Yes, yes, my birthday was a while back but I've had this idea in my head for a while for a meme. It was something that we did for fun when I used to post on the Handbag forums, when Wikipedia was first becoming popular and vaguely useful.I'm kind of reviving it for the blog but I'm going to try and be ambitious for this one. I'm going to set up a linky and attempt to get at least one post for all 366 days of the year. If you add your post to it, please try to mention the date of your birthday in the link title if you can. That way, I can check through the list quickly to check how we're doing. It won't matter if we get more than one post for the same date, the aim will be at least one post for each day on the calendar.
What you will have to do is answer questions about your birthday. If you don't know where to look, the best way is to go to Wikpedia, type in your birthday in the search box and it will tell you all you ever want to know (and more) about your special day. Obviously, you can take what is said with a pinch of salt but it's mostly correct. There is also a site called On This Day which you can use but it's not as user-friendly and the lists are not as extensive.
I'm always fascinated with people and things that happened on my birthday. I'm nosey enough to want to know about all your birthdays too, and what you find fascinating about your own birthday. I'm going to tag a few people at the end of this post but don't wait to be tagged if you want to join in - blog and link up, but I would be grateful if you could tag others for me so we can spread it around a bit.
Better get on with the questions then.
When is your birthday? 6th January
Pick three people who share your birthday and share what you know about them.
My three are:
- Kahil Gibran, whose book The Prophet is an absolute favourite of mine, and I've read quite a lot of his work. He even has the same initials as me before I was married. He died before my parents were born, let alone me, so I couldn't really tell you what he was like but I bet he was interesting.
- Nigella Lawson; can you see the similarity? Whaddya mean no?!
- Andy Carroll. Oh dear.
That would make for an interesting dinner party, wouldn't it?
When I was growing up, the only famous person it was ever mentioned shared my birthday with me was Sylvia Syms. Yeah, who? Now, there seems to be a sprinkling of ageing comedian/TV presenter (Angus Deayton, Rowan Atkinson), a dodgy but loveable national football manager (Terry Venables) and a saint (Joan of Arc, allegedly). All very interesting.
Is anyone listed as being born on the same day as you (ie the same year)? If so, what do you know about them?
Erm, well, Wikipedia lists three people - an American Muslim writer, a Cuban wrestler and a Danish political scientist. Again, an eclectic mix but I've never heard of any of them ever before. I know not a sausage. I could tell you from their Wikipedia entries but I suspect you'd drop off.
List three people who died on your birthday and tell us what you know about them.
Looking down the list, a name leapt out at me - Theodore Roosevelt, the former US president, who died in 1919. And then, in 1993, both Dizzy Gillespie the jazz trumpeter, and Rudolf Nureyev, the ballet dancer, died on the same day. Which was a surprise to me - I remembered Nureyev dying of an AIDS related illness as it was the talk of the newspapers but I don't remember Dizzy Gillespie dying at the same time.
List three notable events that took place on your birthday.
At the top of the list, it mentions that King Harold (or Harold Godwinson) was crowned on 6 January 1066. Err, yes. That ended well and was a long reign. Not. Then, a little more recently in 1947, Pan-Am became the first airline to schedule a flight around the world - yes, around the whole world! Finally, 6 January 1994 will become forever notorious as the day when the American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan got clubbed on the knee by someone paid by her rival's husband. Do you remember that? I certainly do!
Tell us about a holiday that falls on your birthday.
Well, my birthday is Epiphany and is a public holiday in many parts of the world (I live in the wrong country - I could guaranteee my birthday off every year if I moved abroad!) but it's also Pathet Lao Day in Laos and Armed Forces Day in Iraq. Also, I didn't know that it also marks the start of Carnival period which ends on Shrove Tuesday. Why did no-one tell me that another party season starts in January? We're mostly partied out once New Year has been and gone but Carnival appears to be a tradition that has passed this country by. But it would be a great excuse to start yet another party!
I am tagging:
Ruth at Geekmummy
Nickie at Typecast
Fay at Glass Half Full
Heidi at Him, Me & Three
Angela at This is Life
Claire at CJ's Palace
Badge code is here:
And linky is here. I will leave it open for over a year, but I should be able to reopen it if necessary. Get entering, people! I'm counting on you.
