March 24 is the birthday of English artist WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896).

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life."

"Give me love and work - these two only."

Morris was one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts Movement, a textile artist, stained glass maker, printer, poet, translator and neo-Medievalist.

To see examples of Morris’s art, CLICK HERE.

March 24 is the birthday of Hungarian-American magician, actor and escapologist HARRY HOUDINI (1874-1926).

"Flames from the lips may be produced by holding in the mouth a sponge saturated with the purest gasoline."

"No performer should attempt to bite off red-hot iron unless he has a good set of teeth."

Houdini " first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as Harry "Handcuff" Houdini on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it.

In 1904, thousands watched as Houdini tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists, pursuing a personal crusade to expose their fraudulent methods. " (Wikipedia)

March 24 is the birthday of American photographer EDWARD WESTON (1885-1958).

"This then: to photograph a rock, have it look like a rock, but be more than a rock."

Weston "was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and over the next two years he produced nearly 1,400 negatives using his 8 × 10 view camera. Some of his most famous photographs were taken of the trees and rocks at Point Lobos, California, near where he lived for many years." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Weston’s photography, CLICK HERE.

March 24 is the birthday of ROSCOE "FATTY" ARBUCKLE (1887-1933).

The silent film comedian was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood until he was accused of raping a young woman and causing her death at a drunken party. It was one of the most scandalous trials of the Roaring 20s (in fact THREE manslaughter trials!), and, although Arbuckle was ultimately acquitted, his flms were banned and his career destroyed.

March 24 is the birthday of Austrian-American psychologist WILHELM REICH (1897-1957).

"The discovery of orgone energy was made through consistent, thorough study of energy functions, first in the realm of the psyche, and later in the realm of biological functioning."

Reich was a student and colleague of Sigmund Freud, who immigrated to America to escape the Nazis. He claimed to have discovered the life-force, which he called ORGONE ENERGY, and built orgone accumulators, in which a person could sit and absorb the healing powers of orgone.

"Following two critical articles about him in The New Republic and Harper's, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration obtained an injunction against the interstate shipment of orgone accumulators and associated literature, believing they were dealing with a 'fraud of the first magnitude.' Charged with contempt in 1956 for having violated the injunction, Reich was sentenced to two years in prison, and that summer over six tons of his publications were burned by order of the court. He died in jail of heart failure just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole." (Wikipedia)

The 10- minute video below gives a good explanation of orgone energy.

March 24 is the birthday of animation legend UB IWERKS (1901-1971).

Iwerks was Walt Disney's closest friend and chief animator at Disney's Laugh-O-Gram studio in Kansas City, where Disney and Iwerks co-created Mickey Mouse. Iwerks started his own studio in 1930, but eventually returned to Disney, working mainly on special effects.