The Daily Almanac - July 2006

1631 John Donne Metaphysical poet, dies (birth date unknown)

1776 Abigail Adams wrote her famous “Remember the Ladies” Letter to her husband, John urging him to include women as he helped write the US Constitution. He didn’t. And that’s it for Women’s History month

1880 Wabash Ind. Becomes the first city to have an electric street lighting system. http://www.voltnet.com/arclamps/brush.shtml

1889 The Eiffel Tower is completed. http://www.tower-structures.com/page9.html

1917 the U.S. purchases the Virgin Islands from Denmark. http://www.caribbeantourservices.com/company/usvi/usvi.html

1923 the first Dance Marathon was held held in the recently completed Audubon Ballroom http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/d5marthn.htm . Alma Cummings set a record of 27 hours on her feet, wearing out 6 dance partners.

1932 Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8

1933 congress authorizes the Civilian Conservation Corps. http://www.cccalumni.org/history1.html

1943 “Oklahoma” opens on Broadway.

http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=1285

1948 Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan

1955 Chase National (3rd largest bank) & Bank of the Manhattan Company (15th largest bank) merge to form Chase Manhattan http://www.answers.com/topic/chase-manhattan-bank

1959 Dalai Lama fled China & was granted political asylum in India

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/1997/11/thurman.html

1963 Los Angeles ends streetcar service after 90 years

http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/la/historic/redcars/

1968 LBJ announced he would not be running for another term. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/LBJ

1976 the NJ Supreme Court ruled Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. She remained in a coma and did not die until 1985. http://lanecc.edu/efls/wrt123/students/bb2dft.htm

Birthdays

1732 – 1809 Franz Joseph Haydn Austria, composer, helped develop classical style http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn

1809 – 1852 Nikolai Gogol father of 19th-century Russian realism (Dead Souls) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Gogol

1878 – 1946 Jack Johnson 1st black heavyweight boxing champion (1908-1915) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(boxer)

1914 - Octavio Paz

Mexico, writer/diplomat (Salamandra, Topoemas) http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1990/paz-bio.html

1927-1993 Cesar Chavez founder of the United Farm Workers.www.ufw.org/cecstory.htm for his story. For ongoing discussion of Bush’s immigration reform you might want to try www.dailykos.com/story/2004/1/7/181344/1243 One of the better political weblogs. For

articles on the outsourcing of technology jobs check out www.salon.com/tech . Gone in the Blink of an Eye an article by Katharine Mieszkowski is one. Also Jeff Taylor’s Poisoning the Roots of the Techno-boom. Sign up for free day pass.

1935 Herb Alpert bandleader/trumpeter (Tijuana Brass)/CEO (A & M)

http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Herb-Alpert.html

That was then, This was Now

A Washington Romance comes to an end. Makes great reading. With a wonderfully seedy cast of characters.

The engagement of Emily Miller and Michael Scanlon was supposed to mark the coming out of a new Washington power couple.

The two had met on Capitol Hill, where they worked as press secretaries to Rep. Tom DeLay, the feared Texas Republican. They got engaged in September 2001 on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., and planned an August 2002 wedding. As the date approached, Mr. Scanlon bought a $4.7 million oceanside mansion and guest house, formerly part of the DuPont estate, in Rehoboth Beach, Del. He furnished it down to the monogrammed towels and presented it to his bride-to-be.

Then, with the wedding a few months away, he called off the engagement and started dating a 24-year-old waitress

Political Animal is following the Howard Kaloogian “nitwittery” Who’s thatf? The congressman who complained about the negative coverage of Iraq by the media and put a photo on his website depicting a calm Iraq street Turns out that the photo was a street in Istanbul.

Of course the French Students and the marches against felonizing immigrants in this country remain the two hot news topics.

1842 the first surgery using an anesthetic was carried out by Dr. Crawford Long of Jefferson, Ga. http://www.anes.uab.edu/aneshist/anesnet.htm

1853 a patent was granted to Hyman Lipman for a pencil with an eraser. The patent was later erased. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyman_Lipman here’s more http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpen.htm

1867 Sewards Folly became a reality. Alaska was acquired for 2 cents an acre.http://www.historicaldocuments.com/AlaskaPurchaseTreaty.htm

1870 the 15^th Amendment went into effect giving Black men the right to vote.http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment15/

1909 The Queensboro Bridge linking Manhattan to Queens.opened. http://www.transalt.org/bridges/queensboro.html

1919 Gandhi announces resistance against Rowlatt Act http://www.indhistory.com/jallianwalla-bagh-massacre.html

1932 Amelia Earhart is 1st woman to fly solo cross the Atlantic http://www.acepilots.com/earhart.html

1948 Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu extremist http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1155813.stm

1964 Jeopardy debuted on NBC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy

1981 Reagan survives an assassination attempt by John Hinckley. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley,_Jr.

1987 "Sunflowers" by Van Gogh was sold at a London auction for $39.7 million. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/V/van_gogh/sunflowers.jpg.html

Birthdays

1672 –1725 Peter I "the Great" Romanov great tsar of Russia (1682-1725)http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/russia/romanov.html

1674 –1741 Jethro Tull agricultural writer (Basildon), (not the rock group) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tull_(agriculturist)

1853-1890 Vincent Van Gogh killed himself at the age of 37. Found an interesting Site called the Humanistic Art homepage http://www.serve.com/Lucius/VanGogh.index.html which links sites including Vermeer, Nabokov and Melville. These are artists who were rejected, ignored and ridiculed while Alive.

1880 - 1964 Irish playwright Sean O’Casey http://www.answers.com/topic/sean-o-casey

1882 –1960 Melanie Klein Austrian/British psycho analysis http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/klein.html

1914 –1948 Sonny Boy Williamson [John Lee] blues musician (Down & Out Blues) There were actually two that went by that name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Boy_Williamson

1945 Eric Clapton [Eric Patrick Clapp] Ripley England, legendary guitarist/singer (Yardbirds, Cream, Tears in Heaven) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton

That was then, This was Now

Jill Carroll, freelance journalist, was released after nearly three months in captivity.

I was treated well, but I don't know why I was kidnapped," she said in a brief interview in English which was translated in Arabic and shown on Baghdad television

-----------------

Testing, Testing. From the Utne Report, the use of Human Guinea Pigs in order to bring products to market.

When Nikolai Sopko walks into a medical testing facility, it's usually not because he's sick. And it's not to practice his burgeoning skills as a medical student. It's for part-time work as a professional human guinea pig, a gig he shares with many. From college campuses to crowded Indian hospitals, researchers are always searching for people to take part in medical tests. Sometimes they're willing to pay big bucks, sometimes not

1638 1st permanent white settlement in Delaware (Swedish Lutherans)

http://www.oldswedes.org/

1848 Niagara Falls stopped flowing for 30 hrs. due to an ice jam blocking the Niagara River.

1848 John Jacob Astor chartered American Fur Company, dies at 84 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor

1871 Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria in London

http://www.victorianlondon.org/buildings/alberthall.htm

1882 the Knights of Columbus is chartered by the state of Connecticut.

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Knights.html

1886 Chemist John Pemberton begins to advertise for Coca-Cola (with cocaine)

http://cocaine.org/coca-cola/index.html

1928 Yeshiva College (now University) chartered (New York NY)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshiva_University

1932 Jack Benny debuts on radio. Remember “The Big Broadcast”?

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/bennyjack/bennyjack.htm

1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of spying http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/rosenberg/1.html

and “The King and I” opened on Broadway. http://www.thaistudents.com/kingandi/

1964 1st true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline (England)

http://radio.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=radio&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vintagebroadcasting.org.uk%2Fcline.htm%23dj

1971 1st Lieutenant William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_lai

1974 Eight Ohio National guardsman are indicted for the shooting death of 4 Kent State students. http://www.answers.com/topic/kent-state-shootings

1975 Led Zeppelin has 6 albums on the charts at the same time.

http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=141

1984 the FCC approves Stereo TV. The Tonight show was the first to be broadcast in Stereo. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_television_timeline.htm

1988 US Congress discontinues aid to Nicaraguan contras.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair

1991 Lee Atwater political strategist (R), dies of brain tumor at 40. Karl Rove’s mentor.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lee_Atwater

1992 12th Golden Raspberry Awards: Hudson Hawk wins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Raspberry_Awards

Birthdays

1819 Edwin Drake drilled 1st productive US oil well in 1854. . The addiction began here. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/edwin/page1.asp?secid=31

1819 -1900 Isaac Mayer Wise rabbi, founded American Hebrew Congregations

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/IWise.html

1916 - 2005 former U.S. senator and Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/06/15_olsond_genemccarthy/

1918 -1990 Singer and actress Pearl Bailey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Bailey

1918 -1992 Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart ) To find out how Wal-Mart became the worlds biggest corporation check out Jim Hightower’s How Wal-Mart is Remaking our World. at http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=12962 Prices are low but it comes at a cost. http://walmartwatch.com/

That was then, This was Now

In 1991 Lee Atwater apologized on his death bed for his political dirty tricks. It was announced yesterday that Lyn Nofzinger who worked for Ronald Reagan and Casper Weinberger who served 3 Republican presidents had died. Did you guess Nixon, Ford and Reagan? Oh, and he was pardoned by George Bush for his involvement in Iran Contra.

Exiled Liberian President Charles Taylor was captured in Nigeria while trying to escape expatriation and standing trial on war crimes.

Mr Taylor is accused of selling diamonds and buying weapons for the Revolutionary United Front rebels The rebels were notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians during their decade-long war. Tens of thousands of people died in the interlinked conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

1794 Nathan Briggs received a patent for the washing machine. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwashingmachines.htm

1794 Louvre opens to the public (although officially opened since August) http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/histoire_louvre.jsp?bmLocale=en

1865 Outdoor advertising legislation was inacted. http://www.oaaa.org/outdoor/sales/history.asp

1866 1st ambulance goes into service http://www.rescuehouse.com/content/ems-history/004032.php

1898 the Supreme court ruled that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese Immigrants was a U.S. citizen and could not be deported. Here’s a timeline of justice and immigration. A hot topic again.http://academic.udayton.edu/Race/03justice/aspilaws.htm

1922 1st microfilm device introduced http://www.srlf.ucla.edu/exhibit/default.html

1930 the names of Turkey’s main cities Constantinople http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople and Angora http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankara were changed to Instanbul and Ankara.

1939 Madrid fell to the forces of Francisco Franco ending the Spanish Civil War. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/scw/overview.htm

1941 Virginia Woolf committed suicide http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jwoolf.htm and Louella Parsons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louella_Parsons hosted "Hollywood Premiere" for the first time on CBS radio.

1963 Sonny Werblin announced that the New York Titans of the AFL would changing their name to the NY Jets. http://www.conigliofamily.com/TitansJets.htm

1969 Dwight Eisenhower died in Washington at the age of 78. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Eisenhower

1972 Wilt Chamberlain played his last pro basketball game. http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Chamberlain.htm

1979 America’s worst nuclear accident took place at 3 mile Island. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/march/28/newsid_3513000/3513918.stm

1982 1st NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Louisiana Tech beats Cheney 76-62 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Women's_Division_I_Basketball_Championship

1985 Marc Chagall French painter, dies at 97 http://www.theartgallery.com.au/artEducation/greatartists/chagall/about/

1987 Maria Von Trapp died in Morrisville, Vt. At the age of 82.. Her life inspired the Musical The Sound of Music. http://www.answers.com/topic/maria-von-trapp

1994 Eugene Ionesco playwright (Rhinoceros, Bald Soprano), dies at 84 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ionesco.htm

Birthdays,

1890 –1967 Paul Whiteman Denver CO, orchestra leader (Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club) http://www.redhotjazz.com/whiteman.html

1899 August Anheuser Busch Jr.. If your into Budweiser beer (or corporate genealogy) Try www.raxhaven.com/budweiser/timeline.html. If you enjoy baseball you probably know that August Busch purchased the Cardinals in 1953, keeping the team in St. Louis. During prohibition Bevo was the popular "Near Bear" brewed by the Anheuser-Busch company. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/near_beer. Speaking of Prohibition, For growing marijuana in a grow box, closet, or purchasing the maings in Amsterdam click on www.growingmarijuana.net.

1909 Nelson Algren US, novelist (Man with the Golden Arm)http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/nalgren.htm

That was then, This was Now

The Israeli general election is taking place today with the new Kadima party expected to win.

Opinion polls predict Kadima, the centrist party formed by the now seriously ill Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, will win the most votes.

-----------------------------

So who is the enemy now. The Militia’s in Iraq or the Guerillas? And who is responsible for the 17 dead in a Shite Mosque?

American and Iraqi government forces clashed with Shiite militiamen in Baghdad tonight in the most serious confrontation in months, and Iraqi officials said the fighting left at least 17 Iraqis dead, including an 80-year-old imam.

The fighting erupted at a very combustible moment in Iraq, with sectarian tensions rising, leadership problems deepening, and dozens of mutilated bodies continuing to surface on Iraqi streets today.

