Discover more from Morning Martini
7/25/2022: Recession Redefined
PLUS: Monkeypox Emergency, Holed Up With Hunter, and Vince McMahon Retires
Today is Monday, July 25, 2022.
It is the 206th day of the year.
159 days remain.
TRENDING
Saturday was National Rat Catcher’s Day.
Wish I Could Have Seen was trending Saturday as Twitter users shared which musicians or bands they wish they had a chance to see perform.
Sunday was National Tequila Day.
Eddie Murphy landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends Sunday as users picked him as one of their favorite black comedians. He was trending in response to @gntlmnking’s tweet asking followers to pick their top four black comedians. Bernie Mac and Richard Pryor were also trending responses to the tweet.
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HIT LIST
In recent weeks, the small island nation of Sri Lanka has faced turmoil and uncertainty as the people revolted against a government that crippled its agricultural industry, and in turn its whole economy, after implementing draconian regulations on nitrogen emissions from its farms.
Now, aspiring tyrant JUSTIN TRUDEAU has finalized plans to institute nearly identical policies in Canada. His stated goal is to bring nitrogen emission levels from fertilizer to 30% below 2020 levels by the year 2030. Doing so will necessarily mean smaller crop yields, meaning bankrupt farmers, and, more broadly, food shortages.
For a typical Canadian farmer raising 1000 acres of canola and 1000 acres of wheat, this will mean a profit reduction of up to $40,500 a year.
WORTH ASKING: How many farmers have that kind of margin in their budget to begin with? And why is Tudeau aggressively punishing an industry that kept people fed amid his insane covid lockdown policies? Why is he emulating policy that has proven ruinous in real-time in other countries?
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A small salmonella outbreak has been traced back to illegal baby turtle sales, the CDC says.
It is illegal to sell turtles with shells smaller than four inches long, but the practice is common online and at flea markets. These smaller turtles are more likely to carry salmonella, which has now infected fifteen people across 11 states, five of whom have been hospitalized.
If you’re handling tiny turtles, wash your hands very, very thoroughly before touching anything else.
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How bad is inflation? It’s driven down the value of minimum wage to the lowest level since 1956.
At the time, minimum wage was 75 cents an hour, which works out to about $7.19 today. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25.
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The Saudi Arabian government has plans for the world’s largest buildings ever built.
The Wall Street Journal reports that plans for The Mirror Line include two parallel buildings, each 1,600 feet tall – that’s higher than the Empire State Building – and an astounding 75 miles (!!!) long. The budget is up to $1 trillion. Once complete, it could house up to five million people, and include an underground high-speed train to carry residents around the sprawling complex.
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The World Health Organization has declared Monkeypox a “global health emergency.” This means a coordinated global response is required to tackle the situation.
The declaration comes despite a majority of the WHO’s emergency committee voting against it; but Director General Tedros overruled them anyway.
WORTH NOTING: As more than 16,000 cases have been recorded globally so far, the vast majority of cases remain limited to men who have sex with men.
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San Francisco – a bastion of covid compliance and lefty do-goodery – had the worst population decline in the United States between July 2020 and July 2021.
That decrease certainly is not solely due to covid deaths; scores of people also fled for more affordable homes and neighborhoods, especially as the tech-heavy business sector located there promoted remote working opportunities.
MEANWHILE: Residents in Beijing, China, are now required to wear electronic tracking bracelets around the clock if they leave the city and come back. The device measures body temperature to monitor for covid symptoms – and of course includes tracking location and movement.
SPEAKING OF CHINA: The company behind TikTok spent $2.1 million on lobbying efforts in the second quarter of the year. Federal disclosures show lobbyists for ByteDance lobbied on an array of issues, including those that affect technology competition, especially overseas.
They also lobbied on bills related to defense spending.
WORTH ASKING: Why in the hell would an app made for lip syncs and dance routines have interest in a defense spending bill unless there were something more nefarious happening?
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It’s bad juju to cheat at chess. It’s an even worse idea to bend the rules when playing against a robot.
