23/05/10

Savonarola was burned at the stake in 1498.  The Netherlands declared independence from Spain in 1568.  The Second Defenestration of Prague occurred in 1618 and Cyrill Demian received a patent for the accordian in 1829.

Born today:  Elias Ashmole (1617-1692), Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), Franz Anton Mesmer (1737-1815), Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939), Scatman Crothers (1910-1986), Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), Nigel Davenport (1928), Joan Collins (1933), Robert Moog (1934), John Newcombe (1944), Luka Bloom (1955), Jimmy McShane (1957-1995) and, if my memory serves me, the lovely and talented Mr. Terry Hall's older son, Felix, is turning 22 today.  Somewhere here abouts, anyway.  How I know that is not nearly as stalkerish as it sounds.

It is World Turtle Day.