Now 99 years old, Vera Lynn might have plans to live until World War III. On a related note, “Vera” is a short song by Pink Floyd that appears on their 1979 album The Wall. The song is part of the classic rock opera that alludes to World War II, and the title is a reference to Vera Lynn. Pink Floyd are among my very favorite bands from my parents’ generation. Also, my very pregnant wife and I are expecting our second daughter any day now; Heidi is 39 1/2 weeks pregnant. By her own account, she’s either going to give birth really soon or we’re going to have a situation our hands not dissimilar to Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote.
Vannevar Bush (March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator. During World War II he headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all wartime military R&D was carried out, including initiation and early administration of the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear weapons. Bush was the man behind the scenes of the atomic bomb project. He coordinated the activities of some 6,000 leading American scientists in the application of science to warfare. Bush was a well-known policymaker and public intellectual during World War II, when he was in effect the first presidential science advisor. He is also known in engineering for his work on analog computers, for founding Raytheon, and for the memex, a hypothetical adjustable microfilm viewer with a structure analogous to that of hypertext. Bush was also chiefly responsible for the movement that led to the creation of the National Science Foundation.
James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) was a political theorist, American statesman and the fourth President of the United States (1809-17). Hailed as the “Father of the Constitution,” Madison wrote the first drafts of the U.S. Constitution, co-wrote The Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, and sponsored the Bill of Rights. He established the Democratic-Republican Party with President Thomas Jefferson, and served as Jefferson’s Secretary of State (1801-09). As Secretary of State, Madison supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the nation’s size. As President, he led the United States into the War of 1812; this endeavor was an administrative morass, as the U.S. had neither a strong army nor financial system. As a result, Madison afterward supported a stronger national government and a strong military, as well as the national bank.
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American statesman who served as the seventh President of the United States (1829-1837). He was born in the Waxhaws region between North Carolina and South Carolina. A lawyer and a landowner, he owned hundreds of slaves who worked on the Hermitage Plantation. Jackson became a national war hero after defeating the British in New Orleans during the War of 1812. In response to conflict with the Seminole in Spanish Florida, he invaded the territory in 1818. This led directly to the First Seminole War and the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, which formally transferred Florida from Spain to the United States. Known as the “people’s president,” Jackson destroyed the Second Bank of the United States, founded the Democratic Party and supported individual liberty. He is also known for having signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which resulted in the forced migration of Native Americans in the South to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
Bobby Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster, the 11th World Chess Champion. Many consider him the greatest chess player of all time. At age 20, Fischer won the 1963-64 U.S. Championship with 11/11, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Fischer’s book My 60 Memorable Games (1969) remains one of the most acclaimed works in chess literature. In 1972, he captured the World Chess Championship from Boris Spassky of the USSR in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland; it was publicized as a Cold War confrontation and attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since. After losing his title as World Chess Champion in 1975, Fischer became reclusive and sometimes erratic, disappearing from both competitive chess and the public eye. After 1992, he lived his life as an émigré.
Ralph H. Baer (March 8, 1922 – December 6, 2014) was a German-born American video game developer, inventor and engineer, and was known as “The Father of Video Games” due to his many contributions to games and the video game industry in the latter half of the 20th century. Born in Germany, he and his family fled to the United States before the outbreak of World War II. In 1951, while working at Loral, he proposed the idea of playing games on television screens, but his boss rejected it. Later in 1966, while working at Sanders Associates, his 1951 idea came back to his mind, and he would go on to develop eight hardware prototypes. The last two (the Brown Box and its de/dt extension) would become the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Baer would contribute to the development of other consoles and consumer game units, including the electronic memory game Simon for Milton Bradley in 1978.
Anthony Davis, Jr., nicknamed “The Brow” for his trademark unibrow, is an American professional basketball power forward/center for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. In his one season of college basketball at the University of Kentucky, Davis was the consensus national player of the year. He was selected first overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by New Orleans, and is a two-time NBA All-Star. Davis won a gold medal on the U.S. national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was born in Chicago on March 11, 1993.
Jaime Meline, better known by his stage name El-P (originally El Producto), is an American hip-hop recording artist, record producer, rapper and entrepreneur from Brooklyn. Originally a member of Company Flow, El-P has been a major driving force in alternative hip-hop for more than two decades. He is the co-founder, owner and CEO of the Definitive Jux record label. His solo albums include Fantastic Damage (2002) and I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (2007). El-P is also a member of The Weathermen and art collective Cardboard City (along with Cage, Shia LaBoeuf, Aesop Rock, Yak Ballz and others). In 2013, he formed the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, with frequent collaborator Killer Mike, and has released two RTJ albums. El-P was born on March 2, 1975.
My favorite song from Run the Jewels 2 (2014) is the excellent final track, “Angel Duster.” Also, five years ago, I uploaded a 12-song Definitive Jux 2010 playlist to 8tracks. It’s a 2001-2009 retrospective of some favorite Def Jux tracks in response to El-P’s announcement that the label was going on hiatus and he was stepping down as artistic director. Feel free to listen to the playlist in honor of El-P’s 40th birthday. Or in honor of my 36th birthday, which is tomorrow.
Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. He released five gold records before 1955 and had 35 nationally charted hits. Domino has a music style based on traditional rhythm and blues ensembles of bass, piano, electric guitar, drums and saxophone. He was an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s and was acknowledged as such by top artists, including John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Of French Creole background, Domino was born in New Orleans on February 26, 1928 and lives there to this day. He even tried to stay at home during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which heavily flooded his neighborhood.
