Today in 1951 United States President Harry S. Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur and relieved him of command of all U.S. forces in Korea.
There was a “police action” going on at the time, which is to say a war.
Sidney Lumet has died at age 86. The director of Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and 12 Angry Men passed away of lymphoma at his home in New York.A few thoughts about Sidney Lumet from the back row:
Yesterday was the anniversary of the discovery of Kurt Cobain’s body, in 1994. He’d been dead a few days, due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound (they say).
Kurt Cobain and Nirvana were at the height of rock and roll success at the time. Then Kurt was dead and we were left with his grievous widow, Courtney Love, some poorly-recorded live performances and an eternity of the Cult of Kurt Cobain.
Michael J. Fox shares a light moment with his daughter, Esme, atop the Empire State Building on Friday. They were there to throw a switch lighting the building orange and white to raise awareness for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Sweden has announced which internationally famous Swedes will appear on their new banknotes, scheduled for circulation sometime in 2014 or 2015.
A Maverick, a movie director, and a movie director who’s a maverick. All this and Sir David Frost too in today’s rare daily double of birthday twins.
Glenn Beck is ending his daily television show on Fox News.
Our new biography of Duncan Jones is now live. He’s the director of the sci-fi film Moon (2009) and now Source Code (starring Jake Gyllenhaal, as seen above on a Spanish poster).
“I always get on conference calls four minutes late, because it’s not so late that it [irritates people], but it’s just late enough to show how important I am.”Rainn Wilson,
Today is the birthday of English philosopher and royal pal Thomas Hobbes.