Evel Knievel died today - yes, today

U.S. motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel was born as Robert Craig Knievel, Jr. on October 17, 1938 in Butte, Montana. He said, "Unless we do things in this country to slow down our population, slow down our birth control, provide better water for people, provide power for people, we're gonna find out that the next wars are not going to be fought over diamonds, gold and political things." [Could it ever be about oil?]... Mr. Knievel died in 2007 in Clearwater, Florida.

Tiny Tim died today – 11 years ago

U.S. singer Tiny Tim was born as Herbert Buckingham Khaury on April 12, 1932 in New York City, New York. [Remember "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"? Of course, you do.] He said, “I remember calling up Variety and accusing the Beatles of stealing my look. The woman there said, 'Look, sir, let me tell you something. Their hair is like the Three Stooges, not yours!'" [And that’s not splitting hairs.]... Mr. Tim died in 1996 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Norman Cousins died today – 17 years ago

U.S. writer Norman Cousins was born on June 24, 1915 in Union City, New Jersey. He said, “No one really knows enough to be a pessimist." [Hmmmm.]... Mr. Cousins died in 1990 in Los Angeles, California.

Oscar Wilde died today – 107 years ago

Irish writer Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. He said, “There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating - people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing." [Well, I guess I know where that places me!]... Mr. Wilde died in 1900 in Paris, France.

Ron Paul the Lesser?

In today's New York Times was an article entitled "Paging the Lesser of 8 Evils" by Gail Collins. I'm not sure who was the "lesser". Perhaps it could be determined by the number of times that a candidate's name was mentioned in the article. This is what I counted (with any variant thereof but not including the pronouns):

Rudy Giulani - 2
Mitt Romney - 8 (9 if you count "Mormon president")
John McCain - 5
Mke Huckabee - 7
Tom Tancredo - 1
Ron Paul - 1
Fred Thompson - 2
Duncan Hunter -1

Go figure.

George Harrison died today – 6 years ago

English musician, singer (“Beatles”), and songwriter George Harrison was born on February 24, 1943 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He said, “After all we did for Britain, selling that corduroy and making it swing, all we got was a bit of tin on a piece of leather." [Quit whining.]... Mr. Harrison died in 2001 in Beverly Hills, California.

Ralph Bellamy died today – 16 years ago

U.S. actor Ralph Bellamy was born on June 17, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois. He said, “One day in Hollywood I read a script in which the character was described as 'charming but dull - a typical Ralph Bellamy type'. I promptly headed for New York to find a part with guts." [Good move. I'm sure things were different there.]... Mr. Bellamy died in 1991 in Santa Monica, California.