Drewsky1211

9/6/2023 75 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy +2 65 Nelly Furtado — Maneater 65 Rihanna ft. Jay Z — Umbrella 53 Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ 37 Mika - Grace Kelly +2 18 Razorlight — America 17 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean — Hips Don’t Lie -6 13 Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are 11 Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat

Robert Mugabe died on this day 4 years ago, aged 95. - Before entering politics, Mugabe was a teacher. Mugabe would turn against the colonialist Rhodesian regime largely due to learning about the actions of Gandhi. - Mugabe became a public speaker following the arrest of his friend Leopold Takawira, and became the spokesman of the National Democratic Party- banned by the Rhodesian government in 1961, he soon created the Zimbabwe African People's Union. After getting in legal trouble due to criticizing the government, he fled to Tanganyika (soon to become Tanzania), and would be arrested upon his return home in 1963. Mugabe would be incarcerated for almost two years. - Eventually Mugabe became the leader of a guerrilla war against the Ian Smith government, seeking support from both Western and communist nations. Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980. - Upon the country's independence, Mugabe became its inaugural prime minister- and would become president in 1987. During his 30-year "presidency", Zimbabwe would experience hyperinflation (100 trillion dollar notes were eventually made), he defended the military after it arrested and tortured foreign journalists in 1999, and supported the seizure of land from White farmers (as revenge for colonization). - Mugabe would be ousted in a coup, though was allowed to stay in Zimbabwe. He would soon end up getting cancer and went to Singapore to receive treatment, remaining there until his death. Among his last photos shows him clad in Adidas clothing:

Michael Winslow (of Police Academy fame) is 65.

9/5/2023 48 Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield — What Have I Done To Deserve This 45 Kim Wilde — You Keep Me Hangin' On 41 Bangles — Manic Monday 40 George Harrison — Got My Mind Set On You 36 Erasure — Sometimes 35 Nu Shooz — I Can't Wait 33 Dire Straits — Walk Of Life +2 26 David Bowie — Absolute Beginners 26 Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald — On My Own 26 George Michael — Faith 23 Simply Red — Holding Back The Years 22 Jan Hammer — Crockett's Theme 22 Sam Cooke — Wonderful World 18 Pepsi & Shirlie — Heartache 18 The Pogues Ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York +2 17 Five Star — Rain Or Shine 17 Jermaine Stewart — We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off 14 Rod Stewart — Every Beat Of My Heart 10 Percy Sledge — When A Man Loves A Woman 10 Rick Astley — When I Fall In Love / My Arms Keep Missing You 9 Madonna — Live To Tell 8 Abigail Mead & Nigel Goulding — Full Metal Jacket (I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor) -6

9/5/2023 69 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy +2 57 Nelly Furtado — Maneater 57 Rihanna ft. Jay Z — Umbrella 47 Mika - Grace Kelly +1 45 Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat 45 Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ +1 30 Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are 19 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean — Hips Don’t Lie -6 18 Razorlight - America 15 Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar

Crazy Horse died on this day 146 years ago, aged 35. - Crazy Horse's name comes from the Lakota "Tȟašúŋke Witkó"- the literal English translation means "His Horse is Crazy". Childhood nicknames of his included Pȟehíŋ Yuȟáȟa (Curly) and Žiží (Light Hair), based on his hair. - Crazy Horse's birth year has been dated between 1840 and 1845, although census records and interviews of his contemporaries explicitly place it in 1842. - After coming of age, Crazy Horse participated in battles against the encroaching American military, most notably in a December 1866 battle against the forces of general William Fetterman, in which all the soldiers were killed. This is known as the Battle of a Hundred Slain to Native Americans, and the Fetterman Fight to White Americans. - Crazy Horse would emerge as one of the leaders of the Great Sioux War in 1876, and was a participant in the Battle of Little Big Horn (where general George Armstrong Custer was killed). - Crazy Horse ended up informally surrendering in January of 1877 due to hunger and hypothermia among his troops, and went to the reservation of Fort Robinson in Nebraska. - Crazy Horse would end up trying to escape from the reservation when it was revealed he would be arrested for his actions against the military, and he was fatally stabbed by one of the guards' bayonets. He refused to lay in the infirmary cot, and died on the floor. His burial site remains unknown, but his father was the one who interred him. - The Crazy Horse Memorial, being etched in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has been under construction since 1948. Initially planned to have been completed by 1978, its estimated completion time is now indefinite: (his face has been completed, but not much else)

Werner Herzog is 81.

