What up? I don' t know about you, but in KC it's Thursday (Veer-waar, yawm-al-khamis, Istijlal, Setting Orange). Once again it's cold outside and once again the Cheese Factory's computers are running slow. Please do not mistake the Cheese Factory for a well-oiled machine. Cheese when melty, tends to clog up the gears. It also can clog other things, especially when one is lactose intolerant. That's disgusting!
Alright, so, today's date in Iran and Afghanistan is Panjshanbeh, Esfand 16, 1386. This is important because the man who created the Persian calendar, Omar Khayyam, finished it on this date in 1079 (our calendar not his). Not only was Omar a calendar creator, he was also a poet and a mathematician. I generally don't think of math dorks being poets, but as I was discussing with this goofy friend of mine the other day, there is some link between math and music, and so I guess it's not a total shocker. And example of Omar's work: "And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky, Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die, Lift not thy hands to It for help- for It, Rolls impotently on as Thou or I."
In 1820 the worst state in the Union according to one very opinionated woman, Missouri, was admitted as a slave state when President James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise into law. In 1836 the Alamo fell to Mexican troops after a 13-day siege. My grandmother is going to San Antonio next week and I'm hoping she'll bring me back a souvenir from the Alamo. I myself am opposed to the idea of Texas. Steers and queers, baby. (N.b., I have nothing against either steers or queers- I just don't like Texans.) In 1853 Verdi's opera La Traviata premiered in Venice. In 1899 Bayer registered a trademark for aspirin. In 1951 the Rosenberg trial began. In 1983 USFL began its first season of competition. I was ten when the USFL started and I was so excited that there was going to be football on in the Spring that I nearly wet myself. Despite what any of you might think, football is the greatest sport in the history of athletics, and anyone who disagrees with me is just plain wrong. And in 1987 the British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise (which is a silly name for a ferry from a socialist country) capsized killing 193.
In the West African nation of Ghana today is Independence Day. In the Ashanti language Ghana means "warrior king". Its capital is Accra and the nation has about 23 million inhabitants. Ghana's economy depends mainly on the export of gold, cocoa, timber, diamonds, and other stuff, although 85% of the population is employed in agriculture. 63% of Ghanans are Christians
Happy Birthday: Michelangelo; Cyrano de Bergerac; Lou Costello; Ed McMahon; Alan Greenspan; the most famous crackhead ever, Marion Barry, Jr.; David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd; Tom Arnold; D.L. Hughley; and Shaq.
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