Andy Card retired today as White House Chief of Staff. I propose the City manager of Tuttle Oklahoma. Some might consider it thinking outside of the box but no more so then an Arabian horse association guy running FEMA? After reading this you’ll see he has 22 years of hard core experience making IT work. http://www.centos.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=127

1531 Ponce De Leon discovered Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n

1721 France and Spain sign Treaty of Madrid http://www.answers.com/topic/pinckney-s-treaty

1794 the US Navy was authorized. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Navy

1836 1st Mormon temple dedicated in Kirtland, Ohio http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/cgi-bin/pages.cgi?columbus

1841 1st U.S. steam fire engine tested, New York City http://www.engine3.org/Silsby/SilsbySiteDirectory.html

1860 the corkscrew was patented by M.L. Byrn of NYC. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/collec-tirebouchons/collec_tirebouchons/history_en.htm

1863 Sir Henry Royce born In 1904 he teamed up with .C.S. Rolls a British motor dealer to create Rolls Royce Ltd.. A 2004 Phantom goes for $320,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce

1866 Andrew Rankin patents the urinal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinals

1871 1st international rugby game-Scotland 1, England 0http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s61/st22216.htm

1914 1st successful blood transfusion (in Brussels)http://members.rediff.com/bloodbank/History.htm

1933 U.S. Farm Credit Administration authorized under the New Deal. (FSCA) Now known as the Farm Credit Services of America.http://www.fccouncil.com/Default.aspx?pageid=14

1939 1st NCAA Men's Basketball Champion: University of Oregon beats OH State 46-33 Originated in High School but taken over by Colleges http://www.marchmadness.org/history.htm Here’s the college history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Madness

1943 (Pabst) Blue Ribbon Town (with Groucho Marx) 1st heard on CBS Radio http://otrsite.com/articles/artjf010.html

1945 Ella Fitzgerald and Delta Rhythm Boys record "It's Only a Paper Moon" http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/fitzgerald_e.html

1949 the first Daytime soap opera debuted on NBC. These are my Children ran fifteen minutes weekdays at 5pm for two months. Became All My Children. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/soapopera/soapopera.htm

1951 the half hour versions began on CBS, including The Guiding Light which is still with us. http://www.memorabletv.com/soapworld.htm

1952 Sun Records of Memphis begins releasing records http://www.scaruffi.com/history/cpt11.html

1956 U.S. seizes U.S. communist newspaper "Daily Worker" later became "Daily World" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Worker

1958 Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet premier and 1st sect of Communist Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev

1968 Suharto succeeds Sukarno as president of Indonesia

1972 Burt Reynolds made beefcake history by appearing as the centerfold in Playgirl magazine. http://www.answers.com/topic/burt-reynolds

1973 The Godfather won the best Picture award for 1972. http://www.filmsite.org/oscars70.html

1976 Washington D.C. underground Metro opens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metro

1977 a KLM Boeing 747 crashed into a Pan Am 747 On a runway in the Canary Islands killing 582 people. It was the worst aircraft disaster in history. Here’s more… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metro

1996 Yigal Amir receives a life sentence for assassinating Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yigal_Amir

1997 39 cult members (Heaven Gate) in California commit mass suicide (Hale-Bopp) Blame it on a comet. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/

Birthdays

1879 –1973 Edward Steichen, pioneered American photographyhttp://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo13/steichen.htm

1893 : 1947 Karl Mannheim, Hung/German/British sociologist (Ideology & Utopia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mannheim

1914 Budd Schulberg american author What makes Sammy run, Screenplay - On The Waterfront. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/schulbe.htm

1924-1990 Sarah Vaughn vocalist http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_vaughan_sarah.htm

That was then, this was now

For breaking news on the US Immigration bill that would make undocumented immigartion a felony http://politicalwire.com/aggregator/ or the most recent bombings in Iraq where 30 were killed and 30 found beheaded. 39 dead in the last 24 hours.

---------

And the latest secret Memo’s leading to war in Iraq.

The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq. Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Mr. Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein.

1531 Ponce De Leon discovered Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n

1721 France and Spain sign Treaty of Madrid http://www.answers.com/topic/pinckney-s-treaty

1794 the US Navy was authorized. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Navy

1836 1st Mormon temple dedicated in Kirtland, Ohio http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/cgi-bin/pages.cgi?columbus

1841 1st U.S. steam fire engine tested, New York City http://www.engine3.org/Silsby/SilsbySiteDirectory.html

1860 the corkscrew was patented by M.L. Byrn of NYC. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/collec-tirebouchons/collec_tirebouchons/history_en.htm

1863 Sir Henry Royce born In 1904 he teamed up with .C.S. Rolls a British motor dealer to create Rolls Royce Ltd.. A 2004 Phantom goes for $320,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce

1866 Andrew Rankin patents the urinal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinals

1871 1st international rugby game-Scotland 1, England 0http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s61/st22216.htm

1914 1st successful blood transfusion (in Brussels)http://members.rediff.com/bloodbank/History.htm

1933 U.S. Farm Credit Administration authorized under the New Deal. (FSCA)
Now known as the Farm Credit Services of America.http://www.fccouncil.com/Default.aspx?pageid=14

1943 (Pabst) Blue Ribbon Town (with Groucho Marx) 1st heard on CBS Radio http://otrsite.com/articles/artjf010.html

1945 Ella Fitzgerald and Delta Rhythm Boys record "It's Only a Paper Moon" http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/fitzgerald_e.html

1951 the half hour versions began on CBS, including The Guiding Light which is still with us. http://www.memorabletv.com/soapworld.htm

1952 Sun Records of Memphis begins releasing records http://www.scaruffi.com/history/cpt11.html

1956 U.S. seizes U.S. communist newspaper "Daily Worker" later became "Daily World"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Worker

1958 Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet premier and 1st sect of Communist Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev

1968 Suharto succeeds Sukarno as president of Indonesia

1972 Burt Reynolds made beefcake history by appearing as the centerfold in Playgirl magazine. http://www.answers.com/topic/burt-reynolds

1973 The Godfather won the best Picture award for 1972. http://www.filmsite.org/oscars70.html

1976 Washington D.C. underground Metro opens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metro

1996 Yigal Amir receives a life sentence for assassinating Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yigal_Amir

1997 39 cult members (Heaven Gate) in California commit mass suicide (Hale-Bopp) Blame it on a comet. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/

Birthdays

1879 –1973 Edward Steichen, pioneered American photography

http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo13/steichen.htm

1893 : 1947 Karl Mannheim, Hung/German/British sociologist (Ideology & Utopia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mannheim

1914 Budd Schulberg american author What makes Sammy run, Screenplay - On The Waterfront. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/schulbe.htm

1924-1990 Sarah Vaughn vocalist http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_vaughan_sarah.htm

That was then, this was now

---------

And the latest secret Memo’s leading to war in Iraq. Think Gulf of Tonkin Revisited

1804 the Louisiana purchase was divided into the territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana. http://americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa030902a.htm

1827 Ludwig Von Beethoven died in Vienna. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven

1845 Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precusor of bandaid

1871 Paris Commune founded http://www.marxist.com/History/paris_comune_501.html

1892 Walt Whitman poet, dies in Camden NJ at 72 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wwhitman.htm

1916 Birdman of Alcatraz receives solitary http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/stroud/index.html

1927 Gaumont-British Film Corporation forms http://www.answers.com/topic/gaumont-film-company

1953 Jonas Salk announces he has a new vaccine against Polio. http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/salk.html

1955 "Ballad of Davy Crockett" becomes the #1 record in US http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/5-4-01askeds.html

1957 Max Ophüls [Maximilian Oppenheimer] German/French director (Caught, Exile), dies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Oph%C3%BCls

1971 "Cannon" with William Conrad premieres on CBS-TV http://www.answers.com/topic/william-conrad

1973 composer Noel Coward dies in Jamaica. He was 73. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Coward

1974 Bangladesh gains independence from Pakistan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh

1979 Jimmy Carter hosts the signing of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/26/newsid_2806000/2806245.stm

1979 Former VP Nelson Rockefeller dies at 70. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/peopleevents/p_rock_n.html Who is Megan Marshak? http://www.ishipress.com/marshak.htm

1981 A Los Angeles Jury orders the national Inquirer to pay Carol Burnet 1.6 million. It was the first time in 30 years that a lawsuit had gone to trial against the Inquirer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Enquirer

1983 Anthony F Blunt British art historian/spy for USSR, dies at 75 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/blunt_anthony.shtml

1987 Gary Heidnik was arrested. He was a sex offender turned wealthy stock investor who turned his Philadelphia house into a torture chamber He was the inspiration for the Buffalo Bill character in Thomas Harris’s Silence of the Lambs. Skip the movie and go to www.crimelibrary.com And click on the serial killers tab.

Birthdays

1850 – 1898 Edward Bellamy author (Looking Backward) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bellamy

1874 – 1963 Robert Frost America’s poet was born on this day. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rfrost.htm

1930 Sandra Day O’Conner (recently retired) the first woman Supreme Court Justice. http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/102/biography

1930 Gregory Corso beat poet (Happy Birthday of Death, Long Live Man)http://www.rooknet.com/beatpage/writers/corso.html

1931 Leonard Nimoy aka Mr. Spock http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/cast/69076.html

1954 Curtis Sliwa founder (Guardian Angels)/radio personality (WABC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_Angels

That was then, This was Now

Depends on the definition of Then. How do you define Sex? Or Civil War? Did that already but ….maybe if you keep saying things often enough people will actually come to believe it.

-------

What happened to the Orange Revolution and Victor Yushchenko in the Ukraine? His face remains pot marked, as is his popularity. Here’s a BBC profile.

---------

Want to play peep blog? Here’s how it works. Click on a picture and you’ll get the blog of that person sent to you.

0001 Origin of Dionysian Incarnation of the Word http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus

1306 Robert the Bruce crowned king of Scotland http://www.heritage.me.uk/people/bruce.htm

1609 Henry Hudson embarks on an exploration for Dutch East India Co http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hudson

1634 Maryland is founded as a Catholic Colony. Who is Lord Baltimore? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland

1775 George Washington planted Pecan trees at Mount Vernon estate. Hence today is national Pecan day, in honor of what is called "America’s nut." http://www.arborday.org/programs/nationaltree/pecan.cfm

1807 1st railway passenger service began in England. The Mumbles train. http://www.welshwales.co.uk/mumbles_railway_swansea.htm

1821 Greece gains independence from Turkey. http://www.helleniccomserve.com/greekindependence.html

1882 1st demonstration of pancake making (Department store in New York NY) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancake

1896 Modern Olympics begin in Athens Greece http://www.wam.umd.edu/~esimons1/modern.html

1900 US Socialist Party is formed at Indianapolis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Socialist_Party

1925 146 workers died at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in NYC. The Brown/Silver building (the Ashe building then) is currently owned by NYU . www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/ for the story of the fire and how it led to labor reforms

1954 "From Here to Eternity" won best picture award at the Oscars. That same year RCA manufactures the 1^st color television set. http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/20031231colortv1231p3.asp here is a more personal site http://www.ev1.pair.com/colorTV/

1965 Jeff Beck replaces Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds. Clapton left because of their turn towards Commercial material. http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=216

1966 Beatles pose with mutilated dolls & butchered meat for the cover of the "Yesterday & Today" album, It is later pulled http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/whobutch.html

and Supreme Court rules "poll tax" unconstitutional. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_a.htm

1967 The Who and Cream make their Concert debut at Murray the K’s Easter Rock and Roll Extravaganza in NYC. http://twtd.bluemountains.net.au/cream/gears/murraythek.htm

1975 the common market is established. Now the European Union http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia shot to death by his nephew http://www.answers.com/topic/faisal-of-saudi-arabia

1987 Supreme Court rules women/minorities may get jobs if less qualified. Here’s some highlights http://www.supremecourthistory.org/02_history/subs_history/02_c15.html

1988 Robert Chambers pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter of Jennifer Levin. The preppy murder case http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/not_guilty/park/1.html

1995 Warren E Burger chief justice of US (1969-86), dies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Burger

Birthdays

1867 – 1957 Arturo Toscanini Parma Italy, temperamental conductor http://www.answers.com/topic/arturo-toscanini

1908 – 1991 David Lean English director (Dr Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter) http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/lean.html

1920 – 1995 Howard Cosell sportscaster and personality http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/memories/1995/95pass12.htm

1934 Gloria Steinham founder of MS. Magazine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem

1940 Anita Bryant, Miss Oklahoma-America (1958)/singer (George Gobel Show)/homophobe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Bryant

1942 Aretha Franklin queen of soul http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=106

1947 Elton John (Reginald Dwight) king of hats http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A9083522

1971 Sheryl Swoopes, WNBA forward (Houston Comets, Olympics-gold-96)
recently came out of the closet which no doubt overjoyed Anita http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=2204322

That was then, this was now

The death of a Tortoise 250 years old. Goes back to Charles Darwin.

Adwaita arrived at the zoo in 1875. Zoo officials say he was one of four tortoises brought to India by British sailors from the Seychelle islands as a gift for Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company. Clive was instrumental in establishing British colonial rule in India, before he returned to England in 1767.

--------------------------------------------

A Protest against proposed Immigration took place in Los Angeles just a week after the premiere of HBO’s movie "Walk out" depicting the 1960’s movement for "Brown" rights in Los Angeles. It’s all the media’s fault for inciting civil rights.

A day before organizers planned to rally downtown against U.S. border restrictions, hundreds of students walked out of four high schools in Los Angeles this morning to march for immigrant rights.
The atmosphere was festive as 500 Huntington Park High School students waved Mexican flags, held balloons colored green, white and red, and periodically broke into cheers of "Mexico! Mexico!"

--------------------

Did the Russians pass military information to Saddam, Prior to the US pre-emptive Strike? Remember how our President looked into the soul of Vladimir Putin and decided he was an ally and a good man. "Brownie, you’re doing a great job."

Russian officials deny their ambassador passed details of America's war plan to Saddam Hussein's government before the Iraqi war, despite Iraqi documents that suggest otherwise.

-------------------

1882 German Scientist Koch announces he has discovered the Bacillus responsible for Tuberculosis. http://nobelprize.org/medicine/educational/tuberculosis/readmore.html

1898 1st automobile sold http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/cars/carhist.htm

1905 Jules Verne sci-fi author (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 77 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/verne.htm

1906 "Census of the British Empire" shows England rules 1/5 of the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire

1924 Greece becomes a republic http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1014812.stm

1935 Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour goes national on NBC Radio Network http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/O/htmlO/originalamat/originalamat.htm

1937 National Gallery of Art established by Congress http://www.artcyclopedia.com/featuredmuseums-2000-03.html

1947 Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the Presidency. Became the 22^nd amendment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

1947 John D Rockefeller Jr. donates NYC East River site to the UN http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9063983

1949 Walter and John Huston become the first father and son team to win Oscars in the same year. The film was "The treasure of the Sierre Madre"s." http://www.filmsite.org/trea.html

1953 Queen Mary of Britain dies. Also known as Mark of Teck. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck But it’s the ship that stands out. http://uncommonjourneys.com/pages/queenmry.htm

1955 Tennessee Williams Cat on A Hat Tin Roof opened on Broadway. http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=2508

1958 Elvis was sworn into the Army. The U.S. lost $500,000 a year in income taxes. http://www.3ad.org/elvis/elvis_home.htm

1960 US appeals court rules novel, "Lady Chatterly's Lover", not obscene http://www.answers.com/topic/obscenity

1961 New York Senate approves $55M for a baseball stadium at Flushing Meadows http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nym/ballpark/history.jsp

1972 Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland

1980 Arch Bishop Romero is gunned down in El Salvador. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero

1980 Nightline with Ted Koppel premiers on ABC. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/koppelted/koppelted.htm

1990 Ray Goulding, of Bob and Ray dies at the age of 68. http://www.radiohof.org/comedy/bobray.html

1996 MTA raises NYC bridge tolls to $3.50 each way

Birthdays

1874-1926 Harry Houdini, http://www.prairieghosts.com/houdini.html

1853 like HH Vincent Van Gogh, was born in March and they both had brothers Named Theo. The Library of Congress has a nice collection of Prints, photographs and biographical notes can be found at the Library of Congress.

