On the 13th of November
… in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Franklin died the following year.
… in 1940, the Disney film Fantasia premiered.
… in 1977, the comic strip “Li’l Abner” ended. The strip, by Al Capp, had begun in 1934. It was immensely popular, part of pop culture in the way The Simpsons, for example, are today. There were comic books, a radio show, music, stage productions and more. And, of course, Sadie Hawkins Day, when the girls could ask out the boys.
… in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington was dedicated.
Joe Mantegna is 65 today, Chris Noth is 58, Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg is 57 (birth name Caryn Elaine Johnson), Vinny Testaverde is 49, and Jimmy Kimmel is 45.
One of America’s oldest recent high school graduates, Taylor McKessie is 32 today. That’s actress Monique Coleman of High School Musical.
Louis Brandeis was born on November 13, 1856. He served on the Supreme Court from 1916-1939.
For Brandeis, law was a device to shape social, economic, and political affairs. Law had to operate on the basis of two key assumptions: that the individual was the basic force in society and that the individual had limited capabilities. Brandeis did not seek to coddle the individual; rather, he sought to stretch individual potential to its limit.
And today is the 162nd anniversary of the birth of Robert Louis Stevenson.