Another One to Miss

Bil Keane, the creator of The Family Circus comic strip, died the other day.

Along with Andy Rooney, another one to miss.

Bil's son Jeff took over the strip a few years ago, but it's sad to think the creator is no longer there.

The best thing about The Family Circus is that it really was and is about his own family. Jeff said it reflected the reality of his life growing up, and is now reflecting his own family, too. It's touching, funny, and enduring.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Keane.


Today is:

Area Code Day -- US (began 60 years ago today)

Cry of Independence Day -- Panama

Day of Remembrance of Ataturk -- Turkey

Day of Russian Militsiya -- Russia

Dia de la Tradicion -- Argentina (birth of Jose Hernandez)

Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Beacon Lighting -- Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, MN, US (memorial for the Edmund Fitzgerald and all who have lost their lives in Great Lakes shipwrecks)

Forget-Me-Not Day -- internet generated, it's creator has been forgotten

Full Beaver Moon / Full Frosty Moon

Guinness World Records' Day -- celebrating ordinary people who do extraordinary things

Guru Nanak Dev Sahib's Birthday -- Sikh

Goddess of Reason's Day -- Revolutionary France

Hari Pahlawan -- Indonesia (Heroes' Day)

Loy Krathong -- Thailand (Floating of the Lamps festival; to appease the water spirits, dedicated to Mae Kongkha, Goddess of Rivers)

Martini -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (beginning of winter festival; date approximate, but usually around Martinmas)

National Toothpaste Appreciation Day -- not official, but i'm sure the dentifrice industry loves this one

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

Pha That Luang Festival -- Laos

Pirates Week Festival -- Cayman Islands (through the 20th)

Sleep Dangerously Night -- internet generated, a night to switch sides of the bed with your spouse and see who falls out of bed first

St. Andrew Avellino's Day (Patron of Badlato, Naples, and Sicily, Italy; stroke victims; for a holy death; against apoplexy, strokes, and sudden death)

St. Martin's Eve -- Germany; Portugal (Martimas Eve)

Tazaungmone -- Myanmar (Festival of Lights)

USMC Day -- US (includes the Marine Corps Birthday Ball)

Wish-Spoiling Sports Day -- Fairy Calendar (Imps, Gremlins, and grumpy Goblins)


Anniversaries Today:

Debut of Sesame Street, 1969
Debut of Microsoft Windows, 1983


Birthdays Today:

Ellen Pompeo, 1969
MacKenzie Phillips, 1959
Donna Fargo, 1949
Tim Rice, 1944
Russel Means, 1939
Roy Scheider, 1932
Richard Burton, 1925
Jane Froman, 1907
Claude Rains, 1889
Martin Luther, 1483


Today in History:

Rene Descartes has the dreams that inspire his Meditations on First Philosophy, 1619
The Dutch formally cede New Netherlands to the English; it is renamed New York, 1674
France ends forced worship of God, substitute the Goddess of Reason, 1793
The US state of Kentucky outlaws dueling, 1801
Stanley presumes that he has met Livingston in Ujiji, Central Africa, 1871
The first Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting is held in Boston, 1891
The first Gideon Bible is put in a hotel room, 1908
Hirohito ascends the throne as Emperor of Japan, 1928
The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston, 1958
The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board, 1975
A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada just west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history, 1979
The communist regime of Bulgaria falls, 1989