DBKP's Today in Weird History: February 6, 2008

WAR, DISASTERS, CREEPY, WHISKERS, BOO, RECORDS, PAGE TWO, BANDITS, GAMES, HOBBIES, NANNY STATE, POLITICS, CIVIL RIGHTS, SMOKE NAZIS, PRO WRESTLING, GOLF, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, POPULATION, PIRATES, SPERM CONTROL, JEWS, GEEZERS, CLINTONS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH


1911 Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Ill.

WAR!

1778 France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; 1st US treaty. England declares war on France.

1862 Victory for General Ulysses S Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson; Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.

1899 A peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

2003 Edging closer to war, President Bush declared "the game is over" for Saddam Hussein and urged skeptical allies to join in disarming Iraq.

DISASTERS

1911 Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey.

1951 "Broker Special" train crashes in Woodbridge NJ, killing 84

1958 7 soccer players of Manchester United die in an air crash at Munich.

1992 16 people were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Evansville, Ind.

1996 A Turkish-owned Boeing 757 jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from the Dominican Republic, killing 189 people, mostly German tourists.

CREEPY

2003 ABC's "20/20" aired a British documentary on Michael Jackson in which the singer revealed he sometimes let children sleep in his bed.

WHISKERS

1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers.

BOO!

1956 French premier Guy Mollet pelted with tomatoes in Algiers.

PAGE TWO

1951 Radio commentator Paul Harvey arrested for trying to sneak into the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago IL.

RECORDS

1990 Steve Briers of Wales recited the entire lyrics of Queen's album "A Night At The Opera" in 9 minutes & 58.44 seconds backwards!

BANDITS

1891 1st great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17).

GAMES

1935 Board game "Monopoly" goes on sale for the 1st time.

PRO WRESTLING

1977 Harley Race beats Terry Funk in Toronto, to become NWA wrestling champion.

HOBBIES

1948 1st radio-controlled airplane flown.

GOLF

1968 Former President Dwight Eisenhower shot a hole-in-one.

1971 1st time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard).

NANNY STATE

1953 US controls on wages & some consumer goods were lifted.

CIVIL RIGHTS

1956 University of Alabama refuses admission to Autherine Lucy (because he's black).

SMOKE NAZIS



1987 No-smoking rules take effect in federal buildings.

POLITICS

1788 Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1933 the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the so-called "lame duck" amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.

SPERM CONTROL

1997 Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husbands sperm.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1959 Fidel Castro is interviewed by Edward R Murrow.

POPULATION

1820 US population announced at 9,638,453 (1,771,656 blacks (18.4%)).

PIRATES!

1832 US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy.

JEWS

1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organized in New York NY.

GEEZERS

1911 1st old-age home opened in Prescott AZ.

CLINTONS

1998 President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair redoubled their pledge to use military force against Iraq if necessary; during a joint news conference in which the subject of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky came up, Clinton said he would "never" resign. President Clinton signed a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

BORN

1756 America's third vice president, Aaron Burr, was born in Newark, N.J.

1833 James Ewell Brown "JEB" Stuart Major General (Commander of Cavalry, Confederate Army).

1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth Baltimore MD, baseball great (Yankees).

1912 Eva Braun mistress of Adolf Hitler.

BIRTHDAYS

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is 91. Actor Patrick Macnee is 86. Actor Rip Torn is 77. Actress Mamie Van Doren is 77. Actor Mike Farrell is 69. Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 68. Singer Fabian is 65. Actress Gayle Hunnicutt is 65. Actor Michael Tucker is 64. Producer-director-writer Jim Sheridan is 59. Singer Natalie Cole is 58. Actor Jon Walmsley is 52. Actress Kathy Najimy is 51. Rock musician Simon Phillips (Toto) is 51. Actor-director Robert Townsend is 51. Actor Barry Miller is 50. Actress Megan Gallagher is 48. Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses) is 46. Country singer Richie McDonald is 46. Singer Rick Astley is 42. Rock musician Tim Brown (Boo Radleys) is 39. Actor Brandon Hammond is 24.

