July 2010
5 posts
March 2010
4 posts
On March 31st, 1930: The Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film for the next thirty eight years.
On March 31st, 1951: The first commercial United States made computer, the UNIVAC I, is delivered to the United States Census Bureau.
On March 1st, 1961 President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
October 2009
6 posts
28 October 1886: The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. 28 October 1919: Congress passed the Volstead Act, or the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. 28 October 1940: Italy invaded Greece during World War II. About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment. ...
08 October 1604: Jan Brunowski, Johannes Kepler’s assistant, was the first to observe Kepler’s nova. 08 October 1869: The 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, died in Concord, N.H. 08 October 1871: The city of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, burned to the ground in hours, killing 1,152 people. At the same time, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed 4 square miles (10 square km) of...
07 October 1765: The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England. 07 October 1826: The Granite Railway, the first chartered railroad in the United States, began service. 07 October 1849: American short-story writer, poet, and critic Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore, Maryland. 07 October 1949: German Democratic Republic proclaimed 07 October 1952:...
05 October 1813: Battle of the Thames. 05 October 1877: A small band of Nez Percé warriors, under the leadership of Chief Joseph, surrendered to General Nelson A. Miles after holding off U.S. forces that had tracked them through Idaho, Yellowstone Park, and Montana. 05 October 1918: Allied forces broke through the Hindenburg Line in World War I. 05 October 1921: The World Series was...
02 October 1869: Born this day, Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule and is esteemed internationally for his doctrine of nonviolence in pursuit of social and political change. 02 October 1780: British army officer John André was executed by the Americans as a spy after conducting secret meetings with American General Benedict Arnold during the...
01 October 1924: Born this day, Jimmy Carter served as the 39th U.S. president (1977–81) during a turbulent time at home and abroad, and he later received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002 for his humanitarian work. 01 October 331: Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia at the Battle of Gaugamela, spelling the end of the Persian empire. 01 October 1908: Henry Ford...
September 2009
20 posts
30 September 1791: Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute premiered in Vienna, Austria. 30 September 1927: Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run. The record stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. Mark McGwire beat Maris’s record in 1998 by hitting 70 and Barry Bonds topped this in 2001 with 73. 30 September 1938: The notorious Munich Agreement, in which Britain’s Neville Chamberlain...
28 September 1542: Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived at present-day San Diego. 28 September 1920: In what became known as the Black Sox Scandal, eight members of the Chicago White Sox baseball team were indicted by a grand jury on charges that they had thrown the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in return for a bribe. 28 September 1967: Walter Washington became the...
25 September 1897: American novelist and short-story writer William Faulkner, considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, was born this day in Mississippi and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. 25 September 1513: Pacific Ocean sighted by Balboa 25 September 1777: Philadelphia, then the American capital, was occupied by British forces during the American...
24 September 1936: American puppeteer Jim Henson, born this day, was the creator of the Muppets (a meld of “marionettes” and “puppets”), whose characters included Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster. 24 September 1789: Congress passed the First Judiciary Act which provided for a U.S. attorney general and the Supreme Court. 1869: Plummeting gold prices led to a panic...
23 September 1779: John Paul Jones declared “I have not yet begun to fight!” aboard the American warship Bonhomme Richard in the battle against the British man-of-war Serapis. 23 September 1806: Lewis and Clark arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, at the end of their daring expedition to the Pacific Northwest. 23 September 1846: German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the...
22 September 2009: First Day of Autumn. 22 September 1791: Michael Faraday, born this day, was an English scientist whose pioneering work in electromagnetism included producing an electric current from a magnetic field and inventing the first electric motor and dynamo. 22 September 1609: Spain’s Philip III issued a royal order for deportation of the Moriscos (Christians of Moorish...
21 September 1435: In the French kingdom, the Treaty of Arras was signed, ending the long quarrel between Duke Philip of Burgundy and King Charles VII. 21 September 1840: While experimenting with gallic acid, a chemical he was informed would increase the sensitivity of his prepared paper, William Henry Fox Talbot discovered that the acid can be used to develop a latent image on paper, leading to...
18 September 1810: Chile declared its independence from Spain. 18 September 1851: The first edition of The New York Daily Times, which later became The New York Times, was published. 18 September 1927: Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Goes on the Air. 18 September 1932: By royal decree the dual kingdom of the Hejaz and Najd, along with its dependencies, was unified under the name of the...
