Posts tagged birthdays

pbsthisdayinhistory:

MARCH 2, 1904: DR. SEUSS BORN

On this day in 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel was born. He would have been 108 today.

Most people know Dr. Seuss as the man behind The Cat in the Hat. But how many know that Yertle the Turtle was modeled after Hitler - or that Dr. Seuss created WWII political cartoons that denounced racism, isolationism and other issues of the day?

From 1941 to 1943, Seuss served as chief editorial cartoonist for the New York liberal newspaper PM, and his work commented on issues of the day. His political cartoons during World War II denounced isolationism, racism and anti-Semitism.

Images: Dr. Seuss/ Random House

FJP: Happy Birthday, Doctor!

pbs.org

Happy Birthday, Flickr! For its eight birthday the Flickr blog is profiling eight photographers who’ve been using the site since its launch in February 2004. Image via Cheezburger.

Happy Birthday, Flickr!

For its eight birthday the Flickr blog is profiling eight photographers who’ve been using the site since its launch in February 2004.

Image via Cheezburger.

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Dickens! As part of the celebration, England’s Royal Mail is releasing stamps to commemorate the author. Says Philip Parker, a Royal Mail spokesperson, “Charles Dickens was one of the truly great British novelists, a man born into poor circumstances who went on to change the world in which he lived thanks not just to his novels, but his campaigning journalism and philanthropy.” Image: A Nicholas Nickleby stamp with an illustration by Hablot Knight Browne. Nickleby was Dickens’ third novel, appearing as a serial from 1838 through 1839.

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Dickens!

As part of the celebration, England’s Royal Mail is releasing stamps to commemorate the author.

Says Philip Parker, a Royal Mail spokesperson, “Charles Dickens was one of the truly great British novelists, a man born into poor circumstances who went on to change the world in which he lived thanks not just to his novels, but his campaigning journalism and philanthropy.”

Image: A Nicholas Nickleby stamp with an illustration by Hablot Knight Browne. Nickleby was Dickens’ third novel, appearing as a serial from 1838 through 1839.

Happy 11th Birthday, Wikipedia! Via Singularity Hub: [I]t’s doing more than subsisting, it’s thriving. Wikimedia Foundation’s annual fund drive raised $4.5 million in 2008, $8.7 million in 2009, $15 million in 2010, and now $20 million in 2011. The drive is also getting faster (dropping from 67 days to 50 from 2009-2010), and broader, as seen in the increased number of donors. Besides Wikipedia, there are ten sister projects: Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikimedia Commons (aka Wikicommons), Wikispecies, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikiversity, Wikinews, MediaWiki, Wikimedia Incubator, and Wikimedia Metawiki. Each has its own dedicated user base and corps of volunteers. WMF has sites in almost every country and in 282 different languages. The 2011-2012 Foundation Plan calls for expanding the sites further every year. The 2011-2012 budget is actually $28.3 million, with missing funds to be met by grants from institutions like the Sloan Foundation. (This drive and grant combination is the norm, and it seemingly works well.) Wikimedia has increased its hires, bringing the company from 50 to 78 in the past fiscal year and aiming to further increase staff by as many as 35 more hires. Wikimedia Foundation has plenty of money to spend as well, they run a high level of reserves ($13 million or so), and they continue to exceed their expectations in revenue. (Revenue was up 50% or so in 2010). To balance that boon, spending is going to increase by 24% in 2012 to invest in better harnessing the crowd.

Happy 11th Birthday, Wikipedia!

Via Singularity Hub:

[I]t’s doing more than subsisting, it’s thriving. Wikimedia Foundation’s annual fund drive raised $4.5 million in 2008, $8.7 million in 2009, $15 million in 2010, and now $20 million in 2011. The drive is also getting faster (dropping from 67 days to 50 from 2009-2010), and broader, as seen in the increased number of donors. Besides Wikipedia, there are ten sister projects: Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikimedia Commons (aka Wikicommons), Wikispecies, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikiversity, Wikinews, MediaWiki, Wikimedia Incubator, and Wikimedia Metawiki. Each has its own dedicated user base and corps of volunteers. WMF has sites in almost every country and in 282 different languages.

The 2011-2012 Foundation Plan calls for expanding the sites further every year. The 2011-2012 budget is actually $28.3 million, with missing funds to be met by grants from institutions like the Sloan Foundation. (This drive and grant combination is the norm, and it seemingly works well.) Wikimedia has increased its hires, bringing the company from 50 to 78 in the past fiscal year and aiming to further increase staff by as many as 35 more hires. Wikimedia Foundation has plenty of money to spend as well, they run a high level of reserves ($13 million or so), and they continue to exceed their expectations in revenue. (Revenue was up 50% or so in 2010). To balance that boon, spending is going to increase by 24% in 2012 to invest in better harnessing the crowd.

In the real world, the right thing never happens in the right place and the right time.  It is the job of journalists and historians to make it appear that it has. — Mark Twain Happy 176th Birthday, Mark Twain! A few years ago, Mental Floss gathered a series of quotes and called it the Mark Twain School of Journalism. Among my favorites: Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you wish. — Michael Image: Detail from Time Magazine’s July 2008 cover.

In the real world, the right thing never happens in the right place and the right time.  It is the job of journalists and historians to make it appear that it has. — Mark Twain

Happy 176th Birthday, Mark Twain!

A few years ago, Mental Floss gathered a series of quotes and called it the Mark Twain School of Journalism.

Among my favorites: Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you wish. — Michael

Image: Detail from Time Magazine’s July 2008 cover.

The Wall Street Journal turned 122 this month. Its first issue, pictured above and costing all of two cents, was published July 8, 1889. Its self-declared audience: “operators, bankers and capitalists.”

The Wall Street Journal turned 122 this month. Its first issue, pictured above and costing all of two cents, was published July 8, 1889.

Its self-declared audience: “operators, bankers and capitalists.”

YouTube: Where 48 Hours of Video Uploaded Per Minute Happens

Over on the YouTube blog they’re celebrating their sixth birthday and reveal some remarkable stats: over 48 hours of video are uploaded to the site each minute, and there are over 3 billion views per day. 

A certain piece of technology turned 40 years old today. Hint: If you're a moderate nerd, you probably use it regularly (if not every day), but if you're not, you may not know what it is. Despite its age, it's still in wide use.

Was just logging in to write about this very same thing. First line would have gone like so:

If you’ve transferred any large files to a server recently you probably used the File Transfer Protocol, a technology proposed forty years ago today by Abhay Bhushan of MIT.

Then I would have gone on and said some other things, and perhaps tried to weave a little bit of clever into it.

Now I don’t have to. 

Thank you.

—Michael

shortformblog

February 6 marks what would have been Ronald Reagan’s 100 birthday.

We imagine a certain cable news channel will celebrate it quite well.

Meanwhile, Newmanology is creating a gallery of magazine covers from the Gipper’s career.