Russia’s TASS news agency reports that during last week’s Moscow Open chess tournament, a 7-year-old boy was responding too quickly to moves made by a computerized robot arm.
That’s when the robot arm grabbed the kid’s fingers and broke them.
But the kid, only identified as Christopher, reportedly went on to compete the next day, and was aided in making moves by volunteers.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The Dow lost 137 points (0.43%) on Friday to close at 31,899. The S&P 500 lost 37.32 points (0.93%) to close at 3,961 while the Nasdaq lost 225 points (1.87%) to close at 11,834.
🛢 West Texas Intermediate fell sharply toward the end of the week, trading at $94.70 on Friday. Brent Crude also remains under $100, trading at $98.38.
⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $4.36 on Sunday. For the week that ended July 23, 2018, the average price of a gallon of gas was $2.83 – a 54% increase.
₿ Bitcoin added $371.40 in value Sunday, trading north of $22,800.
🛩 There were 5,128 flight delays within, into, or out of the United States on Sunday, and 719 such cancellations.
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CHARTS
Weekend Box Office
10. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris: $1.3 million (down from 9)
9. Jurassic World Dominion: $2.9 million (down from 8)
8. The Black Phone: $3.4 million (down from 7)
7. Paw of Fury: The Legend of Hank: $3.8 million (down from 6)
6. Elvis: $6.2 million (down from 5)
5. Top Gun: Maverick: $10 million (down from 4)
4. Where the Crawdads Sing: $10.3 million (down from 3)
3. Minions: The Rise of Gru: $17.7 million (down from 2)
2. Thor: Love and Thunder: $22.1. Million (down from 1)
1. Nope: $44 million (new)
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DEATHS
BOBBIE FAYE FERGUSON has died.
The actress, known for “Designing Women” and “Dukes of Hazzard,” passed away on June 25 of natural causes, according to multiple news outlets.
She was 78
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MELANIE RAUSCHER has died.
The “Naked and Afraid” contestant passed away “under mysterious circumstances” in Arizona, according to TMZ. An exact cause of death will be determined by the Yavapai County Medical Examiner.
She was 35.
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KEVIN ROONEY has died.
The Emmy award-winning comedy writer passed away at his home on July 19th after a lengthy battle with diabetes and end-stage renal failure.
He was 71.
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DWIGHT SMITH has died.
The former MLB player passed away Thursday of congestive heart and lung failure, according to a Twitter post by his former team, the Atlanta Braves.
He was 58.
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BOB RAFELSON has died.
The filmmaker passed away Sunday at his Aspen, Colorado home of natural causes.
He was 89.
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BREAKUPS
CHUCK LORRE, creator of “The Big Bang Theory,” has filed for divorce from his wife, lifestyle blogger ARIELLE LORRE, 36.
The 69-year-old called it quits after three years of marriage, according to TMZ. He cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Arielle was Chuck’s third wife.
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Google co-founder SERGEY BRIN, 48, has filed for divorce from his wife NICOLE SHANAHAN, 37, after she reportedly had an affair with Tesla CEO ELON MUSK, 51.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk and Shanahan hooked up last December while she was separated from, though still living with, Brin. Musk had also recently split from the mother of his two children, GRIMES.
The fling has, understandably, caused some tension between the two men, who were longtime friends.
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SICK BAY
Comedian RUTH BUZZI, 86, is “bedridden and incapacitated” after suffering several strokes, her husband Karl Perkins revealed on Facebook.
Buzzi is best known for her role in the variety series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” She also played Suzie Kabloozie on “Sesame Street” from 1993-2006.
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“American Pickers” alum FRANK FRITZ, 55, has been hospitalized with a stroke.
His former “Pickers” partner MIKE WOLFE shared the news on Instagram, asking followers to pray for his friend.
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WEDDINGS
JILLIAN MICHAELS, 48, tied the knot with fashion designer DESHANNA MARIE MINUTO, 37, in an intimate ceremony in Africa.
Prior to flying to Africa, the couple got legally married in the States at a Miami courthouse on July 11.
They plan to have their official wedding celebration in June 2023 in Venice, Italy.
