Well, at least most scholars of such matters think it was 115 years ago today that a woman named Minnie Marx gave birth to a son named Julius. Julius tended to give out different birthdates from time to time but 10/2/1890 seems like the right one.
It was years later, after Julius and some of his brothers had gotten into the hardscrabble end of show business, that they met a man named Art Fisher. Mr. Fisher was a monologist — what we would now call a stand-up comedian — and he also drew a newspaper strip filled with characters whose names ended in "o," like Knocko the Monk or Sherlocko the Great. During a poker game with the Brothers Marx, he gave them nicknames in his fashion. Adolph Marx became Harpo because he played the harp. Leonard Marx became Chico (pronounced "chicko," not "cheeko") because he liked the chicks. Milton Marx became Gummo because he wore gum-soled shoes. And Julius Marx became Groucho because…
Well, isn't it obvious?
Groucho Marx went on to become one of the world's greatest comedians and I thought it was important to note this day. I couldn't decide whether to put up a picture of the Movie Groucho, the Radio/TV Groucho or the Older Groucho, so I'm giving you all three. And now I'll point you to this article I wrote about Guess Who and then I'll go to bed. I have seen all the Marx Brothers movies so many times I can see them in my sleep and tonight, I'll probably dream one. My luck, it'll be Love Happy.