2009: Day 208 Today in 1940 , the world meets Bugs Bunny as A Wild Hare is released. (1972) The first flight of the F-15 Eagle . Born Today: (1922) Writer and producer Norman Lear . (1931) I don't care if it is Jerry Van Dyke 's birthday. I'm not going to look for episodes of My Mother The Car . However, if you should happen to want to... (1938) Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax . (1948) Actress and director Betty Thomas . (1949) Singer and broadway actress Maureen McGovern , probably best known for her vocal performance of "The Morning After" from the 1972 version of The Poseidon Adventure . (1953) Australian Yahoo Serious . (1972) Actress and comedienne Maya Rudolph . Last Gasps: (1984) Actor James Mason . (2003) Bob Hope .
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2009: Day 207 Today in Spaaaaace: (1958 ) Explorer 4 , a aatellite instrumented by Dr. James Van Allen designed to study the radiation belts surrounding the Earth (named for Van Allen), was launched. The specific intent of this mission was to study the effects of nuclear explosions on the upon the belts (presumably in conjunction with planned detonations), but that was planned to involve two such satellites, and only this one was launched. (1963) Syncom 2 (1 was lost via an electronics failure and ended up in the wrong orbit), the first geosynchronus communication satellite, launched by NASA via a Delta B #20 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral. Over all it was a successful test satellite, enabling President Kennedy to make the first-ever satellite-relayed telephone call between two heads of state (a Nigerian President) and test out the possibilities for live, satellite-relayed television broadcasts. Its successor, launched the following year, was used to relay the '64 Tokyo Olymp
2009: Day 206 From The How'd That Work Out For You? Dept. : (1792) Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick and commander of the Allied Army, issued the Brunswick Manifesto , which was essentially a proclamation threatening the people of Paris with physical harm if the revolting citizens (I couldn't resist) acted violently toward the French royal family. The result was rather the opposite of that intended. Basically, it's a bad idea to send word to a dirty mob stewing in the middle of summer that they better not step over the line. Born Today: (1870) Illustrator/artist Maxfield Parrish . Here's a gallery of his work . (1894) Academy Awards-winning character actor Walter Brennan . (1943) British musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds , Jim McCarty . (1951) Attorney (former?) and anti-obscenity/violence in video games, broadcast media, rap music, etc., Sandy Vagina Jack Thompson . (1965) Another of those faces I knew, but not the name, it's Ill
2009: Day 205 This Day In Disgrace: (1974) The U.S. Supreme Court orders the Nixon Administration to turn over subpoenaed White House Tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. (2002) Ohio Representative James Traficant is expelled from the House of Representatives for charges of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering and using government aides to perform chores at his farm and on his houseboat. The How'd That Work Out For You? Dept. : (1929) The Kellogg-Brand Pact , renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, goes into effect. Among the signatory nations were Germany, Italy and Japan. Good News, Everyone! (1683) Slavery is abolished in Chile by the Spanish crown. (1911) Hiram Bingham III re-discovers the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu . Of course, it had been "lost" only in the sense that the plundering Spaniards hadn't found it, but the locals knew it was there, buried under jungle growth. Pablito Alvarez, an 11 year-old nativ
2009: Day 204 This Date In Disgrace : (1942) The Treblinka extermination camp opens, beginning to receive freight car shipments of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto . (1967) The Detroit/12th Street riot breaks out, leading to 43 deaths, 467 injured and over 7,200 arrests over the following five days. (1968) In Cleveland, Ohio the Glenville Shootout begins with snipers ambushing and killing two tow truck drivers whose uniforms, apparently, looked similar to those of police officers. Five days of rioting and looting ensued. (1984) Vanessa Williams formally resigns her Miss America crown in the wake of nude photos of her appearing in Penthouse . (1992) A Vatican commission, led by future Pope Joseph Ratzinger affirms that it is necessary to limit the rights of homosexuals. Born Today : (1865) Christian occultist, astrologer and mystic Max Heindel . (1886) German physicist and electronics whiz Walter H. Shottky . (1888) Author Raymond Chandler - creator of Philip Marlowe.