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THE SWAMP
Page Six reports that HUNTER BIDEN and wife MELISSA COHEN are struggling to keep their marriage together.
The pair married just six days after meeting each other in May 2019.
The main point of tension comes from having to be holed up at their $20,000-a-month Malibu mansion together and living under constant surveillance from the Secret Service.
Page Six reports the couple has been “instructed to stay out of sight and away from the cameras while the investigation into Hunter continues” – but no word yet on who’s doing the instructing. Joe? Jill? Chief of Staff RON KLAIN?
One source tells Page Six, “He whisked her off her feet. She thought she was marrying a prince from a great American family and she’d live a charmed life with him…. But the reality is he’s a train wreck and life with him is very hard behind closed doors. She had no idea what she was getting into.”
WORTH ASKING: If the Department of Justice eventually brings charges against Hunter, will his father, President JOE BIDEN, insist on his son’s innocence? Wouldn’t that have required Joe to talk to his son about his business dealings?
WORTH NOTING: The Secret Service is spending $30,000 a month on a next-door mansion in order to keep tabs on the First Son.
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A BRIEF TALE OF CORRUPTION
Last week, news broke that PAUL PELOSI – husband of Speaker NANCY PELOSI – bought millions of dollars worth of stock in tech manufacturing firm Nvidia, as a bill makes its way through the Senate that would provide $50 billion in subsidies and massive tax credits to exactly such firms.
During Friday’s press briefing, Nancy Pelosi scoffed at a reporter’s question about ever sharing inside information with her husband.
GET A LOAD OF THIS: On July 18, a man named JAIME LIZARRAGA was sworn in as a Commissioner on the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC investigates things like insider trading.
WORTH ASKING: Where has Lizarraga built his career to become qualified in Securities Law?
Most recently, he worked as a senior adviser to Nancy Pelosi herself since at least 2008.
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On Thursday, economic data is due that will formally determine whether the U.S. economy is in a recession.
Ahead of that, the Biden Administration is changing the definition of “recession.”
Per the White House website: “While some” – and by some, they must mean every economist since before eight minutes ago – “maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle.”
They later add, “[i]t is unlikely that the decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year – even if followed by another GDP decline in the second quarter – indicates a recession.”
IN OTHER WORDS: Those higher grocery prices, those rising energy bills, those costs at the pump, this tightening job market actually mean things are great and how dare you question the wisdom of The Party.
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LOTTERY
No winner for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing. Tuesday night’s drawing will be for a $790 million jackpot or a $464.4 million cash payout.
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No winner for Saturday night’s Powerball drawing. Tonight’s drawing is for a $130 million jackpot or a $76.8 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
VINCE MCMAHON announced his retirement as CEO of the WWE Friday, just a month after stepping down from his role amid an ongoing sexual misconduct investigation.
In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that WWE was investigating McMahon over claims of sexual misconduct. It all started after someone in the company received an anonymous email about an alleged $3 million payment made to a female paralegal to keep her from speaking out about the sexual relationship.
He did not address the investigation in his announcement.
McMahon served as chairman and CEO of WWE since the early 1980s. His daughter, STEPHANIE MCMAHON, will now serve as chairwoman and Co-CEO along with Co-CEO NICK KHAN.
ALSO: Earlier this month, the outlet published a report claiming McMahon paid $12 million to cover up allegations of “sexual midconduct and infidelity” with four women who were affiliated with the company over the last 16 years.
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Former “Dancing With the Stars” competitors MELISSA JOAN HART and KAITLYN BRISTOWE say their time on the show was not what they thought it would be .
Speaking about the show on Hart’s podcast “What Women Binge,” Bristowe recalled her pro-partner ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV being “cutthroat” and “angry a lot.” She also discussed an injury she suffered during the show, which included bruised ribs and a torn muscle.
Hart sympathized with her guest, saying she too suffered bruised ribs during her time dancing with partner, MARK BALLAS.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Season 31 of “DWTS” is set to premiere Monday, September 19, 2022 on Disney+.
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A stage set for KID ROCK to perform at the North Dakota State Fair was trashed Friday night by angry concertgoers.
