John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019)

Don  Imus was a radio personality, television show host, recording
artist, and author. He was known for his radio show Imus in the
Morning which aired on various stations and digital platforms
nationwide until his retirement in March of  2018.

In March 2009, Imus was diagnosed with stage 2 prostate cancer. He
was hospitalized at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in College
Station, Texas, on December 24, 2019. The exact cause of his death
was not immediately reported.

Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019)

(FoxNews) – Caroll Spinney, the man behind the popular "Sesame Street" characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, died Sunday at his home in
Connecticut after living with dystonia for some time. Spinney was also
a cartoonist, author and speaker. The news came in a press release
from Sesame Workshop.

Caroll Spinney (L) pictured on set with Jim Henson during the
early days of “Sesame Street”. 

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking
scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, was published in
England. Darwin’s theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through
a process he called “natural selection.” In natural selection, organisms
with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation,
thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Darwin, who was influenced by the work of French naturalist Jean-Baptiste
de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas Mathus, acquired most of
the evidence for his theory during a five-year surveying expedition aboard
the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos
Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the
flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information, along with his
studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to England, proved
invaluable in the development of his theory of organic evolution.

Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882)  

Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American literature and
contains one of the most famous opening lines in fiction: “Call me Ishmael.” Initially, though, the book about Captain Ahab and his quest to catch a giant
white whale was a flop.

Its author, Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819. As a young
man, he spent time in the merchant marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling
ship in the South Seas. In 1846, he published his first novel, Typee, a
romantic adventure based on his experiences in Polynesia. The book was
a success and a sequel, Omoo, was published in 1847. Three more novels
followed, with mixed critical and commercial results. 

Herman Melville (Melvill) (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)

TIM MAGUIRE

William Oliver Stone is 73 years old  today.

 1991

JFK was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including
Best Picture, Best Director for Stone and Best Supporting
Actor for Jones and won two for Best Cinematography and 
Best Film Editing. It was the most successful of three films 
Stone made about American presidents, followed by Nixon
(1995) with Anthony Hopkins in the title role and W. (2008)
with Josh Brolin as George W. Bush.