On this day in 1552, the great Mannerist painter Lavinia Fontana was born. Romantic composer Theodore Dubois was born in 1837. Here is the first part of his Piano Concerto No. 2:

Writer and caricaturist Max Beerbohm was born in 1872. Hal Smith was born in 1916. He is best known for playing the town drunk Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show.The great Canadian painter Alex Colville was born in 1920 and died only last month. Activist and writer Howard Zinn was born in 1922. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was born in 1929.

Politician Max Cleland is 71 today. Homophobic climate change denying fucktard Orson Scott Card is 62. Similarly inclined Mike Huckabee is 58. Actor Steve Guttenberg is 55. Comedian Dana Gould is 49. Here is his take on the Star Wars franchise:

Actor Marlee Matlin is 48. And comedian Dave Chappelle is 40. Here he is on Michael Jackson molestation scandal:

The day, however, belongs to one of my favorite comedians Stephen Fry who is 56 today. He is also (and this pisses me off more than I can say) an excellent novelist. But mostly, I know him from his act with the also brilliant Hugh Laurie. Here is their great psychiatrists sketch:

Happy birthday Stephen Fry!