| Thursday, October 15, 2009 |
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| Lincoln, Bearded and Un |
Answer of the DayWould Abraham Lincoln have been elected President if he hadn't had the beard? On this date in 1860, 11-year-old Grace Bedell wrote Lincoln the fateful letter suggesting that he grow whiskers. Though Lincoln expressed doubts about it, within the month he had grown a beard and he became the first bearded US President. Except for William McKinley (1897-1901), every POTUS from Lincoln through William Howard Taft (1909-1913) sported a beard or mustache. Since then, every president has been clean-shaven.
Quote"All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President."
Word of the dayminatory
Of a menacing or threatening nature; minacious.
And now, for your descriptive needs, two weeks of useful adjectives.
Today's History
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Charlie Chaplin as 'The Great Dictator' |
- Gregorian calendar: was adopted by Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain; the Julian calendar ended the previous day, October 4, and the intervening 10 days were deleted (1582)
- The Great Dictator: Charlie Chaplin's scathing satirical film attack on Nazi Germany was released (1940)
- I Love Lucy: one of television history's most popular sitcoms debuted (1951)
- sound barrier: was broken on land for the first time, by RAF pilot Andy Green in Black Rock Desert in Nevada, 50 years and a day after it was broken in the air by Chuck Yeager (1997)
Today's Birthdays
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| Emeril Lagasse |
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900): German philosopher who wrote about the Übermensch, or superman; plus philosopher/historian Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
- John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006): economist
- Mario Puzo (1920-1999): novelist, The Godfather; other writers who shared this birth date include Virgil (70-19 BCE), Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), Mikhail Yurevich Lermontov (1814-1841 OS), Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885), P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) and C. P. Snow (1905-1980)
- Jim Palmer (64): three-time winner of the Cy Young Award
- Emeril Lagasse (50): celebrity chef
- Keyshia Cole (28): R&B singer and songwriter, The Way it Is; musicians who share this birth date include Richard Carpenter (63) and Tito Jackson (56)
