DBKP Today in Weird History: April 4 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTER, ASSASSINATION, FLAGS, WILE E. PELOSI, IMPEACHED, PC VICTIM, PATENTS, JEWS, REVENGE, 1984, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH

ASSASSINATION

1968 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; the killing sparked a wave of riots across the U.S. (James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming his innocence and attempting to withdraw his guilty plea; he died in prison in 1998.)

WAR!

1945 During World War II, U.S. troops on Okinawa encountered the first significant resistance from Japanese forces at the Machinato Line.

2003 U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad.

TERRORISM

2007 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the surprise release of 15 captive British sailors and marines.

DISASTER

1905 Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 370,000.

1933 US Dirigible Akron crashes off coast of New Jersey, 73 die.

1971 Marine clay under houses liquifies, 31 die (St-Jean-Vianney Québec).

1975 More than 130 people, most of them children, were killed when a U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crash-landed shortly after takeoff from Saigon.

1994 KLM Saab 340B crashes at Schiphol, 3 killed.

1998 Sixty-three people were killed in an explosion inside a Ukrainian coal mine.

PATENTS

1828 Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder (Amsterdam).

REVENGE

1975 Steve Miller is arrested for burning his girlfriend's clothes.

1984

1984 Winston Smith in Orwell's "1984" begins his secret diary.

JEWS

1920 Arabs attack Jews in Jerusalem.

1949 Israel & Jordan sign armistice agreement.

WILE E. PELOSI

2007 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad despite White House objections.

FLAGS

1818 Congress decided the United States flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.

PC VICTIM

2007 Radio host Don Imus made offensive on-air remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. (Despite a subsequent apology, Imus was fired by CBS Radio and cable network MSNBC; he was hired elsewhere by year's end.)

IMPEACHED!

1988 The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office. (Mecham was the first governor to be impeached and removed from office in nearly six decades.)

BORN

1821 Linus Yale US, portrait painter/inventor (Yale cylinder lock).

1908 Ernestine Gilbreth Carey author (Cheaper by the Dozen).

1915 Muddy Waters [McKinley Morganfield], guitarist (Hoochie Coochie Man).

BIRTHDAYS

Author-poet Maya Angelou is 80. Sen. Richard Lugar, R.-Ind., is 76. Recording executive Clive Davis is 76. Bandleader Hugh Masekela is 69. Author Kitty Kelley is 66. Actor Craig T. Nelson is 64. Actor Walter Charles is 63. Actress Caroline McWilliams is 63. Actress Christine Lahti is 58. Country singer Steve Gatlin (The Gatlin Brothers) is 57. Writer-producer David E. Kelley is 52. Actor Phil Morris is 49. Actress Lorraine Toussaint is 48. Actor Hugo Weaving is 48. Rock musician Craig Adams (The Cult) is 46. Actor David Cross is 44. Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 43. Actress Nancy McKeon is 42. Actor Barry Pepper is 38. Country singer Clay Davidson is 37. Rock singer Josh Todd (Buckcherry) is 37. Singer Jill Scott is 36. Rock musician Magnus Sveningsson (The Cardigans) is 36. Magician David Blaine is 35. Singer Kelly Price is 35. Rhythm-and-blues singer Andre Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 34. Actor James Roday is 32. Actress Natasha Lyonne is 29. Actress Jamie Lynn Spears is 17.

DEATH

1841 President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.

1979 Edgar Buchanan actor (Uncle Joe-Petticoat Junction), dies at 77.

1979 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto former Pakistani President, hanged in Pakistan at 51.

April 4, the 95th day of 2008. There are 271 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
* DBKP Today in Weird History: April 4 2008
* Today in Weird History: April 4 2008


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Today in Weird History: March 28, 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTER, NUKES, HOSTAGES, IMMIGRATION, SWAP, PATENTS, SUICIDE, TRIAL LAWYERS, JEWS, BAGGED, ZULUS, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH


BAGGED

1939 Dutch hunter shoots English bombers down.

WAR!

1738 English parliament declares war on Spain (War of Jenkin's Ear).

2003 American-led forces in Iraq dropped thousand-pound bombs on Republican Guard units guarding the gates to Baghdad and battled for control of the strategic city of Nasiriyah. President Bush warned of "further sacrifice" ahead in the face of unexpectedly fierce fighting.

TERRORISM

1986 Extremist Sikhs kill 13 hindus in Ludhiana India.

2007 Iran aired a video of 15 captured British sailors and marines; the lone female captive, shown in a white tunic and a black head scarf, said the British boats had "trespassed." (The crew members were released April 4, 2007.)

DISASTER

1960 Scotch factory explodes burying 20 firefighters (Glasgow Scotland).

1970 1,086 die when 7.3 earthquake destroys 254 villages (Gediz Turkey).

TRIAL LAWYERS

1866 1st ambulance goes into service.

PATENTS

1797 Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patents a washing machine.

NUKES

1979 America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa.

HOSTAGES

2007 In the Philippines, dozens of children were taken hostage on a bus by a day-care center owner armed with grenades and guns; the crisis ended peacefully 10 hours later with the hostage-taker's surrender.

SUICIDE

1941 Filling her pockets with stones, novelist and critic Virginia Woolf walked into a river near her home and died in Lewes, England.

IMMIGRATION

1898 The Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that a child born in the United States to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen.

SWAP

1930 The names of the Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora were changed to Istanbul and Ankara.

JEWS

1917 Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv & Jaffa by Turkish authorities.

ZULUS

1994 Armed Zulus demonstrate in Johannesburg, over 53 killed.

BIRTHDAYS

Former White House national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is 80. Country musician Charlie McCoy is 67. Movie director Mike Newell is 66. Actress Conchata Ferrell is 65. Actor Ken Howard is 64. Actress Dianne Wiest is 60. Country singer Reba McEntire is 53. Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner is 50. Actress Tracey Needham is 41. Actor Max Perlich is 40. Movie director Brett Ratner is 39. Country singer Rodney Atkins is 39. Actor Vince Vaughn is 38. Rapper Mr. Cheeks (Lost Boyz) is 37. Actor Ken L. is 35. Rock musician Dave Keuning is 32. Actress Julia Stiles is 27.

DEATH

1953 Athlete Jim Thorpe died in Lomita, Calif.

1958 W.C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues," died in New York at age 84.

1969 Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, died in Washington at age 78.

March 28, the 88th day of 2008. There are 278 days left in the year.

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


DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: March 14 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTER, PATENTS, IMMIGRATION, LEVIATHAN, GUILTY, NOT GUILTY, SPIES, POLITICS, JEWS, TOP TEN, NICE GUYS, CLINTONS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH

TOP TEN

1950 FBI's "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" program begins.

WAR!