9/4/2023 38 George Harrison — Got My Mind Set On You +1 37 Kim Wilde — You Keep Me Hangin' On 37 Bangles — Manic Monday 32 George Michael — Faith +1 32 Erasure — Sometimes 30 Dire Straits — Walk Of Life +1 30 Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield — What Have I Done To Deserve This 29 Nu Shooz — I Can't Wait 25 Simply Red — Holding Back The Years 22 David Bowie — Absolute Beginners 22 Sam Cooke — Wonderful World 22 Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald — On My Own 21 Rod Stewart — Every Beat Of My Heart 20 Jermaine Stewart — We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off 20 Five Star — Rain Or Shine 20 Pepsi & Shirlie — Heartache 20 Abigail Mead & Nigel Goulding — Full Metal Jacket (I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor) 20 Jan Hammer — Crockett's Theme 19 Madonna — Live To Tell 18 The Pogues Ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York +1 16 Nana Mouskouri — Only Love 16 Rick Astley — When I Fall In Love / My Arms Keep Missing You 16 Percy Sledge — When A Man Loves A Woman 12 Judy Boucher — Can't Be With You Tonight 10 Fat Boys & The Beach Boys — Wipeout 0 Spagna — Call Me -6

9/4/2023 63 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy +2 59 Nelly Furtado — Maneater 56 Rihanna ft. Jay Z — Umbrella 54 Mika - Grace Kelly +2 50 Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat 43 Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ 35 Orson - No Tomorrow 35 Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are 18 Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar 17 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean — Hips Don’t Lie -6 14 Razorlight - America

Pope Boniface I died on this day 1601 years ago, aged ~60. - Information about Boniface's life before his papacy is scarce- that being said, it is known that his father's name was Jocundus, and was ordained by Pope Damasus I. - After the death of Pope Zosimus in 418, Boniface would be elected pope, but he would be contested by Antipope Eulalius, whose supporters occupied the Lateran palace. Emperor Honorius would also recognize Eulalius as pope. - In February of 419, Honorius would order Boniface and Eulalius to meet with him, and determined that a committee of bishops would select the rightful pope (among these bishops was Augustine of Hippo)- after Eulalius defied one of the emperor's commands, the bishops' favor turned to Boniface, whom Honorius would recognize as pope in April. - Boniface's papacy would be known for reorganizing the authority of church bishops, and corresponding with the aforementioned Augustine. - Boniface died after four years as pope, and would be succeeded by Pope Celestine I.

Mitzi Gaynor is 92.

(Gonna interrupt the Shrek references with this one) Might as well be walkin' on the sun.

9/3/2023 29 Bangles — Manic Monday 29 Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield — What Have I Done To Deserve This 27 George Michael — Faith +1 24 Kim Wilde — You Keep Me Hangin' On 24 Nu Shooz — I Can't Wait 23 David Bowie — Absolute Beginners 22 Sam Cooke — Wonderful World 22 Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald — On My Own 21 Percy Sledge — When A Man Loves A Woman 21 Dire Straits — Walk Of Life +1 20 Nana Mouskouri — Only Love 20 Madonna — Borderline 20 Madonna — Live To Tell 20 Simply Red — Holding Back The Years 20 Rod Stewart — Every Beat Of My Heart 20 Sinitta — So Macho/Cruising 20 Jermaine Stewart — We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off 20 Five Star — Rain Or Shine 20 Erasure — Sometimes 20 Pepsi & Shirlie — Heartache 20 Abigail Mead & Nigel Goulding — Full Metal Jacket (I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor) 20 Jan Hammer — Crockett's Theme 20 George Harrison — Got My Mind Set On You 20 Rick Astley — When I Fall In Love / My Arms Keep Missing You 18 Judy Boucher — Can't Be With You Tonight 18 Tom Jones — A Boy From Nowhere 16 Fat Boys & The Beach Boys — Wipeout 16 The Pogues Ft. Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale Of New York +2 14 Spagna — Call Me 14 Su Pollard — Starting Together 11 Status Quo — In The Army Now -3 9 Johnny Logan — Hold Me Now -3

9/3/2023 61 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy +1 59 Nelly Furtado — Maneater 49 Mika - Grace Kelly +1 45 Rihanna ft. Jay Z — Umbrella 43 Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ 41 Orson - No Tomorrow 38 Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat 30 My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade +2 28 Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are 25 Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar 21 Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down 21 Razorlight - America 17 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean — Hips Don’t Lie -6

Johnny Marks died on this day 38 years ago, aged 75. - Marks was a songwriter best known for the Christmas songs he wrote (despite not celebrating the holiday, for he was an observant Jew). - Among the first songs Marks wrote was 1949's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"; his brother-in-law Robert May wrote the original story. The song became a number-one hit in January 1950, sung by Gene Autry. - Other songs Marks was known for writing include Chuck Berry's "Run, Rudolph, Run" (1958- he had no input in the actual songwriting, but was credited as a writer for having trademarked the character of Rudolph), Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (also in 1958, when Lee was just 13 years old), and the songs for the Rankin-Bass TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964, most notably Burl Ives' "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas". - Marks would appear on a December 1961 episode of To Tell The Truth, pretending to be a reindeer herder (I've provided the full episode below):

Al Jardine (of the Beach Boys) is 81.