Rock was supposed to take the stage around 9:30 pm, but by 11 organizers were forced to call it off due to inclement weather in the area.
The 18,000-plus in attendance were so upset they started trashing the place with beer cans and food wrappers. One man even climbed onto the stage before being removed by security.
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MARTHA STEWART is mourning the loss of six of her pet peacocks who were savagely killed by a group of coyotes.
“RIP beautiful BlueBoy. The coyotes came in broad daylight and devoured him and five others, including the magnificent White Boy,” she tweeted over the weekend.
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JENNIFER LOPEZ celebrated her 53rd birthday Sunday in her birthday suit.
The new Mrs. Affleck shared a photo of herself in the buff to promote her newly launched skincare product, JLo Body by JLo Beauty Firm + Flaunt Targeted Booty Balm.
SPEAKING OF HER BDAY: JLo celebrated in Paris with her hubby BEN AFFLECK.
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LAURA LINNEY receives her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today.
The honor comes on the heels of Linney saying good-bye to her “Ozark” character Wendy Byrde, who she played for four seasons on Netflix.
Other notable films on her resume include, “You Can Count on Me,” “Love Actually,” “Mystic River” and “Frasier.”
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“The Umbrella Academy” edged out fellow Netflix series “Stranger Things” on Nielsen’s streaming chart for the last full week of June.
The show grossed nearly 2.5 billion minutes of streaming -- about 100 million more than “Stranger Things.”
In third was “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” on Disney+ with 1.43 billion minutes of streaming.
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CASTING CALL
GORDON RAMSAY is getting his own FAST channel on Fox’s streaming service, Tubi.
The move comes after the British chef landed a major deal with the company, which also includes the launch of his Studio Ramsay Global production company.
The FAST channel will feature episodes of his classic shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Kitchen Nightmare,” “Masterchef” and “Masterchef Jr.”
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BILLY MAGNUSSEN is set to star in the latest installment in the “Spy Kids” franchise for Netflix.
He joins previously announced stars GINA RODRIGUEZ, ZACHARY LEVI, EVERLY CARGANILLA and CONNOR ESTERSON.
The reboot is set after the children of the world’s greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful game developer unleash a computer virus that gives control of all technology, according to the streamer.
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All three seasons of “The Orville: New Horizons” are heading to Disney+.
The epic space adventure, created by and starring SETH MACFARLANE, will be available on the platform August 10. The series will also continue to stream on Hulu.
Set 400 years in the future, the series follows the adventures of The Orville spaceship and its crew -- both human and alien -- as they explore the mysteries of the universe while navigating their own interpersonal relationships.
WORTH NOTING: Season three is not designed as the end of the series, though there are currently no plans for Season 4.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
There is not another Kardashian-Jenner wedding in the works.
Rumors of KYLIE JENNER getting set to walk down the aisle to marry TRAVIS SCOTT started swirling last week after fans claimed to have found her wedding registry.
The registry included items such as a Daum Crystal Jardin du Cactus sculpture worth $36,000 -- something only a billionaire would ask for.
An insider close to the reality star told Page Six that it does not belong to Jenner.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
Ahead of PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE’s 2018 wedding, one of QUEEN ELIZABETH’s ladies-in-waiting once said that she predicts the marriage will “end in tears.”
The comment was revealed in TOM BOWER’s new book “Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors.”
In an excerpt from the book, Bower writes that LADY SUSAN HUSSEY shared her prediction while speaking with theater executives about Meghan becoming linked to the National Theatre after the wedding.
WORTH NOTING: Lady Susan has been with Her Majesty since the ‘60s. She was part of the team who was in charge of helping Meghan adjust to royal life, according to Bower.
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SPORTS
Sprinter SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN broke her own 400m hurdles world record on Saturday at the World Athletics Championships.
The 22-year-old took home the gold with a time of 50.68 seconds, shattering her previous record of 51.41 seconds at the US trials last month.
McLaughlin has broken her own records four times over the past year, according to CNN.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Merry-Go-Round Day
National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
National Threading The Needle Day
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ON THIS DATE
1593 - King Henry IV of France renounces Protestantism and embraces Roman Catholicism.