DEATH

1804 Joseph Priestley England/US theologist/philosopher/chemist, dies at 70.

1952 Britain's King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.

2007 Singer Frankie Laine died in San Diego at age 93.

February 6, the 37th day of 2008. There are 329 days left in the year. Today is Ash Wednesday.

compiled by Mondoreb
images: redstateleader; RidesAPaleHorse
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: January 29, 2008

MOVIES, WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, THE GIPPER, CREEPY, OOPS, INSPIRATION, POLITICS, EXECUTIONS, NANNY STATE, PATENTS, STARTS, SPORTS, EUTHANASIA, LABOR, MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, DIPLOMACY, SUICIDE, BUDGET, KILLERS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH



MOVIES

1964 Stanley Kubrick's"Dr Strangelove" premieres.

WAR!

1863 Battle at Bear River WA US Army vs Indians.

1864 Battle of Moorefield WV (Rosser's Raid).

1900 Boers under Joubert beat English at Spionkop Natal, 2,000 killed.

1944 285 German bombers attack London.

TERRORISM

1998 A bomb rocked an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., killing Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard, and critically injuring Emily Lyons, a nurse. (The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence.)

2007 A Palestinian suicide bomber killed three Israelis at a bakery in Eilat in the first such attack inside Israel in nine months.

2007 Deeply distrustful of Iran, President Bush said "we will respond firmly" if Tehran escalated its military actions in Iraq and threatened American forces or Iraqi citizens.

DISASTERS

1966 Snow storm in north east US kills 165.

1996 Fire destroyed Venice, Italy's La Fenice opera house.

1998 Thick Fog causes highway carnage in Belgium & Netherlands, 6 die.

2003 A dust explosion at the West Pharmaceutical Services plant in Kinston, N.C., killed six people and injured dozens more.

THE GIPPER

1984 President Reagan formally announces he will seek a 2nd term.

CREEPY

1845 Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.

OOPS

1994 Ulrike Maier Olympic skier, breaks neck during world cup skiing at 26.

INSPIRATION

1979 Brenda Spencer kills 2, inspires Boomtown Rats "I Don't Like Mondays".

POLITICS

1850 Henry Clay introduced in the Senate compromise proposals on slavery.

1861 Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.

EXECUTED

1997 Eric Schneider murderer of 2 teachers, executed in MO at 35.

NANNY STATE

1919 Secretary of state proclaims the 18th amendment (prohibition).

PATENTS

1886 1st successful gasoline-driven car patented, Karl Benz, Karlsruhe.

1924 Ice cream cone rolling machine patented by Carl Taylor, Cleveland.

STARTS

1920 Walt Disney starts 1st job as an artist; $40 week with Kansas City Slide Co.

SPORTS

1936 The first members of baseball's Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.

1963 The first members of pro football's Hall of Fame were named in Canton, Ohio.

1989 Cleveland's Chris Dudley misses 5 free throws during 1 foul attempt.

EUTHANASIA

2007 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized because of medical complications eight months after his gruesome breakdown at the Preakness.

LABOR

1834 President Jackson orders 1st use of US troops to suppress a labor dispute.

1912 Martial law declared in textile strike in Lawrence MA.

MARRIAGE

1958 50 years ago, actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married in Las Vegas.

DIVORCE

1951 Liz Taylor's 1st divorce (Conrad Hilton Jr).

DIPLOMACY

1979 President Carter formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House, following the establishment of diplomatic relations.

SUICIDE

1977 Freddie Prinze comedian/actor (Chico & the Man), shoots himself at 22.

BUDGETS

2003 The Congressional Budget Office predicted the current year's federal deficit would soar to $199 billion even without President Bush's new tax cut plan or war against Iraq.

KILLERS

1958 Murderer, Charles Starkweather, captured by police in Wyoming.

BORN

1737 Thomas Paine political essayist (Common Sense, Age of Reason).

1843 The 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, was born in Niles, Ohio.

1860 Anton Pavlovich Chekhov Tagarov Russia, playwright (Cherry Orchard).

1878 Barney Oldfield Ohio, daredevil.

1880 W C Fields [William Claude Dukenfield] Philadelphia PA, "on the whole, he'd rather be in Philadelphia"/actor (My Little Chickadee, Bank Dick).