2009: Day 203 I'm trying to alter this a little, to make it both easier and more enjoyable to put together, as in the end I'm doing all of this for my own entertainment and edification. On this date in 1587 the second, also apparently doomed set of colonists landed on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Caroline. Until poking around I'd never heard of the Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco in 1916, but there it was. A not-so-great day in the U.S. space program, today in 1962 Mariner 1 , intended to be a Venus fly-by mission, started to fly erratically after take-off and was destroyed before it could become a menace. In the world of music, today's birthdays include Rufus Wainwright (36), singer/songwriter & half of the Indigo Girls, Emily Saliers (46), pianist, theater and film composer Alan Menken (60), singer/songwriter Don Henley (62), Supertramp 's Rick Davies (65), once-tean idol Bobby Sherman (66). If you're feeling Funkedelic today,
2009: Day 202 Robber and outlaw of the American West, Sam Bass was born today in 1851. It seems to be a day for Wild West types, including train robbers as you'll see. The stuff of legends. On this date in 1865, in the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what would become the template for the western shootout/showdown . A day for Western legends, on this date in 1873 Jesse James and the James-Younger gang manage the first successful train robbery of the American West. Sounding more like a forgotten '60s band than anything else, on this date in 1919 the Wingfoot Air Express , a dirigible, crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago. Twelve people (mostly bank employees) died in the crash, with one more - one of those who'd parachuted from the wrecked dirigible and broke both legs - dying later while in hospital. Lost Generation writer and journalist Ernest Hemingway was born today in 1899. Mollie Sug
2009: Day 201 This date in 356 BC is an accepted birth date for Alexander the Great . Though he'd be named "father of genetics" long after his death, Gregor Mendel was born today in 1922. He never got to see his studies of pea pods and inherited traits receive proper recognition. George Llewelyn Davies , the inspiration for the characters Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, was born today in 1893. He was killed in 1915, at the age of 21, one of the many, many casualties of World War I. Stupid Flanders . Sir Edmund Hillary , who along with Sherpa mountaineer Tenzig Norgay, became one of the first climbers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Actress Natalie Wood (1938) would have turned 71 today, but she drowned in 1981. (A joke from that era: What did Grace Kelly have that Natalie Wood could have used? A good stroke.) On the same day Diana Rigg , who I'll always think of first as Mrs. Peel, was born over in Doncaster, England. Bass guitarist and singer with the Moody Blues
We Choose The Moon Here's a link to a site I'd meant to put up earlier this week. It tracks the progress in real time -- albeit displaced by 40 years -- of the Apollo 11 mission , and is, as I'm sure you recognized, named for a phrase from JFK's famous speech in which he laid out a national goal for the space program for the decade. It's a little... busy in some respects, trying to get one to install widgets, stream the background audio and even follow the time-displaced mission via Twitter, but it struck me as a worthwhile and timely resource... even if it is "powered by AOL."