1902 Thomas E Dewey Ohio, 1st Catholic Presidential candidate 1944, 1948 (R) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_E._Dewey

1906 John Cameron Swayze news correspondant, Timex spokesman http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=69312&mod=bio

1911 Joseph Barbera animator (Hanna-Barbera) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Barbera

1943 Jesus Alou baseball outfielder (San Francisco Giants). A baseball family. http://ga.essortment.com/baseballhistor_ruze.htm here’s more on brotherly teammates http://www.baseball-almanac.com/family/fam6.shtml

That was then, This was Now

How to define a civil war? Not for Iraqi denialists.

My favorite straw-grasping Bush groupie is former CIA chief James Woolsey, who recently told the News Hour that Iraq was not experiencing civil war because - get this - "We don't have Antietam and Fredericksburg and large armies clashing."

Lebanese Civil War: Killed - 150,000.
Number of Antietam-style battles – 0

-------------------

And of course you should go to The Smoking Gun web site and check out Dick Cheney’s hotel check list. Difficult to overlook the prerequisite that the TV be turned on to Fox News. Guess he has to make sure they’re following the White House Talking points..

1743 Handel’s "Messiah" has its London Premiere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel)

1775 Patrick Henry made his famous plea for independence. "I know not what course others might take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." He also had 16 children. As far as I know only one wife. http://theamericanrevolution.org/ipeople/phenry.asp

1806 Lewis & Clark reach Pacific coast http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/lewis_clark/planning3.html

1840 Draper takes 1st successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype)http://www.stargazing.net/kevin/moon.htm here’s an updated photo http://www.pbase.com/xradiotx/image/37976725

1858 Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patented the first plans for a cable car system.http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blstreetcars.htm

1861 London's 1st tramcars, designed by Mr. Train of New York, begins operating http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Trams%20and%20Trolly%20Buses.html

1881 Boers & Britain sign peace accord; end 1st Boer war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Boer_War

1912 Dixie Cup invented http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story012.htm

1919 Benito Mussolini founded his fascistic political movement in Milan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini

1925 Tennessee enacted legislation making it illegal to teach evolution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

1940 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences

1940 All-India-Muslim League calls for a Muslim homeland http://www.answers.com/topic/muslim-league

1942 the U.S. Government began to intern anyone with Japanese ancestry into detention centers. http://www.momomedia.com/CLPEF/camps.html Here’s the full list. And here’s some context http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment

1954 Roger Bannister was the first runner to run a mile in under 4 minutes.Today is his birthday (1929) On a related Note, Writer Alan Silltoe was born March 4^th 1928. He was one of the Angry young men of the 1950’s In British literature. He also wrote The loneliness of the Long Distance Runner which was made into a film in 1962. www.imdb.com for more on this, or any film.

1956 Sudan becomes independent http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/sudan/sudhist.htm

1957 US army sells last homing pigeons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon

1965 Gemini III (first two person flight) blasted off from Cape Kennedy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_program

1973 Concentration the longest running game show in TV history, left the air after 15 years. http://www.answers.com/topic/concentration-game-show

1981 CBS announced plans to reduce "Captain Kangaroo" to a thirty minute show. http://www.tvparty.com/lostterrytoons.html

1983 President Reagan proposed development of a missile defense program which has come to be known as Star Wars. Here’s the speech. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/22/documents/starwars.speech/ and no it didn’t end the cold war http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20000301fareviewessay33/david-greenberg/the-empire-strikes-out-why-star-wars-did-not-end-the-cold-war.html

Birthdays

1880 - 1953 Faisal I ibn Hussein ibn Ali 1st king of Iraq/Syria http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/AlSaud.html

1900 – 1980 Erich Fromm Frankfurt Germany, psychologist (Sane Society)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm

1908 – 1977 Joan Crawford actress http://www.meredy.com/joantriv.htm

1910 –1998 Akira Kurosawa Tokyo Japan, director (7 Samurai, Livinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa

1912 –1977 Werner Von Braun son of a Prussian baron…. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAbraun.htm

That was then, this was Now

Three Christian Peace Activists (Tom Fox the only American was found dead earlier) were rescued by British led forces. Good news for a change. Do we have Laura Ingraham to thank for hearing good news from Iraq for a change. According to NewsBusters, The right wings looking glass on the so called Liberal Media, it was part of the "Laura Ingraham effect" for her having criticized mainstream media for going negative on Iraq.

For context go back to an earlier NewsBusters and their ongoing feud with Keith Olberman and his Countdown Show on MSNBC. He just doesn’t want to go along with the White House Talking Points which is currently to blame the messengers who bring the bad news.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists 10 journalists have been killed this year (2006) in Iraq. Since March 2003 - 67 reporters have been killed, more then the 66 journalists killed in Vietnam between 1955 and 1975.

No news on Jill Carroll the Christian Science Monitor reporter who has been held captive since January.

1743 Handel’s "Messiah" has its London Premiere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel)

1806 Lewis & Clark reach Pacific coast http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/lewis_clark/planning3.html

1840 Draper takes 1st successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype)http://www.stargazing.net/kevin/moon.htm here’s an updated photo http://www.pbase.com/xradiotx/image/37976725

1858 Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patented the first plans for a cable car system.http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blstreetcars.htm

1861 London's 1st tramcars, designed by Mr. Train of New York, begins operating http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Trams%20and%20Trolly%20Buses.html

1881 Boers & Britain sign peace accord; end 1st Boer war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Boer_War

1912 Dixie Cup invented http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story012.htm

1919 Benito Mussolini founded his fascistic political movement in Milan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini

1925 Tennessee enacted legislation making it illegal to teach evolution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

1940 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences

1940 All-India-Muslim League calls for a Muslim homeland http://www.answers.com/topic/muslim-league

1956 Sudan becomes independent http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/sudan/sudhist.htm

1957 US army sells last homing pigeons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon

1965 Gemini III (first two person flight) blasted off from Cape Kennedy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_program

1973 Concentration the longest running game show in TV history, left the air after 15 years. http://www.answers.com/topic/concentration-game-show

1981 CBS announced plans to reduce "Captain Kangaroo" to a thirty minute show. http://www.tvparty.com/lostterrytoons.html

Birthdays

1880 - 1953 Faisal I ibn Hussein ibn Ali 1st king of Iraq/Syria http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/AlSaud.html

1900 – 1980 Erich Fromm Frankfurt Germany, psychologist (Sane Society)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm

1908 – 1977 Joan Crawford actress http://www.meredy.com/joantriv.htm

1910 –1998 Akira Kurosawa Tokyo Japan, director (7 Samurai)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa

1912 –1977 Werner Von Braun son of a Prussian baron…. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAbraun.htm

That was then, this was Now

No news on Jill Carroll the Christian Science Monitor reporter who has been held captive since January.

1457 Gutenberg Bible became the 1st printed book

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/gutenberg.html

1630 Gambling was prohibited in Boston. http://www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/03/Chapt2.html It continues to be an issue

http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/Culture/cult11.htm

1638 Religious dissident Anne Hutchinson expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony http://www.rootsweb.com/~nwa/ah.html

1733 Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water making him the father of Soda Pop.

http://www.gono.com/museum2003/museum%20collect%20info/earlydaysofsodapop.htm

1765 Britain passes the Stamp Act imposing the first tax on colonists.

http://www.history.org/History/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm

1822 New York Horticultural Society founded

http://library.nybg.org/finding_guide/archv/NYHS_RAb.html

1874 Young Men's Hebrew Association is founded in New York NY

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9078071

1882 the Edmunds act was adopted outlawing Polygamy in the territories.

http://www.absalom.com/mormon/polygamy/faq.htm Now you’re ready for Big Love on HBO.

1894 the first Stanley Cup championship

http://www.nhl.com/hockeyu/history/cup/cup.html

1903 Niagera Falls runs out of water because of a drought

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls

1922 British court sentences Mahatma Gandhi to 6 years in prison

http://www.ceeby.com/people/mahatmagandhi.cfm

1933 FDR makes wine & beer with up to 3.2% alcohol legal

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1131637220.html

1935 Blood tests authorized as evidence in court cases in New York

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/serology/3.html

1941 Grand Coulee dam is dedicated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Coulee_Dam

1946 Jordan (then transJordan) gains independence from Britain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transjordan

1954 1st shopping mall opened in Southfield MI. earliest goes back to 1922 in MO.http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blshopping.htm

1972 Congress sent the proposed ERA amendment to the states.

http://www.now.org/issues/economic/cea/history.html

1978 73 year old Karl Wallenda fell to his death while walking a cable between two hotels in San Juan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Wallendas

1981 first class postage was raised from 15 to 18 cents.

1982 Iran begins offensive against Iraq called “undeniable victory”. Kind of like a slam dunk. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/iran-iraq.htm

1984Teachers are indicted at the McMartin Pre-School. Paranoia is contagious.
historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=crime&month=10272955&day=10272987

1986 Dick Clark announces he would no longer host American Bandstand.

http://www.history-of-rock.com/clark.htm

Birthdays

1908 -1988 Louis D L'Amour Jamestown ND, author (Hondo, Jubal Sackett)

http://www.history-of-rock.com/clark.htm

1923 Mime Marcel Marceau The Marcel Marceau foundation is located on West 73^rd street. Without saying a word, let your fingers do the walking to www.marceau.org

1931 Stephen Sondheim composer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim

1931 William Shatner. Type Star Trek in the Google search engine and you get 2,310,000 sites (that was 2004 – 06 rings up 77,400,000 to beam up to. For a guilty pleasure try the Dramedy Boston Legal (ABC Tuesday Nights), where he plays a memory challenged lawyer named Denny Crane.

That was then, This was Now

A Coyote is loose in Central Park. A hunt is on with tranquilizer guns so he can be transported back to an upstate wildlife area. That Coyote has been trapped according to an 8:10AM news flash.

Another soldier is being sent to prison for his using a dog to torture inmates at Abu Ghraib prison.

“This verdict sends a powerful message that abusive interrogation techniques using unmuzzled dogs to terrify detainees is strictly prohibited,” said Human Rights First attorney Avi Cover. “Sergeant Smith’s court martial made clear that there is more than enough blame to go around, with high ranking officers and civilian command yet to be held to account for their role in these widespread instances of abuse.”

The selling of soda (carbonated water see Joseph priestly above) is down for the first time since 1985 while the drinking of bottled water and sports drinks are up. A recent test showed that the difference between tap water and bottle water could not be distinguished by most. Might be a rip off but it is most likely better then drinking sugar water.

Speaking of water according to AP

High levels of a radioactive material — nearly three times the amount permitted in drinking water — were found in groundwater near the Hudson River beneath a nuclear plant, the owner said Tuesday.

At a White House Press conference President Bush took a question from Helen Thomas for the first time in 3 years. What was the real reason for his going to war in Iraq? Of course he didn’t answer it. But he did answer a question to give people pause. That it would be up to other administrations to end the use of troops in Iraq.

Book of the week is Kevin Phillips American Theocracy on the Religious Rights hold on the White House. Last week it was Scorpion II on how we were led to war and the incompetent manner in which the war was carried out.

Spring Equinox. Spring festivals celebrate the ancient Greek story of the reunion of Kore, Daughter of the Earth, and her mother, Dememter, assuring the return of spring. http://www.religioustolerance.org/spring_equinox.htm

1891 A Hatfield marries a McCoy, ends long feud in West Virginia; it started with an accusation of pig-stealing & lasted 20 years http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud

1907 U.S. invades Honduras. http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/november/nicahond1907.htm

1943 Assassination attempt on Hitler fails http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/killing_hitler_01.shtml

1947 President Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have allegiance to the United States. Also called a loyalty oath.http://www.uhuh.com/laws/donncoll/eo/1947/eo9835.txt

1948 "Stop the Music" with Bert Parks premieres on ABC radio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Parks

1951 Alger Hiss begins begins serving 44 months for perjury. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhiss.htm

1952 Alan Freed’s Moondog Coronation ball is held, considered the First Rock Concert. http://www.answers.com/topic/alan-freed

1955 the first Colgate Comedy hour was aired. http://www.answers.com/topic/alan-freed

1960 South African Authorities kill 69 Demonstraters in what’s come to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre. http://www.rebirth.co.za/apartheid_sharpeville_massacre.htm

1961 Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr appear together for the first time at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. http://www.strawberrywalrus.com/cavernclub.html

1963 Alcatraz Federal Prison is closed down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatraz

1965 the Selma To Mondgomery Civil rights march began. On this day Federal troops were called in to escort marchers Across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. For history of the civil rights movement www.nypl.org Yes, the Main Library and it’s branches are online. Read a book, even if it isn’t read a book month. J http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/selma_to_montgomery_march.html

1966 Supreme Court reverses Massachusetts ruling that "Fanny Hill" is obscene http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375758089

here’s a list of supreme court obscenity decisions http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/selma_to_montgomery_march.html

1974 Candy Darling [James Slattery], female impersonator, dies http://www.warholstars.org/candy73.html

1980 On TV show Dallas, JR is shot. Who shot JR. It wasn’t Junior Soprano. http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id288.htm

1984 Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields honoring John Lennon http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/southend/strawberryfields

1995 NYC agrees to sell it's 2 owned radio stations (WNYC AM & FM)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNYC damit, no more "Johns" list readings.

Birthdays

1685 – 1750 Johann Sebastian Bach baroque composer http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/map.html

1816 –1855 Charlotte Bronte novelist/poet (Jane Eyere)http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/cbronte.htm

1869 – 1932 Florenz Ziegfeld of the follies http://www.answers.com/topic/florenz-ziegfeld

1906 – 1978 John D. Rockefeller III family philanthropist, Nelson’s Brother.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D_Rockefeller_III John D. # I is the most interesting.

That was then, This was now

Before the Patriot Act, or NRA wiretaps and of course before 9/11 the FBI was warned that hi-jacking of planes for terrorist acts was probable. No wonder the Justice Department doesn’t want to bring terrorists to trials and risk embarrassment or charges of incompetance.