9/2/2023 59 Nelly Furtado — Maneater 58 Rihanna ft. Jay Z — Umbrella 55 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy +1 49 Mika - Grace Kelly 41 Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ 40 Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat 35 Orson - No Tomorrow 34 My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade +3 31 Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are 25 Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar 23 Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down 23 Razorlight - America 19 Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby 15 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean - Hips Don’t Lie -6 13 Sugababes - About You Now

9/2/2023 65 Tears For Fears — Everybody Wants To Rule The World 62 A-Ha — Take On Me +4 56 Duran Duran — A View To A Kill 46 Queen — Radio Ga Ga +4 44 Prince — 1999 / Little Red Corvette 25 Cyndi Lauper — Girls Just Want To Have Fun 8 Bonnie Tyler — Holding Out For A Hero -6 Still a good song, but I must admit I enjoy the Jennifer Saunders version more:

Frank Drake died on this day a year ago, aged 92. - Drake first thought that life could exist on other planets when he was only 8 years old- he said at the time he that he thought that human civilization was the result of chance (but I believe at that age he got the idea from science fiction comic books). - After receiving his PhD in Astronomy in 1955 (at Harvard), he worked at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, observing radio emissions from the other planets in the solar system. It is here where he became the discoverer of Jupiter's ionosphere and magnetosphere. - Drake would enhance the Arecibo Observatory during its construction by allowing it to be purposed for radio astronomy (when it was initially planned for only ionosphere observation). - In 1959, Drake initiated Project Ozma, a search for alien radio signals. This project would be cancelled after a year, but he did manage to become the friend of a young Carl Sagan once the latter found out about it. - Drake would develop the Drake equation in 1961 to calculate the potential amount of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way- an optimistic result, by putting the maximum amount into the original equation, gives a potential 50,000,000 alien-inhabited planets in our galaxy alone. - Drake would design the Pioneer plaque in 1972 with the aforementioned Sagan, the first physical message sent into space: - In 1974, Drake would send the first deliberate interstellar message from Earth- the Arecibo message: - Drake was a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz from 1984 to 1996, and would also be the director of the SETI Institute's Carl Sagan Center from 1988 to 2010, remaining on the latter's board of trustees until his death twelve years later.

Keanu Reeves is 59.

Once you get on the Jimmy Carter bandwagon, it's hard to get off.

9/1/2023 62 Rihanna ft. Jay Z — Umbrella 59 Nelly Furtado — Maneater 50 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy 49 Mika - Grace Kelly 41 Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat 41 Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ 31 My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade 31 Orson - No Tomorrow 29 Razorlight - America 24 Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby 23 Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar 23 Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down 20 Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson - The Way We Is 18 Sugababes - About You Now 17 Timbaland ft. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake - Give It To Me 15 Kanye West — Stronger +4 15 Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair) 14 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean - Hips Don’t Lie -6

9/1/2023 56 Tears For Fears — Everybody Wants To Rule The World 55 A-Ha — Take On Me +1 50 Prince — 1999 / Little Red Corvette 45 Queen — Radio Ga Ga +3 39 Duran Duran — A View To A Kill 31 Cyndi Lauper — Girls Just Want To Have Fun 28 The Weather Girls — It’s Raining Men 27 Bonnie Tyler — Holding Out For A Hero 17 The Pointer Sisters — Automatic -4 0 Howard Jones — What Is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me -2

Jacques Cartier died on this day 466 years ago, aged 65. - Cartier was born on New Year's Eve in 1491- the first year of his life would see Europe's discovery of the Western Hemisphere. He lived in a port town, and was already a respected sailor by the time of his first transatlantic voyage. - In 1534, the bishop of his hometown of Saint-Malo introduced him to King Francis I, and he commissioned Cartier to find a passage westward to Asia. He and his crew would set off on April 20 of that year, and arrived in Newfoundland three weeks later. - Once he arrived in what is now Quebec, Cartier would encounter several indigenous tribes- firstly the Mikmaq, whom he traded with. Then he met a group of Iroquois- they were amicable until the natives realized that Cartier was claiming their land for France by erecting a 30-foot cross and attempting to kidnap two of the chief's sons- the chief, Donnacona, allowed Cartier to take them to France only if they returned with goods from Europe with them. - Cartier embarked on a second voyage in 1535, sailing up the St. Lawrence River to what is now Montreal. - Cartier and his crew would come down with scurvy during the winter of 1535- they were staying in the Iroquois capital of Stadacona, where Chief Donnacona informed them of tea extracted from cedar trees would cure their Vitamin C deficiencies (they didn't know what Vitamin C was at the time, but they knew the tree tea cured scurvy). Cartier decided to repay Donnacona the following year by... abducting him and taking him back to France, having believed him to be aware of a mythical "Kingdom of Saguenay" further north that was full of treasure. Donnacona would be personally looked after by the king, but he would never return home and died in France around 1539. - Cartier's third voyage in 1541 would be met with less friendly interactions with the Iroquois- probably because he kidnapped their chief. He would return home with what he thought were diamonds- only for it to be found that it was just quartz. This gave rise to a new expression: "as false as Canadian diamonds". - Cartier would end up being the victim of a typhus epidemic, having believed to have reached Asia all his life- he only got as far as eastern Canada.