April 29

George Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger was born in Rennes, France on the 29th in 1837. In the course of time, he would become a major influence in French politics. Like all politicians, he soon became embroiled in a rather sordid web of scandals, which ultimately led him to commit suicide in 1891. George Clemenceau summed up Boulanger’s life by saying that ‘he died as he has lived: a second lieutenant.’ The phrase ‘damning with faint praise’ springs to mind.

April 28

The mutiny on the Bounty occurred on the 28th in 1789, when Fletcher Christian set Captain Bligh and 18 others adrift in an open boat in the South Pacific, thereby setting the stage for one of the more masterful moments in Charles Laughton’s career in the movies.

April 27

I have known for a very long time that what drives poets is not the love of words, or even the way those words interact with each other and the world at large. It is actually quite plain and very simple. What drives poets is the money. Think about it, there are bags full of money just waiting to be handed to poets. Consider if you will, John Milton, author of the hugely successful free-verse epic poem Paradise Lost. In 1667, Milton, blind and impoverished, took solace in the knowledge that he had his poetry to fall back on. On the 27th, he sold the copyrights to Paradise Lost for £10. Remember, this was the 17th century and ₤10 went a lot farther than it does today. Also, don’t forget, Milton probably didn’t have to buy a bunch of postage stamps, envelopes or toner cartridges.

April 26

Born in 1880, George Baker was an ambitious man. Like many others when he hit his thirties, he apparently hit his stride; changing his name to Reverend General Jealous Divine and claimed to be God. Not a god, but God, with the capital G. In light-hearted, less formal moments, he referred to himself as The Messenger. When he felt the urge to be slightly more casual he would call himself Father Divine. Apparently, to prove that God was really just one of the boys, on the 26th in 1946, in Brooklyn, New York, Baker married Edna Rose Ritchings. This was truly a merging of two hearts and souls. The fact that Baker was 65 years old and Ritchings was only 21 had absolutely nothing to do with Baker’s, how shall I put it, more earthly motivations.

April 25

The French Revolution at the end of the 18th century gave the world a lot of things, chief among them, the plot of a lavish, over-done Broadway play. In a significant technological leap in penal reform however, it also gave us the guillotine. On the 25th in 1789, highwayman Nicholas J. Pelletier became the first person to be executed using a guillotine.

April 24

On the 24th in 1800, President John Adams signed into law legislation authorizing establishment of the Library of Congress with the appropriation of $5000 for "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".

April 23

My condolences go out to those of you who have not had the good fortune to experience the cold, sweet beverage that is called the Orange Julius. A summer is just not summer if one hasn’t eaten a Nathan’s hot dog (though only when you get it at the Nathan’s in Coney Island) and drunk an Orange Julius. The drink is named after banker and pigeon racing enthusiast Julius Freed who died on the 23rd in 1952.

April 22

James Hargreaves (pictured) died on the 22nd in 1778. In the textile industry, Hargreaves is generally given credit for having invented the spinning jenny. I believe, however, that if you check the official records you will discover that the spinning jenny was not invented until June of 1957 and that the inventor was Richard Penniman a/k/a Little Richard who then used his spinning jenny in the hit Jenny, Jenny which reached number 10 on the US charts and number 2 on the US R&B charts.

April 21

If your behavior at times raises the question of whether or not you were raised by wolves then the 21st is your day because that is the day in 753 b.c.e that is traditionally given for the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus.

April 20

If you are a fan of the Charles Schulz comic Peanuts you might want to give some thought to throwing a party for Snoopy on the 20th because it was on that date in 1918 that the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen) shot down his final victims (the 79th and 80th).