December 25 is the birthday of Robert Ripley, the creator of “Believe It or Not,” and an inspirational figure to us here. To mark the occasion, here’s a photo of him at the dinner table. He was rather flamboyant.
It’s also the birthday of Isaac Newton. American readers, it occurs to me, may be unaware that he was the favorite character of the French cartoonist Marcel Gotlib. As Gotlib explained, “Why Isaac Newton? For a very simple reason: this inspired genius revolutionized the science of his time, basing his immortal theory of universal gravitation, mark you well, ON NOTHING MORE THAN RECEIVING AN APPLE ON HIS HEAD!… That is the most gigantic gag there is, and, for this alone, its author deserves to pass into posterity as the patron saint of the humorous comic strip.” Newton often strolls through Gotlib’s strips, always at the right moment to get hit on the head with something. And nobody could draw Newton like Gotlib.
Happy birthday, Ripley and Newton.
(P.S.: You may want to see the animated Newton.)
(Posted by Doug Skinner)
3 responses so far ↓
1 Lisa // Dec 25, 2011 at 12:13 am
Happy Birthday indeed!
2 Mamie // Dec 25, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Nice dinner party. Was that his Bridgeport home?
3 mamie // Jan 3, 2012 at 9:48 pm
I was half asleep when I asked that stupid question and could not pay good attention! I saw it is his NY home. Animation clip is great!