America's first periodical was published today in 1741: The American Magazine (A Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies) edited by Andrew Bradford, which only had 3 issues and included C-SPAN style proceedings of colonial assemblies and essays and reprints from The London Magazine.
George Simenon was born today in 1903; I don't like his off-color scenes, but I do love the pictures he paints of his chief police inspector Maigret's Paris.
It's national Tortellini Day.