The Centre Cannot Hold >> Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

1935 – Elvis Presley born in Tupelo, Mississipi

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Aaron Presley, was born to Vernon Elvis and Gladys Love Presley in a two room house built by Vernon. He was preceded into the world by his stillborn brother, Jesse Garon Presley, some 35 minutes earlier.

Presley is one of the best known and most popular rock stars of all time, acheiving a level of fame and success in his 42 years that remains the yardstick by which all celebrities must still be measured, and if you don’t already know who he was… well, you were probaby born after 1977.

Also, although Guiness doesn’t keep records on it, he is also probably the most-frequently impersonated human being of all time.

Referenced in:

Tupelo – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

1895 – “Stagger” Lee Shelton kills William Lyons

Lee Shelton (sometimes spelled Sheldon) killed William Lyons in a bar run by one Bill Curtis in St Louis, on Christmas Eve, 1895.

Shelton was a cab driver who moonlighted as a pimp – he was in fact a member of a group of fashion-conscious pimps called the Macks. Perhaps this explains his murder of Lyons, who, in the course of a lengthy argument with Shelton, grabbed the other man’s hat and refused to return it even when Shelton drew on him. So Shelton shot him.

He was convicted of the murder, and spent the rest of his life in prison, where he died of tuberculosis in 1912. He almost certainly heard at least one version of the multitude of variants that exist of the song about his crime.

Referenced in:

Stagger Lee – Lloyd Price
Stagolee – Mississippi John Hurt
Stagger Lee – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The above selection includes just a few of my favoourite versions – there are literally hundreds out there.

1224 – Saint Christina the Astonishing dies

Christina Mirabilis was a Catholic saint and visionary. Born into a poor peasant family, she was orphaned by age 15. A few years later (sources disagree as to whether she was 21 or 22), she started to experience visions, which were accompanied by violent seizures.

Legend has it that after one such vision, she was believed dead, and astonished the town of St. Trond (where she lived) by suddenly standing up during her funeral, and beginning to recount her visions. She had seen Heaven, Hell and Purgatory and met God, who charged her with a mission to help free the souls atoning in Purgatory.

She lived in extreme privation for her entire life, strictly adhering to her vow of poverty to such an extent that she would seek out sufferings if she adjudged her current lot insufficient.

Despite all this, she lived to the age of 74. July 24, traditionally the day of her death, is now considered her feast day by the Catholic Church.

Referenced in:

Christina the Astonishing – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The Centre Cannot Hold

1935 – Elvis Presley born in Tupelo, Mississipi

1895 – “Stagger” Lee Shelton kills William Lyons

1224 – Saint Christina the Astonishing dies

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