Saturday March 29, 2014 Today is: Earthj Hour (Not to be confused with Earth Day. This pertains to turning off lights.), Knights of Columbus Founders Day, National Mom & Pop Business Owners Day, Niagara Falls Runs Dry Day, Texas Loves The Children Day, National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day This Week is: Nano Days 29-4/6, YoYo and Skill Toy Weekend 29-30 For my Catholic friends Today is a Feast Day for: St. Dallan, St. Aquilinus, St. Blath, St. Voloc, St. Valerius of Trèves, St. Sabinian of Troyes, Sts. Sarbelius & Barbea, St. Caesarius, St. Papias and Maurinus, Bl. Boleslava Lament On This Day in History: 1806 - Congress authorizes surveying to begin for the construction of the Cumberland Road, which sped the way for thousands of Americans heading west. 1848 - A huge upstream ice jam stopped almost all water flow over Niagara Falls (both American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls) for several hours. You could actually walk out into the riverbed below the falls. 1865 - The final campaign of the Civil War begins in Virginia when Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant move against the Confederate trenches around Petersburg. General Robert E. Lees outnumbered Rebels were soon forced to evacuate the city and begin a desperate race west. 1879 - At Kambula, in northwest Zululand, a force of 2,000 British and Colonial troops under the command of British Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood defeats 20,000 Zulus under King Cetshwayo, turning the tide in the favor of the British in the Zulu War. 1886 - Coca-Cola was created by Dr. John Pemberton. 1917 - Prime Minister Hjalmar Hammarskjold of Sweden, father of the famous future United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, resigns after his policy of strict neutrality in World War I—including continued trading with Germany, in violation of the Allied blockade—leads to widespread hunger and political instability in Sweden. 1929 - President Herbert Hoover has a phone installed at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House. It took a while to get the line to Hoovers desk working correctly and the president complained to aides when his son was unable to get through on the Oval Office phone from an outside line. Previously, Hoover had used a phone located in the foyer just outside the office. Telephones and a telephone switchboard had been in use at the White House since 1878, when President Rutherford B. Hayes had the first one installed, but no phone had ever been installed at the presidents desk until Hoovers administration. 1945 - Gen. George S. Pattons 3rd Army captures Frankfurt, as Old Blood and Guts continues his march east. 1951 - In one of the most sensational trials in American history, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage for their role in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II. The husband and wife were later sentenced to death and were executed in 1953. 1951 - A homemade device explodes at Grand Central Station in New York City, startling commuters but injuring no one. In the next few months, five more bombs were found at landmark sites around New York, including the public library. Authorities realized that this new wave of terrorist acts was the work of the Mad Bomber. New Yorks first experience with the so-called Mad Bomber was on November 16, 1940, when a pipe bomb was left in the Edison building with a note that read, Con Edison crooks, this is for you. More bombs were recovered in 1941, each more powerful than the last, until the Mad Bomber sent a note in December stating, I will make no more bomb units for the duration of the war. He went on to say that Con Edison, New Yorks electric utility company, would be brought to justice in due time. 1959 - Some Like It Hot, starringMarilyn Monroe, is released. 1971 - Lt. William L. Calley is found guilty of premeditated murder at My Lai by a U.S. Army court-martial at Fort Benning, Georgia. Calley, a platoon leader, had led his men in a massacre of Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, at My Lai 4, a cluster of hamlets in Quang Ngai Province on March 16, 1968. 1973 - Two months after the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops leave South Vietnam as Hanoi frees the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. Americas direct eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War was at an end. In Saigon, some 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees remained behind to aid South Vietnam in conducting what looked to be a fierce and ongoing war with communist North Vietnam. 1974 - The unmanned U.S. space probe Mariner 10, launched by NASA in November 1973, becomes the first spacecraft to visit the planet Mercury, sending back close-up images of a celestial body usually obscured because of its proximity to the sun. 1978 - Tina Turner divorces Ike Turner, ending a tumultuous 16-year marriage. 1982 - The combination of an earthquake and a volcanic eruption at El Chichon in southernMexico converts a hill into a crater, kills thousands of people and destroys acres of farmland. The eruptions, which continued for over a week, caught many of the area residents unaware and unprepared. 1989 - Dustin Hoffman wins an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Rain Man. 1989 - Junk bond king Michael Milken is indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud. 2005 - After a yearlong negotiation process, the Walt Disney Company ends its productive but sometimes contentious relationship with Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the founders of Miramax Films. 