Dusty Springfield

Today is Emancipation Day in Washington, DC. Emancipation Day marks April 16th 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act.

The Act freed over 3,000 slaves in the District of Columbia eight months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act means the District has the distinction of being the only part of the United States to have compensated slave owners for freeing enslaved persons they held.

---

Bada Bing!!

I was disappointed to learn that the International Institute of Origami has folded. They lost their contract with PaperView.

You can’t fix stupid. But, you can sell it red hats, gold clown shoes, bibles, and worthless stock.

Now that the eclipse is over, those glasses can be used for viewing FOX news.

I think this ladder I’m on is unstab…

I went to the paint store to get thinner. It didn’t work.

I hope when I eventually choke to death on gummy bears, people will say I was killed by bears and leave it at that.

Dear Coca-Cola Company: No more new flavors. Either add the cocaine back or leave it alone.

We squint at the sun because it’s bright. We squint at some people because they’re not.

I watch so many crime programs when I turn off the TV, I wipe my fingerprints off the remote.

I didn’t know that Sylvester Stallone is on his third marriage…I guess his first one was rocky, and his second was rocky too.

---

Today is the birthday, in 1939, of English singer Dusty Springfield who had her first solo UK hit single in 1963 with ‘I Only Want To Be With You’, which reached No.4, the 1966 UK No.1 & US No.4 single with ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles. With her brother Dion O’Brien (“Tom Springfield”) and Tim Feild, Springfield formed the folk-pop vocal trio The Springfields. Two of their five 1961–63 top 40 UK hits ‘Island of Dreams’ and ‘Say I Won’t Be There’ reached No. 5 on the charts. Her image, marked by a peroxide blonde bouffant/beehive hairstyle, heavy makeup and evening gowns, made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties. She died on 3 March 1999 age 59. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp4339EbVn8

Today is Independence Day in Zimbabwe. After neighboring countries Zambia and Malawi gained independence in 1964, Ian Smith led the white minority government to make a unilateral declaration of independence in what was then Rhodesia. This began an extensive campaign of guerilla warfare which led, finally, to multiracial elections in 1980, won by Robert Mugabe’s ZANU party and international recognition on April 18, 1980 which this independence day celebrates.

Monday…

Saturday was the birthday, in 1939, of UK singer Dusty Springfield. Here she is with one of her many hits.

Today is the birthday of Dusty Springfield (1939), who sang this classic piece.