Why be difficult? With a bit more effort, you could be impossible.

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"Why be difficult? With a bit more effort, you could be impossible" is my saying for today (August 24th)!

Quote of the day: "Never loan shylock money to a woman, because you can't beat her up to collect." a Mafia Proverb

Word of the day: rhetor - noun: an orator

August 24th is the 236th day of the year (237th in a leap year) and there are 129 days left until the end of the year.

If today is your Birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

If you would like your birthday or a family member, or even a friends included in my "Birthday List", just leave a comment with all the pertinent information like Name, nickname, occupation and date of birth!

Some other, Famous People who were born on August 24th!

1113, Count of Anjou, Geoffrey of Anjou (d. 1151)

1198, King Alexander II of Scotland (d. 1249)

1358, King John I of Castile (d. 1390)

1393, Duke of Brittany, Arthur III (d. 1458)

1552, Italian painter, Lavinia Fontana (d. 1614)

1580, English poet, John Taylor (d. 1654)

1591, English poet, Robert Herrick (d. 1674)

1635, Danish statesman, Peder Griffenfeld (d. 1699)

1669, Italian composer, Alessandro Marcello (d. 1747)

1707, Countess of Huntingdon, English Evangelical Revivalist, Selina Hastings (d. 1791)

1750, Mother of Napoleon Bonaparte, Letizia Ramolino (d. 1836)

1758, Queen of Denmark and Norway, Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1794)

1759, English abolitionist, William Wilberforce (d. 1833)

1772, King William I of the Netherlands (d. 1840)

1787, English explorer of Antarctica, James Weddell (d. 1834)

1817, Russian writer, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (d. 1875)

1837, French composer and teacher, Théodore Dubois (d. 1924)

1845, American soldier, brother-in-law of George Armstrong Custer, James C. Calhoun (d. 1876)

1851, Australian cricketer, Tom Kendall (d. 1924)

1852, American baseball player, Deacon White (d. 1919)

1863, Croatian explorer, Dragutin Lerman (d. 1918)

1865, King Ferdinand I of Romania (d. 1927)

1872, British caricaturist, Max Beerbohm (d. 1956)

1880, American entrepreneur, Creator of Lionel Trains, Joshua Lionel Cowen (d. 1965)

1884, American author, Earl Derr Biggers (d. 1933)

1887, American baseball player, Harry Hooper (d. 1974)

1890, Hawaiian swimmer and surfer, Duke Kahanamoku (d. 1968)

1890, British writer, Jean Rhys (d. 1979)

1893, German-born Israeli biochemist, recipient of the Israel Prize, Haim Ernst Wertheimer (d. 1978)

1895, Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cushing (d. 1970)

1897, American songwriter and publishing executive, Fred Rose (d. 1954)

1898, American literary critic, Malcolm Cowley (d. 1989)

1899, Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges (d. 1986)

1899, Belgian biologist, Nobel laureate, Albert Claude (d. 1983)

1899, American comic book writer, Gaylord DuBois (d. 1993)

1901, American actor, Preston Foster (d. 1970)

1902, French historian, Fernand Braudel (d. 1985)

1902, Sicilian-born American mafioso, Carlo Gambino (d. 1976)

1903, Nazi official, Karl Hanke (d. 1945)

1904, American actress, Alice White (d. 1983)

1905, American singer and guitarist, Arthur Crudup (d. 1976)

1905, President of Sierra Leone, Siaka Stevens (d. 1988)

1907, Swiss architect, Bruno Giacometti

1909, South African cricketer, Ronald Grieveson (d. 1998)

1911, English automotive engineer and race team manager, Lofty England (d. 1995)

1911, Greek Trotskyist leader, Michel Pablo (d. 1996)

1912, American television personality, Durward Kirby (d. 2000)

1913, American mountaineer, Charles Snead Houston (d. 2009)

1915, American writer, James Tiptree, Jr. (d. 1987)

1916, French composer and singer, Léo Ferré (d. 1993)

1916, American actor, Hal Smith (d. 1994)

1917, American game show host, Dennis James (d. 1997)

1918, Governor of Kerala, Sikander Bakht (d. 2004)

1919, Mexican professional wrestler, Enrique Llanes (d. 2004)

1920, Canadian painter, Alex Colville

1921, Zimbabwean racing driver, Sam Tingle (d. 2008)

1922, Premier of Quebec, René Lévesque (d. 1987)

1922, American historian and activist, Howard Zinn (d. 2010)

1923, American psychologist, Arthur Jensen

1924, British bandleader Alyn Ainsworth (d. 1990)

1924, British actor, Jimmy Gardner (d. 2010)

1927, Australian author, David Ireland

1927, American economist, Nobel laureate, Harry Markowitz

1929, Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat (d. 2004)

1929, American feminist and sex educator, Betty Dodson

1930, American racing driver, Roger McCluskey (d. 1993)

