1856: Nikola Tesla is born (or maybe on the day before) [patents] [museum] [vid: wizard]
1862: Emperor Norton demands a blessing: “We do hereby command the Leaders of the Hebrew, Catholic and Protestant Churches to sanctify and have us crowned Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.”
1871: Marcel Proust is born
1886: “Cap” Streeter runs his steamboat aground on a sandbar near Oak Street in Chicago; unable to move it, he claims it as the independent District of Lake Michigan
1895: Carl Orff is born [Fortuna]
1900: The image of Nipper, the dog with the phonograph, is trademarked
1925: The Scopes “monkey trial” begins
1941: Jelly Roll Morton dies [mr jelly lord] [dead man blues] [oil well]
1947: Arlo Guthrie is born
1958: Béla Fleck is born [vids: O’Connor Wooten/Futureman]
1985: France blows up the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior
1989: Mel Blanc dies [wav: that’s all] [IMDB]