Bonus: A variety of oddities today

The Burning Giraffe, Salvador Dali (1937)

   Okay, it's my birthday and so a scan of important and semi-important May 11 happenings is in order.
   First, here are some other people born on this date.
   Salvador Dali (1904) — and I must own 20 books on the dude — has long cast a surrealistic shadow on my life. With plenty of prints of the Spaniard's hallucinations, I don't have a copy of my favorite piece of his; I once left a fresh print of The Burning Giraffe on a Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen train in 1975.
   Also born today was a pioneering woman of sorts, Air Force Col. Jacqueline Cochrann was the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound. Born in 1908 she was also a cosmetics maker. Her motto, apparently, was even if you are traveling faster than the eye can follow, you still want to look good doing it.
   May 11 entertainers of note Louis Farrakhan {aka Calypso Louie} (1933); Eric Burdon of The Animals (1943); and the riveting Natasha Richardson (1963), perfectly cast in Sherlock Holmes' "The Copper Beeches," and now, sadly, dead.
   But the most interesting May 11 birth(s) occurred in 1811. That's when Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker were born in (what was then) Siam (hence the term). After a successful stint with Barnum & Bailey, the pair settled in North Carolina (that may be the strangest part).
   Now the interesting part: Chang and Eng married 'local girls' and fathered 21 children between them! ... Ah ... um ... just picturing it ... um ... sounds a bit ... uncomfortable, to say the least.
   Then the fellas both died at different times on the same day (talk about awkward! [ I guess the living one decided, "Ya know, I'm been carrying his pathetic ass all my freaking life. Not anymore!"]).
   {On another Siam note: the country changed its name back to Thailand on May 11, 1949, and is the only country in Southeast Asia never colonized by a European power.}
   On May 11, 1937, the iconic Spam (concocted by Hormel) was registered as a trademark.
   Also sharing the day's podium has to be mountain climber Beck Weathers, who in 1996, was given up for dead by rescuers combing near the top of Mt. Everest. He awoke from his unconscious state and managed to climb back down to base camp (I bet he won't try that again); and in 1997, the IBM computer "Deep Blue" pulverized Garry Kasparov in a six-game chess match.
    In sports news, James J. Corbett, "Gentleman Jim," was knocked out of his 1900 heavyweight boxing match by James J. Jeffries — in the 23rd round [wuss]; and in 1971, Cleveland's Steve Dunning became the last American League pitcher to hit a grand slam home run, thanks to the introduction of the insidious designated hitter rule.
   In 1981, reggae god Bob Marley, 36, passed away and, interestingly enough, Margarita drink inventor Carlos Herrera died at 90. This appears to favor drinking as opposed to smoking.
   Finally, one of the most searing influences in my life — the Monty Python comedy troupe — was hatched on this day in 1969. And, as if it were planned, the group had their own homage to Spam with this skit.
   {nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more}.