On this day in 1868, the famous jazz and ragtime pianist, Scott Joplin, was born. His music would be immortalized in the movie "The Sting "with Robert Redford. Scott Joplin had unusually large hands that allowed him to reach more keys than the average person. His piece, "The Entertainer" was one of his greatest hits.
Two other events are not so noteworthy.
First, this is the day that Jack Ruby in 1963 shot Lee Harvey Oswald and successfully removed the prime source of information as to who was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Later Jack Ruby would also die which effectively removed another important source of information. Numerous theories have been made as to who was to blame, but a cloud of silence has probably kept the truth from us. Those who know are probably dead and gone, their proverbial secret taken with them to the grave.
Second, this is the day in 1859 when Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was published. We are still struggling with the repercussions of this famous document.
This is also the day on which Joseph Glidden received his patent for barbed wire in 1874.
No comments:
Post a Comment