1951 During the Korean War, United Nations forces recaptured Seoul.

TERRORISM

1991 a British court overturned the convictions of the "Birmingham Six," who had spent 16 years in prison for an Irish Republican Army bombing, and ordered them released.

2007 The Pentagon released the transcript of a military hearing in which Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he "was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z."

DISASTER

1940 27 killed, 15 injured when truck full of migrant workers collides with a train outside McAllen TX.

1960 14 die in a train crash in Bakersfield CA.

1980 A Polish airliner crashed while making an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing all 87 people aboard, including 22 members of a U.S. amateur boxing team.

1997 Iranian military plane crashes, killing 80.

1998 An earthquake killed at least five people and left some 10,000 homeless in southeastern Iran.

NICE GUYS

1983 OPEC cut oil prices for 1st time in 23 years.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1968 CBS TV suspends Radio Free Europe free advertising because RFE doesn't make it clear it is sponsored by the CIA.

PATENTS

1794 Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America's cotton industry.

NOT GUILTY

2003 Actor Robert Blake was released from jail on $1.5 million bail, 11 months after he was arrested on charges of murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. (Blake was later acquitted at trial.)

IMMIGRATION

1907 President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order designed to prevent Japanese laborers from immigrating to the United States as part of a "gentlemen's agreement" with Japan.

CLINTONS

1997 President Clinton trips & tears up his knee requiring surgery.

LEVIATHAN

1923 President Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax return.

1971 The Rolling Stones leave England for France to escape taxes.

JEWS

1965 Israeli cabinet approves diplomatic relations with West Germany.

GUILTY

1964 A jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy.

POLITICS

1629 England granted a royal charter to Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1644 England grants patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island).

SPIES

2003 Christopher Boyce, whose Cold War spying was immortalized on film in "The Falcon and the Snowman," was released from a halfway house in San Francisco after a quarter-century in prison.

BORN

1879 Albert Einstein Ulm Germany, (E=mc²/Theory of Relativity, Nobel 1921).

BIRTHDAYS

Former astronaut Frank Borman is 80. Singer Phil Phillips is 77. Actor Michael Caine is 75. Composer-conductor Quincy Jones is 75. Former astronaut Eugene Cernan is 74. Actor Raymond J. Barry is 69. Movie director Wolfgang Petersen is 67. Country singer Michael Martin Murphey is 63. Rock musician Walt Parazaider (Chicago) is 63. Actor Steve Kanaly is 62. Comedian Billy Crystal is 60. Country singer Jann Browne is 54. Actor Adrian Zmed is 54. Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, is 50. Actress Tamara Tunie is 49. Actress Penny Johnson Jerald is 47. Producer-director-writer Kevin Williamson is 43. Actor Gary Anthony Williams is 42. Actress Megan Follows is 40. Rock musician Michael Bland is 39. Country singer Kristian Bush is 38. Rock musician Derrick (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 36. Actor Jake Fogelnest is 29. Actor Chris Klein is 29. Actress Kate Maberly is 26. Singer-musician Taylor Hanson (Hanson) is 25. Actor Jamie Bell is 22.

DEATH

1883 German political philosopher Karl Marx died in London.

1932 George Eastman US industrialist (Kodak-camera), suicide at 77.

1961 Akiba Rubinstein Polish chess player (opening theorist), dies at 78.

March 14, the 74th day of 2008. There are 292 days left in the year.


compiled by Mondoreb
image: morning-calm
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Leap Day: February 29th Facts, Figures, Birthdays and Famous Events

A Celebration of Leap Day


Leap Day, February 29, occurs once every four years.

Since the Gregorian Calendar has only been in effect since 24 February 1582, February 29 2008 is only the 103th Leap Day.

Why the change to the Gregorian Calendar, which has an error of 27 seconds per year?

Because it's a great deal more accurate than its predecessors.

Gregorian calendar AD 1582 365.2425 days 27 seconds (1 day every 3,236 years)
Julian calendar 45 BC 365.25 days 11 minutes (1 day every 128 years)
365-day calendar - 365 days 6 hours (1 day every 4 years)
Lunar calendar ancient 12-13 moon-months variable

A little bit about Leap Day 2008.

"The year 2008 is a leap year. If you look at a 2008 calendar, you will see that February has five Fridays–the month begins and ends on a Friday. Between the years 1904 and 2096, leap years that share the same day of week for each date repeat only every 28 years. The most recent year in which February comprised five Fridays was in 1980, and the next occurrence will be in 2036. February 29, the leap day, has been associated with age-old traditions, superstitions and folklore."

What are the legal ramifications of being born on a day that occurs once every four years?

Not as many as you think.

When to celebrate is a matter of personal preference, and the only time having such an unusual birth date really could cause problems is in years when the exact day matters, as getting a driver's license, sipping your first legal cocktail, registering to vote or playing the slots.

Sometimes, registering on a Web site using a Feb. 29 birthday will result in "Invalid birth date," though the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies in Oregon, a non-profit advocacy group, offers free software that Web designers can use to avoid the error message.

Statistically, it really doesn't matter what day someone is born on, says Christopher Mrela, statistician with the Arizona Department of Health Services, which maintains the state's vital records. Age is computed by year, not actual birth date. So to celebrate a Leap Day birthday in a non-leap year is not a state concern.

One could go get their driver's license on their actual birth date--this year. But had this not been a leap year, the applicant would have had to wait until March 1.

"Just like anyone born on any other day, you can't get a driver's license on the day before you are eligible," says Cydney DeModica, spokeswoman for the state's Motor Vehicle Division.

What about gambling in Las Vegas or a glass of wine? Would a person have to wait until March 1? Based on stories from other leap-year babies, it would depend on the pit boss or bartender.

FAST FACT: [And one that we bet you'll not remember for too long after today.]

The longest time between two leap years is eight years. The last time that occurred was between 1896 and 1904. The next time will be between 2096 and 2104.

For a day that has only occured 102 times previously, a lot has happened on February 29.

From Wikipedia:

* 1504 - Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
* 1704 - Queen Anne's War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 100 men, women, and children.
* 1712 - February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Old style.
* 1720 - Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I.
* 1864 - American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid fails - Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
* 1892 - St. Petersburg, Florida incorporated.
* 1916 - Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old.
* 1932 - TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
* 1936 - Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuts on the radio program The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
* 1940 - For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
* 1940 - Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations
* 1940 - In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, because of the war, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives his 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from the Sweden's Consul General in San Francisco.
* 1944 - World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
* 1952 - The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
* 1956 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.
* 1960 - An earthquake in Morocco kills over 3,000 people and nearly destroys Agadir in the southern part of the country.
* 1964 - In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
* 1972 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
* 1972 - Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
* 1984 - Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announces he will retire as soon as the Liberals can elect another leader.
* 1988 - South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town
* 1996 - Novelist Joan Collins awarded US $1 million from Random House for breach of contract.
* 1996 - A Peruvian Boeing 737 crashes in the Andes, killing 123 people.
* 2000 - Six year old Dedrick Owens shoots and kills Kayla Rolland, also six years old, at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan.
* 2004 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.