1912 Professor Irwin Corey Brooklyn NY, comedian (Car Wash, Doc).

1913 Victor Mature Louisville KY, actor (One Million BC, The Robe, Samson & Delilah).

BIRTHDAYS

Actor John Forsythe is 90. Actor Noel Harrison is 74. Author Germaine Greer is 69. Actress Katharine Ross is 68. Actor Tom Selleck is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bettye LaVette is 62. Actor Marc Singer is 60. Actress Ann Jillian is 58. Rock musician Tommy Ramone (Ramones) is 56. Rock musician Louie Perez (Los Lobos) is 55. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is 54. Country singer Irlene Mandrell is 52. Actress Diane Delano is 51. Actress Judy Norton Taylor ("The Waltons") is 50. Rock musician Johnny Spampinato (NRBQ) is 49. Olympic gold-medal diver Greg Louganis is 48. Rock musician David Baynton-Power (James) is 47. Rock musician Eddie Jackson (Queensryche) is 47. Actor Nicholas Turturro is 46. Rock singer-musician Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera) is 44. Actor-director Edward Burns is 40. Actress Heather Graham is 38. Actor Sharif Atkins is 33. Actress Sara Gilbert is 33. Actor Andrew Keegan is 29. Actor Jason James Richter is 28. Blues musician Jonny Lang is 27.

DEATH

1820 Britain's King George III died at Windsor Castle, ending a reign that had seen both the American and French revolutions.

1888 Edward Lear poet/author, dies at 75.

1956 H[enry] L[ouis] Mencken US essayist/critic/satirist (Smart Set), dies in Baltimore MD at 75.

1963 poet Robert Frost died in Boston at age 88.

1980 Jimmy Durante New York City NY, singer/comedian (Ink-a-dink-a-doo, Palooka, The Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 86.

January 29, the 29th day of 2008. There are 337 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
image: kilby
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP's Today in History: January 19, 2008

SUICIDES, WAR!, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, PREDICTIONS, CHICKENS, BICYCLES, EXECUTIONS, CREEPY, PATENTS, COURTS, PROGRESS, DISCOVERY, COMMIES, NAZIS, PROGRESS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, WOMEN, LABOR, CROWDS, WOMEN, JEWS, SUPREME COURT, WATERGATE, MASONS, REPUBLICANS, PARDONS, SOCIETIES, BEAURACRACY, GAMES, DIPLOMACY, PRO WRESTLING, WILLS, SPORTS, SCANDAL, BIRTHDAYS, BORN, and DEATH



SUICIDES

1981 Muhammad Ali talks a despondent 21 year old out of committing suicide.

WAR!

1861 Georgia becomes 5th state to secede.

1861 MS troops take Fort Massachusetts an Ship Island.

1862 Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky (Fishing Creek, Logan's Crossroads).

1915 1st German Zeppelin attack over Great Britain, 4 die.

1941 British offensive in Eritrea.

1941 British troops occupy Kassalaf Sudan.

1942 Japanese forces invade Burma

TERRORISM

1975 4 mail truck assault on El Al B-747 in Paris, escape to Iraq.

DISASTERS

1917 Silvertown Essex's ammunition factory explodes; 300 die.

1947 SS Himera runs aground at Athens, kills 392.

1982 Heater explodes at Star Elementary School-Oklahoma, kills 6 kids & teacher.

1985 4 die in a car & train crash in Buda IL.

PREDICTIONS

1922 Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years.

CHICKENS

1939 Ernest Hausen of Wisconsin sets chicken-plucking record-4.4 seconds.

BICYCLES

1903 New bicycle race "Tour de France" announced.

1984 Francesco Moser bicycles world record time 50,808 km (he is the first man to break the 50 km/h barrier).

EXECUTIONS

1793 French King Louis XVI sentenced to death.

CREEPY

1809 Edgar Allan Poe - Boston, author (Pit & the Pendulum) born.

1971 Beatles' Helter Skelter is played at the Charles Manson trial.

PATENTS

1825 Ezra Daggett & nephew Thomas Kensett patent food storage in tin cans.

1915 Neon Tube sign patented by George Claude.

COURTS

1984 California Supreme Court refuses to allow quadriplegic Elizabeth Bouvia to starve herself to death in a public hospital, she appeals and is later granted the right to die.

PROGRESS

1903 1st regular transatlantic radio broadcast between US & England.

