Pixies Place Forums - Strange Days

darogle

08-08-2003, 05:16 PM

Today, Aug 8th in

1588 - The Spanish Armada, numbering 130 massive ships, were defeated by the English sailors with their smaller, easily maneuvered ships. 1945 - President Truman signed the United Nations Charter.

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.

1963 - A group of 15 thieves stole seven million dollars in Britain’s Great Train Robbery. Scotland Yard called the theft, "Britain’s biggest robbery ever attempted." Fingerprints identified all but three of the gang. One of the convicted escaped, and was never again caught.

1974 - Richard Nixon announced on television he was resigning for his part in the Watergate scandal, effective midday on August 9. He was the first United States president to resign from office.

1990 - Iraq announced that it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province and President Bush sent United States troops to Saudi Arabia as part of a multi-national force to defend the kingdom.

dm383

08-09-2003, 06:24 AM

Sorry, another depressing one!

"Today in 1945, the United States explodes it's sole remaining Nuclear Bomb over Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 74,000 people"

Darogle, thanks for playing..... got any more?

DM

dicksbro

08-09-2003, 06:48 AM

Here's another for today ... August 9, 1842 saw the US-Canada border defined by Webster-Ashburton Treaty.

darogle

08-09-2003, 01:36 PM

Well sure, I got more DM....

Today (aug 9th) in:

1854 - Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," which described his experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

1859 - The escalator was patented by Nathan Ames of Saugus, Massachusetts.

1893 - In New York City, America’s first bowling magazine was published. Its title: "Gut Holz"

1930 - The sexy cartoon girl, Betty Boop, made her debut on this date in the animated short, Dizzy Dishes .

dm383

08-09-2003, 03:44 PM

In 1979, an area near Brighton Marina, England, was set aside as Britains first officially-designated nudist beach!

In 1996, Atlanta student John Leonard sued Pepsi-Cola claiming they owed him a Harrier jump-jet, as offered in an advert to collectors of seven million 'container points'.

Does anyone know if he ever got it?? :D

DM

darogle

08-09-2003, 04:35 PM

No, he lost his suit against Pepsi. As quoted on Snopes.com:

"Leonard filed suit in Miami against Pepsi for breach of contract, fraud, deceptive and unfair trade practices, and misleading advertising. The issue then landed in federal court in Manhattan with Pepsi responding by asking the court for a declaratory judgment saying it did not have to give Leonard a Harrier.

In August 1999, the New York judge upheld Pepsi's case. "No objective person could reasonably have concluded that the commercial actually offered consumers a Harrier jet," U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood said.

Not that Leonard would have ended up with the full jet anyway if things had gone his way -- the Pentagon quashed the promotion in September 1997 when it announced that these $33.8 million jets are not for sale in flyable shape. Harriers take off and land vertically. But the Pentagon said any of the Marine aircraft would have to be "demilitarized" before being offered to the public, which means stripping them of their armament and rendering them unable to fly."

dm383

08-10-2003, 06:17 AM

Darogle..^^^ bit of a bummer, really!! :) Onwards.....

Today in 1977 New York cops arrest David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz. The postal-worker cum serial-killer had shot six people and wounded seven others

Renowned "doggy" actor Rin Tin Tin died this day in 1932. He sired two dogs of the same name, who both went on to play the part in the popular TV series.

Dan Rylands, of the Hope Glassworks in Barnsley South Yorkshire, patented the screw-top bottle in 1889.

This day in 1932 almost a third of Brazils entire coffee crop - 17.2 million sacks - was deliberately destroyed in an attempt to keep coffee prices up.

darogle

08-10-2003, 02:19 PM

Here's some more for today, Aug. 10th:

1793 - The Louvre in Paris had its grand opening.

1821 - The state of Missouri was admitted to the Union as the 24th of the United States.

1833 - With a population of less than 200, Chicago, Illinois was incorporated as a village.

1846 - The United States Congress established the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

1948 - Allen Funt's "Candid Camera" made its television debut.

1954 - At Overton Park, in his native Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Presley made one of his first professional appearances.

1981 - Philadelphia Phillie Pete Rose made career hit number 3,631, to become the National League leader for hits, breaking Stan "The Man" Musial's record.

1995 - Sammy Sosa tied a Chicago Cubs club record with four stolen bases at Los Angeles, California.

1995 - Former army friends Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were indicted for the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19.

dm383

08-11-2003, 04:41 AM

St. Clare of Assisi died in 1253, after experiencing a vision of the Nativity on her bedroom wall. She was made patron saint of television (a considerable time later!! :))

This day in 1948, President Harry S. Truman authorised a $65 million interest-free loan to build the United Nations headquarters in New York

Today in 1853, the frigate Madagascar left Melbourne for London with 200 passengers and crew, and 70,000 ounces of gold aboard...and was never seen again!!

In 1917 William Bishop, the most successful Canadian fighter pilot of WW1, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery during a raid on a German aerodrome

dm383

08-12-2003, 06:03 PM

Bit late (reason is in Pics of Women!!)

Today is {was} the Glorious Twelfth.... the official start of the Grouse-shootng season here in Scotland!! Poor birdies!!

Japanese Airlines flight 123 loses its tail and falls 24,000 feet today in 1985, killing 520 people......the largest single-aircraft disaster in history. Amazingly, four people survived!!

Isaac Singer patented his sewing machine on this day in 1851. He had turned to inventing only after failing in his first choice of career....... as an actor!

Westminster's Big Ben clock was running at it's slowest for 90 years in 1949; this was due to flocks of Starlings roosting on the minute-hands, slowing it by 4 and a half minutes!

Two bird stories in one post..... is that an omen?!?!

DM

darogle

08-12-2003, 11:24 PM

More for Aug 12

1942 - Screen actor Clark Gable, at age 41, enlisted in Los Angeles as a United States Army private.

1953 - The Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb.

1964 - Mickey Mantle, for the 10th time in his major-league baseball career, hit home runs from the left and ride sides of the plate during the same game; setting a new baseball record.

1966 - The Beatles last tour began at the International Amphitheater in Chicago where John Lennon apologized for boasting the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. London’s "Catholic Herald" said Lennon’s statement was "arrogant ... but probably true."

dm383

08-13-2003, 04:55 AM

Unlucky bad-guys Peter Allen and John Welby became the last men to be hanged in Britain, this day in 1964. From then on, Capital punishment was NOT an option for judges to gove as a sentence, even in murder trials.

Today in 1704, in one of the most decisive battles in history, the Duke of Marlborough beat Marshal Tallard at Blenheim, checking (French Kings) Louis XIV's territorial ambitions beyond the Rhine.

In 1944, German scientists in Berlin announced that the new V-2 flying bomb, the first long-range ballistic missle, was ready for use against Britain.

Legendary Tenor Enrico Caruso was fond of posing in his many luxury cars, but never learned to drive!! On this day in London, in 1908, his wife Ada Giachetti eloped with their chauffeur!!

dm383

08-13-2003, 06:26 PM

A torpedo exploded on-board the Russian submarine "Kursk" in 2000, setting off (most of) the rest of it's ordnance. All 118 crewmen died..... some very slowly.

In 1955, record crowds attended the Royal Academy summer exhibition to see the new portrait of the Queen by Pietro Annigoni. (Her FIRST official portrait since being crowned Queen in 1953)

The first oral contraceptive was marketed by the American drug company Searle, this day in 1960.

This last one is for our Aussie friends!! (:D)

In 1948, Aussie batsman took the crease at The Oval in his final Test innings, needing just 4 runs to achieve a test average of 100; he was bowled out on his second ball....... for a DUCK!

Sorry guys, couldn't resist that one!! ;)

DM

dm383

08-15-2003, 04:04 AM

Today in 1848, M Waldo Hanchett patented.......... the DENTAL CHAIR!!!

So, now you know who to blame for all those pain-wracked hours getting your teeth fixed! :D

In 1938, the Cunard liner "Queen Mary" recaptured the Blue Riband from the SS Normandie, crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 22 hours and 40 minutes.

In 1534, near Montmartre in Paris, Spanish theologian St. Ignatius of Loyola and his followers took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience..... thus founding the Society of Jesus (Jesuits!)

Richard Branson's "Virgin Atlantic Challenger" sank in heavy seas in 1985, just TWO hours short of crossing the Atlantic in record time. (and hence, reclaiming the Blue Riband for Britain AGAIN, 47 years after the Queen Mary!!)

dicksbro

08-15-2003, 06:01 AM

Today is Mother's Day .... in Costa Rica. :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

dm383

08-15-2003, 06:58 PM

Only the one for now.....

Today in 1977, at 2:30 p.m., Elvis Presley's 18-stone (250 pound) was discovered slumped in the toilet by his Road Manager, Jerry Esposito

Rock'n'Roll will NEVER die!!

dm383

08-16-2003, 11:44 AM

Today in 1992, British racing driver Nigel Mansell won the F1 World Championship with a record NINE Grand Prix victories; this record has since been equalled three times, and surpassed once, by (a certain) Michael Schumacher!

Clara Bow signed a five-year contract with Paramount in 1926; she was the first starlet to avoid the then traditional 'Morality Clause', which let the studio cancel in case of a scandal.

In 2001, police charged Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, with the theft of her property.... without first checking with the Queen whether or not she knew where the items had gone. The case has since been thrown out of court.

dm383

08-17-2003, 03:10 PM

Communist East Germany completes the Berlin Wall today in 1961. Over the next 28 years, 75,000 people are jailed for trying to cross it, and 189 (admitted to) killed.

Today in 1996, at Selhurst Park in England, a young David Beckham (complete with lank blond hair and a hint of acne!) gives an early glimpse of his talents by scoring from the half-way line.

In 1666, Samuel Pepys took delivery from 'Simpson the joiner' of the first known glass-fronted bookcase.

"The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" had a U.K. No.1 hit in 1968 with their second release 'Fire'. Their first single flopped when record company, Polydor, ran out of vinyl during production!!

celticangel

08-18-2003, 05:41 PM

AUGUST 18TH

1~~Beatles' double A side Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby topped the charts, becoming the group's 11th consecutive No1~~~~a feat never rivalled'

2~~The first Morris Mini Minor was unveilled this day in 1959~~a total of 5,387,862 were sold before production ceased on October 4th 2000

3~~NEW zealand inventor PERCY DANDO took a patent on this day 1902, for a 'silent chamber pot' ,designed so sleeping partners wouldn't be woken up!

:bfly:

dm383

08-19-2003, 06:03 PM

Twenty-five year Postal Service veteran Perry Smith, having resigned from the service in Johnson, South Carolina, returns today in 1983 and kills the Postmaster.

Today in 1953, at the Oval, London, England's cricketers won back the Ashes from Australia for the first time since 1933. They won the last Test by two wickets, after drawing the other four matches.

In 1905, Japanese scientist 'Ikeda' laid the foundations for a junk-food future, when he isolated the flavour enhancer..... Monosodium glutamate!!

Carpaccio, a dish of thin, uncooked strips of beef invented in Harry's Bar, Venice (Italy) today in 1955, was named after renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio, who used lots of red in his paintings.

dm383

08-20-2003, 01:33 PM

Oklahoma postman Patrick "Crazy Pat" Sherill conceals two .45-calibers in his bag and 'caps' 14 fellow employees before shooting himself, today in 1986.

In 1987 treasure hunters salvaging objects from the doomed luxury liner 'Titanic', on the bottom of the Atlantic, scooped up a bag containing a fortune in jewels.

Her Majesty the Queen opened up her Sandringham Estate, in Norfolk, in 1988 to let people come and pick their own blackberries. She charged them....... 40 pence per pound!!!

In 1911 Vincenzo Perugia, a cleaner at the Louvre in Paris, stole the Mona Lisa by simply taking it of the wall and walking out with it under his coat!! The painting was not recovered for TWO years!

Dunno about you guys, but it looks like the BIGGEST crook of the lot is our own dear Queen!! (Money-grabbing old ........ person!!)

DM

dm383

08-21-2003, 12:42 PM

OK, how many of you are getting fed-up with all this? (Just thought I'd ask!! :))

In 1986, toxic gas erupted from a volcanic lake in Caneroon, Africa, killing over 1,700 people.

A slave revolt in Virginia began today in 1831, after Nat Turner heard a voice in a dream telling him " the last shall be first". It was harshly repressed within 48 hours.

In Battle, East Sussex in 1976, 25-year old Mary Langdon became the first British woman to join the Fire Brigade!

Remember, if you're fed-up with this, let me know!!

DM

dm383

08-22-2003, 04:50 AM

From yesterdays post, I'm not sure whether to keep going, or not!! NO answers...... does that mean you all like this thread, or that no-one looks any more?????? Speak UP, folks!!! :)

King Charles the First calls Parliament and it's soldiers "Traitors" in 1642, starting the English Civil War!!

Today in 1953 the infamous French prison on Devil's Island, off the coast of French Guiana, which was featured in the Stve McQueen film 'Papillon', released it's last prisoner.

In 1840, pupils & staff from Gateshead Fell school went on the first-ever school outing by train..... to Tynemouth! (About 5{?} miles!!)

Scores of angry smokers blocked a street near Moscow's Red Square for hours in 1990, in protest at a summer-long cigarette shortage!

dm383

08-23-2003, 04:28 PM

Today in 1962, at the Mount Pleasant Register office in Liverpool, John Lennon married Cynthia Powell, whom he'd met at Liverpool College of Art. Brian Epstein was Best Man.

"Pilot" Bryan Allen made the world's first man-powered flight of more than a mile in the ultra-light Gossamer Condor in 1977, winning the £50,000 Kremer prize. (He went on to cross the English Channel in the same craft)

When Hitler signed the Ribbentrop Pact with Soviet Russia in 1939, it went largely unremarked in France....... despite giving the Nazis the chance of a "one-front" war in Europe! {Not for the FIRST time, it has to be said! :)}

dm383

08-24-2003, 03:27 AM

In 1992 Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing record damage of $25 Billion.....and killing 55 people.

My ex and I went on holiday there in October that year...... you would never have known, from what WE saw, that it had ever happened.

Today in 1972, Henry McCullough and Denny Siewell of Wings told Paul McCartney they were leaving the band; just before it recorded stand-out album "Band On The Run". DOH!!!

In 1875 Captain Matthew Webb, Cunard Line Master-turned-professional endurance swimmer, set off from Dover on his 22-hour feat to become the first person ever to swim the English Channel - a distance of just over 22 miles!

In 1967, two penguins from Chessington Zoo, in England, were taken on a day-trip to Streatham ice-rink in South London - to let them cool off during a sweltering summer!!
Betcha it didn't happen THIS year!!!

dicksbro

08-24-2003, 07:56 AM

In AD79, Mt Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii & Herculaneum

In AD410 Rome was overrun by Visigoths which bascially ended the Western Roman Empire

In 1572 King Charles IX ordered the massacre of thousands of French Protestants

What a fun day 8/24 has been :D :D

dm383

08-25-2003, 03:55 AM

In 2001, singer Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash

Liverpool F.C.'s famous "Kop" stand was opened at their Anfield ground today in 1928. It was named after Spion Kop in South Africa, site of a famous battle in the Boer War.

The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest regiment in the British Army, was first chartered by Henry VIII in 1537; at a time when 'Artillery' meant 'Small Arms'.

In 1830, opera-goers in Brussels were inspired by a new work by George Auber, about an anti-Spanish uprising n Naples, to start a revolution against the Dutch authorities.

darogle

08-25-2003, 12:12 PM

More for Aug 25th:

1718 - The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was founded and named in honor of the Duke of Orleans of France.

1814 - British forces destroyed the United States Library of Congress along with the 3,000 books it contained.

1875 - British swimmer Matthew Webb was the first documented person to swim across the English Channel. The day before, smeared in porpoise oil for insulation, he departed Dover (England) and twenty-one hours and 45 minutes later waded ashore at Cape Gris Nez, near Calais (France).

1944 - Paris was liberated when the local German commander, General Choltitz, surrendered to the allies.

1930 - The original (and best) James Bond, Sean Connery was born

dm383

08-26-2003, 04:27 AM

In 1346, British soldiers used the Longbow to defeat the French at the Battle of Crecy. The finger arrangement used to fire the arrows later gives birth to the "V" sign! (Allegedly!!:))

Today in 1970, up to 600,000 people descended on Afton Farm on the Isle of Wight to hear The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Joan Baez and MANY more, in a vast, anarchic pop festival!!! Doncha just wish you coulda BEEN there?!!

Felix Mendelssohn conducted the first performance of his great oratorio Elijah at the Birmingham Festival, in 1846.

On this day in 1946, long before a dog said "sausages" on Esther Rantzens 'That's Life' programme, BBC engineers recorded Ben, a dog in Royston, Hertfordshire, saying "I Want One" in a gruff voice. Sounds like a bit of a 'shaggy dog' story to me!!

btw, th^t last one, probably only Brits of a 'certain age' will remember that programme!!!

dm383

08-27-2003, 02:17 AM

Smallpox was first used as a biological weapon in 1763, when British forces distributed blankets used by smallpox patients among Native americans collaborating with the French Makes a person proud to be British! :(

Today in 79AD burning lava from Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that had erupted with terrible force three days earlier, engulfed & totally buried the Roman city of Pompeii

Edwin Drake developed the technique of drilling inside a tube to bore the world's first Oil Well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, finding oil today in 1859 just 69 feet below the surface!

In 1941, German soldiers on the Eastern Front in WW2 were issued with a Russian phrase book containing more than 3000 expressions - though NOT including "sorry"

dm383

08-28-2003, 09:21 AM

In 1997, lightning killed a Camel at Knowlsey Safari Park on Merseyside, England.

Today in 1987 the last of the mailbags traditionally hand-sewn by convicts for the Royal Mail, were produced by inmates of Dartmoor Prison.

St. Andrews university (Scotland), set up by Bishop Henry Wardlaw, had it's foundation ratified by a Papal Bull of Pope Benedict XIII today in 1413.

5000 bricks from Liverpool's famous 'Cavern Club', sold for charity at £5 each in 1983, NOW fetch up to £700 apiece. Others were used to re-create the club on an overlapping site.

dm383

08-30-2003, 03:05 PM

Sorry, not sure what happened to yesterday..... thought I'd posted it, but it doesn't look like it!!! :) Back to today......

In 30 B.C., Cleopatra committed suicide by holding an Asp to her chest.

In 1991, having won 66 Long Jump events in a row, Carl Lewis was finally beaten - by Mike Powell's world record leap of 8.95 metres.

The first street trams to run in Britain appeared on Birkenhead Street Railway in 1960.

In 1901, Hubert Booth of Glasgow reversed the action of a dust-blowing machine to invent the vacuum cleaner.

dicksbro

08-30-2003, 04:48 PM

Bad day for Iranian leaders back in 1981 ...

In 1981, Mohammad Ali Rajai president of Iran, was assassinated by a bomb; and, that same year, Mohammad Javad Bahonar prime minister of Iran, was assassinated by a bomb.

BTW ... on the 29th ... for you motorcycle fans ... Gottlieb Daimler received German patent for a motorcycle in 1885.

dm383

08-31-2003, 05:06 AM

In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in Paris. (There has STILL not been an official enquiry, OR memorial, for this woman!)

In 1968 Sir Garfield (Gary) Sobers, batting against Glamorgan at Swansea, hits six "sixes" in one over. The commentator shouted "It's gone WAY down to Swansea!" (For our U.S. cousins, it's kinda like hitting a Home Run in every innings, as I understand baseball!!)

The first bottles of Charles Candler's new drink, Coca-Cola, arrived in Brtitain from Atlanta, Georgia, in 1900.

Today in 1983, angler Russell Doig was presented with a special trophy fot catching the first Salmon in the River Thames for over 150 years!! 150 years; now THAT'S pollution!!

darogle

09-01-2003, 11:34 AM

Sept 1st

1945 - The United States received official word of Japan's formal surrender that ended World War II. In Japan, it was actually September 2nd.
1972 - Robert "Bobby" Fischer, United States chess player, defeated Soviet player Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, becoming the United States' first player to officially win the World Chess Championship. Fisher's strange demands during tournaments, off-the-wall antics, and unexplained forfeiture of his world title brought him an uncharacteristic notoriety than most chess champions.

1985 - A joint United States-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic roughly 560 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. The "unsinkable" ocean-liner sunk in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. Twelve years after the wreck's location, the movie Titanic went on to break box office records.

1997 - In France, the prosecutor's office said the driver of the car in which Princess Diana was killed, was over the legal alcohol limit.

dm383

09-02-2003, 04:47 AM

In 1999, a cat nicknamed "Sparkey" ~ who survived an 11,000-volt electric shock ~ died after returning to the electricity sub-station that almost killed him originally How many lives was that again? :)

Today in 1192, Richard the Lionheart signed a peace treaty with Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and withdrew his forces from Jerusalem, thus ending the Third Crusade

In 1987, Philips introduced the video disc, called CD-video, combining digital sound with high-definition video! Didn't think they'd been around THAT long!

The name "California", from Garcia de Montalvo's 16th-century novel The Exploits of Esplandian,describes a mythical kingdom ruled by black women. Never happen....... will it?

dm383

09-03-2003, 01:59 AM

William the Conqueror, scourge of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, died today in 1087.

In 1985, Greater London Council leader Ken Livingstone, (now Mayor of London) parachuted into the River Thames as a publicity stunt.

The first British campaign medals were issued after the English army, led by Oliver Cromwell, routed the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 (Cost 'em, though!!)

When Sweden changed from driving on the left, to the right, in 1967, accidents were REDUCED, as drivers were much more careful!!! Bit like us Brits driving ANYWHERE in Europe!!!

darogle

09-03-2003, 10:03 AM

Some more for Sept. 3

1783 - The Paris Peace Treaty was signed between the United States and Great Britain, officially ending the American Revolutionary War for independence.

1895 - In Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the first professional football game was played. With the score 12-0, the Latrobe YMCA defeated the Jeannette Athletic Club. Decades later, Latrobe became the home for the Pittsburgh Steelers' training camp.

1939 - British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in a radio broadcast, announced that Britain and France had declared war on Germany.

1954 - After 21 years and 2,956 episodes, "The Lone Ranger" was heard for the final time on radio.

1962 - American poet and painter e e cummings died at age 67 in North Conway, New Hampshire.
1976 - The U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars and began sending back photographs of the Martian landscape.

1991 - Wanda Holloway of Channelview, Texas, was convicted on this date of trying to hire a hit man to kill the mother of her daughter's cheerleader rival in junior high school.

dm383

09-03-2003, 06:53 PM

Ismail Ayyildiz died in hospital today in 1995, after trying to shoot out his bad tooth!!

In 1733, Britain's first ever lioness died of old age in the Tower of London, where she had been cared for by the Keeper of the Lion Office, having produced "many cubs"

In 1781, Spanish settlers namded their town, on the west coast of America, El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles.... "The Town of Our Lady the queen of the Angels"

Belgian writer Georges Simenon, creator of the fictional detective "Maigret", died today in 1989, claiming to have made love to over 10,000 women.

dm383

09-05-2003, 05:40 PM

After keeping the rush-hour trains running over the body of a woman who dived onto the tracks in 1997, the Sydney Ambulance Service explained: "It was pretty obvious after a few trains ran over her, that she was dead!!" Those caring, lovable Aussies, huh?!

Today in 1871, French author Victor Hugo returned to Paris to a hero's welcome after his political exile on Guernsey, with the manuscript of Les Miserablesin his pocket!

In 1980, after 21 years work, the Swiss opened the world's longest raod tunnel - the ten-mile St. Gotthard, from Goschenen to Airolo, at a cost of 690 Million swiss Francs

France's greatest king, Louis XIV, was born in 1638 after his parents, Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, had been married for 23 years

dm383

09-06-2003, 03:24 PM

In 1759, General Wolfe defeats the French on the Plains of Abraham, and Canada becomes English...... for a while!! :)

In 1952 a prototype de Havilland 110 jet-fighter exploded while breaking the Sound barrier at the Farnborough Air Show, and crashed into the ground. The aircraft killed 27 people, and injured 63 more.

Wickets consisting of three stumps, were used for the first time at a cricket match in Surrey between Coulsdon and Chertsey, in 1776.

Colombian (soccer) goalkeeper Rene Higuita brightened up a 0-0 friendly against England in 1995, by saving a lob with a "Scorpion-kick", with his heels kicking up behind his head! I saw this move quite a few times.... WHAT a show-off!!! ;)

dm383

09-07-2003, 06:03 AM

A gentleman by the name of Henry Bliss becomes the first automobile fatality in the U.S. toay in 1899.

In 1986, Bishop Desmond Tutu became the first black head of the Anglican Church in South Africa, when he was 2enthroned2 as Archbishop of Capetown.

The first use of submarines in warfare came this day in 1776, when the Americans tried to blow-up the Royal Navy flagship in New York harbour using a midget submarine - they failed!!

Citizens of Loretto, Italy, like to believe that angels moved the home of Mary & Joseph from Nazareth to their city, on this day in 1295.

dm383

09-08-2003, 04:50 AM

In 1968, at the first U.S. Open Tennis Championships at Forest Hills, Britains Virginia Wade defeated America's Billie Jean King in the final.

The first example of Hitler's V2 secret rocket bomb landed in Chiswick in 1944, killing three people.

The Dutch settlement New Amsterdam, renamed New York by the British, was swapped in a peace treaty for the spice-island of Run, thought at the time to be more valuable!!!

dm383

09-09-2003, 06:06 PM

Chairman Mao Tse-tung, leader of Communist China's 800 MILLION people, and author of the Little Red Book , died at the age of 82 today in 1976

The United States of America was born today in 1776, when the Continental Congress changed the name of ther nation from the "United Colonies"

TV crews filming reconstruction on the streets were blamed for the race-riots that erupted in London's Notting Hill area, in 1958

dm383

09-10-2003, 03:58 AM

In 1981, after 40 years in the U.S., Pablo Picasso's painting Guernicawent back to Spain. He had forbidden its exhibition in Spain until democracy was restored

The world's first recognised motorway (freeway/interstate-type road, for our American friends!!) opened on a six-mile stretch known as the Avus Autobahn, in Berlin in 1921

Also in 1981, two aggressive pelicans had to be moved to London Zoo from St. James's Park, because they had taken to eating ducklings!!

dm383

09-11-2003, 05:19 AM

Don't really need to mention the first one, do I?

In 1275, a huge earthquake destroyed much of Glastonbury in Somerset, including the early Saxon church of St. Michael on top of the famous Tor

Britain's first widely available bootleg LP (anybody remember THEM?) was a two-album Bob Dylan collection called Great White Wonderwhich, unofficially, reached UK shops today in 1969

Not sure this last one's in too good taste, but anyway;

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci watched the events of 9/11 unfold on TV, in the company of members of the Bin Laden family, at a Merchant bank's annual meeting

dm383

09-12-2003, 05:52 PM

In 1953, Nikita Khrushchev, the man who was publicly to acknowledge Stalin's crimes, was elected First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party

On this day in 1960, a law came into force stipulating that all cars in Britain more than three years old had to pass a Ministry of Transport test of their roadworthiness (The start of the Dreaded MOT!!)

Cleopatra's Needle was erected on the Thames embankment in 1878, but the 69ft obelisk predates the qqueen (born i n 69BC) by several hundred years

dm383

09-13-2003, 02:56 PM

In 1940, the Luftwaffe dropped six bombs on Buckingham Palace, one of which exploded just 80 yards from where King George VI was sitting at his desk

Work began in 122 A.D. on building a wall from the Tyne to the Solway, to defend one of the farthest outposts of the Roman Empire from the marauding Picts. It becake known as Hadrian's Wall.

The England soccer teams plans to retain the World Cup in Mexico were hampered in 1970 when skipper Bobby Moore was put under house-arrest, falsely accused of shoplifting a bracelet.

dm383

09-14-2003, 01:01 PM

In 1812, Napoleon entered Moscow, which the Russians had abandoned. Later that day, a fire destroyed much of the city, and Napoleon retreated! Cincidence? I don't think so!! :eek:

Joesph Heath of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club took the first penalty kick in a Football League game, scoring the second goal of Wolves' 5-0 win over Accrington Stsanley in 1891.

In 1773 Dr. Samuel Johnson said "I have, all my life, lain in bed till noon; yet I tell all young men that nobody who does not rise early will ever do anything good". One up for hypocrisy, huh?? :)

dm383

09-15-2003, 11:58 AM

Back to four, this week (bit of a SNAFU last week!!)

In 1885, Phineas T. Barnum's prize elephant Jumbowas hit by a train in Ontario

In 1980, Prince Charles was awarded his international diving licence, after five dives on the wreck of the Mary Rose

H.M.S. Resolution, Britain's first nuclear-powered submarine, was launched by H.M. The Queen Mother at Barrow-in-Furness in 1966.

The Goons' second hit record, The Ying Tong Song, entered the UK charts today in 1956. It went on to reach number three i the hit-parade How many out there remember THAT one?!?! :)

dm383

09-16-2003, 05:20 PM

The fires in Moscow, set by the Russians two days earlier to deny Napoleon the riches of the city, finally die down. 80% of the city was levelled by the force of the fire.

King Harold marched his army from London to meet his brother in battle in Yorkshire in 1066, before returning to nearlydefeat William of Normandy at Hastings (on October 14th)

Think about that for a minute....... marching upwards of 700 miles, and TWO battles, in less than a month!!!

(Brit) comedian Steve Coogan first introduced us to his new creation, the ghastly broadcaster "Alan Partridge", in his TV show Knowing Me, Knowing You in 1994.

Businessman Clarence Birdseye first got the idea for his frozen-foods firm in 1920, while watching Eskimos catching and storing fish.

dm383

09-17-2003, 02:01 PM

In 1862, 23,100 men became casualties in the Civil War battle of Antietam - the bloodiest single day i U.S. military history.

Today in 1948, members of a Zionist extremist group assassinated Count Folke Bernadotte, the United Nations mediator for Palestine

In 1900, Queen Victoria signed the document that united the six Australian colonies into the Federal Commonwealth of Australia. Happy 103rd Birthday, Oz!!! :bday:

In the battle of Antietam, Union General George McClellan was able to halt Confederate Robert E. Le's advance after a soldier found his plans wrapped around a cigar! Bet he wished he'd smoked it!!! :)

dm383

09-18-2003, 04:58 AM

Jimi Hendrix was found dead in London this day in 1970 Another one who died FAR too young!

In 1798, Napper Tandy and General Rey landed a French?Irish army in Donegal, nd handed out proclamations and green cockades in the last armed invasion of Great Britain

French engineers began work on a special tunnel under a motorway near Toulon, so tortoises could cross the road in safety

The cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington was laid in 1793, in a distinctly "Masonic" ceremony presided over by George Washington

dm383

09-19-2003, 03:55 PM

William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw, is sentenced to death for treason in 1945. He had broadcast German propaganda to Britain during WW2

Also today, in 1945, seventeen-year-old screen star Shirley Temple wed actor John Agar. The marriage ended in divorce after just four years.

In 1975, BBC TV showed A Touch of Class, the first episode of John Cleese's "Fawlty Towers"series. It was cooly received. For our American friends..... Fawlty Towers is now widely acclaimed as a Comedy Classic! :)

In 1791, Hartley Coleridge planned a walking trip with (the poet) Wordsworth, but went into a shop, forgot about it, and left by the back door. He was gone for six weeks. Talk about MIA!! :)

dm383

09-20-2003, 03:36 PM

In 1997, the Great Gastronomic Kitty festival of cat cookery in Chile, was cancelled after pressure from welfare groups.

Today in 1519, Portugese navigator Ferdinand Magellan began his attempt to sail a fleet of five ships around the world. He was killed en route, but one of his ships completed the journey.

Eight riders covered 476 miles from Paris to Nantes and back in 1896, in the worlds first motorcycle race

In 1985, a drought in southern France became so extreme that the shrine at Lourdes had to ration its Holy Water for fear of running out!

dm383

09-21-2003, 05:28 AM

(so called) Pop group The Bangles broke up this day in 1989. See, I don't tell you ALL bad news in this thread!! :)

Today in 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbitwas published. The first print run sold out by Christmas, but the book didn't sell millions until the popularity of Lord Of The Ringsin the 1960's

Leeds University took on Reading (University) in 1962, as Bamber Gascoigne presented Granada TV's first University Challenge based on the American show College Bowl.

Monks from seven different countries, accompanied by an elephant, inaugurated Milton Keynes's new Peace Pagoda in 1980.

dicksbro

09-21-2003, 06:52 AM

In 1982, San Francisco's cable cars ceased operations for 2 years for repairs to be done.

Bill Murray was born in Evanston Ill. Bill is a comedian that has done a number of movies like What About Bob and Stripes.

dm383

09-22-2003, 12:40 PM

Thanks for those, dicksbro!! :)

Huan Huan, the only giant Panda ever to have given birth in Japan, died today in 1997

In 1828 the great Zulu chief Shaka, founder of the Zulu Kingdom, was murdered by his half-brother Dingane

The "ohm", "volt" and "ampere" were made official units at the Electrical Conference in Paris in 1888

Jack Dempsey floored heavyweight champion Gene Tunney during their fight in 1927, but retired to the wrong corner, giving Tunney time to recover and win the fight

dm383

09-23-2003, 03:57 PM

In 1942, the first V2 rocket is successfully flown form Peenemunde in Germany.

At the Sydney olympics in 2000, Steve Redgrave over came diabetes and aching limbs to win a record-breaking fifth Olympic rowing GOld medal.

Quizmaster Michael Miles (any Brits remember HIM?) first invited contestants to "open the box" on ITV's Take Your Pick today in 1955

In 1667 a law was passed in Williamsburg, Virginia, barring slaves from obtaining freedom by converting to Christianity.

dm383

09-24-2003, 02:22 AM

In 1997 Bangladesh launched a campaign to cull 3.5 million RATS!!! Prizes were to be given to those who produced the most rat-tails!

Today in 1967, the two "Queens" of the Cunard Line, the Queen Mary & the Queen Elizabeth, passed each other in the Atlantic for the last time.

The first horse-racing Classic, the two-mile St. Leger, named after Irish soldier Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony St. Leger, was run for the first time at Doncaster in 1776. No record of any American entries though!! ;)

A loclal bobby rounded up, and took into custody, the crew of German Zeppelin LZ-76 in 1916, after it was forced down near Colchester, Essex.

dm383

09-25-2003, 05:57 PM

Led Zeppelin's John Bonham asphyxiated on his own vomit in 1980, after downing 40 shots of Vodka

in 1267, English king Henry III recognised Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and his heirs as kings of Wales, and agreed the borders of their respective territories. The agreement lasted just nine years!

The first transfusion of human blood into a human patient was carried out at Guy's hospital in London in 1818. Previous attempts had used animal blood.

Floyd Paterson became the first boxer to lose the world heavyweight title in the first round, being knocked out by Sonny Liston in 1962

dm383

09-26-2003, 04:30 AM

Japanese PM Hirobumi Ito and Ceylonese PM Solomon Bandaranaike were BOTH assassinated on this day, in 1909 and 1959 respectively.

In 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100 metres gold medal from the Seoul Olympics when he failed a drugs test

In 1907, having been a British colony for 100 years, New Zealnd became a self-governing dominion of the British Commonwealth. Happy Birthday, NZ!!! :)

The fastest "speeding" driver ever caught on the M3 motorway in england, was a doctor trapped at 149mph......... ina car with TWO faulty tyres!!

OK folks..... Celticangel and I are going away this weekend, not back til Monday. I'm still enjoying posting here, but I NEED to know if anyone else still feels the same, otherwise I'm just gonna kill the thread! Let me know here, if you'd be so kind. Thanx.

DM

dicksbro

09-26-2003, 04:35 AM

In 1687, the Parthenon was destroyed in war between Turks & Venetians

In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution

The opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" is produced in Naples in 1835. (This is the opera my wife and I just saw.)

darogle

09-26-2003, 07:39 PM

Sept 26th

1962 - On CBS-TV, "The Beverly Hillbillies" debuted. Audiences in the United States were enchanted by Jed, Ellie Mae, Granny, Jethro, and Miss Jane.

1962 - The Soviet Union made an offer to end the Cuban Missile Crisis by taking its missile bases out of Cuba if the U.S. agreed to not invade Cuba.

1969 - The Beatles headed towards a hit LP for the fianl time, as "Abbey Road" was released in London, England. The "fab four's" 13th and fianl album for the quickly shot to #1 on the music charts, staying there for 11 weeks.

1996 - United States astronaut Shannon Lucid returned to earth after 188 days in orbit on the Russian space station Mir, longer than any other American and a record for a woman.

1998 - A French lab found a nerve agent on an Iraqi missile warhead.

And yes DM, I still like posting here.....just been really busy lately! :)

Steph

09-27-2003, 11:32 AM

On Sept. 27, 1964, the Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy

darogle

09-29-2003, 12:20 AM

Sept. 29th:

1789 - Congress voted to create the United States Army, made up of 1,000 enlisted men and officers.

1829 - Greater London’s Metropolitan Police has much to do when there was opposition to the act of Parliament authorizing the police force. The act was requested by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel; so the police were called "Bobbies" in honor of him. The first official headquarters for the Bobbies were at Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard would become the police force's official name.

1913 - Rudolf Diesel, French inventor of the diesel internal combustion engine, disappeared and presumably drowned in the English Channel.

1947 - Musician Dizzy Gillespie (performing with Charlie Parker) made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City. Playing with a full-sized band, Gillespie was the leader of a new wave of jazz known as bebop. Over time, Gillespie became one of the great jazz players of all time.

1961 - Lenny Bruce, controversial stand-up comedian, was arrested on this date for narcotics, and a week later, for obscenity.

1978 - Pope John Paul I was found dead after only one month as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

1982 - After a man in California was poisoned by a strychnine-laced capsule, 264,000 bottles of pain reliever, Tylenol, were recalled. Seven people died from cyanide poisoning when, unknowingly, they took deliberately tampered with Tylenol. The killer or killers were never identified.

1986 - Mary Lou Retton, who in the 1984 Olympics stunned audiences with perfect 10 scores, retired from the world of gymnastics.

1989 - Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of battery for slapping a Beverly Hills police officer who had pulled over her Rolls-Royce for expired license plates. (As part of her sentence, Gabor served three days in jail.)

Steph

09-29-2003, 12:10 PM

My crazy kitten was born a year ago today! :)

dm383

09-29-2003, 02:59 PM

dicksbro... darogle... Steph Thank you SO much for your contributions...... I must admit, I was beginning to wonder if anyone ever read these little ramblings I find; seems you do, AND enjoy them!! OK, you ASKED for it!!! :D DM

Today is the anniversary of the first action in war won by grenades, during WWI in 1915. It happened during an attack on the Hohenzollem Redoudt on the Western Front, and was won thanks to the "bowling arm" of one Second Lieutenant Fleming-Sandes

In 1987 an Australian judge rejected the British government's plea to extend the ban on former spy Peter Wright'sbook, Spycatcher, which had been blocked from publication

The first broadcast by BBC Radio's new "Third Programme", later to become Radio 3, wnet out today in 1946.

In 1714, a 54-year old German arrived in Greenwich to assume the British throne, as King George I. (How many of you {Brit or toherwise} knew our Royals were, in fact, of German descent?!)

DM

Steph

09-29-2003, 03:11 PM

I'm a history major so I do like reading them :)

On Sept. 29, 1957, The New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1. The Giants moved to San Francisco for the next season.

Steph

09-30-2003, 11:30 AM

On Sept. 30, 1938, British and French leaders agreed to allow Nazi Germany to occupy sections of the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia.

dm383

09-30-2003, 03:37 PM

Actor River Phoenix died today in 1993 after ingesting a mixture of Heroin, Cocaine, Diazepam, Marijuana and...... Cold medication!

This day in 1982, the TV comedy Cheersbegan an 11-year run, lasting until 19th August 1993

In 1980 Israel issued a new currency to its population; the Shekel replaced the pound, which dated from the British mandate.

Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, Baron Raglan, born this day in 1788, lost his arm in battle and thereby gave his name to a design of sleeve.

dm383

10-01-2003, 03:28 PM

In 1957, American B-52 bombers begin round-the-clock flying in case of Rusian nuclear attack

The legendary footballer Pele played his last game, for New York Cosmos against his former Brazilian team Santos, in 1977. Throughout his career he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.

The city of Leningrad officially reverted to its original name, St. Petersburg, today in 1991.

RAC (Brit equivalent to AAA) patrolman Mervyn Jacobs was called out to "jump-start" a Royal Navy minesweeper in 1993. It was no problem for him... he just ran a 50-ft lead from his van to the ships engine-room!

darogle

10-01-2003, 09:09 PM

More for Oct 1st......

1903 - Baseball's first annual World Series began on this date. Boston of the American League defeated Pittsburgh of the National League five games to three to become the world champions. Jimmy Sebring, a Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, hit the very first home run in a World Series game. He hit the run off pitcher Cy Young.

1905 - The Julliard School of Music was founded in New York City.

1908 - The Model T automobile was introduced by Henry Ford - it sold for $825.

1943 - After a month-long battle, allied soldiers captured Naples in Italy.

1943 - The International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremburg sentenced 12 Nazi leaders to death.

1949 - The People's Republic of China was formed with Mao Zedong as its head.

1968 - The cult horror movie "Night of the Living Dead" had its world premiere in Pittsburgh

1971 - In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World opened. Eventually it would become the largest, man-made, tourist attraction in the world.

1974 - The Watergate cover-up trial opened in Washington.

1979 - The Panama Canal Zone was formally handed over to Panama after 70 years of U.S. control.

Steph

10-02-2003, 11:32 AM

On Oct. 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court; he was the first African-American appointed to the nation's highest court.

dm383

10-02-2003, 04:55 PM

The first Elastoplast dressings rolled of the production lines today in 1928

In 1972, the normally Euro-sceptic Danes voted by more than two-to-one in a referendum in favour of joining the (then) EEC

The first telescope was demonstrated by Dutch lens maker Hans Lippershey today in 1608

In 1991 Ron Chassidy, who had been jailed for not paying his Poll Tax (and let's not even GO there!! :( ) was released after regulars at his local pub had a whip-round to enable him to play in a vital dominoes match

Steph

10-03-2003, 12:04 AM

those vital dominoes matches always save the day!

dm383

10-03-2003, 06:01 AM

Lady Coventry died after painting her face with white lead in 1760, making her the first martyr to cosmetics!

Today in 1995, a Los Angeles jury found O.J. Simpson Not Guiltyof killing his ex-wife Nicole, and her friend Ron Goldman

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln created Thanksgiving Day to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth colony immigrants in the early 1600's

The Chief of the Hottentots declared war on Germany in 1904, to avoid having to disarm his tribesmen.

Steph

10-03-2003, 06:22 AM

On Oct. 3, 1990, West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a new unified country.

dm383

10-04-2003, 02:29 PM

Singer Janis Joplin was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room this day in 1970. Her album immediately went to number 1, and stayed there for four months.

Two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and five American soldiers died in a firefight with warlords in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993.

Miles Coverdale's translation, the first complete English language Bible, was printed in Zurich and published in 1535

In 1988, Bavarian environment minister Alfred Dick (yes, honestly!!) politely asked people to refrain from yodelling in the Alps, as it was scaring the Chamois and driving away Golden Eagles!!!

PantyFanatic

10-04-2003, 10:58 PM

London- 3 October 1660

With the projected foundation of the Royal African Company by Prince Rupert and the equipping of an expedition to wrest control of Gambia from foreigners, England’s invisible earnings will be given a sharp boost. It is Prince Rupert’s ambition for England to become the world’s leading slave trading nation. The diarist Samuel Pepys, however, offered a share in the venture, politely declined.

Steph

10-04-2003, 11:54 PM

DALAI LAMA WINS PEACE PRIZE:
Oct. 5, 1989

The Dalai Lama, the exiled religious and political leader of Tibet, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his nonviolent campaign to end the Chinese domination of Tibet.

PantyFanatic

10-05-2003, 12:15 AM

I’ve been following this thread for so long….. I thought it was time I contributed. Then I posted for the wrong day.:o (for god sake, don’t tell Steph. She busts my chops enough as is.:rolleyes: )

Germany- 5 October 1056
The German Emperor Henry III dies at Pfalz Bodfeld. As his son, Henry IV, is aged only six, the empress, Agnes of Poitou, becomes regent.

dm383

10-05-2003, 04:21 AM

In 1995, a gang breaking-in to a fireworks factory in Kent, England, used an oxyacetylene torch which ignited tons of fireworks...... the resultant explosion demolished the factory, AND the robbers!! Signs all over saying "NO Naked Flame" .... go figure, huh? :)

In 2000 oppostion protestors stormed the Yugoslav parliament building in Belgrade, and proclaimed Vojislav Kostunica the new President in place of Slobodan Milosevic.

Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones, premiered on BBC TV today in 1969.

A fire-engine answering an emergency call in Dublin in 1991, had to be rescued itself when it caught fire because of a wiring fault!! Only in Ireland! ;)

PF..... I won't tell Steph..... you're secret's safe with me!! :)

Steph

10-05-2003, 10:40 AM

On Oct. 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe.

Steph

10-05-2003, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by pantyfanatic
I’ve been following this thread for so long….. I thought it was time I contributed. Then I posted for the wrong day.:o (for god sake, don’t tell Steph. She busts my chops enough as is.:rolleyes: )

Don't worry, PF - it's an easy mistake to make :)

dm383

10-06-2003, 02:01 AM

Two men who "fried" in the electric chair today in 1941, in Florida, were named.........Wilburn and Frizzel.

This day in 1968, British drivers Jackie Swteart, Graham Hill and John Surtees took the first three places in the U.S. Grand Prix.

In 1978, Ann Dadds became Britains first ever female Tube (London Underground train) driver, on the District Line from Plaistow, East London.

As soon as the new British Rail timetables appeared on this day in 1990, a further 76-page booklet had to be released correcting over 1000 errors in the originals.... Train passengers would probably have found the originals MORE accurate!!

Steph

10-06-2003, 10:21 AM

On Oct. 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade

PantyFanatic

10-06-2003, 11:22 AM

New York~ 6 October 1927
The first spoken voice in a feature film, that of Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, brought the audience to its feet applauding when it was shown today. In the middle of a night club sequence, Jolson suddenly spoke: “Wait a minute, wait a minute,” he said. “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” In another part of the film he sits at the piano exchanging lines with his mother between verses of Blue Skies.

Steph

10-06-2003, 12:00 PM

Do you remember that moment like it was yesterday, PF? :D

PantyFanatic

10-06-2003, 12:12 PM

I have my ticket stub in my scrap book.;) lol

Steph

10-06-2003, 12:18 PM

:)

good comeback!

dm383

10-07-2003, 04:21 AM

Palestinian terrorists seized the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, throwing a wheelchair-bound US tourist overboard

In 1571 at Lepanto, in the last major battle conducted by war galleys, allied Christian forces defeated the Ottoman Turks, who lost 117 galleys and thousands of men.

In 1946 Alan Ivieson presented the first-ever edition of Woman's Hour broadcast by the BBC; it included an item on "How to de-slime your flannels"! (As in trousers!!! :eek: )

In 1977, 90 pairs of Swedish identical twins, in matching outfits, came to Felixstowe, England for a shopping trip. Researchers were watching to see if the siblings bought similar clothes.

dicksbro

10-07-2003, 05:59 AM

And who said football is low scoring ... in 1916, 222 points are scored in a football game between Georgia Tech & Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tennessee.