Charles Barkley is a retired American professional basketball player and current television analyst, who played power forward for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers (1984-1992), Phoenix Suns (1992-1996) and Houston Rockets (1996-2000). Nicknamed “Chuck,” “Sir Charles,” and “The Round Mound of Rebound,” Barkley is a 11-time NBA All-Star, the 1991 All-Star MVP, the 1993 NBA MVP and a two-time Olympic gold medal winner (1992, 1996) as a member of the “Dream Team.” Short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA’s most dominant rebounders. Though popular, Barkley has often been the butt of jokes regarding his weight problems, unorthodox golf swing and highly opinionated persona.
P.S. Don’t forget that time in 1992 when a 300-foot-tall Charles Barkley dunked on Godzilla in downtown Tokyo. And later, in 1993, Dark Horse Comics released the one-shot comic book Godzilla vs. Barkley. This really happened.
Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball point guard for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Curry, who is known for his exceptional shooting skills, played college basketball for the Davidson Wildcats. As a junior in 2008-09, he was the NCAA scoring leader with 28.6 points per game and was a consensus first-team All-American. Curry led Davidson to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2008 (in which eventual national champion Kansas snapped Davidson’s 25-game winning streak). He was selected seventh overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. In the 2012-13 NBA regular season, Curry set the record for three-pointers made with 272. In 2014, he was named to his first NBA All-Star team. Curry, the son of former NBA player Dell Curry, was born on this day in 1988.
Dock Ellis was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. He played most of his 12-year career for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1968-1975, 1979). Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970. He later stated that he accomplished the feat under the influence of LSD. In 1971, Ellis was a starting pitcher in the All-Star Game and his Pirates won the 1971 World Series. Five years later, he helped lead the Yankees to the 1976 World Series and was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year in the process. Ellis was an outspoken individual who advocated for the rights of players and African Americans. He also had a substance abuse problem, and he acknowledged after his retirement that he never pitched without the use of drugs. Ellis was born on this day in 1945 and died in 2008 at the age of 63.
Note: Watch the charming animated short by No Mas and artist James Blagden about Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. It’s worth four minutes of your time.
No comic artist is funnier and more thoughtful on a daily basis than Zach Weinersmith with SMBC, which is why I have supported his Kickstarter projects (like Trial of the Clone: A Choosable Path Gamebook and SCIENCE: Ruining Everything Since 1543) and sponsor him on Patreon. This is also why Zach is now an 8-bit character in my retro artillery game. If you squint, you’ll notice that Zach is wearing a Breadpig shirt. And he throws light bulbs.
Lou Reed was an American musician, singer and songwriter. After serving as guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, his solo career spanned several decades. The Velvet Underground was a commercial failure in the late 1960s, but the group gained a considerable cult following and has become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era. After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1972. He had a hit the following year with “Walk on the Wild Side,” a song describing fixtures at The Factory, the New York studio of Andy Warhol, in the 1960s. Reed was known for his distinctive deadpan voice, poetic lyrics and for pioneering ostrich guitar tuning. He was born on this day in 1942 and died on October 27, 2013.
Since I wasn’t able to create pixel art of Lou Reed in a timely fashion after his death last year, I figured I’d wait until his birthday. He would have turned 72 years old today. I am currently staying at the Georgetown Inn in Seattle, my favorite city, with my wife and almost-seven-month-old daughter. We have been visiting friends. Tomorrow is my 35th birthday. It seems like only yesterday that I created myself and my wife as pixel art characters.
Marshall Faulk is a retired National Football League (NFL) player who played as a running back for 12 seasons (1994-2005). In college he played for San Diego State University, and was a three-time All-American. In the NFL, he played for the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams, winning Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams in 2000. Faulk is one of only three NFL players to reach at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards; he is the only one to amass 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Faulk was born on this day in 1973.
Julius Erving, commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the NBA after the 1975-76 season. Erving won three championships, four MVP awards, and three scoring titles with the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. He is the sixth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history. He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests and was the only player voted MVP in both the ABA and the NBA. Erving was born on this day in 1950.
Bonnie Blair is a retired American speedskater. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Winter Olympics (1984, 1988, 1992, 1994), winning five gold medals and one bronze medal.
Spike Lee is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983. As a director, he is best known for Do the Right Thing (1989). Lee’s movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, urban crime and poverty. He has won an Emmy Award and received two Academy Award nominations. As an obnoxious superfan of the New York Knicks (and the Yankees), Lee is often seen courtside at Madison Square Garden. He was born on this day in 1957.
David Cronenberg is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people’s fears of bodily transformation and infection. In the first half of his career, Cronenberg explored these psychological themes mostly through horror and science fiction. Notable works include Videodrome (1983), The Fly (1986), eXistenZ (1999), A History of Violence (2005) and Eastern Promises (2007). Cronenberg was born on this day in 1943.
Vera Lynn – No. 1005
Vera Lynn (born March 20, 1917), widely known as the “Forces’ Sweetheart,” is an English singer, songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war, she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. The songs most associated with her are “We’ll Meet Again,” “The White Cliffs of Dover,” “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “There’ll Always Be an England.” She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the United States and recording such hits as “Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart.”
Now 99 years old, Vera Lynn might have plans to live until World War III. On a related note, “Vera” is a short song by Pink Floyd that appears on their 1979 album The Wall. The song is part of the classic rock opera that alludes to World War II, and the title is a reference to Vera Lynn. Pink Floyd are among my very favorite bands from my parents’ generation. Also, my very pregnant wife and I are expecting our second daughter any day now; Heidi is 39 1/2 weeks pregnant. By her own account, she’s either going to give birth really soon or we’re going to have a situation our hands not dissimilar to Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote.