King Kullen Grocery Company opened the doors to the world's first supermarket.



I wonder if they're celebrating Founder's Day at the store?


August 4, 1901 -
Louis Armstrong alway stated that his birthday was on the Fourth of July, a date that has been noted in many biographies.







During the 1980's, Louis Armstrong's baptismal certificate was discovered in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans, showing his actual birth date was August 4th, 1901.


Today in History:
August 4, 1693 -
Oh, great day in the morning (this day should be a great religious and national holiday), Blind Benedictine Dom Perignon invents champagne.



He has been quoted as saying, "Come quickly, brothers, I'm drinking stars!" upon tasting his accidental brew.


August 4, 1792 -



Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on this date. He died in a tragic boating accident before the age of 30, but he gave us many masterpieces, including "The Cloud," "To a Skylark," and "Prometheus Unbound."

The fish eaten bodies were washed ashore at Viareggio, where, in the presence of his friend Lord Byron, he was burned on the beach - his heart was given to his wife, Mary Shelley, who carried it with her in a silken shroud everywhere she went for the rest of her life.

All I can say is that I'm glad it was just his heart.


August 4, 1892 -
Someone took an axe and killed Lizzie Borden's millionaire parents. Andrew receives 10 whacks, and Abby 14.

Based on strong circumstantial evidence, Sunday school teacher Lizzie is later tried for the murders.



She was acquitted of the murders by an all-male jury.


August 4, 1954 -
Douglas Sirk's first Technicolor bouquet for film goers, Magnificent Obsession, was released on this date.



Forget the silly plot, this film was Rock Hudson's breakthrough film (the first of eight studio pictures he would make with Sirk) and Sirk began to realize his masterful visual language skills


August 4, 1964 -
Vietcong torpedo boats launch an unprovoked attack against the U.S.S. Maddox, while the destroyer is patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin. Except that it's only a hoax.



Regardless, the Congress responds by passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."



And so it goes.