1st London-Amsterdam airline service begins (Brit Aerial Transport) in 1919.

And, just for Sharni, in 1924, Marble Bar, Australia began a series of 100 consecutive days of 100 degrees or more.

Steph

10-08-2003, 10:00 AM

On Oct. 8, 1982, all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.

WildIrish

10-08-2003, 10:11 AM

October 8, 1919: Sixty-three planes take off from San Francisco and New York in the first transcontinental air race in the United States.

dm383

10-08-2003, 03:36 PM

A Kuwaiti man in court for shooting his sister-in-law in 1995 claimed that she had made his wife ill through witchcraft. Islamic law allows the killing of witches. He was convicted of her murder Awwwwww!! ;)

Today in 1992 a pair of pointed rubber ears, worn by Leonard Nimoy as "Mr. Spock" in the Star Trek TV series, sold for £700 at an auction in London.

The 580ft Post Office Tower opened today in 1965, in Maple Strret, London, with a revolving restaurant and viewing galleries (later closed to the public following IRA bomb threats)

A Rembrandt painting found discarded on a platform at a Munich station in 1986, was recognised as one that had been stoled FOUR times in 16 years from a gallery in Dulwich, London.

Steph

10-09-2003, 08:13 AM

On Oct. 9, 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia while attempting to incite revolution.

PantyFanatic

10-09-2003, 08:56 AM

Paris France~ 9 October 1945
Pierre Laval, prime minister of Vichy France, is sentenced to death.

dm383

10-09-2003, 03:29 PM

On Oct. 9, 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia while attempting to incite revolution. In addition to this, the soldiers also amputated his hands, for identification purposes!!

Today in 1973 Elvis Presley divorced Priscilla; she got - $1½ million, plus $4,200 a month; half the sale of their house ($750,000) and 5% of his publishing companies. Nice work, if you can get it!! :)

In 1897, Henry Strurmey set off in his 4.5bhp Daimler from Land's End in Cornwall, to become the first person to drive to John O'Groats, the most northerly point in Scotland. He completed the 929-mile journey on the 19th.

Three armed men raided the Turkish baths in London's Jermyn Street in 1955, but the well-heeled customers weren't wearing much and the robbers' haul totalled........ £7!!!

Steph

10-09-2003, 11:27 PM

(didn't know that about poor Che's hands!)

Just heard on the way home from work that on this date in 1955, David Lee Roth was born :)

PantyFanatic

10-10-2003, 08:35 AM

Britain~ 10 October 1903

Emmeline Pankhurst founds the Woman's Social and Political Union.

dm383

10-10-2003, 03:48 PM

After being fired, postman Joseph M Harris kills four mail handlers in Wayne, New Jersey in 1991

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave her memorably defiant speech at the Tory party conference in Brighton in 1980... "U-turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning".

The first performance of George Gershwin's Porgy And Bess, featuring the songs "Summertime" and "I've Got Plenty Of Nothin'" was in New York in 1935.

The Marquis de Montreval, who brutally put down peasants who rebelled against a heavy tax on salt, died of fright in 1716......... when a salt-cellar was accidentally spilled on him!!

Finally....... today is International Mental Health Awareness Day.

Steph

10-11-2003, 12:50 AM

Wow, I don't remember that Thatcher quote. I'll have to look it up.

Steph

10-11-2003, 03:17 AM

On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

Steph

10-11-2003, 03:22 AM

Here's the news story from then, if anyone's interested:

The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has made a defiant speech to Conservatives at the party conference in Brighton.

In it she stressed her determination to stick to tough economic policies despite doubts expressed within Tory ranks.

Responding to recent expectations of an about-turn on counter-inflationary policies, Mrs Thatcher declared to widespread cheers:

""To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!"

Outside in the rain, 'Right to Work' protesters demonstrated, two of whom managed to breach security and make their voices heard in the hall.

But her speech did acknowledge the plight of the country's two million unemployed.

"Let me make it clear beyond doubt. I am profoundly concerned about unemployment," she said.

She added: "Human dignity and self-respect are undermined when men and women are condemned to idleness."

The Prime Minister expressed her commitment to reducing inflation which she said was beginning to fall, reminding delegates it was the "parent of unemployment".

She also claimed a number of measures imposed by her government in its first 17 months in office as successes.

This included the "first crucial changes" in trade union law, the breaking down of monopoly powers and allowing council tenants the chance to buy their homes.

Mrs Thatcher condemned Soviet foreign policy and in particular its present occupation of Afghanistan.

In response to the recent demonstrations by Polish ship-workers, she praised their resolve to "participate in the shaping of their destiny", and their actions as testament to a crisis in Communism.

Her closing words were reserved for criticism of Labour and votes cast at its party conference in favour of withdrawal from NATO and the EEC.

"Let Labour's Orwellian nightmare of the Left be a spur for us to dedicate with a new urgency our every ounce of energy and moral strength to rebuild the fortunes of this free nation," she said.

dm383

10-11-2003, 12:07 PM

A 64-yr old man died in Japan in 1996 during a tug-of-war to celebrate ..... National Fitness Day!!!

In 1987, a huge search of Loch Ness for the famous monster, using high-tech sonar devices, was called off, having failed to find any trace of Nessie. What they failed to realise, of course, is that Nessie KNEW they were there, and simply hid from them in her secret cave at the bottom of the Loch!! :)

The first ever chart entry by a new group called The Beatles entered the Top 50 at number 49 today in 1962. The single was called "Love Me Do"

William Saville was such an ardent Royalist, that when he lost the Battle of Winceby to Cromwell in 1643, he ordered his home to be burned down rather than see it used by Roundheads!!

dm383

10-12-2003, 06:24 AM

Forty-foot waves generated by the Great Bengal Cyclone of 1737 swamped 20,000 boats and drowned 300,000 people

On this day in 1967 zoologist Desmond Morris stunned the world with the publication of his book The Naked Ape which likened human behaviour to that of the apes

In 1492, Christopher Columbus first set eyes onthe New World, calling it San Salvador. Later that day, he and his crew landed on Watling Island.

The earliest known printed secular song is "Three Blind Mice", published in London today in 1609.

Steph

10-12-2003, 09:10 AM

On Oct. 12, 1870, Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63.

PantyFanatic

10-12-2003, 10:45 AM

Brazil- 12 Oct 1822
Dom Pedro, 24-year-old son and heir to King John VI, today declaired himself constitutional emperor of Brazil.
Once seen as a dissolute young man, Pedro has come to symbolize the nation’s hope for independence in the face of Lisbon’s efforts to reduce Brazil once again to the status of a dependent colony.
Last month Portugal annulled all his acts. His response was simple: “The hour has come! Independence or death!”

Steph

10-13-2003, 09:13 AM

On Oct. 13, 1943, Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.

dm383

10-13-2003, 03:27 PM

A British holidaymaker was killed in Spain in 1996 when he fell from a second-floor (3rd floor in the U.S.)balcony while showing off his skill at throwing a melon into a municipal bin.

In 1992 the government announced plans to close one-third of Britain's deep coal mines, putting 31,000 miners out of work.

Labour party leader Ramsey MacDonald made the first ever election broadcast on behalf of his party on BBC radio in 1924.

Mary Allen, of Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, was allowed to divorce her husband of 29 years in 1983, on the grounds that he kept ignoring her and forgetting her birthday!!

(Damn, if I'd known it was THAT easy................:))

dm383

10-14-2003, 03:20 AM

King Harold gets an arrow in his eye at the Battle f Hastings in 1066, and Brits all start learning French!! :)

Today in 1947, pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier for the first time, in the Bell X-1 rocket plane 'Glamorous Glennis', over what is now Edwards Air Force base in California. (What I wanna know is, did they take it out of his pay-check?)

A total of 127 babies were presented for judging at the world's first baby show, which took place at Springfield, Illinois, in 1854

A parliament convened by King Henry VII in 1495 passed a statute regulating the content of bed-stuffing, requiring that it be good, clean feathers, NOT dirty old horse-hair!

dicksbro

10-14-2003, 03:59 AM

The 1908 Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 1 in the World Series.

dm383

10-14-2003, 04:47 AM

*Why is it called the World Series, when it's only played in North America?

Just a thought!! :D

DM

Steph

10-14-2003, 08:48 AM

On Oct. 14, 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

dm383

10-14-2003, 03:58 PM

On this day in 1962, the world comes thisclose to total nuclear annihilation when photographs taken by a U-2 spy plane offer incontrovertible proof that the Soviets had set up missile bases in the island nation of Cuba. That put Soviet nukes a mere 90 miles off the American coastline. During the next two weeks, Nikita Kruschev and John F. Kennedy played the highest-stakes game of chess ever played in the history of humankind. Thank Godzilla it ended in a twenty-eight-year stalemate.

On this day in 1977, child-abusing crooner Bing Crosby dies of a heart attack at 74 while vacationing in Madrid, Spain. Two months later, the Bingster records his last ever Christmas special.

(Thanks to www.dailydirt.com for these!)

dm383

10-15-2003, 05:18 AM

Mata Hari, full-time dancer and part-time spy, is executed by firing squad in Paris in 1917.

Today in 1839, Queen Victoria nervoudly proposed marriage to her 'beautiful' first cousin, Prince Albert. After a whirlwind courtship, they married in February 1840. (D'you reckon she was 'in the family way'? ;))

The first-evet major ballet was a five-hour spectacle, choreographed by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx, for Catherine de Medici and an audience of 10,000 at her palace in Paris in 1581.

William Golding was disappointed when his classic novel Lord Of The Flies, published today in 1954, was chosen as an 'O'-level text. He thought it was tough enough for 'A'-level students! (I think he was a bit 'full of himself' :) )

DM

Steph

10-15-2003, 09:28 AM

LOL DM - I didn't think the book was that difficult! Sheesh :)

dm383

10-15-2003, 03:45 PM

hehehe.... nor did I hon, but Mr. Golding obviously did!! Like I said, "full of himself" :D (means, "full of his own importance", don't ya know!! ;))

DM

dicksbro

10-16-2003, 04:20 AM

Beat ya' today, dm. :D

In 1982, Mt Palomar Observatory was the first to detect Halley's comet on it's 13th return
Also, in 1982 Shultz (Sec of State) warned that the US would withdraw from UN if they voted to exclude Israel
In 1983, my favorite baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles beat Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 3 in the 80th World Series

Steph

10-16-2003, 09:10 AM

On Oct. 16, 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.

PantyFanatic

10-16-2003, 09:36 AM

Constantinople- 16 October 610
Heraclius, son of the governor of Africa, attacks Constantinople with his fleet. The people rise in his favour: Phocas is seized and executed. Beset by barbarian attacks and religious and political divisions, the empire is on the point of collapse.

PantyFanatic

10-16-2003, 09:41 AM

CONSISTENCY!

That’s what I like:)

Politacs- Religon- War-

LMAO

dm383

10-16-2003, 05:04 PM

Marie "Let them eat cake" Antoinette met her doom at the guillotine today in 1793

In 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow, became Pope, taking the name John Paul II (in memory of his short-lived predecessor). He was the first non_Italian to be elevated to the position since 1522.

The first hotel with ensuite bathrooms (and towels!) was the Tremont House in Boston, Massachussetts, which opened its doors to guests today in 1829.

Long after they have ceased to exist, the word "borstal" is still used for a detention centre for youths, after the first such facility opened at Borstal, near Rochester, Kent, in 1902.

DM

FYI "borstal" is the old term for a juvenile detention centre..... kinda like kiddy prison!