People who only get to celebrate a real, honest-to-goodness birthday every four years probably don't spare any expense.

February 29 People Famous people--or not, depending upon how you define "famous"--born on February 29. 1468 Pope Paul III last Renaissance pope (1534-1549) 1692 John Byrom, English poet, hymnist, and inventor of a system of shorthand. (d. 1763) 1692 Edward Cave, England, printer (Gentlemen's Magazine) 1696 Esprit Joseph Antoine Blanchard, composer 1712 General Montcalm - Hero of the French & Indian war 1728 Robert Bage, English writer (Criticism by Peter Faulkner) 1736 Ann Lee, Shaker movement, Manchester England, Founded the Shaker movement and brought it to America in 1776. (d. 1784) 1756 Christian F. Hansen - Danish architect 1784 Franz KL von Klenze, German architect (Hermitage, St-Petersburg) 1792 Karl Baer - Embryologist, found mammals develop from eggs 1792 Gioacchino Rossini - Italian composer (The Barber of Seville, William Tell) (d.1868). 1792 Karl Ernst von Baler, Russia, Naturalist (discovered human ovum) 1796 [Lambert] Adolphe J Quetelet, Belgian Astronomer / Meteorology 1808 Charles Pritchard - British Astronomer 1812 Hermann Hirschboch, German composer 1820 Adolf Schimon, composer 1828 Antonio Guzman Blanco, president Venezuela 1828 John Phillip Holland, Ireland - Designed and built the first submarine for U.S. Navy (d.1914) Some lists show him born February 29 in 1828, others in 1840. 1840 1844 French Ensor Chadwick - Naval officer at battle of Santiago de Cuba. 1852 Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian judge (d. 1936) 1856 Sedley Brown - Twin brother of J. Edwin Brown, American playwright, author, stage director, actor 1856 J. Edwin Brown - Twin brother of Sedley Brown, USA, Actor 1860 Herman Hollerith - American statistician. Inventor of the 1st Electric Tabulating Machine. (d. 1929) 1864 Jan Svatopluk - Czech poet 1864 Albert Patry - Elbing, East Prussia, Germany [now Elblag, Poland], Actor 1864 Alice Davenport - USA, silent screen comedic actress 1884 Alfred Sendrey, composer 1876 John Harwood - UK, Actor 1888 John Costigan, American regionalist printmaker, and a cousin of the noted American showman, George M. Cohan, whose parents brought the young Costigan to New York City and were instrumental in starting him on a career in the visual arts. 1892 Augusta Christine Savage - Augusta Christine Fells - American sculptor and educator who battled racism to secure a place for African American women in the art world. She became the first Black member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptures in 1934. 1896 Ranchhodji Mararji Desai - 6th Prime Minister of India from March 24, 1977 to July 15 1979. At 83, he was the oldest Prime Minister of India. (d. 1995) 1896 Wladimir Rudolfovich Vogel, composer 1896 Omer C F L Tulippe, Belgian geographer 1896 Stanley Swash, CEO (Woolworths) 1896 William A. Wellman - American Film Director, (first picture to win an Oscar (1928) "WINGS") (d. 1975) 1896 Archie Ricks - Actor, Second Unit Director or Assistant Director, Director 1904 Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorft Sr., Germany; had a Christian name for every letter in the alphabet, shortened it to Mr Wolfe Plus 585 Sr. The world's longest name officially used by a person. 1904 John "Pepper" Martin - Feisty 3rd baseman for St. Louis 'Gashouse Gang'. (NL stolen base leader 1933, 34, 36) (d. 1965) 1904 Alan Richardson, composer 1904 Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian dancer and founder of Kalakshetra (d. 1986) 1904 Jimmy Dorsey (James Francis Dorsey) - Legendary saxophonist, conductor, songwriter and composer. He formed an orchestra with his brother, Tommy Dorsey, lasting from 1933 to 1935, and then led his own orchestra, rejoining Tommy's orchestra in 1953 and taking over the orchestra at Tommy's death. (d. 1957) 1908 Alf Gover, English cricketer (bowled in 4 Tests for England/famous coach) (d. 2001) 1908 Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski) - French-Polish painter, considered one of the 20th century's greatest realist painters. (d. 2001) 1908 Masahiro Makino - Japan - Film director 1908 Bernard C. Boyd - Glassmaker and Chemist. Founded Boyd Glass with his son. 1908 Dee Alexander Brown II - He became known to the larger public as a novelist and historian. His great novel "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is still perhaps the best historical portrayal of the violent relationship between Native Americans and the expansionist Americans with their roots in the Old World. 1908 Edward B. Taylor - Photographer - documented Dayton, Ohio's African American culture in photographs for nearly 40 years. He was Dayton's first Black commercial photographer. 1908 Renee Evans - Film actress and Mother of stage actress 'Diane Alban' 1912 Gaetano Amata - Italy - Film Writer, Director, Assistant Director, Production Manager, Producer 1912 Mary McAdoo - USA, She was named the "Most Outstanding Female Personality" by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1955. 1916 Leonard S. Shoen - Entrepreneur, founded U-Haul Rental System. 1916 Dinah Shore (Frances Rose Shore) - USA, Actress, Singer, Talk Show Host. Some sources list her birth date as March 1, 1917 1920 Kosti Klemela - Finland - Actor 1920 Don Ornitz - Photographer and Miscellaneous Crew 1920 Alberto Ribeiro - Portugal - Composer, Actor, Miscellaneous Crew, Producer, Director, 1920 Arthur Franz, USA, Actor, (That Champion Season, Invaders From Mars, Young Lions) 1920 Louise Wood, director of Girl Scouts of USA (1961-72) 1920 James Mitchell, USA, Actor (Palmer-All My Children) 1920 Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991) 1920 Michelle Morgan - French Actress ("Symphonie Pastorale") France 1924 William D. Hathaway - U.S. Senator (R) from Maine (1973-1979). 1924 Otto Hutter, Physiologist 1924 Carlos Humberto Romero, President of El Salvador 1924 David Beattie, British governor-general of NZ 1924 Al Rosen - Ballplayer, slugging Cleveland 3rd baseman. 1928 Joss Ackland - British actor 1928 Alan Loveday, British(?) violinist 1928 McHenry Boatwright - Opera Singer, American baritone. 