An FBI agent who interrogated Zacarias Moussaoui before Sept. 11, 2001, warned his supervisors more than 70 times that Moussaoui was a terrorist and spelled out his suspicions that the al-Qaeda operative was plotting to hijack an airplane, according to federal court testimony yesterday.

1727 Sir Isaac Newton English physicist/astronomer, dies in London at 84 http://www.newtonproject.ic.ac.uk/prism.php?id=1

1816 the Supreme Court affirmed its right to review state court decisions. Yes, the court of last resort. http://www.answers.com/topic/supreme-court-of-the-united-states

1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published in Bostonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom's_Cabin

1885 Yiddish theater opens in New York with Golldfaden operetta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_Theater

1886 1st AC power plant in US begins commercial operation, Massachusetts http://www.eei.org/industry_issues/industry_overview_and_statistics/history/

1896 Marines land in Nicaragua Bluefields. Here’s more intervention history http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

1933 the first concentration camp opens in Dachau. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/dach-early.htm here’s a bit more.http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/dachau.htm

1934 Female Babe Didrickson pitches hitless inning for Philadelphia A's in exhibition game against Brooklyn Dodgers http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014147.html

1935 "Your Hit Parade" made its debut on radio and ran through 1955.
http://nfo.net/hits/index.html

1947 Gentleman’s Agreement wins the Academy Award for best picture. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039416/

1948 1st live televised musical Eugene Ormandy on CBS followed in 90 minutes by 2nd live televised musical Arturo Toscanini on NBC http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/musicontele/musicontele.htm

1954 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania

1959 the Barbie Doll came on the market. If Barbie was a real person her measurements would be 36-18-38. Do you remember Barbie’s original career aspiration, with a wardrobe to match? No it wasn’t a stewardess. http://collectdolls.about.com/library/blbarbiefacts.htm

1962 C Wright Mills US sociologist (Power Elite), dies at 45 http://www.uni-muenster.de/PeaCon/dgs-mills/mills-texte/GitlinMills.htm

1963 1st "Pop Art" exhibition (New York NY) http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/popart.htm

1969 John and Yoko marry on the rock of Gibralter. Yes, they were wearing clothes. http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/johnlennon.htm

1971 "Me and Bobby McGee" hits #1 for Janis Joplin, five months after her death. http://www.superseventies.com/sw_meandbobbymcgee.html

1976 Patricia Hearst was found guilty of Armed robbery when she was known as Tania . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patty_Hearst

1987 FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment) http://www.avert.org/his81_86.htm

1995 Dow-Jones hits 4083.68 (record) – up, up and away. Blame it on Nasdaq.http://www.stock-market-crash.net/nasdaq.htm

Thursday March 20^th2003 the US launches war against Iraq. The BBC news world edition has a day by day chronology of the war against WMD’s. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/story_of_the_war/html/default.stm

Birthdays

1828 Henrik Ibsen Norway, dramatist (Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabler http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ibsen.htm

1904 – 1990 B.F. (B(urrhus) F(rederic) Skinner. Behaviorist. Father of operant conditioning http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/skinner.html

1908 – 1985 Sir Michael Redgrave English actor (Browning Version, The Lady Vanishes) http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0841338.html father of Vanessa and Lynn.

1917 –1979 Peter Caddy founder (Findhorn Community)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Findhorn_Foundation

1928-2003 Kindly, soft spoken Mr. Rogers was fair game for scurrilous rumors. www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp

That was then, This was Now

Check out Talk Left http://www.talkleft.com/ for an update on the Zacarias Moussaoui

Trial along with Cheney saying he has no plans to resign despite his unpopularity. Oh, and he (still) argues that the terrorists in Iraq are desperate. This is like "the light at the end of the tunnel." The worse the terrorism the more desperate they must be, so its only a matter of time before they will be defeated. While you’re at Talk Left look over their list of blogs and try a few.

Press think looks at the sale of the Knight-Ridder Papers being bought out and resold. On the media did a lengthy piece as well. Was Ben Bagkikian correct when he first wrote his book Media Monopoly on the increasing centralization of the Media. It appears so. His new book has been updated.

In 1983, the men and women who headed the 50 mass media corporations that dominated American audiences could have fit comfortably in a modest hotel ballroom. The people heading the 20 dominant newspaper chains probably would form one conversational cluster to complain about newsprint prices; 20 magazine moguls in a different circle denounce postal rates; the broadcast network people in another corner, not being in the newspaper or magazine business, exchange indignation about government radio and television regulations; the book people compete in outrage over greed of writers’ agents; and movie people gossip about sexual achievements of their stars.

1831 City bank of New York was robbed of $245,000. This was the first bank heist in the nations history. For more this day in History go to www.historychannel.com

1915 Pluto photographed for 1st time (although unknown at the time) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_(planet)

1917 US Supreme Court upheld 8-hour work day for railroad employees (Adamson Act) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/e_ica.html

1918 Congress authorizes standard time zones and daylight savings time in order to save fuel while at war. http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/info/timezone.htm

1920 the US senate refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles for the second time. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWversailles.htm

1931 Nevada legalizes gambling. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/timeline/index.html

1951 Herman Wouk"s "The Caine Mutiny" is published. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wouk.htm

1953 the Academy awards is televised for the first time. http://www.filmsite.org/aa52.html

1974 Jefferson Starship begins its’ first tour. http://www.classicbands.com/jefferson.html

1977 the last episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show was broadcast. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/marytylermo/marytylermo.htm

1979 The House of Representatives begins gavel to gavel TV coverage via C-Spann http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN

1985 IBM pulled the plug on PCjr. http://mail.magnaspeed.net/~mbbrutman/PCjr/pcjr_history.html

1984 "Kate & Allie" premieres http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kateandalli/kateandalli.htm

1987 Jim Bakker resigns from PTL ministries. Remember the name of his secretary back in 1980? http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/televangelists/jim-bakker/

1995 5 die by poison gas in Japanese subway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway

Birthdays

1848 -1929 Wyatt Earp Monmouth IL, marshall-fought in Gunfight at the OK Corral http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/earp/1.html

1860 – 1925 William Jennings Bryon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan

1872 -1929 Sergei Diaghilev Gruzino Novgorod Russia, ballet director http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/drama/directors/diaghilev.html

1905 -1981 Albert Speer German architect/minister of Armament (NSDAP)http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERspeer.htm

1928 Patrick McGoohan actor The Prisoner, Danger man http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_McGoohan PS. Turned down role of James Bond for Dr. No. the first Bond Film.

1930 Ornette Coleman jazz composer (Downbeat Musician of Year 1966) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornette_Coleman

1933 Novelist Philip Roth http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/proth.htm

1936 Actress Ursula Andress the first Bond girl http://www.cultsirens.com/andress/andress.htm

That was then, This was Now

Supreme Court justices are speaking out on previously non-judicious political matters.

This month, former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told an audience at Georgetown University that a judiciary afraid to stand up to elected officials can lead to dictatorship. Last month, speaking in South Africa, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the courts were a safeguard "against oppressive government and stirred-up majorities."

--------------------------

More protests are planned against the invasion of Iraq three years ago.

www.Commondreams.org has a number of essays on the third anniversary of Shock and Awe. Including One, Two three, what are we fightin for? Remember Country’s Joe Mcdonald’s 1965 Fixin to Die Rag? Joe was mentioned in yesterday’s Almanac.

---------------------

Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1871 Paris Commune. Well, The French are rioting again. From the BBC

Protesters are bitterly opposed to the new law, which allows employers to end job contracts for under-26s at any time during a two-year trial period without having to offer an explanation or give prior warning.

The government says it will encourage employers to hire young people but students fear it will erode job stability in a country where more than 20% of 18 to 25-year-olds are unemployed - more than twice the national average

1673 Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers http://www.usahistory.info/colonies/New-Jersey.html

1766 British Parliament reinstitutes the Stamp Act http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/empire/american_revolution_03.shtml

1850 Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express

1871 Communards revolt in Paris France http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/talks/paris.html

1881 Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth opens in Madison Square Garden. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringling_Brothers_and_Barnum_&_Bailey_Circus

1895 200 blacks leave Savannah GA for Liberia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Liberia

1909 Einar Dessau of Denmark uses a shortwave transmitter to converse with a radio post 6 miles away. It’s believed to be the first "Ham" radio transmission. http://www.g3vre.org.uk/aboutamateur.asp

1922 British Magistrates in India sentence Mahatma Gandhi to prison for acts of civil disobedience.

1931 Schick comes out with its first electric razor. http://iavbbs.com/gflinn/schick.htm

1944 2,500 women trample guards & floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago IL department store. It’s okay during war time. And Christmas. http://asmallvictory.net/archives/008455.html

1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ratified http://www.nato.int/docu/basictxt/treaty.htm

1959 President Dwight D Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill http://www.answers.com/topic/history-of-hawaii

1965 Cosmonaut Alexie Leonov becomes the first man to walk in space. http://library.thinkquest.org/5653/pa_time.htm

1969 U.S. bombers were diverted from targets in S. Vietnam to Cambodia. Over the next 14 months 110,000 tons of bombs are secretly dropped. A year Later

1970 Lon Nol ousts Prince Sihanouk in a bloodless coup and establishes a Khmer Republic. 1975 Pol Pot and the Khymer Rouge take over. In a few years, 10 percent of Cambodia’s 7 million people will be dead. And we think Dec. 7^th and 9/11 has national significance. For more, read Pol Pot and Kissinger by Edward S. Hermann at www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/hermansept97.htm

1970 Country Joe McDonald was convicted of Public Obscenity for his Fish cheer as a concert in Worchester, Mass. http://www.answers.com/topic/country-joe-and-the-fish

1986 Bernard Malamud US writer (Fixer, Natural), dies at 71 http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/28/reviews/malamud-obit.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

1989 Investor group led by George W Bush & Edward W Rose purchases controlling interest of Texas Rangers . Gave him the credentials to run for Governor of Texas. http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/bush-sec5.html .

1995 Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17 month NBA retirement http://www.nba.com/playerfile/michael_jordan/bio.html

1997 Willem de Kooning (abstract expressionist painter) dead Alzheimer's at 92 http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/de_kooning_willem.html

Birthdays

1483 –1520 Raphael -renaissance painter (Sistine Madonna) http://www.answers.com/topic/raphael

1858 –1913 Rudolf Diesel inventor of the engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Diesel

1869-1940 Neville Chamberlain former British Prime Minister http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRchamberlain.htm

Wilfred Owen England, anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Owen

1927 –2003 George Plimpton writer and editor of The Paris Review http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?031006ta_talk_remnick

1932 John Updike novelist most famous for his "Rabbit" serieshttp://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/updike.htm

1963 Vanessa L Williams Tarrytown NY, 1st black Miss America (1984)/singer (Colors of the Wind)/actress (Eraser)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Lynn_Williams

That was then, This was Now

Famous last words on the third anniversary of…our $320 Billion dollar and counting endeavor via Arianna Huffington.

Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." -- George W. Bush, 5/1/03

"I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." -- Dick Cheney, 6/20/05

"The U.S. military said yesterday it had launched the biggest air assault on Iraq since its invasion in 2003." Guardian, 3/17/06

----------------------------

The authors of Cobra II (The inside story of the invasion and occupation of Iraq) Michael Gordon and General Bernard Trainor being interviewed on PBS’s News Hour http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/jan-june06/intel_3-17.html

For an Iraqi timeline July 16^th 1979 – January 31^st 2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,793802,00.html

0180 Antonius Marcus Aurelius [Marcus Verus], Emperor of Rome, dies at 58 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aurelius.htm

461 AD St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland died in Saul.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/saint-patrick1.htm First official St. Patrick’s day took place in 1753. First NYC parade 1762

1845 Rubber band patented by Stephen Perry of London

http://www.versteegde.nl/Bambustic/RubberBands/

1905 Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt marry.

http://www.nps.gov/fdrm/er/path.htm

1906 President Theodore Roosevelt used the term “muckrake”.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/26_t_roosevelt/psources/ps_muckrake.html

1910 The Camp Fire Girls were organized. http://www.campfireusa.org/all_about_us/history.asp and the rest of the campfire experience http://www.acacamps.org/media_center/about_aca/history.php

1955 Maurice "Rocket" Richard suspended, sparks 7 hour riot in Montréal. Here’s a video http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-74-85-545/people/rocket_richard/clip3 or read about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Richard

1958 the U.S. launches Vanguard 1 into orbit.

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/content.php?P=VANGUARD

1959 The Dalai Llama flees Tibet for India. For Religion on the net, www.beliefnet.com is a good place to start. All the gods and entities from Baha to Zoroastrians.

1960 Eisenhower forms anti-Castro-exile army under the CIA. Then came the Bay of Pigs. http://www.answers.com/topic/bay-of-pigs-invasion

1962 Alex Korner’s Blues Incorporated debuts in London. Never heard of them? Click here http://alexis-korner.net/redhot.html

1967 Snoopy and Charlie Brown made the Cover of Life Magazine.

http://www.wtv-zone.com/moe/moesboomerabilia/page45.html

1969 Golda Meir becomes Israel's 4th Prime Minister

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir

1973 Eric Weissberg’s “Dueling Banjo’s” was #1 on the album charts .and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” made its appearance for the first time.

1976 Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is retried http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubin_Carter

1988 Iran says Iraq uses poison gas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack

1991 Irish Lesbians & Gays march in St Patrick Day parade

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/civilrights/20020201/3/176

1991 New Jersey raises turnpike tolls 70%

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/nj-turnpike/

1992 Microsoft ships its new version of Windows 3.1.

http://www.emsps.com/OLDTOOLS/mswinv.htm

1993 Helen Hayes “first lady of American Theater” dies of congestive heart failure at 92

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/hayes_h.html

Birthdays

1910 – 1987 Bayard Rustin civil rights leader http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArustin.htm here’s an interview at WBAI from 1960 where he shared a mic with Malcom X discussing race relations http://www.socialdemocrats.org/rusmalx.html

1917 - 1965 Nat King Cole http://www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/cole_n.htm

1938 – 1992 Rudolf Nureyev ballet dancer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Nureyev

1944 Patti Boyd Somerset England, (Mrs George Harrison/Mrs Eric Clapton) http://www.jibboo.com/beatles/wives/pattie.htm

1951 Kurt Russell actor http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000621/

That was then, this was now

Discovered a message from the new editor of The New Republic in my email box.

They called for Universal Health Care and apologized for how TNR helped to savage the Clinton health care proposal back in 1993.

Operation “Swarmer” has been put into motion in order to dislodge insurgents for a 100 square mile area near Samarra.. The so called largest air assault since 2003 included 50 helicopters and 1500 troops split between us and Iraq’s. The Video shot by the army and sent to the media reminds me of the outtakes from Apocalypse Now. After 16 hours looks like a show of military force meant to counter continuing disarray of the Political situation in Iraq, which was again unable to form a unity government.

WSJ poll on Growing Anxiety about Iraq which is worrying the GOP

Mr. Bush's unpopularity is lifting that Democratic effort as well. Some 37% of Americans say they'll use their votes this fall to signal opposition to Mr. Bush, while 20% say they'll signal support for him. Congress's approval rating is even lower at 33%. Republicans trail in every region but are most vulnerable in the Northeast; Democrats, hoping to wipe out Republican incumbents in "blue states" such as Connecticut, have built a thirty-percentage-point edge in voters' preference for control of Congress

Debt ceiling raised by Congress once again. We are now paying 200 billion in yearly debt.

Oh, and the head of the City council, (Cristine Flynn) a lesbian, will not be marching in todays St. Patricks Day parade in the Green Apple.

1190 Jews of York England commit mass suicide rather than submit to baptism http://ddickerson.igc.org/cliffords-tower.html

1521 Portuguese Navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines. He would be killed within a month by the natives. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1519magellan.html

1802 Congress establishes the US military Academy at West Point. http://www.usma.edu/Publicaffairs/history/

1830 London's re-organised police force (Scotland Yard) forms http://www.jgkeegan.com/papers/paper3.html

1850 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "Scarlet Letter" is published. http://www.bartleby.com/83/

1882 US Senate ratifies treaty establishing the Red Cross http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1963/red-cross-history.html

1900 American League meets in Chicago, Ban Johnson announces that American League teams will be in Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland & Buffalo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_League

1915 the Federal Trade Commission went into business. http://www.bookrags.com/other/business/federal-trade-commission-act-of-191-ebf-01.html

1926 Robert Goddard launches 1st liquid fuel rocket, goes 184' (56 meter). Buck Rogers was not far behind. http://www.spaceline.org/history/22.html

1930 USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) floated out to become a national shrine http://www.schoonerman.com/iron.htm

1950 1st annual National Book Awards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Book_Award

1957 9th Emmy Awards: Phil Silvers Show, Robert Young & Loretta Young http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Award

1963 Peter, Paul and Mary release their single "Puff the Magic Dragon." http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/puff.htm Was it a coded "drug" song?

1966 Robert F. Kennedy announces his candidacy for President. It would lead to his assassination. http://www.crimelibrary.com/assassins/sirhan/

1968 U.S. Troops in Vietnam slaughter up to 500 unarmed villagers at My Lai. www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/mylai.htm

1971 "Bridge Over Troubled Water" win song of the year Grammy. http://www.superseventies.com/1970_1singles.html

1975 T-Bone Walker blues guitarist (Funky Town, Well Done), dies at 64 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Bone_Walker

1978 Aldo Moro 5 times Prime Minister of Italy, assassinated by terrorists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldo_Moro

1984 CIA chief William Buckley is kidnapped in Beirut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Francis_Buckley

Same thing happened to AP correspondent Terry Anderson on this date in 1985. Anderson was released in 1991. Buckley died in captivity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Anderson

1992 Hillary made those remarks about staying home and baking cookies. http://www.americanpresident.org/history/billclinton/firstlady/

1994 Tonya Harding pleads guilty to felony attack on Nancy Kerrigan http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/timeline/timeline.htm

1995 Mississippi House of Representatives ratifies 13th Amendement-formally abolishes slavery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution/Amendment_Thirteen

Birthdays

1751- 1836 James Madison 4^th POTUS http://www.jamesmadisonmus.org/resource.htm Learn about Dolly Madison as well.

1849 Reverend James E Smith became father at 100 with woman 64 years younger

Maxim Gorky USSR, playwright (The Lower Depths, Night Asylum) http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/gorki.htm

1906-1998 Henny Youngman comedian (take my wife, please) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henny_Youngman

1926 Jerry Lewis. (Joseph Levitch) http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991001.html

1933 Ruth Bader Ginsberg last woman justice left on the Supreme Court http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/107/print

1940 Bernardo Bertolucci Parma Italy, director (Last Tango in Paris) http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/bertolucci.html

That was then, This was Now

A new web site on the cost of the war in Iraq from the National Priorities Project. http://costofwar.com/index.html

Noam Chomsky on the new sense of independence in Latin America and Asia.

The prospect that Europe and Asia might move towards greater independence has troubled US planners since the second world war. The concerns have only risen as the "tripolar order" - Europe, North America and Asia - has continued to evolve.

Every day Latin America, too, is becoming more independent. Now Asia and the Americas are strengthening their ties while the reigning superpower, the odd man out, consumes itself in misadventures in the Middle East

A Requiem for Gonzoconservatism from yesterdays www.Cursor.org who are in the midst of a fundraiser.

Gonzo neoconservatism is an ideology whose great hook is the global projection of national power. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina showed that the ideology that demanded national power be projected internationally could not project national power nationally; at that point, its fate in the dustbin of history was sealed.Justin Raimondo referred to the Katrina disaster as the outcome of "putting America last"; but I prefer to think of the levees of New Orleans as "neoconservatism's Berlin Wall."

44 BC “Beware the Ides of March. Julius Caesar was assassinated this day http://news.bbc.co.uk the e-encyclopedia has an interesting historical look at the Julian Calendar.

0076 Hadrian Roman Emperor (builder of Hadrian's Wall) has a birthday.

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ha/HadrianEmp.html

1827 Freedom's Journal, 1st Black newspaper, publishes

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/aanp/freedom/

1892 New York State unveils automatic ballot booth The Myers Automatic Booth lever voting machine http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/pictures/

1906 Brits Rolls, Royce & Johnson form Rolls Royce Ltd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce

1907 Finland is 1st European country to give women the right to vote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce

1913 Woodrow Wilson holds the 1^st presidential press conference.

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/pressconfere/presconfere.htm

1919 the American Legion was founded in Paris by war veterans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion

1937 the first Blood bank was established at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

http://www.bloodbook.com/trans-history.html

1937 1st state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh NC). From a 1937 Nation article

http://www.thenation.com/doc/19370116/19370116stone

1945 Going my way” won the Academy Award for best picture and it was the first year the Oscars were broadcast over the ABC radio Network and Armed Forces radio.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036872/

1945 Billboard publishes its 1st album chart (King Cole Trio is #1)

http://top40.about.com/od/popmusic101/a/billboardcharts_2.htm

1954 "CBS Morning Show" premieres with Walter Cronkite & Jack Paar

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/morningtelev/morningtelev.htm

1956 Elvis Presley signs with Col. Tom Parker. http://www.answers.com/topic/colonel-tom-parker That same day My Fair Lady (Pygmalion) with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews opens on Broadway. http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=2407

1964 Liz Taylor and Richard Burton marry in Montreal for the 1^st time. . Ten years later they break up for the last time. A week after LBJ sends combat troops into Vietnam Secretary Of state George Ball said we couldn’t win but was overruled by LBJ who said we couldn’t back down. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgewba207414.html

1964 LBJ asks for a War on Poverty

http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20051114.htm

1966 Abe Saperstein founder (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 63.

http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/SapersteinAbe.htm Originally known as the Savoy Five.

1968 the US mint stops buying and selling gold.

http://www.jaredstory.com/history_gold_and_silver.html

1971 CBS announced it was dropping the Ed Sullivan show after 23 years.

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/edsullivans/edsullivans.htm

1971 Chatrooms make their debut on the Internet

http://www.socio.demon.co.uk/history.html

1972 An assassination attempt on Governor George Wallace of Alabama. By Arthur Bremer? http://crimemagazine.com/03/arthurbremer,0914.htm

1975 Antonino Rocca professional wrestler/sportscaster, dies at 49

http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/halloffame/roccabio.html

1975 Aristotle S Onassis Greek shipping magnate, (lothario) dies at 69

http://www.answers.com/topic/aristotle-onassis

1977 Eight is enough premieres on ABC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Is_Enough

1997 Gail Davis ( Annie Oakley), dies at 72

http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/annieoakley.html

Birthdays

1787-1837 Andrew Jackson 7^th POTUS http://www.potus.com/ajackson.html

1873-1953 Lee Shubert producer (theatres in New York & Los Angeles named after him) http://www.answers.com/topic/shubert-brothers

1874-1952 Harold L Ickes social activist, New Deal politician. Father of the Democratic operative Harold M. Ickes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_L._Ickes

1935 Jimmy Lee Swaggart evangelist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart

1961 Fabio [Lanzoni] Italy, romance novels model (Fabio After Dark)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Lanzoni His life size cutout (6’3”) can be found at http://www.elifesize.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=eLifesize&Product_Code=258 for a mere $19.95.

That was then, This was Now

From TAP (The American Prospect) 25 questions, of which I think any Democratic presidential candidate ought to be able to answer 15. A sort of Political Jeopardy By Michael Tomasky

For $400: The “Pentagon Papers” were prepared for the Nixon administration by this Santa Monica-based research and public policy firm.

The Sideshow Blog is worth a visit as he bounces around lots of political sites.

Liberals aren't hostile to Evangelical Christians, we're hostile to evangelical dirtbags who spread hate and division. "Secular liberal" doesn't mean "atheist", and the opposite of "secular liberal" is not "religious", let alone "Evangelical Christian"; the opposite of "secular liberal" is "theocrat", and that's a very different thing.

Maureen Stapleton died on Monday. A curious thing about the NY Times obituary was that there was no mention of her ever being on Television, which is where most people knew her as Edith Bunker and from which she received an Emmy. In this version, International times they do mention she received an Emmy but there seems to be a conspiracy against the small tube and the ground breaking All in the Family

On Google being forced to give up search records: Federal judge indicates he's looking favorably on government's new request. Well, at least they asked and didn't just rely on the NSA.

The government in January filed a motion with the court to compel Google to comply with its subpoena and turn over a "random sample" of 1 million Web site addresses found in its search engine index. It also asked to provide the government with the text of all queries filed on the search engine during a specific week. America Online, Yahoo, and Microsoft's MSN were also subpoenaed and complied to varying degrees

1743 the first recorded town meeting took place in Boston’s Faneuil Hall. Here’s that and more Boston firsts http://www.umkc.edu/imc/boston.htm ie; in 1644 the first UFO sighting took place in Beantown.

1794 Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/whitney.html Gin is short for engine, not the alcohol.

1836 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leaves Australia. Now at the Museum of Natural History a chronology of evolution. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/biographies/charles-darwin/charles-darwin.html

1883 Karl Marx dies. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1883/death/

1888 2nd largest snowfall in New York NY history (21"). Well, last month (Feb 12^th) we hit 24 inches so it’s now the third. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WEATHER/02/12/northeast.snow/

1900 gold is established as standard for the U.S. currency. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard_act

1900 Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of genetics http://www.answers.com/topic/hugo-de-vries

1903 1st national bird reservation (Pelican Bay) established in Sebastian FL. http://www.fws.gov/pelicanisland/history.html

1918 the first ship made of concrete "The Faith" is launched. http://www.concreteships.org/history/

1925 Walter Camp father of American football, dies at 65 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Camp

1931 1st theater built for rear movie projection (New York NY)
Was it the Roxy? http://cinematreasures.org/theater/556/

1932 George Eastman US industrialist (Kodak-camera), suicide at 77

To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?
Suicide note.
~~ George Eastman, inventor, d. March 14, 1932 Here’s more last words http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying3.html

1936 the Federal Register is begun. http://www.archives.gov/

1941 Xavier Cugat & his Orchestraestra record "Babalu"http://www.answers.com/topic/xavier-cugat

1950 FBI's "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" program begins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI_Ten_Most_Wanted_Fugitives

1964 A Dallas Jury finds Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKruby.htm

1967 JFK's body moved from temporary grave to a permanent memorial http://www.kennedymemorialfoundation.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B9CF3BD16-1219-454E-B3CF-4F15FCED2688%7D

1968 ABC ran the last episode of Batman after two season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(1960s_TV_series)

1968 CBS TV suspends Radio Free Europe free advertising because RFE doesn't make it clear it is sponsored by the CIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Europe

1969 Ben Shahn US painter of social realism dies at 70
http://arthistory.about.com/cs/names_ss/p/shahn.htm

Birthdays

1864-1900 Railroad engineer Casey Jones http://www.watervalley.net/users/caseyjones/cj~long.htm

1879-1955 Albert Einstein The FBI had Einstein under investigation from 1937-1954. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act those Records can be found at http://foia.fbi.gov/einstein.htm

1911-2001 Hank Ketchum, creator of Dennis the Menace. www.goodbyemag.com/apr01/ketcham has an obit which compares the real Dennis to that of the comic strip.

1923 Diane Arbus photographer/innovator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Arbus

1933 Quincy Jones http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/jones_q_homepage.html

1962-2006 Kirby Puckett centerfielder of the Minnesota Twins who didn’t quite make it to his 44^th birthday. Retirement wasn’t good for him http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2003/03/11/si_puckett/

1933 .Michael Caine. (born Maurice Micklewhite) actor http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000323/

That was then, This was Now

It was announced several days ago that Knight-Ridder (32 papers) has been sold to McClatchy for 4.5 Billion. Several of their finest papers will be sold off. The two companies merged in 1969 Here’s the history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Ridder

-----------------

Crooks and Liars has the video on the Feingold Censure Amendment being introduced yesterday against Bush on his NRA spying. I landed there via Talk Left blog.

--------------

From our Westchester Correspondent, another prosecutor in the Jack Abramoff case has been promoted. to the department of national security.

If you're a DOJ lawyer looking for a promotion these days, seems one of the best things to do is be in the midst of a major corruption investigation.

-------------

1852 the Uncle Same cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Sam

1877 earmuffs were patented by Chester Greenwood. He used Beaver and velvet for his first muff. . http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story091.htm

1884 the US adopted Standard time. http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/us_tzones.html

1938 famed attorney Clarence Darrow died. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdarrow.htm

1915 Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substituted a grapefruit http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Wilbert%20Robinson

1941 Isaak E Babel Russian writer (Zakat, Marija), executed at 46 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/babel.htm

1950 General Motors reports net earnings of $656,434,232 (record) .Remember in 1952 when General Motors President Charles Erwin Wilson told a congressional committee that "What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and what's good for General Motors is good for the country." http://www.slate.com/id/2084238/

1951 Dennis The Menace appeared in comic strips for the first time. http://www.toonopedia.com/dennis.htm

1954 Braves' Bobby Thomson breaks his ankle, he is replaced by Hank Aaron http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00006764.html

1961 Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (70) becomes president of US Communist Party http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAflynn.htm

1963 "My Guy" by Mary Wells is released. http://www.hotburrito.20m.com/soul/marywells.html

1964 Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in Kew Gardens Queens while 38 neighbors stood by and did nothing. Here’s the NY Times article. http://www.angelfire.com/comics/mooreportal/kitty.html

1969 the Apollo 9 astronauts splashed down after a successful testing of the lunar module. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1969-018A

1981 Attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehemet Ali Agca http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehemet_Ali_Agca

1992 Tammy Faye Bakker gets a divorce from imprisoned tele-evangelist Jim Bakker. She’s back on TV part of The Surreal life on (normal) TV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Faye_Bakker

Birthdays

1733 Joseph Priestly England, clergyman/scientist (discovered oxygen) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Priestley

1908 Walter Annenberg Milwaukee WI, publisher (Triangle-TV Guide)http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/annenbergwa/annenbergwa.htm

1911-1986 L .Ron Hubbard The founder of Scientology spent the last five years of his life "a virtual prisoner of his own paranoia." http://home.earthlink.net/~snefru/deathoflrh.

1913-1987 William J. Casey http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=William_J._Casey ran Reagan’s CIA during Iran-Contra

That was then, this was now

Construction has finally begun on the 9/11 Memorial (Reflecting Absence) after years of wrangling, despite a last minute lawsuit to halt construction. Next month the Freedom Tower construction is scheduled to get underway.

A lawsuit filed by the Coalition of 9/11 Families on Friday said pouring concrete over the footprint of the north tower, where the remains of hundreds of victims were left, would stop relatives being able to visit the site where their loved ones died.

-------------

Republican presidential candidates met this weekend beginning the 2008 Political horserace. It’s just begun and I’m already tired of it. Molly Ivins on the Democrats and why she’s pissed off.

Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton

-------------

It’s coming up on three years since the invasion of Iraq. The Administration will be hitting the road, (once again) making it’s case. History News Network has some articles on the War in Iraq. http://hnn.us/

------------------

1664 the first naturalization act is passed in the American colonies. A law was passed prohibiting marriage between English women and black men enacted. http://www.visa2003.com/world-immigration/us-history.htm

1664 New Jersey becomes a British colony http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_New_Jersey

1789 the US Post office is established. Can you name the first Postmaster General? http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmailustimeline.htm

1850 the first $20. Gold piece was issued by the Mormons. http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/c/COINS.html Here’s how the Denver Mint began http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/denver-mint.shtml

1868 Congress abolished the manufacturer’s tax. http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml

1884 Mississippi University for Women was established. the first US state college for women. http://www.muw.edu/misc/history.htm

1925 Sun Yat-Sen Chinese revolutionary president, dies at 58 http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/sun_yat_sen1.html

1926 Denmark begins unilateral disarmament. From the League of nations archive. http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1926.htm

1933 FDR conducts his first fireside chat. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1763159

1945 NY becomes the first state to prohibit discrimination by race or creed in employment. http://www.dhr.state.ny.us/hist.html

1945 USSR returns Transylvania to Romania. Here’s more besides where Dracula allegedly came from http://www.nndb.com/people/891/000024819/

1955 Alto Saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker dies. http://www.charlieparkerresidence.net/

1964 Malcolm X resigns from The Nation of Islam. http://www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/malcolmx.htm

1970 US lowers voting age from 21 to 18. If you can be drafted you can vote.

1980 John Wayne Gacy is found guilty of murdering 33 people in Chicago. http://www.crimemagazine.com/boykillergacy.htm

1984 National Union of Mine Workers in England begin a 51 week strike against the Conservative Government and loses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners'_strike_(1984-1985 here’s more detail http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2004/miners_strike/default.stm

1986 Susan Butcher wins 1,158 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod

1990 Exxon pleads guilty to the Valdez tanker disaster http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/facts/settlement.html

Birthdays.

1831-1932 Clement Studebaker Before the car there was the wagon. http://www.studebaker100.com/stu/Pg1/index.html#f0

1832-1897 Charles Boycott estate manager in Ireland. http://www.bartleby.com/61/50/B0435000.html his name became a verb as an expression of abstaining.

1927-1969 Jack Kerouac http://www.geocities.com/terry_young/kerouac.html

1928 Edward Albee Playwright http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0%2C11710%2C1119811%2C00.html

1946 Liza Minnelli http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/lizaabuse1.html

1948 James Taylor Boston MA, vocalist/guitarist http://www.nndb.com/people/891/000024819/

1950 Jon Provost actor (Timmy-Lassie) From the what ever happened to list.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0699092/bio

That was then, This was Now

Multi task overload. Read the Sunday NYTimes, Listen to On The Media and check out online Arts and Letters Daily. For International News watch the International Baseball Classic games as you prepare for the return of the Sopranos and Big Love on HBO, where we will see how to live with polygamy.

-----------------------------

0537 The Goths lay siege to Rome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goths

1302 Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/Romeo_and_Juliet/23.html

1702 the first daily newspaper was launched in England "The Daily Courant" from Fleet Street. http://www.ifitsinthepress.com/page.php?domain_name=ifitsinthepress.com&viewpage=HISTORY

1779 US army Corps of Engineers established (1st time) http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/brief.htm

1823 1st normal school in US opens, Concord Academy, Concord VT http://www.lyndonstate.edu/library/SRHall/srhall.htm

1824 US War Department creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_004900_bureauofindi.htm

1861 the Confederate Convention in Montgomery Alabama adopted a constitution. Here a confederate timeline http://www.historymole.com/cgi-bin/main/results.pl?type=theme&theme=USCivil

1892 the first public game of basketball is played in Springfiield MA. http://www.wi-travel-guide.com/basketball_jerseys-AV-0127-K.html

1912 the first Girl Scout Troop is formed by Juliette Gordon Low. http://www.girlscouting.org/History.htm

1917 British troops occupy Baghdad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Baghdad_(1917)

1927 the Roxy theater opened in New York City http://www.cinematreasures.org/theater/12

1931 Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was born. http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Rupert_Murdoch The Center for Public Integrity has a site on who owns what http://www.openairwaves.org/telecom/analysis/default.aspx

1959 Lorraine Hansberry’s "Raisin in the Sun" opened on Broadway. http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_387.html

1966 Military coup led by Indonesian General Suharto breaks out http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-6202.html

1971 The FCC informed the Networks that Prime time would be limited to 3hrs a night making way for local programming. http://www.ftc.gov/be/v950003.htm

1981 the impetus was to de-regulation. Here’s the background. http://media.colorado.edu/telecom/paper.htm

1979 Menachem Begin & Anwar Sadat sign peace treaty in Washington DC aka the Camp David Accords http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords_%281978%29

1985 Mikhail S Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader http://www.answers.com/topic/mikhail-gorbachev

1986 Popsicle announced its plans to end the traditional twin stick treat for a sleeker one stick popsicle. It was originally invented by an 11 year old. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story026.htm

1986 NFL adopts instant replay rule. Then it was dropped, then….http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/television/1280036.html

1996 Vince Edwards actor (Ben Casey), dies of cancer at 67 http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/bencasey/bencasey.htm

1997 Beatle Paul McCartney knighted Sir Paul by Queen Elizabeth II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney

Birthdays

1903-1989 Dorothy Schiff publisher (New York Post http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Schiff

1908-1992 Lawrence Welk bandleader www.museumtv/archives.

1914-1994 Ralph Ellison author The Invisible Man http://www.learner.org/amerpass/unit14/authors-4.html

1934 correspondent Sam Donaldson http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/sam_donaldson.html

That was then, This was Now

The Tomcat F-14 flies for the last time

There will be no more dogfights for the Tomcat. The last two squadrons of the sleek, Cold War fighter jet returned home from their final deployment Friday, two decades after the warplanes were glamorized in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie "Top Gun."

All 22 Tomcats of fighter squadrons VF-213 and VF-31 arrived in style, flying together in a wedge formation over Oceana Naval Air Station as hundreds of sailors and their family and friends cheered. Some wore T-shirts reading "Tomcats Forever" and a banner proclaimed, "Last Fly-In, Baby!"

---------

Another death to acknowledge, this one with less sentimentality. On trial for his role in ethnic cleansing.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has died in the detention centre at The Hague tribunal

1681 English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn

1862 paper money is issued by the US government for the first time. The legal tender act. http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

1876 Alexander Graham Bell transmits the first telephone message to Dr. Watson.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/peopleevents/pande04.html

1880 Salvation Army of England sets up US welfare & religious activity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_Army

1913 Harriet Tubman died on this date. She rescued over 300 of her people from slavery via the Underground Railroad to Canada.. http://nyhistory.com/ugrr/ .

1926 The Loving Huntsman, The first book-of-the-month Club selection is published by Viking Press. http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=literary&month=10272955&day=10272975

1933 Nevada becomes 1st US state to regulate narcotics

1940 1st US opera telecast, W2XBS, New York NY, I Pagliacci

http://members.aol.com/jeff560/chronotv.html

1941 the Brooklyn Dodgers announced their players would wear batting helmets during the regular season. Lets talk beanball http://www.thebaseballpage.com/features/2003/beanball_history.htm

1952 the Cuban government is overthrown by Fulgincino Batista.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDbatista.htm

1969 James Earl Ray pled guilty to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/assassins/ray/1.html

1975 "Rocky Horror Picture Show" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 45 performances

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show

1980 Dr. Herman Tarnower was killed in his home by his lover Jean Harris

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/harris/1.html

1994 Charles Bukowski German/US writer (Barfly, Hollywood), dies at 73

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bukowski.htm

1994 1 million Greeks attend Melina Mercouri's funeral

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580479/bio

Birthdays

1787-1849 William Etty English painter of nudes)http://www.bbc.co.uk/paintingtheweather/csv/artist/etty.shtml

1903-1931 Bix Beiderbecke jazz cornet player (In a Mist)

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_beiderbecke_bix.htm

1926 Marques Haynes NBA hall of famer (Harlem Globetrotters)

http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Haynes.htm

That was then, this was Now

John Profumo, (of sex scandal fame) died at 91

The former Tory secretary of state for war was at the centre of the most dramatic political scandal of the 20th century. He was forced to resign from the cabinet for lying to the Commons over his affair with the call girl Christine Keeler.

Media Matters on the NSA spying proposal put together by congress. Where does the oversight lay?

A March 8 New York Times article by staff writers David D. Kirkpatrick and Scott Shane reported that the recent agreement between the White House and Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee concerning the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program "would reinforce the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court," which is often referred to as the FISA court. But far from reinforcing what many say should be the FISA court's authority over the program, the reported agreement, if it is introduced as legislation, would codify the program's status outside the reach of the court.

More from Epic on Domestic Spying

1497 Nicolaus Copernicus 1st recorded astronomical observation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus

1562 Kissing in public banned in Naples (punishable by death)

1796 Napolean marries Josephine. http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/napoleon/c_napjos.html

1822 Charles Graham patents artificial teeth. Here’s more from today in Science http://www.todayinsci.com/cgi-bin/indexpage.pl?http://www.todayinsci.com/3/3_09.htm

1839 Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor

1841 US Supreme Court rules Negroes are free (The Amistad Incident)

http://www.law.cornell.edu/background/amistad/links.html

1858 Albert Potts received a patent for the mailbox.

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2b1d_mailboxes.html

1873 Royal Canadian Mounted Police founded

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police

1907 1st involuntary sterilization law enacted, Indiana on eugenic grounds.

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/un_sterile_past.html

1917 Pancho Villa crossed the US border and attacked a small town in New Mexico. President Wilson sent in the army to capture Villa Dead or alive. They failed but this Excursion was the first military employment of mechanized vehicles including automobiles and planes. http://www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_panchovilla.htm

1943 Grand master Bobby Fischer was born. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/12/chun.htm the December 2002 Atlantic article about Paranoia, hubris and hatred-the unraveling of the greatest chess player ever.

1950 Willie Sutton robs Manufacturers Bank of $64,000 in New York NY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Sutton

1954 Edward R Murrow criticizes Senator Joseph McCarthy (See it Now). Go see the George Clooney film Good Night and Good luck. Or read this http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/murrowedwar/murrowedwar.htm

1959 Barbie was born. http://www.sliceofromance.com/barbiehistory.html And she has a new boyfriend. His name is Blaine. No, Ken is Back with a new wardrobe. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/09/ken.barbie.reut/

1964 the first Ford Mustang rolled off the assembly line. http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0305/19/a07-168089.htm

1969 the Smothers Bros show was canceled by CBS After Joan Baez dedicated a song to her husband who was in jail for objecting to the draft. http://www.tvparty.com/smothers.html

1974 Last Japanese soldier, a guerrilla operating in Philippines, surrenders, 29 years after World War II ended. Hiroo Onoda. Here’s more Japanese holdouts.

http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/registry.html#philippines

1975 work began on the Alaskan Pipeline. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Alaskan_Pipeline_System

1976 1st female cadets accepted to West Point Military Academy. Who is Kristen Baker?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Point

1979 Bowie Kuhn orders baseball to give equal access to female reporters

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/media/article.html?record=852

1994 Lawrence E Spivak journalist (Meet the Press), dies at 93. Long before Tim Russert at Meet the Press http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/meetthepres/meetthepress.htm

1996 Nathan Birnbaum (George Burns) dies. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/burnsgeorge/burnsgeorge.htm

More Birthdays,

1452-1512 Amerigo Vespucci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_Vespucci gave N and S America their names.

1885-1933 Ringgold "Ring" Lardner SR. sportswriter

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall99/Bembrey/ring.html

1892-1962 Vita Sackville-West England, novelist/poet (The Land)

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/sackvill.htm

1918 Mike Hammer creator Mickey Spillane

http://www.interlog.com/~roco/bio.html. and more

That was then, This was now

Three Students have been arrested for the Alabama Church fires. Motivation? Method acting? Apparently, two were acting students.

Federal agents said the defendants claimed that the first few blazes were set as "a joke" and that the others were started to throw investigators off the track

Fear Factor (November elections) 2006. House appropriations Committee voted against the Dubai Port deal but the House for the renewal of the US Patriot Act. And President Bush (read photo op) visits New Orleans for the 10^th time. Meanwhile conservatives continue to rail against illegal workers (build a wall) and a rise in the minimum wage. A look at the big picture, from commondreams

in the finest tradition of John Calvin (who suggested that wealth was a sign of God's blessing) - what better indication of "best" could there be than "richest"? They believe there should be a thin veneer of democracy on these old conservative notions of aristocracy in order to placate the masses, but are quite certain that it would be a disaster should the rabble ever actually have a strong say in running the country.

This is, at its core, why conservatives embrace the idea of eliminating the American middle class and replacing it with a Dickensian "working poor" class, and are working so hard to use illegal immigrant labor as the lever to bring this about.

Comparing Iraq to Vietnam. Not comparable says those in denial. From a retired Lieutenant General

In Iraq, we watch U.S.-led make-believe diplomacy negotiating a constitutional deal among Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. Should we believe that the Iraqi Shiites, a majority of the population with the trauma of Saddam’s bloody repressions burned into their memories, will settle for less than full control? And why should we expect the Kurds to surrender their decade-old autonomy after suffering no less bloody repressions than did the Shiites? And why should we expect Sunnis to trust a Shiite-Kurdish regime not to take revenge against them for Saddam’s crimes? And why would Iran and Syria be willing to abandon support for their co-religionists in Iraq in order to strike a peace deal favorable to the United States?

1658 Peace of Roskilde between Sweden & Denmark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Roskilde

1852 the Confederate Merrimac meets the Union ironclad Monitor changing the nature of naval warfare. http://www.civilwar-va.com/virginia/va-tidewater/showdown.html

1862 Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" launched http://www.wideopenwest.com/~jenkins/ironclads/ironclad.htm

1889 John Ericsson died. Who? He invented the propeller which powered the ironclad Monitor. http://www.forgottendelights.com/Press/Monitor.htm

1894 the first dog license law was enacted in New York. Here’s a site for NY dog owners http://www.nycdog.org/laws.html

1887 Everett Horton patented the telescoping fishing rod. http://www.oldfishingstuff.com/horton_mfg_co.htm

1896 the Volunteers of America was founded. http://www.fortnet.org/VOA/history.html

1900 National League decides to go with 8 teams They exclude Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville & Washington (in 1953 Boston Braves move to Milwaukee

1911 International Women's Day (1st celebrated) http://www.nwhp.org/events/iwd/iwd.html

1916 US invades Cuba for 3rd time, this to end corrupt Menocal regime http://www.rcgfrfi.easynet.co.uk/ratb/cuba/history3.htm

1950 Marshall Voroshilov of USSR announces they developed atomic bomb http://www.answers.com/topic/soviet-atomic-bomb-project

1953 Senator Joe McCarthy was on the cover of Time greatest demagogues in American history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy

1965 the first combat troops are sent to Vietnam. http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/

1970 Diane Ross makes her solo debut at a club in Farmingham, Mass. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Ross

1972 the Goodyear Blimp flies for the first time. Here’s how a blimp works http://travel.howstuffworks.com/blimp1.htm

1973 the Eisenhower Tunnel opens through the Continental Divide in Colorado. http://www.dot.state.co.us/Eisenhower/description.asp

1983 President Reagan calls the USSR an "Evil Empire" at a meeting of Evangelicals. Here’s the entire speech http://www.ronaldreagan.com/sp_6.html

1989 "Heidi Chronicles" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 621 performances http://www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0362 and a study guidehttp://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-heidichronicles/

1991 Americans begin welcoming troops home from The Persian Gulf. Then came Gulf War Syndrome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_war_syndrome

1993 Beavis and Butt-head premiered on MTV. http://www.beavis-butthead.ru/yellow_articles_115.html

Birthdays

1841-1953 Jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/oliver_wendell_holmes%2c_jr.

1931 John McPhee writer of literary non-fiction (The Control of Nature)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McPhee

1939 country singer Charlie Pride. http://charleypride.com/

1939 Jim Bouton pitcher (New York Yankees)/author (Ball Four) http://espn.go.com/page2/s/questions/bouton.html

1945 The Monkees Mickey Dolenz http://www.mickydolenz.com/bio_nonshocked.html

1957 Cynthia Rothrock 5 time Karate champ and Queen of Kung Fu B movies (Lady Dragon, Honor & Glory) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Rothrock

That was then, This was now

What does Chris Mathews have to say about Joe McCarthy? That McCarthy was right about Communists. http://www.rcgfrfi.easynet.co.uk/ratb/cuba/history3.htm

------

Gordon Parks, photographer, filmmakers died yesterday at 93. RIP

Gordon Parks was the first African-American to work as a staff photographer for Life magazine and the first black artist to produce and direct a major Hollywood film, "The Learning Tree," in 1969.

-------

The U.S. Patriot Act was passed by the House. Tom Delay won the Republican Primary in Texas and 23 Bodies were found in a Bus in Baghdad, the day after Donald Rumsfeld denied on NewsHour that there was a civil war taking place.

---------------------------

1850 Daniel Webster endorsed the compromise of 1850 to the Senate in an attempt to preserve the Union. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html

1854 Charles Miller patented the first U.S. buttonhole-stitching machine.

1857 Baseball decides 9 innings constitutes an official game, not 9 runs

1870 Wyoming women were allowed to vote http://www.autry-museum.org/explore/exhibits/suffrage/suffrage_wy.htmlThe right was taken away shortly after and not returned until the 1950.’s.

1876 Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/peopleevents/mabell.html

1908 Cincinnati Mayor Mark Breith announced that "women are not physically fit to operate automobiles"

1926 the first trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place between NY and London. http://www.kipnotes.com/Telecommunications.htm

1933 Game of "Monopoly" invented. Did you know there is an anti-monopoly game? http://boardgamecentral.com/games/monopoly.html

1936 Adolph Hitler breaks the Treaty of Versailles by invading the Rhineland.

1939 Guy Lombardo & Royal Canadians 1st record "Auld Lang Syne"http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0002096

1955 Mary Martin as "Peter Pan" televised. Melding of Broadway and TV. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/peterpan/peterpan.htm

1965 a march by civil rights demonstrators in Selma Ala is broken up by State Troopers and a Sheriff’s posse. http://www.voterights.org/news.html

1975 the senate revised its filibuster rule allowing 60 Senators to limit debate instead of 2/3 of Senators present. http://www.polisci.ccsu.edu/trieb/Stctlfrm.html The impetus behind the change was filibusters by southern representatives against civil rights legislation.

1982 NCAA Tournament Selection televised live for 1st time. What took so long? http://www.ncaa.org/news/1999/19991122/active/3624n30.html

1983 TNN (The Nashville Network) begins on Cable TV. Now Spike TVBegan as OpryLand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nashville_Network Here’s more context. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cablenetwork/cablenetwork.htm

1985 IBM-PC DOS Version 3.1 (update) released. Here’s a timeline http://oldfiles.org.uk/powerload/timeline.htm

1999 Film director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) died this day. http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000040/

Birthdays

1938 Janet Guthrie race car driver, 1st woman to race in Indy 500 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Guthrie

1940 Daniel J. Travanti WI, actor (Frank Furillo-Hill St Blues) received two Emmy’s.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871240/bio

1942 This day wouldn’t be complete If I didn’t mention that Tammy Faye Baker came into this world. www.weht.net/article.php?sid=160 is the whatever happened to site for people we’d all rather forget.

That was then, This was Now.

AT&T Plans 10,000 Job Cuts if their purchase of BellSouth goes through. The baby bell is becoming big again.

Job cuts, which are about 3 percent of total employment, represent about 50 percent of the planned $18 billion in cost savings AT&T expects to extract from the purchase. The acquisition will cement AT&T's position as the dominant U.S. provider of local, long-distance and wireless calling and enable it to better fend off new competition from cable-television companies and Internet calling companies.

------------------

Speaking of numbers, 14,000 people have been detained without trial since 9/11. Amnesty International just released a report

Nearly three years after United States (US) and allied forces invaded Iraq and toppled the government of Saddam Hussain, the human rights situation in the country remains dire. The deployment of US-led forces in Iraq and the armed response that engendered has resulted in thousands of deaths of civilians and widespread abuses amid the ongoing conflict

---------

The Republican Governor of South Dakota signed a bill banning nearly all forms of abortion, challenging (Roe vs. Wade) which will no doubt send the issue of abortion back to a more conservative Supreme Court. The signing has caused something of a rift between pro-life Republicans

--------

The most secretive Administration since Nixon (David Gergen) is considering going after reporters in order to control leaks. According to Sundays Washington Post Story

In recent weeks, dozens of employees at the CIA, the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies have been interviewed by agents from the FBI's Washington field office, who are investigating possible leaks that led to reports about secret CIA prisons and the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program, according to law enforcement and intelligence officials familiar with the two cases

1323 Treaty of Noteberg - Sets the boundaries of Sweden and Novgorod

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_treaties

1831 Edgar Allen Poe removed from West Point military academy. Lucky us.

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/

1836 the siege of The Alamo comes to an end. http://www.taliesyn.com/ralph/battles.htm

1853 Verdi’s “La Traviata” is performed for the first time. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/verdi.html

1857 the Dred Scott decision is handed down by the supreme court saying that Negroes were not full citizens. http://library.wustl.edu/vlib/dredscott/

1899 Bayer Aspirin patented by Felix Hoffman.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blaspirin.htm

1902 Census Bureau forms.

http://www.census.gov/acsd/www/history.html

1921 Police in Sunbury PA issue an edict requiring Women to wear skirts at least 4 inches below the knee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skirt

1923 St. Louis Cards announce their players will wear numbers on their sleeves. It was short lived. Here’s more http://www.all-baseball.com/ref/retired.html

1930 Birdsye Frozen foods goes on sale for the first time in Mass. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfrfood.htm

1957 Ghana (formerly Gold Coast) declares independence from UK

http://www.info-ghana.com/history.htm

1964 Elijah Muhammad renames Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali

http://www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/muhammad_e.htm

1978 Hustler publisher Larry Flynt (and his lawyer) shot & crippled by a sniper in Georgia. Here’s a slate review of the movie http://www.slate.com/id/3451/

1981 Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite

Birthdays

1619 Cyrano De Bergerac http://www.theatrehistory.com/french/rostand002.html

1754-1836 Aaron Burr http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/burr.html

1806-1861 Elizabeth Barrett Browning http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=153

1923 Co-host Ed McMahon http://www.time.com/time/community/transcripts/chattr101998.html

1937 Country singer Merle Haggard http://dir.salon.com/people/bc/2000/11/14/haggard/index.html

1945 Rob Reiner (meathead) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Reiner

1926 former Fed head Alan Greenspan’s. If you think this almanac is weird, check out a hackers take on CNBC’s Andrea Mitchell’s husband at www.rdwarf.com/~kioh/.

For more mainstream comedy today is Lou Costello’s birthday. (1897-1959). He’s a local boy, born in Asbury Park (pre- Springsteen). www.abbottandcostello.net

That was then, This was Now.

An analysis of Condi Rice’s foreign Policy from HNN

Rice’s Georgetown speech is less a movement back to the realism and multilateralism exemplified by her old mentor, Brent Scowcroft, than it is a repackaging of failed neoconservative policies that seeks to disguise regime change with the rhetoric of Wilsonian democracy,

Via Political Animal a discussion on When would Jesus Bolt? Courting Christian evangelicals.

I have to confess that I've always been skeptical of the notion that liberals should spend much time trying to get the Christian evangelical community on our side. When push comes to shove, they just care way more about sex and "moral degeneracy" than they do about helping the poor or taking care of the environment, and that means that outreach efforts are ultimately doomed to failure.

Liberal Oasis has a summary of the Sunday morning talk shows. John Murtha on General

Peter Pace the Pentagon’s top general.

Why would I believe him?" asked Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a major critic of the Bush administration's handling of the war. "This administration, including the president, (has) mischaracterized this war for the last two years."

Crash won Best Picture at the Oscars last night. Jon Stewart didn't do badly as host.

1558 Smoking tobacco introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes http://www.historian.org/bysubject/tobacco1.htm

1623 1st American temperance law enacted, Virginia while tobacco sales grew.http://www.tobacco.org/History/Jamestown.html

1624 Virginia passed legislation exempting upper classes from punishment by whipping. http://www.eh.net/Clio/Publications/indentured.shtml

1750 the first Shakespearean play (Richard III) debuted in America. First performed in England in 1601. http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-king-richard-iii.htm

1770 British soldiers open fire on a crowd of taunting colonists in what has come to be known as the Boston Massacre. . http://americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa041401a.htm

1917 1st jazz recording for Victor Records released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Dixieland_Jass_Band here’s some history.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Talking_Machine_Company

1922 The silent film "Nosferatu" premieres in Berlin. That’s Vampire http://www.nosferatumovie.com/nosferatu_links.html

1933 FDR proclaims 10-day bank holiday to hold off a national financial crisis. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG99/walters/holiday.htm

1933 The Nazi Party won 44 per cent of the German Parliamentary elections giving the nationalist party a majority in the Reichstag.. http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/hitlergainspower.htm

1946 Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his famous "Iron Curtain" speech. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/churchill-iron.html

1953 Joseph Stalin Dies after 29 years in power. http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/stalin.htm In 1960 Elvis was discharged from the army.

1956 "King Kong" 1st televised. Took 50 years for a 2^nd remake. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong

1963 Patsy Cline, Cowboy Cobus and Hawkshaw Hawkins die in a plane crash. http://www.midtod.com/98autumn/patsy.phtml

1982 John Belushi died. He was 33 years old. http://www.findadeath.com/Decesed/b/John%20Belushi/john_belushi.htm For an interesting site on the relationship Between humans and psychoactive try www.erowid.org.

1984 the Supreme Court rules that cities have the right to display nativity scenes during Christmas. http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/pdf/landmark-cases.pdf

1995 Ed Flanders actor (Dr Westphal-St Elsewhere), dies . The show from the mind of an autistic child. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/stelsewhere/stelsewhere.htm

Birthdays

1922 Italian film director Paolo Pasolini http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/pasolini.html

1934 James B Sikking Los Angeles CA, actor (Hill St Blues, Doogie Howserhttp://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/H/htmlH/hillstreetb/hillstreetb.htm

1946 Michael Warren South Bend IN, actor (Bobby Hill-Hill Street Blues)

1955 Penn Jillette Greenfield MA, magician (Penn & Teller-Penn & Teller are Dead) He’s the one who speaks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Jillette

That was then, This was Now

This is day 1040 since Mission was accomplished in Iraq. And just over six months since Brownie was told he was doing a Hell of a job in New Orleans.