Steph

10-17-2003, 09:00 AM

On Oct. 17, 1931, Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was released in 1939.

dm383

10-17-2003, 03:57 PM

In 1995, a father and son spent a week in prison for not coming to the aid of a neighbour who'd had a heart-attack while arguing with them

On this day in 1973, the English football team could only draw 1-1 with Poland at Wembley, and so FAILED to qualify for the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany

H.M. The Queen switched on the power in 1956, at the world's first full-scale nuclear power station at Calder Hall, in Cheshire, England

On the anniversary of Chopin's death (i.e. today!) a concert is held at his birthplace, a country house; the audience sits in the garden, and the musicians play with the windows open!!!

dicksbro

10-17-2003, 04:57 PM

In 1920 the Chicago Bears (playing as the Decatur [Illinois] Staleys) play their 1st NFL game and win 7-0!!!

(Used to live in Decatur! :D)

Steph

10-18-2003, 10:38 AM

On Oct. 18, 1968, the U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a "black power" salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.

PantyFanatic

10-18-2003, 11:01 AM

Germany- 18 October 1817
At the festival of Wartberg- organized by Jena University students to celebrate both the 300th anniversary of the Reformation and the battle of Leipzig- reactionary texts and military effigies are burnt. The University of Jena has become the center of movement oif a liberal movement spearheaded by new student societies known as the Burschenschaten.

dm383

10-18-2003, 12:38 PM

Lord Palmerston, who died in 1865, came up with a rather 'obvious' death-bed quote; "Sie, my dear doctor?" he wheezed, "That's the LAST thing I'll do!"

In the 1968 Olympics, in the thin air of of Mexico City, American Bob Beamon smashed the long-jump world record with an enormous leap of 8.9 metres, unsurpassed for 23 years

The Academy of Painting in Londons Lincoln Inn Fields opened the first school in Britain for "art and drawing from life" in 1711, under a leading painter of the time, Kneller

The cattle grid installed on the A4117 near Ludlow in 1982, incorporated a built-in escape ramp so that hedgehogs could negotiate it safely.

dm383

10-19-2003, 07:53 AM

British commander Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in 1787, losing Britain her dominion over the American colonies.

In 1982 Thomas Kneneally won the Booker Prize for Schindler's List, sparking controversy over whether his reconstruction of real events was eligible for the fiction category

The first company formed to manufacture internal combustion engines was set up in Florence, Italy in 1860, to make engines designed by Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci

King John, younger brother of King Richard the Lionheart, died of a fever in 1216, having hastened his end by eating an excess of peaches and drinking too much cider!

Steph

10-19-2003, 09:27 AM

On Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value - its biggest-ever percentage drop.

PantyFanatic

10-19-2003, 07:51 PM

North Africa- 439
The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, takes Carthage. The ruthless Gaiseric has brought 80,000 people – including 15,000 warriors – with him from Spain since he crossed the Straits of Gibraltar ten years ago and started his march across the North African coast sacking and looting city after city.

Russia- 1812
After failing to persuade Czar Alexander to come to terms, Napoleon begins a retreat from Moscow.

Leipzig, Germany- 1813
Napoleon has lost 60,000 men of his 190,000 strong army. After three days of raging battle against 320,000 Russians, Prussians, Swedes and Austrians, the question now is how long can he continue to struggle?

Germany- 1878
Bismarck passes an anti-socialist law placing many restraints on socialist meetings and banning trade union activities.

dm383

10-20-2003, 03:18 PM

The first fully-automated Post Offices opened in Rhode Island in 1960

Today in 1968, the late President John F. Kennedy's widow, Jackie, stunned the American people by marrying Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis

British children's TV favourites, singing piglet puppets Pinky & Perky, were first televised today in 1957. At the height of their "fame", they received almost as much fan-mail as The Beatles!! (If you've never seen/heard of Pinky & Perky, this is VERY sad!)

When Admiral Codrington destroyed the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, he wasn't praised, but lambasted for leaving the area vulnerable to Russian encroachment. (Ain't it always the way.. can't do right, for doin' wrong!)

In 1977, three members of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a fiery 'plane crash. The three were ~ Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines. "Freebirds" live forever!

DM

PantyFanatic

10-20-2003, 10:40 PM

Chile- 20 October 1883

The treaty of Ancon finally ends the war between Chile, Peru and Bolivia fot land in the Atacama desert which ius rich in nitrates. By the treaty Peru cedes Tarapaca to Chile and Chile also keeps Tacna and Arica for a period of then years.

(long day. just made it):)

Steph

10-20-2003, 11:21 PM

(Just making it would have been 11:59 :) )

dm383

10-21-2003, 05:46 AM

In 1966, 144 people, mostly children, died when a mountain of waste coal collapsed, engulfing the infant school in Aberfan, South Wales.

In 1982, Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were elected to the the new Ulster Assembly with more than 10% of the votes. They declined to take their seats.

Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, the battlefield tactician and inventor who originated the word "tank" for the tracked, armoured fighting vehicle, was born today in 1868

Rum is known in the (Royal) Navy as 'Nelson's Blood', as the Little Admiral's body was sent home from Trafalgar today in 1805 in a barrel of rum, that sailors subsequently discovered and drank! (Now that's what you might call "dying for a drink!")

Steph

10-21-2003, 11:24 AM

On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.

Lovediva

10-21-2003, 11:26 AM

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (Oct. 21, 2003) - A man survived a plunge over Niagara Falls with only the clothes on his back, witnesses said, the first person known to have done it without safety devices and lived.

Man waits at the shoreline after plunge. (Terry McMullen, AP)

Witnesses described seeing the man float by Monday in the swift Niagara River, go head-first over the churning 180-foot waterfall and then pull himself out of the water onto rocks below.

''He just looked calm. He just was gliding by so fast. I was in shock really that I saw a person go by,'' Brenda McMullen told WIVB-TV in Buffalo.

Water rushes over the falls at a rate of 150,000 gallons per second.

''I saw him disappear over the edge of the falls,'' McMullen's husband, Terry McMullen, said. The Columbus, Ohio, tourists snapped photographs afterward, showing the man dressed in street clothes, apparently lying on the shoreline at the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

''The guy just basically jumped in the Falls,'' said witness Diedre Love, of Largo, Md., who was at the Falls with her husband to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. ''I saw him go over. He didn't yell or anything.''

Only one other person known to have survived a plunge over the Canadian falls without a barrel or other apparatus was a 7-year-old boy wearing a life preserver who was thrown into the water in a 1960 boating accident.

No one has ever survived a trip over the narrower and rockier American falls.

Video shown by the Buffalo television station showed officers walking from the scene with a shirtless man in handcuffs and a blanket covering his face.

''At this point, there does not appear to be any evidence of foul play,'' the Niagara Parks Police said in written statement.

Officers would not release the man's name nor would they comment on why the man went over the Falls. He did not appear to have serious injuries as he was led away.

Lynda Satelmajer, of Brampton, Ontario, said she and her family watched the man as he prepared to get in the water and then watched him go over the Falls, all in smiles.

''He seemed a bit edgy, kind of jumping around,'' she said. ''He walked over to where we were standing and he jumped and slid down on his backside and went over the brink.''

''It was really freaky, actually. He was smiling.''

About a dozen daredevils have taken the plunge in barrels or other protective chambers since 1901. About half have survived.

Suicides are not uncommon at Niagara Falls, although police are reluctant to give numbers.

Parks Police said emergency crews responded to a report of a man going over the Canadian falls around 12:45 p.m. Rescuers descended the gorge in a tourist elevator to an observation deck and reached him from there.

He was taken to Greater Niagara General Hospital for treatment, said police.

PantyFanatic

10-21-2003, 05:46 PM

Originally posted by Steph
(Just making it would have been 11:59 :) )
“Just making it” is what I have in my hand and squirted on your picture smarty. :p

Florida- 21 October 1837

Under a flag of truce and during peace talks, US troops seized the Indian Seminole Chief Osceola.

dm383

10-22-2003, 06:01 AM

A range of lockets launched at the 1996 National Funeral Directors' Convention allowed the wearer to carry someone's ashes around their necks.

England goalkeeper Gordon Banks lost an eye in a car crash in 1972, ending his football career.

Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute jump from a balloon above Paris in 1797, but was airsick on the way down as his invention lacked the hole in the top, to steady it!

The Duke & Duchess of Windsor met Adolf Hitler in 1937, on a trip to study 'Social Conditions' in Germany, and came away saying they had been "Thoroughly charmed". (Well, it's well known even MONSTERS can be charming!

DM

PantyFanatic

10-22-2003, 10:48 PM

Texas- 22 October 1836

General Sam Houston is sworn in as president of the Texas republic.

dm383

10-23-2003, 02:23 AM

In 1983 a suicide truck-bombing in Lebanon killed 241 U.S. soldiers; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 Paratroopers

In 1922, Conservative party leader Andrew Bonar Law became Prime Minister; he left the post after 209 days due to ill-health, the shortest term for a British premier in the 20th Century

Julie Andrews made her debut today in 1947, at the age of 12, in the London Hippodrome revue Starlight Roof singing am operatic Aria, the Polonaise from "Mignon"

In 1980, worried Police had to warn motorists on the M5 motorway to beware of swans trying to land on the wet carriageway, thinking it was a river!!

dm383

10-24-2003, 03:10 PM

In Buenos Aires in 1988, a dog fell from a 13th floor window, killing a woman below. A bus driver swerved to avoid her and ran over another woman.... then a man WATCHING it all, died of a heart attack! (Lucky white heather..... get your lucky white heather here!! :))

In 1976, third place in the Japanese Grand Prix was enough for James Hunt, i his McLaren-Ford, to clinch his only world title from Niki Lauda... by ONE point!

The expression "Cold War" was first used by industrialist and statesman Bernard Baruch in a statement in 1948, to the U.S. Senate War Investigation Committee.

Pleas by Chancellor Lloyd George and other ministers could not stop suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst being jailed in 1908, for "inciting the public to rush the House of Commons"

Special today ~ History in the making! Today, in THIS year (2003) the last EVER flight of the British Airways/Air France 'Concorde', BA002 from New York, touched down at Heathrow Airport in London at 16:03 hours, British Summer Time. It will never fly commercial flights again. :(

Steph

10-25-2003, 02:33 AM

I was lucky and got to see the Concorde's flight out of Toronto a few weeks ago. We had a great view of it from my 7th floor office building.

On Oct. 25, 1971, the U.N. General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.

dancingrugger

10-25-2003, 03:50 AM

Also ... John Steinbeck was awarded Nobel Prize in literature this day in 1962
... and (same year) "Cuban missile chrisis" began

dm383

10-25-2003, 11:01 AM

In 1957, Britain's first 'nuclear civil defence' manual was published; quite 'chirpily', it recommended wearing hats & gloves in the event of an attack

In 1990 Evander Holyfield knocked out Buster Douglas in the third round of their fight i Las Vegas, to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world

The United Nations General Assembly voted today in 1971 to expel Taiwan, in order to make way for the admission of the People's Republic of China

Golfer Payne Stewart and five others were killed in 1999, when their Learjet crashed after flying pilotless for four hours. The plane suddenly lost pressure, suffocating all aboard.

dm383

10-26-2003, 04:58 AM

The "Gunfight at the OK Corral" took place today in 1881.

In 1989 Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson resigned in a rift with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, over her adviser Alan Waters. Lawson was replaced by (future Premier) John Major.

In 1595, Queen Elizabeth I approved the conversion of England's trained bands of Archers into musketeers!

A woman named Lori Rae Matthews was crushed to death in 1991, when a 485-pound sculpture of an umbrella fell on her in an open-air gallery in Des Moines, Iowa.

dicksbro

10-26-2003, 06:08 AM

In 1941, the US began selling US savings bonds.

Steph

10-27-2003, 05:56 AM

On Oct. 27, 1904, the first rapid transit subway opened in New York City.

dm383

10-27-2003, 01:26 PM

Steve Peregrin Took of T-Rex died today in 1980, after choking on a cherry pip.

In 1936 American 'adventuress' Wallis Simpson obtained a divorce from her husband, leaving her free to marry King Edward VIII

Ramsay Street came to every town in Britain in 1987, as Australian soap opera Neighbours premiered on British television

In an episode rarely seen in British history books, the Duke of Buckingham landed 8,000 men on the French Isle de Re in 1627, and was easily defeated by Cardinal Richelieu

dm383

10-28-2003, 06:16 AM

President Khrushchev orders Russian nukes out of Cuba today in 1962, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis ~ the closest the world has ever been to nuclear war!