1932, LDS apostle, Robert D. Hales

1934, English actor, Kenny Baker

1936, English novelist, A. S. Byatt

1936, American Governor, Nevada, Kenny Guinn

1937, Nigerian politician, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (d. 1998)

1938, Icelandic politician, Halldór Blöndal

1938, American bassist, David Freiberg

1938, American guitarist and composer, Mason Williams

1940, Quebec politician, Francine Lalonde

1942, American politician, Max Cleland

1942, British novelist and newspaper columnist, Howard Jacobson

1943, American guitarist, John Cipollina (d. 1989)

1943, Israeli football agent, Pini Zahavi

1944, Canadian hockey player, Bill Goldsworthy (d. 1996)

1944, American astronaut, Gregory Jarvis (d. 1986)

1944, Canadian professional wrestler, Rocky Johnson

1945, English musician, Ken Hensley

1945, American professional wrestling promoter, Vince McMahon

1947, American actress, Anne Archer

1947, Brazilian author, Paulo Coelho

1947, Belgian cyclist, Roger De Vlaeminck

1947, American politician, governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin

1947, Russian admiral, Vladimir Masorin

1948, French musician, Jean-Michel Jarre

1948, Chief of Staff of Republic of Korea Air Force, Kim Sung-Il

1949, American actor, Joe Regalbuto

1949, American actor, Charles Rocket (d. 2005)

1950, Pittsburgh Steelers three-time Super Bowl champion, John Banaszak

1950, American anthropologist, Tim White

1951, American writer, Orson Scott Card

1951, American author, Oscar Hijuelos

1952, American politician, junior senator of Tennessee, Bob Corker

1952, American model, Holly Hallstrom

1952, American football coach, Mike Shanahan

1952, Jamaican dub poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson

1953, American tenor saxophonist, Ron Holloway

1954, French singer, Philippe Cataldo

1954, French Canadian hockey player, Alain Daigle

1955, American politician, Governor/Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee

1956, American politician, John Culberson

1956, Singaporean singer-songwriter, Dick Lee

1957, American dancer and singer, Jeffrey Daniel

1957, English comedian and actor, Stephen Fry

1958, American actor, Steve Guttenberg

1958, American artist, Tracy Harris

1958, American author, Chris Offutt

1959, Former South African cricketer, Adrian Kuiper

1960, Danish footballer, Kim Christofte

1960, Japanese filmmaker, Takashi Miike

1960, American baseball player, Cal Ripken, Jr.

1961, Belgian judoka, Ingrid Berghmans

1961, English actor, Jared Harris

1962, American talk show host, Craig Kilborn

1962, American actor, David Koechner

1962, Major Garrett, American journalist

1963, American singer, John Bush

1963, Japanese video game director, Hideo Kojima

1964, French racing driver, Éric Bernard

1964, American comedian and writer, Dana Gould

1964, Russian cosmonaut, Salizhan Sharipov

1965, American actress, Marlee Matlin

1965, American basketball player, Reggie Miller

1965, Sri Lankan cricketer, Brian Rajadurai

1967, English footballer, Michael Thomas

1968, French Canadian hockey player, Benoît Brunet

1968, Japanese professional wrestler, Shoichi Funaki

1968, Brazilian guitarist, Andreas Kisser

1968, American baseball player, Tim Salmon

1968, Professional boxer, James Toney

1970, American television journalist, David Gregory

1970, American Mixed martial artist, Dan Henderson

1970, Turkish footballer, Tugay Kerimoglu

1971, Italian actor, Pierfrancesco Favino

1972, Canadian freestyle skier, Jean-Luc Brassard

1973, Canadian hockey player, Andrew Brunette

1973, American actor and Comedian, Dave Chappelle

1973, Dutch swimmer, Inge de Bruijn

1973, Voice actress, Grey DeLisle

1973, American actor, Carmine Giovinazzo

1974, Irish Vocalist for Celtic Woman, Orla Fallon

1974, American actress, Jennifer Lien

1975, Surinamese-Dutch footballer, Mark de Vries

1975, Australian actor, Alex O'Loughlin

1976, Dutch footballer, Nordin Wooter

1977, Brazilian footballer, Denílson

1977, German footballer, Robert Enke (d. 2009)

1977, Danish footballer, Per Gade

1977, American author, John Green

1977, Austrian footballer, Jürgen Macho

1978, Dominican baseball player, Rafael Furcal

1978, Canadian hockey player, Derek Morris

1978, American actress, Beth Riesgraf

1979, Dutch footballer, Orlando Engelaar

1979, Taiwanese singer, Elva Hsiao

1979, American basketball player, Michael Redd

1979, German rugby player, Markus Walger

1980, Canadian actress, Sonja Bennett

1981, Taiwanese singer, Actor, Model, Jiro Wang

1981, American actor, Chad Michael Murray

1982, Swedish footballer, Kim Kallstrom

1983, German hockey player, Marcel Goc

1983, British actor, Christopher Parker

1984, Canadian actor, Kyle Schmid

1984, Korean singer, Yesung

1984, American basketball player, Charlie Villanueva

1986, American baseball player, Nick Adenhart (d. 2009)

1986, Italian footballer, Fabiano Santacroce

1987, Slovenian hockey player, Anže Kopitar

1987, American basketball player, Jon Scheyer

1988, English actor, Rupert Grint

1988, Filipina actress, Helga Krapf

1990, Argentine actor and singer, Juan Pedro Lanzani

2003, Son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, Alexandre Coste

Famous People who Died on August 24th!