Healthcare For All One of my largest public concerns - and, if anything, it's only strengthening - is how warped and inhumane what passes for a health care system we have here in the United States. It's with sadness and anger that I daily come across the lies, the fear and smear campaigns, designed to keep the bucks flowing into the pockets of health care insurers (a phrase so Orwellian as to boggle the mind) and pharmaceutical companies by demonizing a single-payer system. Worse, this horrible, predatory system is tied to a social structure in which reasonable access to medical care is treated as a job perk. (Worse still, a non-transferable job perk.) So, with that in mind, here's the latest pass-along request from one of the people who, sadly, is often ridiculed but who is out there fighting for us all every day. Healthcare: Change the Debate Support a Real Public Option Dear Friends, In mid-May, in an effort to reach consensus, President Obama secured a deal with the he
2009: Day 193 Hmm. Mostly just birthdays of note today. Eastman Kodak founder and inventor of roll film, George Eastman , was born today in 1854. Poetry and symmetry, after a fashion, in two births on this day in 1895: Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein and architect, author, designer, inventor and futurist Buckminster Fuller . Uncle Milty - comedian Milton Berle (1908) would have been 101 today. Another of those one major media lights who was running almost entirely on reputation by the time he hit my generation. Artist Andrew Wyeth , who died early this year, would have been 92 today. Get some Jell-O pudding and a Coke! Bill Cosby turns 72 today. Sweating to the oldies -- it's Richard Simmons ' 61st birthday today. Have a big piece of birthday cake and then cry away those calories with tears of shame and regret. Charlie's Angels ' Cheryl Ladd turns 58 today. Normally I wouldn't list a porn star, but I thought I'd toss in Bambi Woods , who played the titular chara
2009: Day 192 Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral Zheng He set sail on a journey of exploration, diplomacy and the establishment of broader trade. Set as the admiral in charge of a huge fleet (records range from 200 to 300 ships transporting an impressive army of an estimated 28,000 crewmen) he brought gifts to rulers in Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Siam. A muslim who conducted seven such voyages for the Chinese empire, there are claims that tales of Sinbad the Sailor are based on Zheng He's voyages. In 1859 Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was first published. With in excess of 200 million copies sold it is currently listed as the most printed original English book. On this date in 1914 Babe Ruth made his professional debut , pitching for the Boston Red Sox. In what I can't help but see as one of many missteps made by the U.S. during the Red Scare of the 1950s, on this date in 1955 an act of Congress made the phrase "In God We
2009: Day 191 A rather busy date, this! Much of London burned to the ground on this date in 1212. Gradually, they built more and more of the city using stone. Good thinkin'. Feeling enslaved to the total service of sin? Morally unable to follow God, and certain that unless God picks you you cannot be saved? Well, it doesn't necessarily mean you've gone nuts -- it could just be that it's John Calvin 's 500th birthday. (Either way, though, I'd suggest seeking psychological help.) Should your mind wander to the topic of logarithmic spirals - perhaps considering the sweep of a large hurricane or a cross-section of nautilus shell - give a quick nod to mathematician Roger Cotes (1682), who would have turned 327 today. He also spent a few years working with Newton on expansions and revision of his Principia (mentioned back on July 5th ) for its second edition. In 1789 the explorer Alexander MacKenzie discovered what he would call "Disappointment River" be
2009: Day 190 Go adjust a hemline or reinforce a seam -- it's the 190th birthday of sewing machine pioneer Elias Howe . There are known unknowns and unknown unknowns, but we're reasonably sure that the heart of darkness issued Donald Rumsfeld into this dimension 77 years ago today. Actor Brian Dennehy hits his 71st birthday today. Turning 67 today is one bad motherf-- (shut yo' mouth!) I'm talkin' 'bout Richard Roundtree . Author Dean Koontz ' tale began 64 years ago today, in 1945. No, it's not a Bizarro version of a musical Frankenstein's Monster -- it's John Tesh , and he turns 57 today. Actor Jimmy Smits (1955) turns 54 today, as does the Howard Stern Show's Fred Norris . Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks (1956) turns 53 today. Screenwriter, producer and the main person behind Heroes , Tim Kring (1957) hits his 52nd birthday today. It's too late to save Kurt, but at least hide the drugs and booze. It's Courtney Love 's 45th b
Gestures A pass-along from CryptLeak the other day, it's a chart of military hand signals , probably best reviewed before this summer's G.I. Joe movie, if you and the proper assortment of drugs and alcohol have such a screening in mind. It's large - too large for it to work even as a "large" graphic here, so I just gave you the above link to it. Once there, just click on it and it should pop for a larger view.
