Life, Death and Violence: A Study of February 15

It’s New Music Tuesday so we here at LD&V are introducing a new feature: Flashback Tuesdays. Our first pick is the number one song the week of February 15,  1986: How Will I Know? by the one and only Whitney Houston.

LIFE! (Coperni’NO HE DIDN’T!)

Today is a popular day for popular people to be born.

• 1564- Galileo Galilee: The famed astronomer who championed Copernicanism (Earth revolves around the Sun) and was placed under house arrest during the Inquisition because of it is also the star of a really fantastic play by Bertol Brecht*. He also continued the development of the telescope based on Dutch schematics, developed the microscope and was responsible for a number of technological and scientific advances. He would have been pardoned and been granted a life of freedom had he recanted his views at his hearing, but the man stuck to his guns, which is incredibly noble and brave.

• 1710: King Louis XV of France: He’s basically the cause for the French Revolution.
• 1820: Susan B. Anthony: Women can vote because of the efforts of this magnificent lady, but, tragically, she died 13 years before the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919.
• 1954: Matt Groening: Created the Simpsons and will always have a special place in our hearts, even if the show has been on for about ten seasons too long.
• 1955: Janice Dickinson: Just look at her.

• 1964: Chris Farley: Beloved American Comedian
• 1980: Conor Oberst: Lead singer of Bright Eyes, lust object for every emo girl and gay boy from the ages of 14-21 (though we liked him better with the shorter hair)

DEATH! (It’s sad)

Today’s deathday is overshadowed by one huge name, Nat King Cole, one of the greatest vocalists of the jazz and big band eras. He was a three pack a day smoker which led to his early demise at the tender age of forty-five. We’ll let the music speak for itself.

VIOLENCE! (ZING! BANG! BOOM! POW! ZAP!)

• 1898: SHOOT EM UP! BANG! BOOM! The USS Maine exploded off the coast of Havana, Cuba, causing the United States to declare war on Spain. The Americans would win, granting Cuban independence as well as effectively destroying the once mighty Spanish Empire. Yellow Journalism also played a heavy role in swaying public opinion during the war and shaping the American national identity. This is the war that brought the Americans to the forefront of interfering in global affairs as before, it was primarily a country in isolation, warring only with those that infringed upon its borders. With Cuban independence came great economic gains to American interests (at least until the Cuban Embargo) and, ironically, to Spain as well as Spanish companies in the Americas went back and invested in the Iberian Peninsula.
• 2003: 600 cities worldwide united in peaceful protest against the Iraq War.

OTHER NEAT THINGS THAT HAPPENED! (They’re neat. Trust us)

• 1758: Mustard is introduced paving the way for developments that would mark President Obama an elitist for preferring the far superior dijon variety.
• 1897: The Oscilloscope was invented, making it far easier to tune our instruments. That is, if we played any. I mean, there was that brief stint with the violin a few years back, but that didn’t go nearly as well as we’d hoped so we just gave up. Honest though, we don’t give up on everything. Just instruments. And bad dates.
• 1903: The best thing to happen to toys before Bakelite™.

• 1955: Diamonds are a girls best friend, but cubic zirconia turned out to be a lot lighter on the wallet.
• 1972: William Kolff patented the artificial heart, saving millions of future lives in the process. He would also develop the kidney dialysis machine making him a medical wizard in our eyes. Team Kolff! (we imagine ourselves saying later in life when we’re old and frail instead of young and spry)
• 2005: YouTube was launched, killing the illusion that we could properly manage our time.

Thank you for joining us once again in this fantastic world of ours. Until next time, remember, diamonds last forever, but you can’t eat them or cubic zirconia (and you’re just cheap if you’re going to be buying us the fake stuff. Just go to the mall and get something low carat and cheap).

Besides, the way to our heart is with food. We’ll take a patty melt with a side of fries and a Faygo Rock N’ Rye**, please.

*Seriously though. Read Life of Galileo. It’s a great play.

**We are aware that that billboard advertises RedPop!, but it’s the same brand and Rock N’ Rye is just better, okay!? Foodie regionalism is fun.