On this day in history, not much happened

April 11 has got to be one of the dullest days EVER. Really. Take a look at some of the less-than-fascinating events that have taken place on this day:

1830: Robert Schumann attends a piano concerto by Paganini
1895: Anaheim completes its new electric light system
1921: Iowa imposes the first state cigarette tax
1967: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead premieres (OK, that's sorta interesting)
1981: Valerie Bertinelli marries Eddie Van Halen

You know which celebrities celebrate birthdays today? Joel Grey and Louise Lasser. (As my much-younger coworkers ask, "Who are they?") Nothing wrong with these award-winning actors, but definitely not A-list celebs. It's also Peter Riegert's birthday; he was delightful as the pickle salesman in Crossing Delancey, but he's not exactly a household name, either.

Perhaps, you think, someone interesting died on this date. You would be wrong. As far as I can tell, the only noteworthy person to die on April 11 was horticulturalist Luther Burbank. He was outstanding in his field, but a guy who cross-breeds plants to create superior potato hybrids is not the stuff of cocktail party conversations. Even his last words were B-O-R-I-N-G: "I don't feel good."

About 15 years ago I learned about someone who almost died on April 11, 1966, the very day I was born. It was Joe Valachi of The Valachi Papers, the stoolpigeon who sang to the congressional committee on organized crime about all the inner workings of the mafia. On that date he tried to hang himself from an overhead pipe with an electrical cord... but the cord broke and Valachi proved himself to be a loser yet again. So close, and yet so very far.

At least my birthday isn't as awful as some people's.

Currently:
54.7 degrees F
cloudy with little chance of rain
62.5 lbs above goal weight
40 years old