Given my longstanding interest in the American Civil War, it seems fitting that the anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 coincides with my birthday. April 12th is also notable for the mightiest surface wind ever recorded - 231 mph in 1934 atop Mt. Washington, NH - and the death of FDR in 1945.
In science news, Galileo was hauled before the Inquisition (1633) Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space (1961) and the Space Shuttle made its first flight (1981).
Tom Clancy, David Letterman, David Cassidy, one of the Indigo Girls, Herbie Hancock, Henry Clay, the current president of South Africa and the guy who played Lumpy on Leave it to Beaver all share my birthday, Also Tiny Tim. This is also the feast day of Saints Erkembrode and Zeno of Verona, among others.
This was not an auspicious date for the launch of EuroDisneyland in 1992, nor for Liberian democracy in 1980. But it was a fine day for me, and 42 years later on a bright April morning still feels that way.
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