2006 - Queen Elizabeth II made the Welsh singing sensation Tom Jones—now Sir Tom Jones—a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. 2009 - Rick Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive of troubled auto giant General Motors (GM), resigns at the request of the Obama administration. During Wagoners more than 8 years in the top job at GM, the company lost billions of dollars and in 2008 was surpassed by Japan-based Toyota as the worlds top-selling maker of cars and trucks, a title the American automaker had held since the early 1930s. Born on This Day: 1790 - John Tyler, The 10th President of the United States (1841–1845). A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before winning election as Vice President in 1840. Although he was a Democrat, he ran on the Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison. He became president on the death of Harrison in April 1841. A firm believer in American exceptionalism and manifest destiny, President Tyler sought to strengthen and preserve the Union through territorial expansion, most famously the annexation of the independent Republic of Texas in his last days in office. 1867 - Denton True Cy Young, American Major League Baseball pitcher. During his 21-year baseball career (1890–1911), he pitched for five different teams. Young established numerous pitching records, some of which have stood for a century. Young compiled 511 wins, which is most in Major League history and 94 ahead of Walter Johnson who is second on the list. Young was elected to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. 1888 - James E. Casey, American businessman, was born in Pick Handle Gulch near Candelaria, Nevada. In 1907, 19-year-old James (Jim) Casey founded the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington with $100 borrowed from a friend. He served as president, CEO and chairman. Claude Ryan was his partner and his messengers were his brother George and other teenagers. His motto was best service and lowest rates. Deliveries were made on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle. In 1913, Jim Casey agreed to merge with Evert McCabes Motorcycle Messengers. Merchants Parcel Delivery was formed and focused now on packages. Their first delivery car was a 1913 Ford Model T. In 1919, the company expanded beyond Seattle and changed its name to United Parcel Service (UPS). 1900 - Charles Sutherland Elton, English biologist who first developed the idea of a food chain. 1917 - Man o War, Considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time. During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses. 1918 - Pearl Mae Bailey, American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special, Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale. Her rendition of Takes Two to Tango hit the top ten in 1952. 1918 - Samuel Moore Sam Walton, American businessman and entrepreneur born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sams Club. 1945 - Walter Clyde Frazier, American former basketballplayer in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As their floor general, he led the New York Knicks to the franchises only two NBA Championships (1970 and 1973), and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Upon his retirement from basketball, Frazier went into broadcasting; he is currently a color commentator for telecasts of Knicks games on the MSG Network. 1955 - Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor. His best-known films includeBraveheart, Gangs of New York, In Bruges, 28 Days Later, Troy, the Harry Potter films,The Guard and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty. He won an Emmy Award in 2009 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the film Into the Storm. 1955 - Marina Sirtis, English-American actress. She is best known for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the four feature films that followed, as well as subsequent Star Trek: Voyager episodes she starred in. 1956 - La Toya Yvonne Jackson, American singer-songwriter,musician, author, television personality, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, activistand former model. She is the fifth child of the Jackson family. She maintained a career as a singer throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and returned to music in 2004 with her Billboardcharting songs Just Wanna Dance and Free the World. An EP called Starting Over was released on June 21, 2011. 1957 - Christophe Guy Denis Christopher Lambert, French actor who has appeared in American, as well as French and other European productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply The Highlander, from the movieand subsequent movie franchise series of the same name. He is also known for his roles as Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and as the thunder godRaiden in the first movie adaptation of the video game Mortal Kombat. He is credited internationally as Christopher Lambert, with the exceptions of French-speaking countries, where he is known as Christophe Lambert. 1961 - Amy Louise Sedaris, American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris. 1964 - Elle Macpherson (Born Eleanor Nancy Gow), Australian businesswoman, television host, model, and actress. She is well known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s, leading to her nickname The Body. She is also known as the founder primary model and creative director for a series of business ventures, including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerieline, and The Body, a line of skin care products. In 2010, she became the host and executive producer of Britain & Irelands Next Top Model. She is currently an executive producer of NBCs Fashion Star and was the host for the first season. 