79, Roman writer and naturalist, Pliny the Elder (b. 23)

1042, Byzantine Emperor, Michael V (b. 1015)

1103, King Magnus III of Norway (b. 1073)

1217, French mercenary and pirate, Eustace the Monk (b. c.1170)

1540, Italian painter, Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (b. 1503)

1542, Italian diplomat and cardinal, Gasparo Contarini (b. 1483)

1572, Victims of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre:
French Huguenot leader, Gaspard de Coligny (b. 1519)
French humanist, Pierre de la Ramée (b. 1515)
French Huguenot soldier, Charles de Téligny (b. c.1535)

1595, English astronomer, Thomas Digges (b. 1546)

1647, English sculptor and architect, Nicholas Stone (b. 1586)

1664, Silesian astronomer, Maria Cunitz (b. c.1610)

1679, French cardinal and agitator, Jean François Paul de Gondi (b. 1614)

1680, Irish-born thief of the British crown jewels, Thomas Blood (b. 1618)

1683, English non-conformist theologian, John Owen (b. 1616)

1759, German poet, Ewald Christian von Kleist (b. 1715)

1779, Greek Orthodox martyr, Saint Cosmas of Aetolia (b. 1714)

1798, English clergyman, Thomas Alcock (b. 1709)

1818, U.S. Congressman, James Carr (b. 1777)

1831, Prussian field marshal, August von Gneisenau (b. 1760)

1832, French mathematician, Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (b. 1796)

1841, English author, Theodore Edward Hook (b. 1788)

1841, Privateer of the War of 1812, John Ordronaux (b. 1778)

1888, German physicist, Rudolf Clausius (b. 1822)

1895, British mountaineer, Albert F. Mummery (b. 1855)

1921, Russian poet, Nikolay Gumilyov (b. 1886)

1930, English freak showman, Tom Norman (b. 1860)

1940, German television pioneer, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (b. 1860)

1943, French philosopher and social activist, Simone Weil (b. 1909)

1945, Japanese actress, Survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, died of radiation poisoning, Midori Naka (b. 1909)

1946, U.S. Supreme Court justice, James Clark McReynolds (b. 1862)

1954, President of Brazil, Getúlio Vargas (b. 1882)

1956, Japanese film director, Kenji Mizoguchi (b. 1898)

1958, Northern Irish artist, Paul Henry (b. 1876)

1967, American industrialist, Henry J. Kaiser (b. 1882)

1967, Hong Kong radio commentator, Lam Bun (b. 1930)

1974, Russian-American aviation pioneer, Alexander de Seversky (b. 1894)

1977, Canadian hockey player, Buddy O'Connor (b. 1916)

1978, American band leader, Louis Prima (b. 1910)

1979, German test pilot, Hanna Reitsch (b. 1912)

1979, Russian Orthodox Christian monk and wonder-worker, Sampson Sievers (b. 1898)

1980, British actress, Yootha Joyce (b. 1927)

1982, French Canadian catholic priest and novelist, Félix-Antoine Savard (b. 1896)

1983, American writer, educator and activist, Scott Nearing (b. 1883)

1985, American composer, Paul Creston (b. 1906)

1987, English wrestler, Malcolm Kirk (b. 1936)

1990, Russian writer, Sergei Dovlatov (b. 1941)

1990, Sudanese writer, Gailli AbedElrhman (b. 1931)

1991, Italian inventor, Bernard Castro (b. 1904)

1995, German-born photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt (b. 1898)

1997, German actor, Werner Abrolat (b. 1924)

1998, American actor, E.G. Marshall (b. 1910)

1999, Greek-Italian classical guitarist, Alexandre Lagoya (b. 1929)

2000, Swiss karateka and kickbox champion, Andy Hug (b. 1964)

2001, American actress, Jane Greer (b. 1924)

2002, Russian Orthodox Christian mystic and priest, Nikolay Guryanov (b. 1909)

2003, British explorer, Sir Wilfred Thesiger (b. 1910)

2004, Swiss-born psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (b. 1926)

2005, Colombian Vallenato singer, Kaleth Morales (b. 1984)

2005, American singer, Harold "Hal" Kalin (b. 1934)

2006, French Canadian tenor, Léopold Simoneau (b. 1916)

2006, Romanian film director, Cristian Nemescu (b. 1979)

2007, Mayor of Quebec City, Andrée P. Boucher (b. 1937)

2007, American film producer and director, Aaron Russo (b. 1943)

2010, Japanese film director, Satoshi Kon (b. 1963)