April 8: Who owns the night?

April 8: today in history (from Wikipedia)

1730 – "Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated." Probably not the last, or that is now one huge synagogue.

1913 – "The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law." Because campaign fundraising is better use of a Senator's time than governing the country, obviously. 

1943 – "U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities." Because this is the land of the free!

1952 – "U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike." Because this is the land of the free!

Notable quotes (from Wikiquote unless otherwise sourced)

"Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo." Mary Pickford  (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979)

"Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own." - Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955)

"Imagine the West built the Berlin Wall to keep East German immigrants out. Would such a policy have been any less wrong?" - Bryan Caplan (born April 8, 1971) SOURCE

Song of the Day

Alex Day turns 25. Cool song: