|
History Day.........
 1908, 7:17 in the morning...The most powerful, natural explosion in recorded history happened here....Tunguska, in Central Siberia. The blast devastated 70 square miles of heavily forested area-- (of course, I want to know how some of those trees remained standing)--It also caused a seismic shock, a firestorm followed by black rain and illuminated the sky in a way that was seen for hundreds of miles. But there was no crater found and only the tops of the trees at the central point of the explosion were burned. People 40 miles away were flash burned, their silverware melted and herds of reindeer were destroyed. Amazing. Even more amazing??? To this day, no one knows what caused the explosion. Seriously weird.And in other news of the day.....1841, The Erie Railroad rolled out their first passenger train.1921, RCA was formed.1936, Margaret Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND was published. (Talk about a book with staying power--though if we tried to write it today, no publisher would buy such an inherently unlikable heroine!)1953, the first Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, MI....It sold for a whopping $3,250.00!! Ahhhhh........that's about the cost of a tank of gas now!1962, Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax pitched his first no hitter.1974, the famous Fourth of July beach scene in the movie JAWS was filmed--hundreds of people raced in and out of the water, screaming, for dozens of takes! And they say being an actor is hard!!1985, After 4600 performances, Yul Brynner left his role as the King of Siam in THE KING AND I at the Broadway theatre in NYC.1985, the creator of the Twinkie, James A. Dewar, died......(All of us who give thanks for that little creation owe James a moment of silence..........)1993, The movie, THE FIRM, debuted today, starring a pre-couch-jumping Tom Cruise1997, China reclaimed Hong Kong from Great Britain and the crown's 156 year rule was over.....Where does the Queen get her Chinese food now??And that's what I came up with today?? How about you guys???
History Day.............
 So here we are on history day again...........is it just me or is the year FLYING past???
Ahhh, the picture on the left is pretty self explanatory! But for writers, it's the beginning of the good times.......
I868, Christopher Sholes, from Wisconsin, patented his 'type-writer'. Mr. Remington came along a little later and made this type writing machine more reasonable to use. Chris's version was as big as a desk and didn't have any correcting ribbons!! Clearly a perfectionist, Mr. Sholes was also clearly not a writer!! Because as much correction ribbons and fluids I've used over the years---the backspace key on a computer was the best invention ever!
1941, Lena Horne (one of my dad's favorite singers), recorded ST. LOUIS BLUES for Victor records and launched an amazing career. She was only 23 at the time!
1961 The Antarctic Treaty was signed, guaranteeing that the freezing cold continent would only be used for peaceful, scientific purposes.
1987, Madonna was the first celebrity since Elizabeth Taylor to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine.
1993, a scary day for husbands everywhere!! On this day, Lorena Bobbit took a butcher knife to her husband's er, um, privates and in so doing, created the new verb, 'bobbiting'..........
ANYBODY ELSE???
History Day...........
 There's a 'Gibson Girl' on the left and yes, there is a point to this.
1883, the New York Giants admitted all ladies free to their baseball park on the very first Ladies Day. And you can bet most of them were dressed like that. Looks damned uncomfortable to me........
1922 Harry Berliner made the first helicopter flight out of College Park, Maryland. (No word on how it went!)
1963, Valentina Tereshkova, at 26, became the first woman sent into space. She spent 3 days in orbit--(She was probably looking for a little peace and quiet and look how far she had to go to find it!)
1967, The Monterey Pop Festival got underway
1978, the film adaptation of GREASE premiered in New York City
How about you guys?? Anything to add???
History Day again.............
 Here we are on History Day again...........WHERE are all the days going??
Okay, see picture at left of a famous Hollywood movie star!
1934, Donald Duck made his first appearance--(not as the star!) in a movie called The Wise Little Hen! Donald went on to star in 127 movies and features before retiring in 1967.
I always loved Donald....I think it was because he had the same patience level I did!!
1790, the first copyright for a book was granted. I know I speak for writers everywhere when I say, Thank You!!
1943, the US Congress gave the big Okey-Dokey to the Withholding tax on payroll. Gee, thanks guys.
1959, the first Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) submarine, the USS George Washington was launched out of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire.
1973, the first Triple Crown in horse racing was won by the great Secretariat. (Did you see this week's race?? Poor Big Brown!)
1980, comedian Richard Pryor almost killed himself with a lighter and a little too much cocaine.
1985 the Los Angeles Lakers win their first National Basketball Association title. (My son LOVES the Lakers. Me?? I don't get basketball.)
1992, one of my favorite performers, Ben Vereen was hit by a car while walking in Malibu. Thankfully, he recovered to smile and dance again.............
Okay, so I throw out the challenge! Anybody have something else to add??
History day.............
 Ah, History Day at the ol' blog again..........Over there on the left is a picture of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1953, Elizabeth's coronation became the first internationally broadcast TV show......of course, most people saw the whole show in black and white, because color TV was still a rarity.
Imagine......only fifty years ago. How many things have changed???
And in other news..........
Much more important to America than some sweet young Queen, in 1865, the Civil War ended. Now there's a biggie, but I couldn't find an appropriate picture. Yes, I could have used Lincoln, but let's face it, Elizabeth looks better in that hat.
1886 President Grover Cleveland became the first President to get married in the White House!
1897, one of my personal favorite writers, Mark Twain, was famously quoted in the New York Journal from London saying "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
1924 Congress granted US citizenship to all American Indians. How very thoughtful, don't you think?? They were only here FIRST.
1941 Lou Gehrig died of the disease that has come to carry his name.
1987 President Reagan nominated Alan Greenspan to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Man, talk about job security.
Oh, and in 1904, Tarzan was born. Well, not Tarzan, but Johnny Weismuller. Close enough!
So, have any of you got something else to add???
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
