Born in 1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist.

Born in 1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist.

“Earthbound while everything expands
So many grains of sand
Slipping from hand to hand
Catching the light and falling into dark
The world fades out like an overheard remark
In the falling dark“

-from the 1976 song “In the Falling Dark”

Born in 1904 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch-American painter.

Above: de Kooning with his wife Elaine

Also born: Pickle

Born in 1743: Third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence.

“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.”

It’s the feast day of Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, saint of the Roman Catholic Church and the patron saint of teachers.

“Teachers who are not actively involved in the learning process themselves, force their students to drink from stagnant water.”

Born in 1941 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor.

Above: Ganz in the 2015 film, Heidi.

Born in 1920 – Éric Rohmer, French film critic and director.

Above: Françoise Fabian as Maude in Rohmer’s 1969 film, Ma nuit chez Maud.

Born in 1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher.

“The greatest mystery of life is that satisfaction is felt not by those who take and make demands but by those who give and make sacrifices. In them alone the energy of life does not fail, and this is precisely what is meant by creativeness… . All creativeness is love, and all love is creative.”

-from The Destiny of Man

Born in 1885 – Ring Lardner, American journalist and author.

“‘Are you lost, Daddy?’ I asked tenderly. ‘Shut up,’ he explained.'”

― Ring Lardner, The Young Immigrunts

Previously: Michelangelo

In 1770 – The Boston Massacre. Five Americans were fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later.

Above: A detail from an illustration of the incident, made by Henry Pelham.