The Who2 Blog

Diane, you are truly a faithful reader and a goddess of proofreading. Never stop sharing!Those thank-you checks should clear customs any day now.

Late, great racehorse Barbaro was born five years ago today. Barbaro won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but two weeks later he shattered his leg while running in the Preakness Stakes, the second race in the Triple Crown. Despite state-of-the-art treatment, he died in January of 2007 of laminitis. That’ the same crazy horse-hoof illness that got Secretariat.

Interesting story in The New York Times today about Ernie Chambers, the senior senator in Nebraska’s legislature. He’s being forced out by term limits after nearly 40 years in the legislature.

It’s the semiquincentennial of President James Monroe, born on 28 April in 1758.Monroe is remembered for a lot of things (including, endlessly, the Monroe Doctrine). But at Who2 HQ we tend to think of him as the first non-Founding Father president.

Happy 100th birthday, Edward R. Murrow.You stud.

Yikes! Actor Wesley Snipes given three years in prison for not paying his taxes.

Yesterday we were chatting about Wallis Simpson, the somewhat slippery woman for whom King Edward VIII gave up his crown.

Guy Trundle, Guy Trundle, Guy Trundle!Seductive king-buster Wallis Simpson died 22 years ago today. The anniversary is just a convenient excuse to shout “Guy Trundle” — the most deliciously seedy name in the history of romantic scandals.

Actor Ivan Dixon died last month, says the LA Times. We missed the story until just now.Dixon played “Kinch” on the series Hogan’s Heroes. But he had a fascinating (if less-heralded) career after that.On the trivia front: That Times obit says he also was the stunt double for Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones.

Happy birthday (probably) to William Shakespeare!