1928 Tempest Storm (born Annie Blanche Banks), American actress and star of burlesque. She took the name Tempest Storm as her stage name around 1950, legally changing her name in 1957. 1932 Newel Kay Brown - Wrote the children's song, "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission," which every child in the world-wide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called Mormon) has sung since 1970. 1932 Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist 1932 Gavin Stevens, cricket (Australian bat on 59-60 India/Pakistan tour) 1932 Masten Gregory, American F1 Driver 1932 Gene Golub, American mathematician (d. 2007) 1936 Erik Häkkinen - Producer, Director, Writer, Editor, Actor, Cinematographer 1936 Alwin Schockemohle, Germany, equestrian jumper (Olympic-gold-1976) 1936 Alex Rocco, American Actor 1936 Jack Lousma - Astronaut; was a crew member of the Skylab 3 flight in 1973 and Columbia Space Shuttle in 1982. 1936 Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard - NHL Hall of Fame Center, Montreal Canadians. 1936 Sharon Webb - Science Fiction Novelist (Earthchild) 1940 Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople 1940 Gretchen Christopher - Multi-Gold Record Artist, BMI "Million Airs" Songwriter ("Come Softly To Me"), Female Lead Vocalist/Arranger, Dancer/Choreographer and Founder of "The Fleetwoods", first group in the history of Rock & Roll to have multiple #1 Records top Billboard's Hot 100 in a single year (1959). 1940 Billy Turner - Thoroughbred horse trainer, "Seattle Slew". 1940 Sanda Aronson - New York, USA - started the Disabled Artists' Network in April, 1985 1944 David Briggs, record producer 1944 Ene Ergma, Estonian polotician 1944 Dennis Farina, USA, Actor 1944 Phyllis Frelich - deaf American actress, Member of National Theatre of the Deaf, Devil's Lake ND, (Love is Never Silent) 1944 Sharon Hugueny - Actress 1944 John Niland - NFL guard for Dallas Cowboys. 1944 Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian illustrator 1948 Willi Smith - Fashion designer. 1948 Yuri Pimenov, USSR, coxless pair rowers (Olympic-silver-1976) 1948 Patricia [Anne] McKillip, US, sci-fi author (Fool's Run) 1948 Nikolai Pimenov, USSR, coxless pair rowers (Olympic-silver-1976) 1948 Gérard Darmon - Actor, France 1952 Bart Stupak, American polotician (Rep-D-Michigan) 1952 Raisa Smetanina, USSR, cross country skier (Olympic-gold-1976, 80, 92) 1952 Raul Gonzalez, Mexican 50K speed walker (world record) 1952 Tim[othy] Powers, US, sci-fi author (Epitaph in Rust, Night Moves) 1952 Randy Jackson, rocker (Zebra - I Don't Know, I Don't Care) 1952 Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush - Born in Greensboro, North Carolina. She became America's first African-American weather anchor when Detroit, Michigan's WGPR-TV hit the airwaves in 1975; WGPR-TV was the nation's first black-owned and operated television station. 1956 Peter Brouwer (LDB # 1 in the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies) - Founded Leap Year Babies Honor Society (in 1997). 1956 Jonathan Coleman, Anglo-Australian radio and television personality 1956 Neil Rosenthal (LDB # 57 in the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies) - Poet published by The National Library of Poetry. 1956 Bob Speller, Canadian politician - his father-in-law is also a Leap Day Baby 1956 J. Randy Taraborrelli, American celebritiy journalist 1960 Raenell Dawn (LDB # 39 in the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies) - Founded Leap Year Babies Limited (in 1987). 1960 Dan Daoust - NHL center for Toronto Maple Leafs. 1960 Heidi Henriksen - The 1st of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days. 1960 Ian McKenzie Anderson, British musician and record producer 1960 Anthony Robbins - American Motivational Speaker 1960 Khaled, Algerian raï musician 1964 James Robert Bruce Ogilvy, the only son of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy and the late Sir Angus Ogilvy. He is second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II. 1964 Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player 1964 Olav Henriksen - The 2nd of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days. 1964 James RB Ogilvy, son of English princess Alexandra 1964 Antonella Ponziani - Actress, Director, Italy 1964 Henrik Sundstrom, Sweden, tennis star 1964 Mervyn Warren - Five-time Grammy Award winner (as of 2004), original member of the vocal group "Take 6" 1964 Jahred Shane, Afro-Brazilian rapper/singer of (həd) p.e. 1968 Suanne Braun, South African-born actress 1968 Chucky Brown, NBA forward (Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks) 1968 Cary Conklin, NFL quarterback (SF 49ers) 1968 Gareth Farr - Composer and Percussionist, born in Wellington, New Zealand 1968 Pete Fenson, American curler 1968 Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress 1968 Leif-Martin Henriksen - The 3rd of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days. 1968 Gonzalo Lira, Chilean-American novelist and filmmaker 1968 Bryce Paup, American football player, NFL linebacker (Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills) 1972 Cyrus Beasley, Rowe NY, rower (Olympics-1996) 1972 Fabien Bownes, NFL wide receiver (Chic Bears) 1972 Chris Devine, Allentown Pa, diver (Olympics-96) 1972 Mark Farraway, CFL offensive linebacker (Edmonton Eskimos) 1972 Antonio Sabato, Jr. - Italian-born actor 1972 Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002) 1972 Saul Williams - Rap Poet, Actor, USA 1972 Pedro Zamora, Cuban-born American AIDS activist (d. 1994) 1976 David Kendall Sr. - Actor, USA 1976 Bryan Gillooly, Auburn NY, diver (Olympics-96) 1976 Ja Rule - American Rapper and Actor 1980 Eric Benz - Actor, Germany 1980 Simon Gagne, Canadian Hockey player, NHL player (Philly Flyers) who has been an all-star 1980 Taylor Twellman, American soccer player 1984 Darren Ambrose, English footballer 1984 Cam Ward, Canadian hockey player 1984 Adam Sinclair, Indian Hockey player 1988 Scott Golbourne, English footballer 1992 Caitlin E.J. Meyer - Actress

