Playwrite George Ade: "My enthusiasms include golf, travel, horse-racing and the spoken drama. My antipathies are social show-offs, bigots on religion, fanatics on total abstinence, and all persons who take themselves seriously."

It's the birthday of humorist and playwright George Ade, born in Kentland, Indiana (1866). His daily column for the Chicago Record, "Stories of the Streets and of the Town," evolved into the popular Fables in Slang (1899). The book was a best seller, and he followed with 11 more humorous volumes. He turned to the theater with equal success, and at one point had three plays running simultaneously in New York. He bought a 2,400-acre estate near his home town and entertained lavishly.