Birthday Game

Well, it's the weekend, so it's time for the blog to let its hair down and indulge in some general silliness, namely the "3 events, 2 births, 1 death on your birthday" game that's floating around various LiveJournals and blogs. (I'm indulging in this because I tend to be obsessed with who and what shares my birthday, because there are some amusing things there...) Some of this comes from Wikipedia, but I've added some things from elsewhere:

October 17

Events

*538 BC: King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost 70 years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration

*1859: John Brown, having invaded Harper's Ferry during the night, hangs out and hopes for a national slave rebellion to begin.

*1908: Emma Goldman begins a national lecture tour while the country is immersed in presidential campaigning. Lecture topics include "The Political Circus & Its Clowns," "Puritanism, the Great Obstacle to Liberty," and "Life versus Morality." Large audiences attend her lectures in Pittsburgh & Cleveland.

Births

*1813: Georg Buchner, German playwright (d. 1837)

*1972: Eminem, American rapper

Death

*1910: Julia Ward Howe, American composer and abolitionist (b. 1819)

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