Birthdays: Pope Julius II, Martin Van Buren* ,Walt Disney , Fritz Lang, Eugene Debs, George Armstrong Custer, Little Richard Penniman, Strom Thurmond, Otto Preminger, Lin Piao, Calvin Trillin, Joan Didion, Jim Plunkett, Jose Carrerras, Margaret Cho is 39

* Martin Van Buren , President 1837-41, was a master political tactician and backroom dealer- he was born in Kinderhook New York. Whenever there was a delicate political or diplomatic tangle that needed fixing, you never had to worry if “Old Kinderhook” was on the job- it was “OK” one theory of the origin of the phrase.

1837- Hector Berlioz chorale Requiem premiered.

1854- Aaron Allen of Boston patented the theater chair that folded up so you could exit.

1912- New York Hat directed by D.W. Griffith premiered. The first movie script written by Anita Loos, then 19. She became one of the finest Hollywood screenwriters ,who penned films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

1933- Prohibition is repealed in the U.S. Interestingly enough the final state to ratify the repeal amendment was Utah. My grandmother recalled a parade of beer trucks going down Broadway being cheered like Lindbergh's return. She jumped on the running board of one to hoist a stein with young congressman Fiorello Laguardia and Al Smith.

1951- Shoeless Joe Jackson died. The most powerful baseball batter of his age, he taught Babe Ruth how to hit. But he was implicated in the Black Sox scandal of 1919 and permanently banned from baseball. He worked in a hardware store near his rural Georgia home.

1952- The Abbott and Costello Television Show premiered. Where’s Hilary, Mr Fields and Stinky? “ Niagara Falls! Slooowwlly I turn! Step by Step! Step by Step!”

1974- The BBC aired the last Monty Python show.
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IN honor of Walt Disney’s Birthday
From Walt Disney Imagineering Commissary
Walt's Own Chili Recipe


>
> 2 pounds ground beef (coarse)
> 2 whole onions (sliced)
> 2 whole garlic cloves (minced)
> 2 pounds pink beans (dry)
> 1/2 cups celery (chopped)
> 1 teas. chili powder
> 1 teas. paprika
> 1 teas. dry mustard
> 1 can solid pack tomatoes (large can)
> salt (to taste)
>
> Soak beans overnight in cold water. Drain. Add water to cover
> 2 inches over beans and simmer with onions until tender (about 4
> hours). Meanwhile, prepare sauce by browning meat and minced
> garlic in oil. Add remaining items and simmer 1 hour. When beans
> are tender, add sauce and simmer 1/2 hour. Serves 6-8.