---------------

The original Mothers day took place in Britain in the 17^th century. The custom was to visit one’s mother with bread or presents. http://womenshistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa020506a.htm

It’s the birthday of New York Realtor Harry Helmsley (1909-1993) who supposedly went Into Real estate on the advice of his mother. At one point he owned 27 hotels, 50,000 apartments and was worth 1.7 billion. Yet, he is best known for his marriage to Leona “the Queen of mean.” http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/scams/leona_helmsley/

1461 During the War of the Roses, Edward of York took the English throne http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/War_of_Roses.html

1681 King Charles II granted William Penn a charter for what is now Pennsylvania. http://www.quakerinfo.com/quakpenn.shtml

1801 1st President inaugurated in Washington DC (Thomas Jefferson)

1837 City of Chicago incorporates. Here’s a timeline

http://www.corsinet.com/chicago/chicagot.html

1877 Emil Berliner invented the microphone.. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Emil+Berliner

1881 Holmes & Watson begin "A Study in Scarlet", 1st case together

http://www.online-literature.com/doyle/study_scarlet/

1902 the American Automobile Association (AAA) was founded in Chicago. Here’s more auto mileposts from that year http://www.aaca.org/bntc/mileposts/1902.htm

1921 Hot Springs National Park created in Arkansas

http://www.mountainnature.com/Geology/HotSprings.htm

1930 sportscaster Red Barber made his debut on radio. He also did commercials. http://www.old-time.com/commercials/everyone_takes_part.html

1930 Coolidge Dam in Arizona dedicated but it’s name was changed several times

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/hoover/peopleevents/pandeAMEX95.html

1933 FDR inaugrated as 32nd President, pledges to pull US out of Depression & says "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/8820.html

1963 William Carlos Williams US physician/poet, dies at 79

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams

1966 John Lennon said that “We’re (the Beatles) more popular than Jesus.” Here’s a 60’s “Hippie” timeline. http://www.hippy.com/php/article-15.html

1978 Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes last issue

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Daily_News And the other Chicago Newspapers.

http://www.chipublib.org/008subject/005genref/gischron.html

1984 the Television academy Hall of Fame was established. http://www.seeing-stars.com/Immortalized/EmmyPlaza.shtml

1985 Virtual ban on leaded gas ordered by EPA

http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/lead.htm

1994 4 Arab terrorist founded guilty of bombing the World Trade Center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_bombing

here’s more context http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iraq/956-tni.htm

Birthdays

1678-1741 composer Antonio Vivaldi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi best known for “the four season”.

1888-1931 Football legend Knute Rockne http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Rockne_Knute.html

That was then, This was Now

It’s the weekend so there is no news in the Now. (Just Iraq, Dafur, New Orleans, a corrupt congress etc) Although Spring training games have begun even though it’s been below freezing in the Northeast.

Except that a list of prisoners in Guantanamo have been released.

After 463 review boards were completed in December 2005, 329 prisoners were judged to require further detention; 120 were transferred to other countries and 14 were released.

The Pentagon released the documents late Friday to meet a deadline set last month by Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court in New York. Rakoff rejected Bush administration arguments that releasing the detainees' identities would violate their privacy and endanger them and their families.

Going in the other direction. Randi ex congressman Randy Cunningham has been sentenced to prison. I believe he was on his yacht when he coined the term “freedom fries” when the French refused to go along with us in Iraq. Ah, yes Partiotism is the last refuge …. Ah, this just in. It wasn’t Randy but Bob Ney another congressman about to go to trail for corruption who coined the term “Freedom Fries”. See mistakes can be made. I guess to me corrupt politicians tend to meld together, look alike…etc..

After acknowledging that he had "made a very wrong turn," former Representative Randy Cunningham was sentenced in federal court here on Friday to eight years and four months in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors in return for smoothing the way for government contracts.

Speaking of which Danish Pastries in Iran are now known as “Roses of Mohammed. This is a couple weeks old but in honor of Randy I thought I’d mention it. Do you think he’ll be attired in an orange jump suit?

Bakeries across the capital were covering up their ads for danish pastries Thursday after the confectioners union ordered the name change in retaliation for cartoons of Islam's revered Prophet first published in a Danish newspaper.

The move was reminiscent of a decision by the US House of Representatives in 2004 to rename french fries as "freedom fries" after France refused to back the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003

1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/charlieb.html

1791 the first internal revenue act was passed by congress. (distilled liquors) http://tx.essortment.com/unitedstatesin_rmhj.htm

1794 Richard Allen founded AME Church http://www.ame-today.com/history/index.shtml

1805 Louisiana-Missouri Territory forms http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/louisiana_territory

1842 1st US child labor law regulating working hours passed (Massachusetts)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor_laws A pictorial http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/

1845 Florida becomes the 27^th state despite Johnsons’s presidential veto. http://www.answers.com/topic/florida

1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876 but do you know his connection to the assassination of president James Garfield? http://www.historybuff.com/library/refgarfield.html . Hint. Had to do with a missing Bullet.

1863 Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences http://www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/nasfounding.html

1871 Congress establishes the civil service system http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0857364.html

1875 Bizet’s "Carmen" was performed for the first time at the opera Comique, http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/1875%20in%20music

1875 1st recorded hockey game (Montréal) Here’s some historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey

1879 Belva Lockwood was the first woman lawyer to appear before the Supreme Court. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAWlockwoodBelva.htm

1882 New York Steam Corp begins distributing steam to Manhattan buildings http://www.coned.com/history/steam.asp

1887 Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/17_01/Kell171.shtml and Anne Sullivanhttp://www.answers.com/topic/anne-sullivan

1891 Congress creates US Courts of Appeal http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/ca_bdy?OpenDocument&Click=

1900 US Steel Corporation organizes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Steel_Corporation

1905 US Forest Service forms http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1602.html

1917 Congress passes 1st excess profits tax on corporations during war. http://www.taxhistory.org/Civilization/Documents/Surveys/hst23741/23741-1.htm Now we hand out tax cuts instead.

1926 International Greyhound Racing Association formed (Miami FL)http://www.pbkennelclub.com/RacingHistory.asp

1931 the Star Spangled Banner was adapted as the National anthem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner And Cab Calloway recorded "Minnie the Moocher" http://www.heptune.com/minnieth.html which became the first million selling jazz album.

1959 Candlestick Park opens here’s a list of all the NY Giant ballparks. http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sf/history/ballparks.jsp

1965 Temptations' "My Girl" reaches #1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temptations

1973 the remains of Charlie Chaplin were stolen by extortionists from his grave in Switzerland .Here’s the story in some detail. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_2512000/2512129.stm

1985 "Moonlighting" with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis, premieres http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088571/

1991 George Holliday was trying out his new video camera when Rodney King stopped his car after a 6 mile police chase. The ensuing 89-second video made history and led to the LA Riots. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/race/king.html

Birthdays

George Pullman (1831-1897) http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/georgemortimerpullman.html

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltelephone2.htm

That was then, This was Now

Slate’s Jack Shafer on the private Vush Bideo prior to Katrina.

We see the president all the time in public settings, giving speeches, shaking hands, looking concerned. But this footage is fascinating because it is the first video I can recall of the president at work in private. It's our chance to see how the image of the president painted by his allies compares with the actual man. And the result is somewhat alarming. Based on what I'd been told by White House aides over the years, I expected to see the president asking piercing questions that punctured the fog of the moment and inspired bold action.

----------------

We’re hearing more about the I Word. The latest from Garrison Keillor on Impeachment. What to do when the emperor has no clothes. In the Chicago Tribune.

Registration required. Or Salon also requiring membership or a day pass.

Or listen to Michael Rattner from the Center for Constitutional Rights on WNYC.

---------------

And the Smokin Gun has Bill O’Reilly on their site from 1975 when he was a rookie reporter in Scranton Pennsylvania itching for the big time markets.

------------------------------

1789 Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances.

1817 1st Evangelical church building dedicated, New Berlin PA http://www.gcah.org/UMC_timeline.htm

1819 US passed its first immigration law from dishonest shipmasters.http://www.gcah.org/UMC_timeline.htm

1836 Texas declares its Independence from Mexico. Here’s the background story http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/sfeature/sf_republic.html

1855 Aleksandr Romanov becomes tsar of Russia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanov

1865 Freedman's Bureau founded for Black Education, http://www.civilwarhome.com/freedmen.htm From W.E. Dubois http://afroamhistory.about.com/library/bldubois_freedmens_bureau1.htm

1877 the U.S. Electoral Commission finally declares Rutherford B. Hayes President over Samuel J. Tilden who won the popular vote. Here’s the case for abolition of the Electoral College .http://www.politicalstrategy.org/policy/electoralcollege.htm

1903 Martha Washington Hotel, catering to women only, opens in New York NY now the 30/30 hotel http://www.all-ny.com/hotels/thirty_descr.html

1915 Vladmir Jabotinsky forms a Jewish military force to fight in Palestine http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/jabotinsky.html

1917 Puerto Rico becomes an American territory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico

1923 Time magazine debuts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Magazine

1925 State and Federal Highway officials created the Highway marker. http://www.gbcnet.com/ushighways/history.html

1933 King Kong premiered at Radio City Music Hall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong

1944 Casablanca won best picture, director and screenplay at the Academy awards. Here’s a site for past winners http://www.filmsite.org/oscars.html

1946 Ho Chi Minh is elected President of North Vietnam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh

1949 Captain James Gallagher completed the first non-stop around the world flight. Here are more flight milestones from that year. http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/world/1949.html

1949 1st automatic street light (New Milford CT). Here’s the NYC history. http://www.answers.com/topic/history-of-street-lighting-in-the-united-states

What about automatic traffic lights? Here in New York. http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/html/transportation/newpage5.html Here’s an article seemingly well researched but with dubious motivations on the invention of the automated traffic light. http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/trfclt/

1958 1st surface crossing of Antarctic continent is completed in 99 days http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/antarctica/about/history.shtml Here’s more detail http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/exploration%20and%20history.htm

1962 Wilt Chamberlain scores incredible 100 points in an NBA game http://www.hoophall.com/exhibits/chamberlain_exhibit.htm

1974 1st class postage raised from 8¢ to 10¢

1978 1st broadcast of "Dallas" on CBS TV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_(TV_series)

1983 Compact Disc recordings developed by Phillips & Sony introduced http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/computers/compactdiscs/cd.html

1983 Final episode of MASH; 125,000,000 viewers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M*A*S*H_(TV_series)

1989 Exxon Houston runs aground in Hawaii, spills 117,000 gallons of oil. This was two weeks before the Exxon Valdez spill http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/arctic99/reports/exxon2.pdf

Birthdays

1793-1863 Sam Houston . http://www.lsjunction.com/people/houston.htm the first president of Texas.

1900 Kurt J Weill Dessau Germany, composer/Brecht collaborator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Weill

1904-1991 Dr. Seuss, author, illustrator, Theodore Seuss Geisel launched the "beginner" book industry with "Cat in the Hat in 1954. www.seuss.org .

1923 "Doc" Watson bluegrass musician http://www.docsguitar.com/

1928 Philip K Dick Sci/Fi writer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick

1942 NY rocker Lou Reed http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/reed_l.html

1931 Mikhail Gorbachev. The last Soviet Prime Minister http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.php3

1950 singer Karen Carpenter. Her death in 1983 did for anorexia what Rock Hudson’s death did for AIDS awareness. http://atdpweb.soe.berkeley.edu/quest/Mind&Body/Carpenter.html

That was then, This was Now

Bush makes deal in India.

Critics said the deal undermines the Nuclear Nonproliferation Agreement, which India won't sign. And they say it sends the wrong signal to leaders of North Korea and Iran, who have snubbed their noses at international calls to halt their nuclear weapons programs.

The agreement will require U.S. congressional approval. Bush immediately acknowledged that will be difficult to win.

For more political news in the here and Now http://politicalwire.com/aggregator/

0293 Roman emperor Maximianus introduces tetrarchy (Rule of Two)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrarchy

1260 Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus

http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm

1711 "The Spectator" begins publishing (London)

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0846211.html

1781 the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress.

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=3

1790 the First Census was authorized by Congress. http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/cff-4.pdf

1845 President Tyler signed a congressional resolution annexing the Republic of Texas. We feared Texas being swallowed by the British Empire.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/AA/mga2.html

1867 Howard University, Washington DC, chartered

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAChoward.htm

1872 Yellowstone, The first Federal national park is created. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/yehtml/yeabout.html

1875 Congress passes Civil Rights Act; invalidated by Supreme Court, 1883

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/activism/ps_1875.html

1908 For basketball fans it’s March Madness. Began in Illinois in 1908 by the Illinois High School association .. http://marchmadness.org/exp/history.htm but it was co-opted by The NCAA.

1912 Isabella Goodwin, 1st US woman detective, appointed, New York NY

http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/html/3100/retro-11.html

1928 Paul Whiteman & his orchestraestra record "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_whiteman_paul.htm

1932 the infant son of Charles Lindbergh from his home in Hopewell NJ is kidnapped. The case remains controversial http://www.weirdnj.com/_localheroes/lindbergh.html

1937 1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut)

http://www.alpca.org/faq.trivia.html

1941 the first commercial FM radio station opened in Nashville, TN.

http://members.aol.com/jeff560/chronofm.html

1941 "Captain America" appears in a comic book

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America

1954 4 Puerto Rican nationalists open fire in US House of Representatives injuring 5 Representatives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Capitol_shooting_incident_(1954)

1961 The Peace Corps is established headed by Sargent Shriver. . http://www.peacecorpsonline.com/

1962 K-Mart opens

http://www.bookrags.com/history/popculture/kmart-sjpc-03/

1966 Ba'ath-party takes power in Syria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba'ath_Party

1969 New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mantle

1970 End of US commercial whale hunting

http://www.animalliberation.org.au/whalehist.php

1972 Club of Rome publishes report "Boundaries on the Growth"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Rome

1981 It’s Women’s History Month www.aracnet.com/~sbvoices/days_mar.html proclaimed by Congress in 1981, Women now earn 76 cents for every $1.made by male counterparts. Up from 74 cents in 1996.How’s that for getting your two cents worth.