April 30 in history

It is time once again for our annual "on this day in history" feature. Of course the Prissy Princess was born on this day, although she prefers not to think how far back in history this actually was.

An impressive number of athletes were born on the Princess's birthday, although there any commonalities between her and the athletes ends. In other athlete news on this day, Ashrita Furman performed 8,341 somersaults over 12 miles in 1986. It is unknown whether any attempts were made by the government to encourage commuters to use this as a new mode of transportation, which would save precious fossil fuels, although traffic lights would certainly need to be redesigned. The Princess, for her part, attempted a somersault in 1974 (although not necessarily on April 30), and again, there all similarities between her and Ms. Furman end.

In 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television, much to the consternation of parents everywhere. In fact, the first Mr. Potato Head did not have removable face parts, with the result that he stared, unnervingly, at children, but parents who were outraged by this attempt to influence their children tore his face apart, giving Mr. Potato Head's creators an excellent idea for improving their product.

The Princess does not remember having conducted any personal interaction with Mr. Potato Head in her younger days, but she does appreciate ice cream, and therefore celebrates the ice cream cone, which debuted in 1904. She plans to show her appreciation by visiting an ice cream establishment in honor of her birthday.

On this day in 1803, the United States gained the Louisiana Purchase from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the country. The Princess doubts she will receive any birthday gifts valued at $15 million, but she is also grateful not to have to clean anything the size of the Louisiana Purchase.

We thank you for sharing this brief tour with us through history, and trust that you will all celebrate this occasion in your own way, be it with ice cream or somersaults.