In 1929 Mrs. T.W. Evans became the first woman to give birth aboard an aeroplane, during a flight in a transport plane over Florida

In 1961, record-shop owner Brian Epstein was asked for "The Silver Beatles" record My Bonnie. He went to check out the group, became their manager, and renamed them "The Beatles"

My new (bike) leathers are due to arrive today... but the postman hasn't been yet!!

Steph

10-28-2003, 11:32 AM

On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland.

Waiting for the postman, are you? That's cute :)

dm383

10-28-2003, 04:50 PM

Originally posted by Steph
Waiting for the postman, are you? That's cute :)

Yeh, it's just like being a kid again, waiting for my birthday or something...... THESE I've been waiting for since June!! :)

DM

dm383

10-29-2003, 06:09 AM

1929: "Black Tuesday" in Wall Street. Stock prices crash, and the Depression kicks in for the next ten years.

In 1986, at 11:15a.m., Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opened the final stretch of the M25 London orbital motorway. Its first traffic-jam developed by 5:15p.m. that day!!

W.A. Mozart forgot to write an overture to new opera Don Giovanni and had to 'run one up' (with wife Constanza plying him with punch!) in the hours before its first performance in 1787.

Steph

10-29-2003, 10:50 AM

1618 Sir Walter Raleigh executed

1998 John Glenn returns to space

Steph

10-30-2003, 08:00 AM

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain his world heavyweight title.

dm383

10-30-2003, 05:41 PM

In 1938, Orson Welles' radio production "War Of The Worlds" caused panic in the U.S.; at least one listener died of fright!!

In 1975, General Franco's 36-year dictatorship of Spain effectively ended as it was announced that heir-designate Prince Juan Carlos would take over as provisional Head-of-State! (He's now KING Juan Carlos....... and still there!)

Her Majesty the Queen officially opened the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge over the river Thames in 1991, linking Dartford in Kent with Thurrock in Essex

Concerned about people becoming obsessive channel-hoppers, American scientists unveiled, in 1996, a TV remote control that gives electric shocks if used too often! (Bet THAT went down a storm!!)

dm383

10-31-2003, 03:25 AM

In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by two of her own security guards

The Thames flood barrier was raised for the first time in 1982. I was seldom used for the next few years (but it has been brought into action 25 times already THIS year!)

Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg Palace in 1517, marking the beginning of the Reformation in Germany!

The day she was assassinated, Indira Gandhi was on her way to meet Peter Ustinov to make a documentary of her life

Extra one today.....

My daughter celebrates her 10th birthday... TODAY!!! :D

Steph

11-01-2003, 09:17 AM

(Hope your daughter had a fun day!)

On Nov. 1, 1952, the United States
exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.

dm383

11-01-2003, 11:32 AM

She did, thanks Steph!! (and YOUR post was MY first!!)

So.....
Addendum to the above; the atoll (for such it was!) ceased to exist, post-test!

In 1940, fantastic prehistoric paintings were discovered in a cave at Lascaux in the Dordogne, south-west France

The first radio licences went on sale in Britain today in 1922, at a cost of Ten shillings (50p) a year. (50p these days = approx. US80 cents)

Famous soprano Mary Garden used her lips to good effect in 1911, by selling kisses for charity. One winning bidder reported "She is SOME kisser!!"

Steph

11-02-2003, 09:15 AM

On Nov. 2, 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford, becoming the first U.S. president from the Deep South since the Civil War.

dm383

11-02-2003, 04:31 PM

Today, in any year(!), Haitians celebrate the Day of the Dead. Thousands of people party in the country's cemetery!!!

In 1917, Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour wrote The Balfour Declaration, stating the governemnt's sympathy for Zionist aspirations fora Jewish homeland in Palestine.

British TV channel, Channel 4, began transmission in 1982, with Countdown as it's first programme. (Which is STILL going strong, 21 years later!)

In 1957, Elvis Presley had no fewer than EIGHT records in the British Top 30 charts... an all-time record!

dm383

11-03-2003, 02:57 AM

Royal Navy frigates attack Chinese junks as the first Opium War begins in 1839, eventually leaving Hong Kong in British hands.

Today in 1957, Russian dog Laika became the first canine in space, circling the earth in Sputnik II

In 1534, the English parliament accepted the Act of Supremacy, putting King Henry VIII in place of the Pope as head of the English Church

In 1755, the Penobscot Indians in Maine were declared to be "enemies, rebels and traitors" to King George II, and bounties were put on their scalps!

Steph

11-03-2003, 08:53 AM

And let's not forget that Laika was sacrificed in the experiment. :(

1943 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - US freighter 'Volunteer', carrying explosives, catches fire in Halifax harbour; courage of navy men saves city from disaster.

1908 -Vatican City - Roman Catholic Church declares that it will no longer consider Canada as a country for missionary activities. (Woohoo, we're first-world, baby!)

dm383

11-04-2003, 03:01 AM

Originally posted by Steph
And let's not forget that Laika was sacrificed in the experiment. :( True... not so good for him, huh?

This day in 1942 saw the beginning of the end for the Germans "Afrika Korps", and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, at the Battle of El Alamein in WWII

Today in 1980 ex-actor Ronald Reagan, Republican Governor of California, trounced Jimmy Carter in the U.S. elections to become America's 40th President

The first rapid-fire machine gun was patented today in 1862, by Richard Jordan Gatling of Indianapolis

Just ONE WEEK before the Armistice that brought WWI to an end, poet Wilfred Owen was killed in France at the age of 25.

jseal

11-04-2003, 04:52 AM

Originally posted by dm383

...poet Wilfred Owen was killed in France at the age of 25.

dm383,

And a real loss it was! I just reread S.I.W. We should never underestimate the cost of war.

Helluva poet. Thank you.

Steph

11-04-2003, 08:57 AM

1979 ~ the Iranian hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran.

1920 ~ Canadian Marconi's radio station broadcasts first commercial radio show; station started in December 1919; reputedly the oldest in the world.

dm383

11-05-2003, 07:25 AM

Britain declared war on Turkey ("the old man of Europe", said Winston Churchill) in 1914; 205,000 Allied soldiers were to become casualties there, to NO EFFECT whatsoever!!

Today in 1979, George Michael & Andrew Ridgely (later known as Wham!) played their first-ever live gig together, as 'The Excutives'.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus first learned about growing & harvesting maize from the native population of Cuba

It wasn't until this day in 1800 that King George II became the first British king to renounce all claims to the throne of France.

In 1605, Guy Fawkes and his compatriots were captured trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament..... leading to the quaint & uniquely British "Guy Fawkes" night, celebrated with 'Guys' being burned on top of large bonfires, accompanied by the setting off of large numbers of fireworks!!

Steph

11-05-2003, 08:24 AM

1980 Opening of World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto 1.5 million books on 27.3 km of shelves; 6,500 m2 in size; now part of Chapters chain.

1955 Montreal Canadien Jean Beliveau scores a hat trick in 44 seconds; second fastest on record.

dm383

11-06-2003, 03:08 AM

In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula today's the day the old neck-biter FINALLY 'gets his'!!

in 1924, Tory leader Stanley Baldwin was elected Prime Minister and appointed Winston Churchill, formerly a Liberal, as his Chancellor of the Exchequer

Belgian musical instrument maker Antoine-Joseph Adolphe Sax, who invented the Saxophone in 1840, was born today in 1814.

In 1970, three-times Grand National winner Red Rum, the greatest ever steeplechaser, won his first race (a novice event at Doncaster) at odds of 100/7.

Steph

11-06-2003, 11:27 AM

1879 CANADA'S FIRST OFFICIAL THANKSGIVING DAY

Ottawa Ontario - The Canadian Thanksgiving Day is officially observed for the first time on this day. The holiday is moved to the week of Armistice Day after World War I, then fixed as the second Monday in October in 1957.

dm383

11-07-2003, 06:30 AM

English peer Lord Lucan disappeared today in 1974, after allegedly killing his nanny. (That is, the nanny to his children!!) He hasn't been seen since.

On this day in 1917, Lenin's Bolsheviks, storming the Winter Palace in Petrograd, led the overtrow of Russia's moderate Kerensky-led socialist gvernment.

In 1990, lawyer & Senator Mary Robinson, became the first woman President of the Republic of Ireland

The Mary Celeste sailed from New York for Genoa in 1872.... but never arrived. She made the history books instead, when found abandoned four weeks later.

Steph

11-07-2003, 07:54 AM

Happy birthday, Joni Mitchell!

Joni Mitchell 1943-
singer songwriter, painter, was born Roberta Joan Anderson on this day at Fort McLeod, Alberta, in 1943. Mitchell moved to Saskatoon at age 10, studied art, started folk singing, then moved to Toronto in 1965. She met musician Chuck Mitchell, who took her to Detroit, where they were married, but soon divorced. In 1967 she moved to New York, signed with David Geffen, and released her first album, Song to a Seagull (1968), produced by David Crosby on the Reprise label. Her career took off in 1968 when Judy Collins recorded her song Both Sides Now. After she moved to Laurel Canyon, near Los Angeles, she wrote The Circle Game (recorded by Tom Rush) and her monster hippy anthem Woodstock (recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). Mitchell's prime folk/rock albums include Blue (1971), For the Roses (1972) and Court and Spark (1974). She is a painter as well as a musician, and much of her later work, such as Hejira (1976) and Mingus (1979) has expanded her style into jazz.

Steph

11-08-2003, 08:25 AM

November 8

1793 The Louvre opens as a museum.

1923 Beer Hall Putsch begins

Adolf Hitler, president of the far-right Nazi Party, launches the Beer Hall Putsch, his first attempt at seizing control of the German government.

dm383

11-08-2003, 05:19 PM

Don't read the FIRST one, dicksbro!!)

In 1970, the Great Bengal Frog War began - a "frantic frog-killing orgy" which left thousands of the poor creatures dead.

In 1974 Covent Garden ceased to be London's flower & vegetable market as it moved across the Thames, leaving the old warehouses and Floral Hall to be re-developed

In the first-ever dogfight between jet fighters, a U.S. Air Force Lockheed F-80 shot down a Soviet MiG-15 over Korea in 1950

The 13-ton bell in the Palace of Westminster clock tower got it's name, Big Ben, from Sir Benjamin Hall, born today in 1802.

(Lots of people think that Big Ben is the tower itself..... which is actually St. Stephen's tower!!)

dm383

11-09-2003, 04:48 AM

Today in 1888, a woman named Marie Kelly became the first victim of.... "Jack the Ripper"!

In 1966, John Lennon first met Yoko Ono at a preview of her art exhibition at Barry Miles, Peter Asher and John Dunbar's Indica Books & Gallery at Mason's Yard, London

In 1989, the East German government allowedfree pasage through the Berlin Wall. The next day, bulldozers began demolishing the 28-year-old barrier.

An Act of Parliament was passed today in 1868, declaring voting by women illegal. An earlier Act allowed all ratepayers to vote, without specifying that they must be male!!

dicksbro

11-09-2003, 05:56 AM

In 1858 on this date, the 1st performance of the NY Symphony Orchestra took place.

Steph

11-09-2003, 07:03 AM

1965 The great Northeast blackout occurred as several states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.

Steph

11-10-2003, 08:38 AM

1856 ~ a telegraph line was opened between Newfoundland and New York.

In 1932, Foster Hewitt made his first Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. Boston and Toronto tied 1-1.

dm383

11-10-2003, 03:25 PM

Romania entered WWI (for the SECOND time!!) one day before it finished, in 1918.

On this day in 1969, twenty years after he first released Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer Gene Autry finally received an award for the song.

The first rugby league game ever to be televised was the Second Test between Great Britain and New Zealand, played in Manchester in 1951. Great Britain won 20-19.

The 'haunted' wreck of the U.S. brig Somers , on which the stroy "Billy Budd" was based, was discovered today in 1987.