1976 - Jennifer Maria Capriati, A retired American professional tennis player. A former World No. 1, she won three womens singles championships inGrand Slam tournaments. Capriati made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 13 years 11 months when she reached the finals of the hard court tournament in Boca Raton, Florida, losing there to Gabriela Sabatini. Capriati reached the semifinals of theFrench Open in her debut and later became the youngest ever player to crack the top 10 at age 14 years, 235 days in October of that year. Between 1990 and 1993, Capriati won six singles titles, including a Gold Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, defeatingSteffi Graf in the final. Following a first round loss at the 1993 U.S. Open, the burned out Capriati took a 14-month break from competitive pro tennis. Her personal struggles during this time (including arrests for shoplifting and possession of marijuana) were well-documented by the press Died on This Day: 1848 - John Jacob Astor (Born Johann Jakob Astor), was a German-born American businessman, merchant, fur trader, and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. He was the creator of the first trust in America. As a teenager, he moved to England and began work manufacturing musical instruments. He later went to the United States following the American Revolutionary War and built a fur-trading empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast. In the early 19th century, he diversified into New York City real estate and later became a famed patron of the arts. 1903 - Gustavus Franklin Swift, Founded a meat-packingempire in the Midwest during the late 19th century, over which he presided until his death. He is credited with the development of the first practical ice-cooled railroad car which allowed his company to ship dressed meats to all parts of the country and even abroad, which ushered in the era of cheap beef. Swift pioneered the use of animal by-products for the manufacture of soap, glue, fertilizer, various types of sundries, and even medical products. 1980 - Walter H. Deubener, A grocer from St. Paul, Minnesota who in 1912 invented the handled paper grocery bag. Following his death, his estate became Camp Courage North. The annual Deubener Award, given out to small businesses by the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, is named after him. 1980 - Annunzio Paolo Mantovani, a.k.a. Mantovani, Anglo-Italian conductorand light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The bookBritish Hit Singles & Albums states that he was Britains most successful album act before The Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and had six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959. 2005 - Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., American lawyerbest known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal of O. J. Simpson for the murder of his former wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.Cochran also represented Sean Combs (during his trial on gun and bribery charges), Michael Jackson, rapper Tupac Shakur, actor Todd Bridges, football player Jim Brown, rapper Snoop Dogg, former heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe, 1992 Los Angeles riotbeating victim Reginald Oliver Denny, and Geronimo Pratt. He also represented athleteMarion Jones when she faced charges of doping during her high school track career.Cochran was known for his skill in the courtroom and his prominence as an early advocatefor victims of police brutality. If you were born on this day in 1964 your parents may have been listening to the radio while The Beatles were in the number one slot on Billboard Magazines Hot 100 with their hit single She Loves You. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963, it set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States as one of the five Beatles songs that held the top five positions in the American charts simultaneously on 4 April 1964. It is their best-selling single in the United Kingdom, and was the best selling single there in 1963. In November 2004, Rolling Stone ranked She Loves You number 64 on their list of the500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In August 2009, at the end of its Beatles Weekend, BBC Radio 2 announced that She Loves You was the Beatles all-time best-selling single in the UK based on information compiled by The Official Charts Company. Lennon and McCartney had started composing She Loves You after a 26 June 1963 concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne during their tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. They began writing the song on the tour bus, and continued later that night at their hotel in Newcastle. In 2000, McCartney said it began with Bobby Rydells song Forget Him and the call and response pattern, and that as often happens, you think of one song when you write another ... Id planned an answering song where a couple of us would sing she loves you and the other ones would answer yeah yeah. We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called She Loves You. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it—John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars. It was completed the following day at McCartneys family home at Forthlin Road, Liverpool.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 12:28:11 +0000
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