9 October 17

Wearing a shimmery pink and purple tie to help celebrate a bunch of birthdays today: chemist Hermann Emil Fischer (1852-1919), physicist Max von Laue (1879-1960), evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), Yankees first baseman/outfielder Joe Pepitone (1940-), songwriter John Lennon (1940-1980), and actor Tony Shalhoub (1953-). Fischer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902, and Laue won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914. McPherson founded the Foursquare Church, and her mysterious disappearance for several weeks in 1926 made international news. Pepitone hit 219 home runs, was on several All-Star teams, and recently made news with his claims to have hidden his drugs in the ivy at Wrigley Field. John Lennon wrote and sang some nice songs with George, Paul and Ringo. I know Tony Shalhoub best as TV's "defective detective" Adrian Monk.