Steph

11-11-2003, 08:15 AM

On Nov. 11, 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

dm383

11-11-2003, 01:08 PM

In 2000, a cable-car being pulled through an Alpine tunnel in Austria caught fire, resulting in a death toll of 155 people

In 1965, Ian Smith's Rhodesian government unilaterally declared independence from Britain

The Royal Mail was first carried by train, between Liverpool and Manchester, today in 1830.

In 1975 Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the government, led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

Steph

11-11-2003, 03:53 PM

(and DM got his leathers!!!:D)

dm383

11-12-2003, 05:54 AM

Originally posted by Steph
(and DM got his leathers!!!:D)

Yep..... a notable date in history indeed!! :)

Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union in 1927 - thus beginning the systematic slaughter of an estimated 43 MILLION of his own people!!!

In 1987 Vincent Van Gogh's 'Irises' was sold for a then world record £30.2 million ($48.3 million) He painted it while a patient at the St. Remy lunatic asylum

The Conservative Party held it's first conference in 1867, at the Freemasons' Tavern in London's Great Queen Strret.

In 1997 a Brazilian court ruled that as his crime had been committed more than 20 years previously, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs could not be extradited to Britain

dicksbro

11-12-2003, 06:25 AM

Speaking of Brazil ... in 1989, Brazil held it's first free presidential election in 29 years. Hats off to Brazil. :)

Steph

11-12-2003, 08:54 AM

On Nov. 12, 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. The Americans ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.

Steph

11-13-2003, 09:28 AM

On Nov. 13, 1956, the American Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.

dm383

11-13-2003, 04:16 PM

Ugandan rainmaker Festo Kazarwa was beaten to death today in 1988, after a freak hailstorm destoyed his village's crops.

In 1999 Lennox Lewis became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, winning a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas

On this day in 1907, inventor Paul Corno made the first helicpter flight, lifting his machine ~ powered by two propellors ~ six feet above a Normandy field.

Public donations helped the Archbishop of Canterbury to buy the original manuscript of 'Alice In Wonderland' from the U.S. Library Of Congress in 1948

dm383

11-14-2003, 02:05 PM

In 1973 Bobby Moore made his 108th, and final, appearance for the England football team. The team lost 1-0 to Italy at Wembley.

Leo (Hendrik) Baekeland, the chemist who invented the first commercial plastic, named Bakelite in his honour, was born in Belgium in 1863.

In 1889, reporter Nellie Bly set out from New York and travelled by sea, horse, rail & road, to beat Phileas Fogg's 80-day, round-the-world trip........by a week!

dm383

11-15-2003, 10:05 AM

General William Tecumsa Sherman burned the Confederate city of Atlanta to the ground today in 1864

^^^
This was also the start of the General's infamous march, with 60,000 men, from Atlanta to Savannah, during which he destroyed all the towns and farms along the 300-mile route to the sea.

The S.S. St. Paul became the first ship to receive radio messages, transmitted from the Needles wireless station off the Isle of Wight, today in 1899.

In 1983, John Prescott M.P. swam along the River Thames from Chelsea Bridge to Westminster in protest at the dumping of nuclear waste in the sea. (Have to say, I can't see him doing that NOW!!)

Steph

11-15-2003, 10:18 AM

On Nov. 15, 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington, D.C., against the Vietnam War.

Steph

11-16-2003, 09:17 AM

1983 Margaret Trudeau files for divorce from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau; granted April 2, 1984.

1885 Louis Riel hanged in Mounted Police barracks in Regina; before dying, he gives exclusive interview to journalist Nicholas Flood Davin, who entered prison disguised as a priest. Just after eight in the morning, the hangman appears in the doorway of his cell; Riel asks, 'Mr. Gibson, you want me? I am ready'; after receiving absolution from the priest, he ascends the scaffold; as he and the priest are reciting the words of the Lord's Prayer, the trap door drops.

Steph

11-17-2003, 08:13 AM

1973 President Nixon told an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla., that "people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."

1869 Suez Canal opens
The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.

1558 Elizabethan Age begins
Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth.

dm383

11-17-2003, 05:52 PM

November 16th

Jack Sheppard, a highwayman who had escaped execution on four separate occasions, was finally hanged today in 1724

That one kinda "tickled" me, so I thought I'd post it anyway!

On to today...........

In 1944 a quacking duck alerted the city of Freiburg, Germany, to an air-raid. A statue was later built in it's honour!!

In 1964 General Nasser became Egypt's head of state as the high-living King Farouk departed rapidly into exile

The first international cycle road race - 83 miles from Paris to Rouen - was won in 1869, by Britain's James Moore

Louis XVIII of France, born in 1755, came to power after the fall of Napoleon, and was so overwrought he initiated the custom of leaving one's bottom waistcoat button undone

Steph

11-18-2003, 07:22 AM

1976 ~ Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

dm383

11-18-2003, 04:33 PM

After a huge Asthma attack, "Four Weddings & a Funeral" star Charlotte Coleman was found dead in 2001

In 1916, General Douglas Haig finally called off the Somme offensive after five months of highly costly battle (in money AND lives!) had failed to make any headway against the Germans

Photography pioneer Louis Dagueere, born in 1789, developed the daguerreotype, a one-off picture without a negative, when he accidentally spilt iodine on some silvered plates

Roman emperor Vespassian, boorn in 9 A.D., raised the mpney for his campaigns in Wales & north Britain by levying a tax on public urinals!!

Steph

11-19-2003, 03:49 AM

1863, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

dm383

11-19-2003, 05:09 AM

Today in 1600, King Charles I was executed at Runnymede by order of Oliver Cromwell's Parliament

This day in 1703 a mysterious man died in the Bastille in Paris, his head encased in a mask of velvet & whalebone. He would later become known as "The Man In The Iron Mask"

In 1951 the Football Association reluctantly agreed to give official sanction to the use of the new, White footballs

A third attempt by the U.S. to invade Canada during The War of 1812 collapsed in ignominy when the American troops refused to leave New York State!

Steph

11-20-2003, 02:45 AM

Those stubborn Americans! :)

1976 Gordon Lightfoot's 'The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald' peaks at #2 on the Billboard pop single chart.

1964 Mt. Kennedy named in memory of late U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy; unnamed mountain on Alaska-Yukon border

dm383

11-20-2003, 08:08 AM

In 1945, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials began; twenty top Nazis went before the judges ~ half of them were excuted for their Crimes

In 1944 the neon advertising lights of London's Piccadilly Circus and the Strand were switched on again, after FIVE years of blackout!

When Princess Elizabeth married Lt. Philip Mountbatten RN in Westminster Abbey in 1947, the BBC made the first-ever telerecording for broadcast in the U.S. 32 hours later

AListair Cooke, the U.S.-based broadcaster who began his famous Letter From America on BBC radio in 1938, was born "Alfred Cooke" in Britain today in 1908

dm383

11-21-2003, 06:12 PM

(Where'd ya get to today Steph?!?! :) )

In 1906, an unnamed man was killed when 200,000 gallons of hot whisky burst from vats in a Glasgow distillery!

In 1987 Demi Moore and Bruce Willis married after knowing each other for just three months. Three children and eleven years later, they divorced in 1998

Cole Porter's "Anything Goes", with words by Guy Bolton & P.G. Wodehouse, had it's first performance today in 1934. It also, incidentally, made Ethel Merman a Star!

Harry Bidwen of Brighton divorced his wife in 1980, at the age of 101, having waited 'til ALL their children were dead!!!

dm383

11-22-2003, 04:04 PM

!Hey STEPH.... where'd you get to hon?!?! :)

FYI: One of my "sources" for these ramblings has dried up, so I've had to find an alternative! From now on, there will probably be a few more each day than there were!

INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence hanged himself in a Sydney hotel in 1997, in an (alleged) act of autoeroticsim.

In 1497 Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first navigator to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in his search for a sea route to India

Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the pirate, was killed off the east coast of North America today in 1718

Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted in 1842. Ash fallout reached as far as 48 mi away Not for the first time.....nor the last!! :)

Today in 1943,President Franklin Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan.

1963 - President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas Somehow, it doesn't SEEM 40 years ago..... and I'M only 41

dm383

11-23-2003, 02:09 PM

Ottilie Lundgren, 94, of Oxford, Connecticut, became thr fifth anthrax fatality in 2001's still unexplained postal attacks.

The first jukebox was installed at the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco today in 1889

The first issue of Life magazine hit the newsstands in 1936. The cover photograph, by Margaret Bourke-White, featured the Fort Peck Dam.

On this day in 1945, U.S. wartime food rationing, of meat, butter, and other foods, ended

In 1971 the People's Republic of China was seated at the UN Security Council for the first time

dm383

11-24-2003, 04:51 PM

Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury (real name Farouk Bulsara) died today in 1991

Abel Tasman discovered Van Diemen's land, later renamed Tasmania, today in 1642

Darwin's "Origin of Species" was published in 1859. It caused HUGE controversy for years to come.

In 1871, The National Rifle Association was incorporated

Today in 1874, Joseph Farwell Glidden patented barbed wire

This day in 1963, Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK's accused assassin, in the garage of Dallas police headquarters

dm383

11-26-2003, 01:06 PM

For all (any?) of you who still follow this thread-ful of interesting & inane guff (:)) . server problems prevented any post yesterday, and absence from my loved one (& my OWN P.C.) will likely prevent any today, too.

So, if anyone out there has some amusing little date-stamped anecdotes to share (STEPH?!?!) please, feel free!!

DM

jseal

11-26-2003, 01:53 PM

November 26th

1832: Public streetcar service began in New York City. The fare: 12 1/2 cents

1942: The movie Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman, premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.

Steph

11-27-2003, 10:02 AM

On Nov. 27, 1973, the Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who'd resigned.

dm383

11-27-2003, 04:34 PM

The French navy scuttled it's ships in Toulon harbour in 1942, to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.

In 1841, the thirty-five survivors of the slave-ship 'Amistad' finally return to Africa.

In 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will, which established the Nobel Prize.

New York's Pennsylvania Station opened today in 1910

Playwright Eugene O'Neill died in Boston at age 65 this day in 1953

In 1970, Pope Paul VI was attacked at the Manila airport by a Bolivian painter disguised as a priest

dm383

11-28-2003, 12:40 PM

In 1942, nearly 500 people died in a fire that destryoed the Coconut Grove nightclub in Boston

In 1520, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan passed through the strait which bears his name to the Pacific ocean

William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway today in 1582

In 1919, American-born Lady Astor became the first woman to take a seat in the British Parliament

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Tehran for their first meeting during World War II on this day in 1942

Today in 1964 the U.S. spacecraft Mariner 4 launched—on its way to the first successful mission to Mars.

Steph

11-29-2003, 01:28 PM

On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine between Arabs and Jews.

dm383

11-29-2003, 02:00 PM

At Sand Creek, Colorado, in 1864, Major Chivington's Militia attacked the Cheyenne encampment there, massacring over 400 people, many of them chidren. His explanation for this atrocity later... "Nits make Lice!"

Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels in 1924 before he could complete his opera "Turandot

Commander Richard E. Byrd and a crew of three became the first to fly over the South Pole today in 1929

The Beatles released I Want to Hold Your Hand in Great Britain today in 1963

Also today, in 1963, President Johnson named a commission headed by Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy

Actor Cary Grant died in Davenport, Iowa, at age 82, in 1986

Beatle George Harrison died of cancer today in 2001.

dm383

11-30-2003, 06:42 AM

Oscar Wilde's last words, "One or other of us HAS to go!", were uttered to the wallpaper in a Paris hotel in 1900

In 1894, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase was tried for political bias

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were married in 1940

Barbados became independent of Great Britain today in 1966

In 1974 the fossilized remains of a female human ancestor named Lucy (after the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) were found in Ethiopia.

The Brady Bill, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, is signed today in 1993

In 1995, President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit Northern Ireland

Finally........

Today is Saint Andrews day, a celebration of the Patron Saint of Scotland!! (of Russia too, but we don't talk about that!!)

Slainte, everybody!

DM