… So that how it can be that a stone, a plant, a star, can take on the burden of being; and how it is that a child can take on the burden of breathing; and how through so long a continuation and cumulation of the burden of each moment one on another, does any creature bear to exist, and not break utterly to fragments of nothing: these are matters too dreadful and fortitudes too gigantic to meditate long and not forever to worship …—James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, 1941

James Agee was born on this date in 1909.

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San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed by a disgruntled former city supervisor while at work in City Hall on this date in 1978.

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George Harrison’s triple album, All Things Must Pass, was released on this date in 1970. Harrison had been writing songs for several years while a member of the Beatles, but only two or three songs per album were usually selected by the bands’ senior songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Now solo, he had quite a stockpile of songs. The album’s two dozen tracks included several of Harrison’s best-loved, including “Run of the Mill”:

 
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Chick Hearn was born 100 years ago today. Buffalo Bob Smith was born on this date in 1917. Ernie Wise was born in 1925 on this date. Al Jackson, Jr. was born on this date in 1935. Les Blank was born in 1935 on this date. Bruce Lee was born on this date in 1940. Eddie Rabbitt was born 75 years ago today. Jimi Hendrix was born 74 years ago today.

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Bill Nye is 61 today. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy is 59 today. Yulia Tymoshenko is 56.

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