Ewww, Escargot

May doesn’t seem like a good fit for me to participate in unusual celebrations. Today is National Escargot Day. I will not be participating today. I do not believe I will ever participate in this event. If you would like to, be my guest…but do not expect me to be your guest.

Historical Markers:

Ø  1626-Manhattan was sold to Peter Minuit. It may not have been the last time it was sold, but it was the last legal one, of course, there are the stories that say he purchased the land from the wrong tribe!

Ø  1830- Mary Had a Little Lamb was written by Sarah Hale of Boston, Mass. She is often referred to as the “Mother of Thanksgiving”.

Ø  1844-Samuel Morse sent the first electric telegram. The message was “What hath God wrought?” It was sent between Baltimore Maryland and Washington DC.

Ø  1883-After just 14 (short?) years of construction, The Brooklyn Bridge opened for traffic.

Ø  1911-The New York Public Library opened to, you guessed it, the public.

Ø  1962-The Aurora 7 space capsule orbited Earth with astronaut Scott Carpenter aboard.

Ø  1976-British Airways begins Concorde service between Washington’s Dulles Airport and London, England. I loved to watch it take off (usually around 1PM) from the ‘service road’ runway when I worked at the airport.

Birthday Markers:

Ø  Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686) German Physicist and engineer. Yeah, he’s the thermometer guy.

Ø  Queen Victoria (1819 ) She began her British rule when she was 18 after her uncle (William IV) died, She remained queen for over 63 and a half years.

Ø  Gary Burghoff (1940 ), Actor most recognized as Radar in TV series M*A*S*H* and one of my favorite game shows, Match Game.

Ø  Robert Allen Zimmerman, (1941), Singer/Songwriter known as Bob Dylan. Began calling himself Bob Dylan when working the Dinkytown music circuit while attending the University of Minnesota (Minnesota hats off to you, to our colors, true we shall ever be….) probably in honor of poet Dylan Thomas.

Ø  Priscilla Presley (1946). After her marriage/divorce from Elvis Pressley, she became an actress.

Ø  Roseanne Cash (195 ), Singer and daughter of The Man in Black, Johnny Cash.

Ø  John C. Reilly (1965 ). Actor. You’ll recognize his face from Casualties of War, The River Wild, Never Been Kissed, and Step-Brothers.

Passing Markers:

Ø  Nicolas Copernicus (1543), Astronomer who formulated the heliocentric cosmology (Sun is the center of the Universe),

Ø  John Foster Dulles (1959), US Secretary of State and namesake of my favorite airport.

Ø  Duke Ellington, (1974) Jazz Great. Three Little Words and It Don’t Mean a Thing,