Musical Protest: Part One I saw this yesterday and thought I'd pass it along. (With update) Yes, I know I left the embed its full, original size, and it's covering a portion of the right column. No harm. Musician Dave Carroll (part of Sons of Maxwell ) had a fairly expensive guitar ruined by United baggage handlers, who were seen throwing the case out on the tarmac. After roughly a year of battles and finally being told there wouldn't be any compensation, he promised to compose, shoot videos of and post for all to see three songs of protest. This is the first. I'd never heard of Sons of Maxwell and still don't have a good sense of how varied their music is (their Wiki entry says they're a Canadian duo performing traditional Irish folk music and original works with a "pop-folk" sound), so at this stage don't consider this an endorsement of them musically -- for whatever that would have been worth coming from me anyway. I simply haven't heard
2009: Day 189 In 1497 a fleet of four ships commanded by Vasco da Gama left Lisbon, headed, ultimately, to India, attempting to establish a useful water trade route. Examining the particulars of the voyage it seemed to be hardship meandering into various degrees of disaster, including conflicts with local leaders and trying to return home during the worst time for such a voyage, ignoring what seamen in that part of the world advised. Only 60 of his 180 companions returned to Lisbon and many of the survivors were considerably worse for wear, including suffering from scurvy. Though they wouldn't learn of it until a second voyage in 1502, even the ones who'd stayed behind in India to establish a trading post had been subsequently killed.That this would have been a surprise to da Gama seems unlikely, considering that when he'd left he'd essentially skipped out of Calcut without formal announcement, since the local ruler, who'd tried to extort all of de Gama's goods
2009: July 7 Whew! I'm sure Joan of Arc was happy to find that today in 1456. 25 years after she was put to death, that she was acquitted of heresy. Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (watch the spelling, or it could get messy!) was born today in 1860. Today in 1863 the United States instituted the first military draft. If you had $100 to spare, though, one could buy an exemption... Academy Award-winning director George Cukor was born today in 1899. I preferred his comedies over his literary adaptations. A friend and I were just talking about Born Yesterday (1950) near the end of June. The "dean of science fiction", author Robert_A._Heinlein was born today in 1907. Tharah! The third Doctor (of Doctor Who fame) - John Pertwee was born on this date in 1919. Former Tonight Show bandleader and still-practicing musician Doc Severinsen turns 82 today. Sliced bread ? Why, the first loaves of pre-sliced bread were sold on this date in 1928 in Chillicoths, Missouri. Ge
2009: Day 187 On this date in 1189 Richard the 1st (popularly known as Richard the Lionheart ) was crowned king of England. Oh, while we're on this date and the subject of royal Dicks, I should note that Richard III was also crowned on this date, albeit in 1483. Continuing the connection, the latter Richard's most famous biographer (although he never got to finish the work) was scholar and statesman Thomas More , who on this date was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to legitimize King Henry VIII. Given all the awful things various Popes were responsible for, here's a nod to Pope Clement VI , who on this date in 1348 issued one of two papal bulls (a sort of open letter to the public that, at the time to the faithful, had the force of a legal pronouncement) protecting the Jews from those who were trying to blame the Black Death on them. That he declared those who went that route as having been seduced by the Devil's lies, I thought, was a nice touch. Feel as if you've
2009: Day 186 On this date in 1687 one of the most important scientific works - Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). There, Newton laid out his laws of motion, the law of universal gravitation and the foundation of classical mechanics. Despite having essentially created a new branch of mathematics - calculus - he kept that to himself at this point, presenting the mathematical arguments using geometric proofs. Were he still around today, at the age of 199 as of today, surely showman P.T. Barnum (1810) would be his own, greatest attraction. A quick shot of whiskey to remember actor Milburn Stone , best remembered from his role as Doc on the long-running Gunsmoke series. Born in 1904, this would have been his 105th birthday. Unfortunately for him he only played a doctor on tv. Actor Warren Oates (1928) would have turned 81 today. Unfortunately, he died of a sudden heart attack in 1982. The Reagan years were tou