Saturday, February 13, 2010

   
[1766 - Thomas Robert Malthus, economist, demographer, born at Dorking, Surrey, England]

[1891 - David Dixon Porter, Rear Admiral, USN, dies at age 77]

   
[1892 - Grant Wood, artist, born in Anamosa, Iowa]

[1914 - American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers (ASCAP) founded in New York City]

   
[1918 - Patricia Jane 'Patty' Berg, golf champion, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota]

[1918 - Oliver Smith, Broadway scenic designer, born in Waupun, Wisconsin]

[1919 - Tennessee Ernie (Ernest Jennings) Ford,
singer, born in Bristol, Tennessee]

   
[1938 - (Robert) Oliver Reed, actor, born in London]

[1945 - British & Allied bombers drop incendiaries and high-explosive bombs on Dresden, Germany]

[1952 - Rocky Marciano defeats Lee Savold for 39th straight win]

   
[1974 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, dissident, writer (Nobel Prize), expelled from USSR]

Hummingbird Brains

The hummingbird and bumblebee,
Hover to feed when they fly, you see.
A sage once proved they couldn't do it.
But they declined to eschew it.

Now when I sit out in my garden,
Without a single "beg your pardon,"
They flitter, flit, and hover so,
Nor ask permission whence they go.

Illiterate bird and insect dunce,
You have not read my study once.
How will you profit from my knowledge,
When your heads are filled with porridge?

Get thee hence, insolent creatures.
Why won't you listen to your teachers?
If you persist in this behavior,
Neither man nor God will be your savior.

William's Whimsical Words:

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