The conversion distanced the monarch from Queen Elizabeth I of England, but did realign him with the hundreds of thousands of Catholics in Paris and around France.
Though himself a Catholic, Henry was responsible for the Edict of Nantes, which provided for toleration of some French protestants.
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1788 - Mozart completes Symphony No. 40 in G minor.
This was his second of three symphonies to be completed over the course of just seven weeks.
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1797 - Fighting for Britain against Spain in the French Revolutionary Wars, Admiral Horatio Nelson loses his right arm and 300 soldiers during the botched takeover of Tenerife.
A bullet dashed Nelson as he landed on shore. The crew of his small transport boat turned back for the flagship Theseus.
Once on board, Nelson quipped to the awaiting surgeon: "Doctor, I want to get rid of this useless piece of flesh here."
After the limb was amputated, it was thrown overboard, to Nelson's chagrin. He wanted to keep it.
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1861 - Congress passes the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution. The document cements the Union's purpose in waging war the reunion of the seceded states, not the intent to end slavery.
The "Johnson" in the amendment was Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the successor to Abraham Lincoln.
The resolution also clarified that fighting would end when slave states returned to the Union, irrelevant of whether they allowed slavery.
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1909 - Louis Bleriot soars across the English channel in his home-built Anzani 3-cylinder powered monoplane.
The aircraft, made of oak and poplar, made the trip from Callais to Dover in a little more than a half hour.
Without a compass and his engine almost overheating, Bleriot smashed down belly-first and the landing gear broke off. The rain was the only element to cool the engine.
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1946 - At a public detonation of a nuclear bomb underwater near Bikini Atoll, government officials and press watch the explosive nicknamed Baker sink 9 decommissioned warships.
The controlled test explosion was one of two such tests that year to study the effects of naval nuclear warfare.
In as few as 4 milliseconds, the blast dug a 30 foot crater into the ocean floor. The exploding bubble hit the surface at 2,500 feet per second and blew a 6,000 foot column of water into the air.
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1978 - Louise Joy Brown is born via Cesarean section.
Her mother, sadly, had blocked Fallopian tubes, so in November of 1977, underwent a procedure to have a mature egg harvested from her ovaries, fertilized with Mr. Browns .....stuff...and implanted in her uterus, and so, in vitro fertilization was born, nine months before Louise.
Louise Brown was the world's first test tube baby. She was 5 pounds 12 ounces at her first weigh-in.
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1997 - Researchers announce that human stem cells have been cultured in a laboratory setting. These are the basic building blocks for a baby developing inside the womb.
It would be some time before the findings were published, however. Knowing what he was getting himself into, lead researcher Dr. John Gearhart wanted to spark the public discussion regarding the ethics of such procedures.
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2019 - The “City Killer” asteroid shocks astronomers who didn’t pick up on the rock’s trajectory until days before it passed by Earth.
Measuring 187 to 427 feet in diameter, the astroid passed within 43,500 miles of Earth at a speed of 15 miles a second.
It is believed to be the largest rock to pass by Earth in a decade.
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BIRTHDAYS
Meg Donnelly - actress, “Zombies” films & “American Housewife” - 22
Mason Cook - actor, “Speechless” - 22
Alvin Kamara - football player - 27
Sarah Geronimo - pop singer - 34
Jax Jones - music producer - 35
Hulk - soccer player - 36
Shantel VanSanten - actress, “One Tree Hill” & “The Flash” - 37
James Lafferty - actor, “One Tree Hill” - 37
Finn Balor - wrestler - 41
Matt LeBlanc - actor, “Friends” & “Joey” - 55
Katherine Kelly Lang - actress, “The Bold and the Beautiful” - 61
Born On This Date
Walter Payton - football player - 1954 (d. 1999)
Emmett Till - lynching victim - 1941 (d. 1955)
Estelle Getty - actress, “The Golden Girls” - 1923 (d. 2008)
Rosalind Franklin - chemist who co-discovered DNA structure - 1920 (d. 1958)
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