Today in 1945, the birthday of singer/songwriter Van Morrison. His biggest fans and his loudest critics can agree that the guy does not like being told what to do, and he proved it by recording one of the strangest albums in the history of music.
The new book "The First Ghosts" looks at how humans have been describing and depicting ghosts for thousands of years, including a Babylonian tablet showing a lonely, bearded ghost dude from 1500 B.C.E. Plus: today in 2013, a merchant naval officer said a great way to deter pirates off the Somali coast was to blast Britney Spears tunes.
The Louisiana Pirate Festival is getting underway in Lake Charles, which is as good a reason as any to talk about two of the most remarkable stories in pirate history.