If your birthday is February 29, you can join the Honor Society of Leap Year Babies by clicking on this link.

DBKP wants to salute all Leap Day birthdays today!

If you know anyone who has a birthday today, don't forget to wish them a very cheery "Happy Birthday"--maybe four times.

They won't hear it again until 2012.

You may also be interested in reading: Today in Weird History: February 29, 2008

by Mondoreb
images:
* Leap Year Babies
* Leap Year
* jack dandy
Sources:
* February 29
* Babies born on Leap Day can count on years of confusion
* Famous people born on February 29
* time and date



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

B.C., The Comic Strip, Turns 50 Today

B.C.'s 50th Anniversary strip appeared in newspapers nationwide today.

B.C., the comic strip turns 50 years old today.

A half-century for a comic strip is a pretty good length of time: most comics never get off the ground; those that do: some die with their creators, some die before that.

Now, in the entire scheme of comic strips, we only rate two strips as being in the Super Excellent Category: Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side, neither which is being drawn anymore.

B.C. always ranked below that--in the "pleasant to read with the occasional really funny strip" category--along with Wizard of Id and Shoe and later, Fox Trot and Dilbert. Of the one-panel strips, Bizarro was in that category.

But, with comics so god-awful these days, B.C. is an old reliable.

From Wikipedia:

B.C. is an American newspaper comic strip created in 1958, written and drawn by Johnny Hart until his 2007 death. It is set in prehistoric times, featuring a group of cavemen and anthropomorphic animals from a variety of geologic eras.

It is among the longest-running strips done by its original creator, having appeared daily in newspapers since February 17, 1958. Hart died last year.

Both Hart's daughter Perri Hart and his grandson Mason Mastroianni were involved with the strip prior to his death and have taken over the drawing and writing duties, with contributions by Mick Mastroianni. It is syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

One of the things that made B.C. such a "steady" strip was its regular cast of characters.

It became the three-panel equivalent to a solid sit-com.

The regular human characters in the strip are:

* BC, a caveman.
* Peter, a philosopher, founder of the Prehistoric Pessimists Society and the Column of Truth.

Clumsy

* Clumsy Carp, a spectacle-wearing conservationist clumsy enough to trip over a beach.
* Curls, a highly cynical individual.
* Thor, inventor of the wheel, the well, the rake, the comb, and many other things.

Grog

* Wiley, an unshaven, woman-fearing, water-hating, one-legged poet, and manager of the local baseball team.
* Grog, a wild man with a one-word vocabulary and enough strength to knock the sun out of the sky using a golf ball.

The Fat Broad and the Cute Chick

* Fat Broad, a fat, bossy, and muscular cavewoman who enjoys clobbering snakes
* Cute Chick, a beautiful, blonde cavewoman

There are also regular animal characters. They are:

* The early bird and the early worm (who likes to sleep in while the early bird freezes his beak off waiting for him to emerge).
* The woodpecker, Wiley's worst enemy.
* The tortoise and the bird, inseparable friends.
* Maude, an ant with a smart-alec son, and a quarrelsome husband who is always threatening to run off with Shirley.
* The Queen Ant, an unfeeling and abusive dictator.

Ants and anteater

* Various other ants, including a schoolteacher and her students.
* The anteater (up to four of them appear at once).
* The purple-bellied dingwhopper, the last of its species.
* The dinosaur.
* The clams, talking clams with legs.
* The snake, the Fat Broad's worst enemy.
* The apteryx (kiwi), a "wingless bird with hairy feathers" (as he introduces himself).

Our four favorites: the ants, the Fat Broad clubbing the snake, Grog, the tortoise and the bird. Wiley, the peg-legged, one-eyed poet baseball manager was fifth.

Did she say "God"? How totally un-PC.

One of the things that elevated B.C.--in our minds, anyway--was its refusal to knuckle under to Political Correctness. Hart always would slip in a strip which evoked howls from the PC crowd.

Usually, those comic strips had to do with his primitive characters expressing "primitive thoughts" on a primitive--to the secular atheist crowd--subject: Christianity.

This strip brought controversy from some Jewish groups.

Though other strips such as The Family Circus and Hart's own The Wizard of Id regularly include Christian themes, B.C. strips have been pulled from comics pages on several occasions due to editorial perception of religious favoritism or overt proselytizing.

Easter strips in 1996 and 2001, for example, have prompted editorial reaction from a handful of U.S. newspapers, chiefly the Los Angeles Times and written and verbal responses from Jewish and Muslim groups. The American Jewish Committee termed the Easter 2001 strip, which depicted the last words of Jesus Christ and a menorah transforming into a cross, "religiously offensive" and "shameful."

The Los Angeles Times now relegates strips which its editorial staff deems objectionable to the religion pages, instead of the regular comics pages.

But let's forget the controversy: today is the 50th birthday of the first B.C. comic.

As we said, it wasn't one of our top two, but we still have quite a soft spot for it. And, from time-to-time, it resists the blandness imposed by the forces of PC on most comics today.

B.C.'s creator, Johnny Hart was only a little short of 10 months short of celebrating the event: Hart died on April 7, 2007 after suffering a stroke at his home in Nineveh, New York.

But B.C. lives on, as do the many characters created by Hart that populate the stone-age strip.

Happy 50th Birthday, B.C.!




by Mondoreb
images:
* dimskip.blogspot.com
* creatorssyndicate
* wikipedia
* everythingandnothing
* answers
Sources:
* BC
* Creator's syndicate



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: February 4, 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, EXECUTIONS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH, POLITICS, PROGRESS, EDUCATION, JEWS, BOOMS, RELIGION, ASSASSINATION, PATENTS, SPORTS, RIOTS, DEPORTED, BANKRUPT, RECORDS, CHIMPS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA



1789 Electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States. They also elected John Adams as Vice-President. (However, the results of the balloting were not counted in the U.S. Senate until two months later).

WAR!

1783 Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.

1861 Confederate constitutional convention meets for 1st time, Montgomery AL. Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi & South Carolina elect Jefferson Davis President of Confederacy.

1945 President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

TERRORISM

1990 10 Israeli tourists murdered near Cairo.

1994 20 die in armed assault on mosque in Khartum Sudan.

DISASTERS

1783 Worst quake in 8 years kills some 50,000 (Calabria, Italy).

1797 Earthquake in Quito, Ecuador kills 40,000.

1966 All-Nippon Airways 727 crashes off Haneda Airport (Japan); kills 133.

1971 Government exhibit under construction collapses, kills 65 in Brazil.

1976 7.5 earthquake kills 22,778 in Guatemala & Honduras.

1977 Elevated train jumps track, crashes onto Chicago st (11 die, 200 hurt).

1997 73 Israelis die when army copters collide.

1998 More than 2,300 people were killed when an earthquake hit northeast Afghanistan with a magnitude of 5.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

RECORDS

1982 Indoor distance record for a paper airplane (47 meters) Tacoma WA.

1984 Frank Aquilera sets world frisbee distance record (168 meters) Las Vegas.

RIOTS

1971 National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington NC.

CHIMPS

1974 Chimpanzee Nim Chimsky signs his 1st word, at 2½ months.

BOOMS

1964 FAA begins 6 month test of reactions to sonic booms over Oklahoma City OK.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

2003 A rare television interview with Saddam Hussein aired in which the Iraqi leader charged that U.S. claims of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in his country were a pretext to seize Iraq's oil fields.

