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John Oliver

"SLAPP Suits" is a 2019 segment of HBO's news-satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, focusing on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), expensive lawsuits designed to scare targets into silence. In the segment, host John Oliver (pictured) celebrated his victory in a SLAPP initiated by Robert E. Murray; the lawsuit followed Oliver's criticism of Murray and his coal-mining company in a 2017 episode that included a man in a giant squirrel costume holding up an oversized check made payable to "Eat Shit, Bob!" Murray's lawsuit sought monetary damages and a gag order on the episode. The case was dismissed in under a year. In "SLAPP Suits", Oliver highlights Murray's frivolous suits against others, including reputable newspapers and private citizens, and stages a musical number titled "Eat Shit, Bob!", in which he jokingly accuses Murray of committing outlandish acts such as spitting on the Mona Lisa and shooting puppies into outer space. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Elizabeth Pierce Blegen

... that Elizabeth Pierce Blegen (pictured) was one of the "Quartet" of archaeologists who lived and worked together in Greece as a family, along with Ida Hill, Carl Blegen, and Bert Hodge Hill?
... that Utroba Cave was made to resemble female genitalia, and the cave puts on a show with natural light to symbolize fertilization?
... that the 1885 spiritual anthem Prayer for Ukraine was performed by a choir from New York on Saturday Night Live?
... that Barbara F. Walter's How Civil Wars Start argues that the United States is no longer a true democracy?
... that the 1950 Hindi film Hamari Beti, which featured Nutan's first lead role, at 14 years of age, was directed by her mother?
... that when the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum was burned during the recent Battle of Ivankiv, artworks by Hanna Veres and Maria Prymachenko were destroyed?
... that nearly a quarter of the patients at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center in New York City are criminally insane?
... that Indian footballer Surajit Sengupta was called Sócrates because of his beard and varied interests?

In the news

B-1791, the aircraft involved in the crash

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 (aircraft pictured) crashes in Guangxi, China, killing all 132 people on board.
The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, the first bridge over the Dardanelles and the world's longest suspension bridge, opens in Turkey.
Serdar Berdimuhamedow succeeds his father Gurbanguly and takes office as president of Turkmenistan.
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, killing at least four people and injuring more than 225 others.

On this day

March 23

Lee Teng-hui

1400 – After 175 years of rule, the Trần dynasty of Vietnam was deposed by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
1775 – American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, urging military action against the British Empire.
1905 – About 1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, met at the village of Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the Theriso revolt.
1919 – Benito Mussolini and his supporters founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, the predecessor of the National Fascist Party.
1996 – Lee Teng-hui (pictured) was elected President of the Republic of China in the first direct presidential election in Taiwan.

Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado (b. 1643)
Juan Gris (b. 1887)
Ben Hollioake (d. 2002)

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Today's featured picture

This historical coat of arms of Florida is an illustration from State Arms of the Union by Henry Mitchell, published by Louis Prang in 1876. It depicts a shoreline on which a Seminole woman is sprinkling flowers. A steamboat sails by and further away, a sabal palm (Florida's state tree) is growing. In the background the sun is appearing over the horizon, with rays of sunlight extending into the sky.

Illustration credit: Henry Mitchell; restored by Andrew Shiva

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