Born in 1860 – Grandma Moses, American painter.

Above: “Halloween”

Born in 1960 –

Lafayette

“Fat” Lever, American basketball player.

Born in 1943 – Robert De Niro, American actor.

Above: De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull.

Born in 1945 – Steve Martin, American humorist and musician.

Read this: “Side Effects”.  

From The New Yorker, April 13, 1998.

In 1961, East Germany began construction of the Berlin Wall.

Previously: Alfred Hitchcock

Born in 1931 – William Goldman, American author, playwright, and screenwriter.

Robin Williams, American actor and comedian, died a year ago today.

Previously: Erwin Chargaff

Born in 1963 – Andrew Sullivan, English-American journalist and author.

Perviously: Toumani Diabate

thenumeral5:

Today in 1945: Nagasaki was devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, was dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 39,000 people were killed outright.

Photo: Nagasaki in 2012.

Born in 1924 – James Baldwin, American author, poet, playwright, and critic.

“One must say Yes to life, and embrace it wherever it is found – and it is found in terrible places…”

from The Fire Next Time, 1963.