EDUCATION

1849 University of Wisconsin begins in 1 room with 20 students.

BANKRUPT

1971 British car maker Rolls Royce declared itself bankrupt.

DEPORTED

1972 Senator Strom Thurmond suggests John Lennon be deported.

NAZIs

1938 Hitler seizes control of German army & puts Nazi in key posts.

RELIGION

1866 Mary Baker Eddy cures her injuries by opening a bible.

ASSASSINATION

1949 Failed assassination attempt on Shah of Persia.

JEWS

1855 Soldiers shoot Jewish families in Coro, Venezuela.

1959 Israel begins exporting copper ore.

1997 Secretary of State Madeline Albright announces she just discovered that her grandparents were Jewish.

SPORTS

1932 New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.

1969 John Madden is named head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

PATENTS

1913 Louis Perlman patents demountable auto tire-carrying wheel rim.

PROGRESS

1824 J W Goodrich introduces rubber galoshes to the public.

1930 1st tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks, New Orleans.

1957 1st electric portable typewriter placed on sale (Syracuse NY).

EXECUTIONS

1699 350 rebellious Streltsi executed in Moscow.

BORN

1902 Charles A Lindbergh Detroit MI, pilot (1st fly solo across Atlantic).

1904 MacKinlay Kantor Webster City IA, novelist (Andersonville).

1913 Woody Hayes [Wayne], college football coach (Ohio, 1968 coach of year).

BIRTHDAYS

Actor William Phipps is 86. Actor Conrad Bain is 85. Actor Gary Conway is 72. Movie director George A. Romero is 68. Rock musician John Steel (The Animals) is 67. Singer Florence LaRue (The Fifth Dimension) is 64. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is 61. Rock singer Alice Cooper is 60. Actor Michael Beck is 59. Actress Lisa Eichhorn is 56. Rock singer Tim Booth is 48. Rock musician Henry Bogdan is 47. Country singer Clint Black is 46. Country musician Dave Buchanan (Yankee Grey) is 42. Actress Gabrielle Anwar is 38. Singer David Garza is 37. Actor Michael Goorjian is 37. Rock musician Rick Burch (Jimmy Eat World) is 33. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is 33. Rapper Cam'ron is 32. Rock singer Gavin DeGraw is 31. Olympic gold medal gymnast-turned-singer Carly Patterson is 20.

DEATH

1957 Joseph Hardaway creator of Bugs Bunny, dies at 66.

1983 Karen Carpenter singer/drummer (Carpenters), dies of anorexia at 32.

1987 Pianist Liberace died at his Palm Springs, Calif., home at age 67.

1989 Kenneth "Jethro" Burns country singer (Homer & Jethro), dies at 69.

2003 Opera singer Jerome Hines died in New York at age 81.

2007 Singer-actress Barbara McNair died in Los Angeles at age 72.

February 4, the 35th day of 2008. There are 331 days left in the year.

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



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 29, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, POLITICS, EXECUTION, DISASTER, DISEASE, DEATH, MURDER, BIRTH, CULTURE, BIRTHDAYS



In 1916, Grigory Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk" who'd wielded great influence with Czar Nicholas II, was murdered by a group of Russian noblemen in St. Petersburg.

WAR!

In December 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.

In 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as "The Second Great Fire of London."

TERRORISM

In 1975, a bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people.

In 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell, making the rounds of the Sunday TV talk shows, said there was still time to find a diplomatic resolution to North Korea's development of nuclear weapons, and that the situation hadn't yet reached the crisis stage.

POLITICS

In 1845, Texas was admitted as the 28th state.

In 1989, playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the country's Federal Assembly, becoming the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.

EXECUTION

In 2006, word reached the United States of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (because of the time difference, it was the morning of December 30th in Iraq when the hanging took place). In a statement, President Bush called Saddam's execution a milestone on Iraq's road to democracy.

DISASTER

In 2006, more than 400 people died when a crowded Indonesian ferry sank in the Java Sea.

DISEASE

In 1997, Hong Kong began killing 1.4 million chickens to stem the spread of a mysterious bird flu that had already killed four people.

DEATH

In 2006, Gerald R. Ford's flag-draped casket was carried into a church in Palm Desert, California, for a public viewing that marked the start of six days of mourning for the former president.

MURDER

In 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in England by knights loyal to King Henry II.

BIRTH

In 1808, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina.

CULTURE

In 1851, the first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston.

In 1957, singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were married in Las Vegas, Nevada.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Clarence Swensen ("The Wizard of Oz")
is 90. Actress Inga Swenson is 75. ABC newscaster Tom Jarriel is
73. Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 70. Actor Jon Voight is 69. Country
singer Ed Bruce is 68. Rock musician Ray Thomas is 66. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 61. Jockey Laffit Pincay Junior is 61. Actor Ted Danson is 60. Actor Jon Polito is 57. Singer-actress Yvonne Elliman is 56. Actress Patricia Clarkson is 48. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 48. Rock singer-musician Jim Reid (The Jesus and Mary Chain) is 46. Rock singer Dexter Holland (The Offspring) is 42. Actor-comedian Mystro Clark is 41. Actor Jason Gould is 41. Movie director Andy Wachowski is 40. Actress Jennifer Ehle is 38. Rock singer-musician Glen Phillips is 37. Actor Kevin Weisman is 37. Actor Jude Law is 35. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 33. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 32. Actor Diego Luna is 28. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 24.

December 29, the 363rd day of 2007. There are two days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image: curiouschapbooks]
Source: Today in History





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 28, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, POLITICS, EXECUTION, TURBULENCE, CULTURE, CRIME, RIOTS, DEATH, BIRTH, BIRTHDAYS



In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Jackson.

WAR!

1n 2006, in Somalia, troops of the U.N.-backed interim government rolled into Mogadishu unopposed, putting an end to six months of domination of the capital by a radical Islamic movement.

In 2006, President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq.

TERRORISM

In 2002, the U.N. nuclear watchdog decided to pull its inspectors out of North Korea by New Year's Eve, a step demanded by the North.

POLITICS

In 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union.

In 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.

EXECUTIONS

In 2006, Saddam Hussein's lawyer made a last-ditch effort to impede his client's execution.

TURBULENCE

In 1997, one woman was killed, more than 100 other people hurt, when a United Airlines jumbo jet en route from Narita, Japan, to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence over the Pacific.

CRIME

In 1987, the bodies of 14 relatives of Ronald Gene Simmons were found at his home near Dover, Ark., following a shooting rampage by Simmons in Russellville that claimed two other lives. (Simmons was later executed.)

RIOTS

In 1982, Nevell Johnson Jr., a black man, was mortally wounded by a police officer in a Miami video arcade, setting off three days of race-related disturbances that left another man dead.

CULTURE

In 1897, the play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand, premiered in Paris.

