Happy Birthday! June 3

Jefferson Davis Conferderates President 6-3-1808

Raoul Dufy Painter 6-3-1877

Josephine Baker Dancer-Actress 6-3-1906

Tony Curtis Actor 6-3-1925

Allen Ginsberg Poet 6-3-1926

Rafael Nadal Tennis Player 6-3-1986

June 3, 1083: Emperor Henry IV captures Rome

June 3, 1539: Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto discovers Florida and the Mississippi River in 1541.

June 3, 1940: Miracle at Dunkirk Last British & French troops evacuated from Dunkirk beaches

June 3, 1932: Lou Gehrig hits 4 homers in game

June 3, 1955: Stan Musial hits his 300th homer

June 3, 1989: Nolan Ryan pitches 11th one-hitter

June 3, 1989: Tianamen Square Massacre: Student Facing Tanks

June 3, 1860: U.S. U6 Washington 3 Cents Cover Pony Express Cancellation

June 3, 2009: U.S. U668 Seabiscuit Swan Lake, MT Cancel

June 3, 1953: Great Britain 313 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II First Day Cover

Goethe (1749-1832)

Naples, June 3, 1787, Trinity Sunday: I drove away through the teeming crowds of this incomparable city which I shall probably never see again— half dazed but glad that I am leaving neither pain nor remorse behind me. I thought of my good friend Kniep and made a vow to do all I can for him when I am far away... Kniep said to me: "You have been so kind and good to me that I shall remember you all my life, and I want to offer you this as a symbol of my gratitude." I never know what to say on such occasions, so I only said very laconically that the work he had done had already made me his debtor, and that the use of our common treasure would put me under still greter obligation to him. We parted as two persons seldom do whom chance has thrown together for a short time. Perhaps we should find more satisfaction and gratitude in our lives if we allways said quite frankly what we expect from one another.   — Italian Journey (1786-1788), p. 326

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Walden, Massachusetts, June 3, 1838: True, our converse a stranger is to speech; Only the practiced ear can catch the surging words That break and die upon thy pebbled lips. Thy flow of thought is noiseless as the lapse of thy own waters, Wafted as is the morning mist up from thy surface, So that the passive Soul doth breathe it in, And is infected with the truth thou wouldst express... For thy own private reading. Somewhat Within these latter days I've read, But surely there was much that would have thrilled the Soul, Which human eye saw not. I would give much to read that first bright page, Wet from a virgin press, when Eurus, Boreas, And the host of airy quill-drivers First dipped their pens in mist. — Journal (1838), pp. 50-51 Concord, Massachusetts, June 3, 1852: The nepeta by Deacon Brown's, a pretty blue flower. It has been a sultry day, and a slight thunder-shower, and now I see fireflies in the meadows at evening. — Journal (1852), p. 79 Concord, Massachusetts, June 3, 1856: Surveying for John Hosmer beyond pail-factory. Hosmer says that seedling white birches do not grow larger than your arm, but cut them down and they spring up again and grow larger... Squirrels disperse the acorns, amid the pines, they being a covert for them to lurk in, and when the pines are cut the fuzzy shrub oaks, have the start. If you cut the shrub oak soon, probably pines or birches, maples, or other trees which have light seeds will spring next, because squirrels will not be likely to carry acorns into open land. If the pine wood had been surrounded by white oak, probably that would have come up after the pine... Picked up a young wood tortoise, about an inch and a half long, but very orbicular. Its scales very distinct, and as usual very finely and distinctly sculptured, but there was no orange on it, curly buff or leather-color on the sides beneath. So the one of similar rounded form and size and with distinct scales but faint yellow spots on back, must have been a young spotted turtle, I think, after all. — Journal (1856), pp. 363-364

Birth Flower: Rose Passion, romance, true love, angelic energy & blessings Birthstone: Pearl Perfection, elegance, beauty, integrity, tears of the gods Zodiac Sign: Gemini Adaptable, analytical, curious, expressive, highly intelligent

© Peter Y. Chou, Wisdom Portal P.O. Box 390707, Mountain View, CA 94039 email: (6-3-2022)