Some of these are too good.

I can't make this stuff up, that's what is so damnable about history, it has happened, we gotta live with it. Anyway, a LOT of wonderful and odd people were born today so I've ripped off a list of my faves:

Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby. Born this day in 1841. He's hockey's Stanley Cup guy and for whom Vancouver's Stanley Park is named. Seems he enjoyed being Canada's Governor General.

Sonya Krukovsky Kovalevsky, in 1850. Brilliant mind, a mathematician of the highest calibre and author. Shunned by her native academia because she was a woman. She had to marry a man to move OUT of Russia to go to university.

Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, in 1879. English born stage and film actor. He went from appearing in drag on the British stage to working alongside Boris Karloff and Raymond Massey in such cult hits as the original Ghoul and Bride of Frankenstein. Quite a range.

Goodman Aiskowitz, aka Goodman Ace, in 1899. Known for his dry wit and playful personality. Originally a writer, he moved to radio almost by accident and enjoyed a career that spanned decades as a performer (often with his wife Jane)and as a writer for the best of the Hollywood stars. Jack Benny was a fan of Goodman and in the early years used Goodmans jokes in his act. Notorious for his cheap "persona" Benny would quip how much he had to pay for them. Goodman fired back ""Your check got lots of laughs. If you have any more, send them along."

Born in 1909, Gene Krupa. Legendary drummer who brought the instrument to the front of the bandstand and pioneered many modern percussion applications.

Martin Luther King Jr, born in 1929. "A man can't ride your back unless it's bent."