In 1917, the New York Evening Mail published "A Neglected Anniversary," a facetious essay by H.L. Mencken supposedly recounting the history of bathtubs in America. (For example, Mencken "claimed" the first American bathtub made its debut in the Cincinnati home of grain dealer Adam Thompson on Dec. 20, 1842, and that the first White House bathtub was installed in 1851 at the order of President Millard Fillmore.)

In 1973, Alexander Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison system.

DEATH

In 1694, Queen Mary II of England died after more than five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III.

In 1937, composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris at age 62.

BIRTH

In 1856, the 28th president of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton, Va.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Lou Jacobi is 94. Bandleader Johnny Otis is 86. Comic book creator Stan Lee is 85. Former United Auto Workers union president Owen Bieber is 78. Actor Martin Milner is 76. Actress Dame Maggie Smith is 73. Rock singer-musician Charles Neville is 69. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 61. Rock singer-musician Alex Chilton (The Box Tops; Big Star) is 57. Actor Denzel Washington is 53. Country singer Joe Diffie is 49. Country musician Mike McGuire (Shenandoah) is 49. Actor Chad McQueen is 47. Country singer-musician Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) is 47. Actor Malcolm Gets is 43. Actor Mauricio Mendoza is 38. Comedian Seth Meyers is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer John Legend is 29. Actress Sienna Miller is 26. Actor Thomas Dekker is 20. Actress Mackenzie Rosman is 18.

Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2007. There are three days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:kudzumonthly]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 27, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, EXECUTION, SCIENCE, CULTURE, FRAUD, THEORIES, DEATH, INDEPENDENCE, POLITICS, BIRTHDAYS



On Dec. 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

WAR!

In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

TERRORISM

In 1985, Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; a total of 20 people were killed, including four of the attackers, who were slain by police and security personnel.

In 1997, Billy Wright, Northern Ireland's most notorious Protestant militant, was shot to death by three members of the Irish National Liberation Army at the Maze Prison outside Belfast.

In 2002, a defiant North Korea ordered U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country and said it would restart a laboratory capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons. But the U.N. nuclear watchdog said its inspectors were "staying put" for the time being.

In 2002, a suicide truck-bomb attack destroyed the headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72 people.

EXECUTION

In 2006, Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to embrace "brotherly coexistence" and not to hate U.S.-led foreign troops in a goodbye letter posted on a Web site a day after Iraq's highest court upheld his death sentence.

SCIENCE

In 1822, scientist Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France.

In 1968, Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.

INDEPENDENCE

In 1949, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed an act granting sovereignty to Indonesia after more than three centuries of Dutch rule.

POLITICS

In 2006, former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards jumped into the presidential race a day earlier than he had planned after his campaign accidentally went live with his election Web site a day before his scheduled announcement.

FRAUD

In 2002, Clonaid, a company founded by a religious sect that believes in space aliens, announced it had produced the world's first cloned baby, a claim subsequently dismissed by scientists for lack of proof.

CULTURE

In 1904, James Barrie's play "Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" opened at the Duke of York's Theater in London.

In 1927, the musical play "Show Boat," with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York.

In 1947, the children's TV program "The Howdy Doody Show" made its debut on NBC under the title "Puppet Playhouse."

THEORIES

In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.

DEATH

In 2002, Oscar-winning director George Roy Hill died in New York at age 81.

BIRTHDAYS

Former U.S. Sen. James A. McClure, R-Idaho, is 83. Rockabilly musician Scotty Moore is 76. Actor John Amos is 68. ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts is 64. Rock musician Mick Jones (Foreigner) is 63. Singer Tracy Nelson is 63. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 59. Jazz singer-musician T.S. Monk is 58. Singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff is 56. Actress Tovah Feldshuh is 55. Rock musician David Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 55. Actress Maryam D'Abo is 47. Country musician Jeff Bryant is 45. Actress Theresa Randle is 43. Actress Eva LaRue is 41. Rock musician Guthrie Govan (Asia) is 36. Musician Matt Slocum is 35. Actor Wilson Cruz is 34. Singer Olu is 34. Actor Masi Oka is 33. Actress Emilie de Ravin is 26. Christian rock musician James Mead (Kutless) is 25.

Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2007. There are four days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:nytx]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 26, 2007

DISASTERS, WAR!, CRIME, EXECUTION,
CULTURE, JACKPOT!, DEATH, BIRTHDAYS




On Dec. 26, 2004, more than 200,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, were killed by a tsunami triggered by the world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years beneath the Indian Ocean.

DISASTER

In 1947, heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under 26.4 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather was blamed for some 80 deaths.

UNUSUAL FACT

Three U.S. Presidents died on this day in history.

WAR!

In 1776, the British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.

In 1917, during World War I, President Wilson issued a proclamation authorizing the government to take over operation of the nation's railroads.

In 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

In 1944, during World War II's Battle of the Bulge, the embattled U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium, was relieved by units of the 4th Armored Division.

In 2002, Israeli soldiers killed seven Palestinians in West Bank raids and reimposed a curfew on Bethlehem after briefly withdrawing over Christmas.

CRIME

In 1996, 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved, despite a widely publicized "confession" by John Mark Karr.)

EXECUTIONS

Iraq's highest court rejected Saddam Hussein's appeal of his conviction and death sentence and said the former president should be hanged within 30 days. (Saddam was executed on Dec. 30, 2006, Iraq time.)

CULTURE

In 1957, the Ingmar Bergman film "Wild Strawberries," starring Victor Sjostrom, opened in Sweden.

In 1967, "Magical Mystery Tour," The Beatles' critically drubbed one-hour special, aired on BBC-1 television.

JACKPOT!

In 2002, it was announced that West Virginia resident Jack Whittaker had won the $314.9 million Powerball lottery jackpot, at that time a record prize.

DEATH

In 1799, George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

In 1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88.

In 2006, Gerald R. Ford, who took over the White House after Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal, died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Richard Widmark is 93. Actor Donald Moffat is 77. Rhythm-and-blues singer Abdul "Duke" Fakir (The Four Tops) is 72. Record producer Phil Spector is 67. "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh is 62. Country musician Bob Carpenter (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 61. Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk is 60. Former baseball player Chris Chambliss is 59. Rock musician James Kottak (The Scorpions) is 45. Country musician Brian Westrum (Sons of the Desert) is 45. Rock musician Lars Ulrich (Metallica) is 44. Actress Nadia Dajani is 42. Rock musician J is 40. Country singer Audrey Wiggins is 40. Rock musician Peter Klett (Candlebox) is 38. Rock singer James Mercer (The Shins) is 37. Actor Jared Leto is 36. Rock singer Chris Daughtry is 28. Actor Zach Mills is 12.

Dec. 26, the 360th day of 2007. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today. This is Boxing Day.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:awitness]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 24, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, CRIME, CULTURE,
SCIENCE, DEATH, BIRTHDAYS

On Dec. 24, 1814, the War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.


