The Last Candle

Well, let’s see what’s big and historical on May 31st since the dawn of history (or interesting history, at least).

• In 1279 BC, Rameses II The Great is deemed pharaoh of Egypt.
• Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu died in 1408 after a long life of 50 years.
• Famed Austrian composer Joseph Haydn also passed on this day, 199 years ago.
• Walt Whitman, American poet and greater lover of insects, was born in 1819.
• One of the most bloody battles of the American Civil War broke in central Virginia as the Battle of Cold Harbor during 1864.
• The R.M.S Titantic was launched in 1911. (Note: the actual maiden voyage — the one that didn’t end so well — didn’t occur until April 1912.)
• Two years after the launch and undersea voyage of the Titanic, the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution was declared in effect.
• 1927: The last Model T is produced and rolls off Ford’s assembly line. Beep beep!
• The trans-Alaska oil pipeline was completed in 1977.
• German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder celebrated his 1945 birthday until his death in 1982.
• R.I.P Spuds Mackenzie, a fine dog-shaped advertisement who died on this day in 1993.
• Clint Eastwood celebrates his birthday today since 1930, as does Joe Namath since 1943.
• Corey Hart, Brooke Shields, Peter Yarrow (from Peter, Paul and Mary), Run-DMC and Colin Farrell also call today their birthday, as did Wesley Willis until his 2003 death.
• Christian McBride, the great jazz bassist, also celebrates a birthday on this day.
• In 1982, McCartney and Wonder’s Ebony and Ivory was the top hit in the United States. I prefer Australia’s number-one single: Joan Jett and the Blackheart’s I Love Rock and Roll.
• The Visitation is observed today, as is World No Tobacco Day.

Coincidentally (wink, wink), I was born on this day in 1982. I think May 31st is just plain fabulous.