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.

Today in History: War, Politics, Scandal, Disasters, Assassination, Terror

December 8, 2007

On this date:

POLITICS

On Dec. 8, 1987, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty at the White House calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

WAR!

In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.

In 1863, President Lincoln announced his plan for the reconstruction of the South.

In 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks.

RELIGION

In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception.

TERRORISM

In 1982, a man demanding an end to nuclear weapons held the Washington Monument hostage, threatening to blow it up with explosives he claimed were inside a van. After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer was shot dead by police; it turned out there were no explosives.

In 2006, a gunman went on a rampage inside a downtown Chicago law firm, killing three people before being shot dead himself by police.

LABOR

In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, Ohio.

ASSASSINATION

In 1980, rock star John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by Mark David Chapman.

DISASTERS

Ten years ago: Federal hearings opened in Baltimore into the TWA Flight 800 disaster which had claimed 230 lives.

SCANDAL

In 2006, the House ethics committee concluded that Republican lawmakers and aides failed for a decade to protect male pages from sexual overtures by former Rep. Mark Foley, but that they broke no rules and should not be punished.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Actor-director Maximilian Schell is 77. Actor David Carradine is 71. Actor James MacArthur is 70. Flutist James Galway is 68. Singer Jerry Butler is 68. Pop musician Bobby Elliott (The Hollies) is 65. Actor John Rubinstein is 61. Rock singer-musician Gregg Allman is 60. Reggae singer Toots Hibbert (Toots and the Maytals) is 59. Actress Kim Basinger is 54. Rock musician Warren Cuccurullo is 51. Rock musician Phil Collen (Def Leppard) is 50. Country singer Marty Raybon is 48. Rock musician Marty Friedman is 45. Actor Wendell Pierce is 44. Actress Teri Hatcher is 43. Rapper Bushwick Bill (The Geto Boys) is 41. Singer Sinead O'Connor is 41. Actor Matthew Laborteaux is 41. Rock musician Ryan Newell (Sister Hazel) is 35. Actor Dominic Monaghan is 31. Actor Ian Somerhalder is 29. Actress AnnaSophia Robb is 14.

Saturday, Dec. 8, the 342nd day of 2007. There are 23 days left in the year.

Source: AP - Today in History December 8 2007

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:denzilsportal]




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 6, 2007

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED

Fifty years ago, on Dec. 6, 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose only about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.

On this date:

POLITICS

In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.

In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.

In 1921, British and Irish representatives signed a treaty in London providing for creation of an Irish Free State a year later on the same date.

In 1973, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.

In 2002, Anti-war activist Philip Berrigan died in Baltimore at age 79.

LABOR HISTORY

In 1957, AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)

In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va.

TERRORISM

In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.

In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

THE INTERNET

One year ago: Searchers found the body of San Francisco resident[and C-NET editor] James Kim in the Oregon mountains, two days after his wife and two daughters were rescued from their car (Kim had set out on foot to find help for his family).

CELEBRITIES

Five years ago: Actress Winona Ryder was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif.

BIRTHDAYS

Jazz musician Dave Brubeck is 87. Comedy performer David Ossman is 71. Country singer Helen Cornelius is 66. Actor James Naughton is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Frankie Beverly (Maze) is 61. Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) is 59. Actress JoBeth Williams is 59. Actor Tom Hulce is 54. Actor Kin Shriner is 54. Talk show host Wil Shriner is 54. Actor Miles Chapin is 53. Rock musician Rick Buckler (The Jam) is 52. Comedian Steven Wright is 52. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 52. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 52. Rock musician Peter Buck (R.E.M.) is 51. Rock musician David Lovering (Pixies) is 46. Actress Janine Turner is 45. Rock musician Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl) is 45. Writer-director Judd Apatow is 40. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (Ace of Base) is 37. Actress Colleen Haskell is 31. Actress Lindsay Price is 31.


Today is Thursday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2007. There are 25 days left in the year.

Edits by Mondoreb
Source: AP - Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.