WAR!

In 1943, President Roosevelt appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces as part of Operation Overlord.

In 2002, Saddam Hussein said in an address read on television that Iraqis were ready to fight a holy war against the United States.

In 2006, Ethiopia sent fighter jets into Somalia and bombed several towns in a dramatic attack on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement; Ethiopia's prime minister said his country had been "forced to enter a war."

TERRORISM

In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., called the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1980, Americans remembered the U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds — one second for each day of captivity.

In 1997, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the aging revolutionary known as "Carlos the Jackal," was sentenced by a French court to life in prison for the 1975 murders of two French investigators and a Lebanese national.

DISASTER

In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

SCIENCE

In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve television broadcast.

CRIME

In 2002, Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, Calif., home, by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.

CULTURE

In 1871, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt.

In 1920, Enrico Caruso gave his last public performance, singing Jacques Halevy's "La Juive" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," the first opera written specifically for television, was first broadcast by NBC-TV.

DEATH

In 1997, Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune died in suburban Tokyo at age 77.

In 2006, broadcasting pioneer Frank Stanton, CBS president for 26 years, died in Boston at age 98.

In 1524, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama — who had discovered a sea route around Africa to India — died in Cochin, India.

BIRTHDAYS

Songwriter-bandleader Dave Bartholomew is 87. Author Mary Higgins Clark is 80. Federal health administrator Anthony S. Fauci is 67. Recording company executive Mike Curb is 63. Rock singer-musician Lemmy (Motorhead) is 62. Actor Grand L. Bush is 52. Actor Clarence Gilyard is 52. Actress Stephanie Hodge is 51. The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is 50. Rock musician Ian Burden (The Human League) is 50. Designer Kate Spade is 45. Rock singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is 44. Actor Mark Valley is 43. Actor Diedrich Bader is 41. Singer Ricky Martin is 36. "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest is 33.

Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2007. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:navy.gc]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 22, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, ASSASSINATION, DISASTERS, POLITICS, CULTURE, 2ND AMENDMENT, ANTI-SEMITISM, DEATH, BIRTHDAYS

On December 22, 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe rejected the Germans' demand that the Americans surrender, writing "Nuts!" in his official reply.

WAR!

In 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman wrote a message to President Lincoln which said in part: "I beg to present you as a Christmas-gift the city of Savannah."

In 1997, during his visit to Bosnia, President Clinton thanked American troops and lectured the nation's three presidents to set aside their differences.

TERRORISM

In 1997, gunmen attacked an Indian village in southern Mexico, killing 45 people.

In 2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and other passengers.

In 2002, a defiant North Korea said that it had begun removing U.N. seals and surveillance cameras from nuclear facilities that U.S. officials said could yield weapons within months.

ANTI-SEMITISM

In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.)

ASSSASSINATION

In 1963, an official 30-day mourning period following the assassination of President Kennedy came to an end.

DISASTER

In 1977, three dozen people were killed when a 250-foot-high grain elevator at the Continental Grain Company plant in Westwego, Louisiana, exploded.

POLITICS

In 1807, Congress passed the Embargo Act, barring all U.S. trade with foreign countries.

2ND AMENDMENT

In 1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot and wounded four youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him.

CULTURE

In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony Number 5 in C Minor, Opus 67, and Symphony Number 6 in F Major, Opus 68 ("Pastoral"), had their world premieres in Vienna, Austria.

In 2006,rape charges were dropped against three Duke University lacrosse players, but kidnapping and sexual offense charges remained. (Those charges were later dropped as well.) Space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth after a smooth, 13-day flight to rewire the international space station.

DEATH

In 2002, Joe Strummer, lead singer of the legendary British punk band The Clash, died in Broomfield, England, at age 50.

BIRTHDAYS

Former House Speaker Jim Wright is 85. Actor Hector Elizondo is 71. Country singer Red Steagall is 69. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Steve Carlton is 63. ABC News correspondent Diane Sawyer is 62. Rock singer-musician Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick) is 61. Baseball All-Star Steve Garvey is 59. Singer Robin Gibb is 58. Golfer Jan Stephenson is 56. Actress BernNadette Stanis is 54. Rapper Luther Campbell is 47. Country singer-musician Chuck Mead (BR549) is 47. Actor Ralph Fiennes is 45. Actress Lauralee Bell is 39. Country singer Lori McKenna is 39. Actress Dina Meyer is 39. Actress Heather Donahue is 33. Actor Chris Carmack is 27. Singer Jordin Sparks ("American Idol") is 18.

December 22, the 356th day of 2007. There are 9 days left in the year. Winter's arrival: 1:08 a.m. Eastern time.




compiled by Mondoreb
[image:historyplace]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 19, 2007

SCANDAL, WAR!, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, CRIME,
CULTURE, SCIENCE, POLITICS, BIRTHDAYS

SCANDAL

In 1998, President Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate).

In 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.

WAR!

In 1777, General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.

In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

In 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in "material breach" of a U.N. disarmament resolution.

DISASTER

In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

In 1997, a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard.

TERRORISM

In 1997, in Milwaukee, postal clerk Anthony Deculit killed a co-worker he'd feuded with, wounded a supervisor and injured another worker before taking his own life.

In 2006, a Libyan court convicted five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of deliberately infecting 400 children with HIV and sentenced them to death. (The six later had their death sentences commuted, and were transferred to Bulgaria, where they were pardoned and set free.)

POLITICS

In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.

CRIME

In 2002, after a prosecutor cited new DNA evidence, a judge in New York threw out the convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who had been raped and left for dead.

CULTURE

On December 19, 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia.

In 1957, Meredith Willson's musical play "The Music Man," starring Robert Preston as charming con man Harold Hill, opened on Broadway.

In 1997, James Cameron's epic film "Titanic," the highest-grossing film ever made, opened in U.S. theaters.

SCIENCE

In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

BIRTHDAYS

Singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan is 92. Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens is 87. Composer-lyricist Robert Sherman ("Mary Poppins") is 82. Actress Cicely Tyson is 74. Rhythm-and-blues singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 66. Actor Tim Reid is 63. Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 63. Rock singer Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is 63. Actress Elaine Joyce is 62. Musician John McEuen is 62. Singer Janie Fricke is 60. Actor Mike Lookinland is 47. Actress Jennifer Beals is 44. Actor Scott Cohen is 43. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 41. Magician Criss Angel is 40. Rock musician Kevin Shepard is 39. Actress Kristy Swanson is 38. Actress Amy Locane is 36. Actress Rosa Blasi is 35. Actress Alyssa Milano is 35. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 27. Actress Marla Sokoloff is 27. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 22.

December 19, the 353rd day of 2007. There are 12 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:chronicle]
Source: Today in History



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