1937 Millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

DISCOVERY

1840 Antarctica discovered, Charles Wilkes expedition (US claim).

COMMIES

1970 UCLA fires Angela Davis for being a communist.

NAZIS

1983 Klaus Barbie, SS chief of Lyon in Nazi-France, arrested in Bolivia.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1955 "The Millionaire" TV program premieres on CBS.

1955 1st Presidential news conference filmed for TV (Eisenhower).

1961 1st episode for "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is filmed.

1988 "48 Hours" premieres on CBS-TV.

WOMEN

1966 Indira Gandhi elected India's 3rd prime minister.

WATERGATE

1979 John N Mitchell (former AG) released on parole from federal prison.

LABOR

1944 The federal government relinquished control of the nation's railroads following settlement of a wage dispute.

CROWDS

1977 World's largest crowd-12.7 million-for Indian religious festival.

JEWS

1986 Israeli premier Simon Peres visits Netherlands.

1986 Spain recognizes Israel.

1993 Israel recognizes PLO as no longer criminal.

SUPREME COURT,

1970, President Richard Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court; however, the nomination was defeated because of controversy over Carswell's past racial views.

MASONS,

1871 1st Negro lodge of US Masons approved, New Jersey.

REPUBLICANS

1987 Guy Hunt becomes Alabama's 1st Republican governor since 1874.

PARDONS

1977 In one of his last acts of office, President Gerald Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino, an American who had made wartime broadcasts for Japan.(Tokyo Rose)

SOCIETIES

1886 Aurora Ski Club, 1st in US, founded in Minnesota.

BUREAUCRACY

1998 During a ceremony in Atlanta commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Vice President Gore announced that the Clinton administration would propose increasing spending on civil rights by $86 million.

GAMES

1955 "Scrabble" debuts on board game market.

PRO WRESTLING

1991 Sergeant Slaughter defeats Ultimate Warrior for WWF championship belt.



1992 Nature Boy Ric Flair becomes WWF champ at Royal Rumble.

1992 Rowdy Roddy Piper beats Mountie to become WWF Intercontinental Champ.

DIPLOMACY

1920 US Senate votes against membership in League of Nations.

WILLS

1967 Herr Karl Tausch writes shortest will "Vse Zene" (All to wife).

DICTATORS

2003 President Fidel Castro and millions of other Cubans voted in parliamentary elections where all 609 candidates ran uncontested.

SPORTS

1952 PGA approves allowing black participants.

SCANDAL

2007 Former Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for his role in a lobbying scandal.

BIRTHDAYS

Actress Jean Stapleton is 85. Actor Fritz Weaver is 82. Actress Tippi Hedren is 78. Former PBS newsman Robert MacNeil is 77. Movie director Richard Lester is 76. Singer Phil Everly is 69. Actor-singer Michael Crawford is 66. Actress Shelley Fabares is 64. Country singer Dolly Parton is 62. ABC newswoman Ann Compton is 61. TV chef Paula Deen is 61. Rock singer Martha Davis is 57. Singer Dewey Bunnell (America) is 56. Actor Desi Arnaz Jr. is 55. Comedian Paul Rodriguez is 53. Actress Katey Sagal is 51. Reggae musician Mickey Virtue (UB40) is 51. Actor Paul McCrane is 47. Actor William Ragsdale is 47. Tennis player Stefan Edberg is 42. Rock singer Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe) is 40. Singer Trey Lorenz is 39. Actor Shawn Wayans is 37. Rock singer-musician John Wozniak (Marcy Playground) is 37. Actress Drea de Matteo is 36. Comedian-impressionist Frank Caliendo is 34. Actress Marsha Thomason is 32. Actress Jodie Sweetin is 26. Actor Logan Lerman is 16.

BORN

570 Mohammed Islamic prophet (Koran)

1736 James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, was born in Scotland.

1807 Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was born in Westmoreland County, Va.

DEATH

1990 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Indian guru, dies at 58

1998 "Rockabilly" pioneer Carl Perkins died in Jackson, Tenn., at age 65.

2007 Denny Doherty, a member of the 1960s folk-rock group the Mamas and the Papas, died near Toronto at age 66.

January 19, the 19th day of 2008. There are 347 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[images: bigrock]
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.