Louisiana. Where everything can be turned into a sport.

Football.

Politics.

Sweating.

Oh, well.


Today is

Bermuda Day

Brother's Day

Commonwealth Day, Belize

Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar

Education Day, Bermuda

Empire Day

Feast of Hermes Trismegistus (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy)

Independence Day, Eritrea

La Fete des Saintes Maries, France (gypsy festival)

Morse Code Day

Mothers Festival -- Celtic Calendar

National Escargot Day

St. Cyril's Day

St. Sara's Day


Birthdays Today:

Billy Gilman, 1988
Joe Dumars, 1963
Rosanne Cash, 1955
Priscilla Presley, 1945
Patti LaBelle, 1944
Gary Burghoff, 1943
Bob Dylan, 1941
Tommy Chong, 1938
"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819
Abraham Geiger, 1810
Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686


Today in History:

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626
The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689
John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738
Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830
The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830
Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844
The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883
The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900
Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930
Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940
Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991
15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001