17 September 1549: Pope Paul III suspended the Council of Trent after Charles V forbade the Spanish and German prelates to go to Bologna. 17 September 1787: The Constitution was completed and signed by a majority of the delegates attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. 17 September 1862: The bloodiest day in U.S. military history occurred at the Battle of Antietam when more...
16 September 1620: Mayflower’s departure for America. 16 September 1908: General Motors was founded by William C. Durant. 16 September 1919: The American Legion was incorporated by an act of Congress. 16 September 1970: King Hussein of Jordan declared martial law following the hijacking of four international airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). 16...
15 September 1590: Giambattista Castagna was elected pope as Urban VII; he died of malaria 12 days later. 15 September 1789: The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs changed its name to the Department of State. 15 September 1812: Napoleon’s forces invaded Moscow and found the city abandoned, two-thirds of it destroyed by fire. 15 September 1821: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras,...
14 September 1752: Great Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar; the date was moved ahead 11 days (the day after September 2 became September 14). 14 September 1814: Francis Scott Key was inspired to write “The Star-Spangled Banner” after Fort McHenry successfully withstood a British attack. 14 September 1829: Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Edirne, concluding...
13 September 1985: Nintendo Releases Super Mario Brothers 13 September 2009: Jim Carroll dies at 60.
11 September 1697: Austrian forces won a decisive victory over an Ottoman army at the Battle of Zenta. 11 September 1709: The duke of Marlborough led a British army of 100,000 men against a French army of 90,000 at the Battle of Malplaquet in the War of the Spanish Succession. 11 September 1777: British forces defeated the Americans at the Battle of the Brandywine during the American...
09 September 1776: The Second Continental Congress changed the name of the nation to the United States of America, from the United Colonies. 09 September 1850: California became the 31st state. 09 September 1861: Sally Louisa Tompkins was commissioned a cavalry captain; she was the only woman to be commissioned in the Confederate army. 09 September 1893: President Grover Cleveland’s...
08 September 1429: Paris attacked by Joan of Arc 08 September 1935: Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long, “The Kingfish,” was shot and mortally wounded by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss, Jr. 08 September 1944: V-2 Rocket Hits London 08 September 1952: Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea was published. 08 September 1966: Star Trek premiered on television. I have such poor vision I...
04 September 1781: Los Angeles founded 04 September 1888: George Eastman patented his roll-film camera and registered the Kodak trademark. 04 September 1957: Nine black students attempted to enter Little Rock’s Central High School but were blocked by the National Guard. Arkansas governor Orval Faubus had summoned the federal troops. 04 September 1972: U. S. swimmer Mark Spitz won a...
03 September 301: World’s Oldest Republic, San Marino, is Born. 03 September 1783: The Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. 03 September 1939: Great Britain and France declared war on Germany during World War II. Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
02 September 1666: The great fire of London broke out, destroying much of the city, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. 02 September 1789: The U.S. Treasury Department was established. 02 September 1833: Oberlin College Founded 02 September 1901: Vice President Theodore Roosevelt gave his “speak softly and carry a big stick” speech, regarding foreign policy, at the Minnesota...
01 September 1807: Former U.S. vice president Aaron Burr was found innocent of treason. 01 September 1914: Last Passenger Pigeon Dies in Captivity 01 September 1939: German invasion of Poland 01 September 1983: A Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet jet fighter, killing all 269 people aboard. Never face facts; if you do, you’ll never get up in the morning. - Marlo...
August 2009
8 posts
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin. - Ronald Reagan You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your tricks of war. - Napoleon To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest...
19 August 1812: The U.S. frigate Constitution, Old Ironsides, defeated the British ship Guerriere during the War of 1812. 19 August 1919: Afghanistan Gains Independence from United Kingdom 19 August 1934: Germans voted to make Adolf Hitler Fuhrer. 19 August 1977: Comedian Groucho Marx died in Los Angeles at age 86. 19 August 1991: Attempted coup against Gorbachev Boy, those French: they...
We are the only animals that let our kids come back home. - Bill Cosby 14 August 1880: Cologne Cathedral completed 14 August 1945: Japan surrendered to the United States, ending World War II. 14 August 1947: Pakistan became independent of British rule.
12 August 1851: Issac Singer patented the sewing machine. 12 August 1865: British surgeon Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use an antiseptic during surgery. 12 August 1877: Phonograph invented by Thomas Alva Edison 12 August 1883: Last Quagga Dies at Amsterdam’s Artis Magistra Zoo 12 August 1985: In the world’s worst single-aircraft disaster, a Japan Air Lines 747...
10 August 1519: Ferdinand Magellan Sets Sail to Circumnavigate Globe 10 August 1792: Louis XVI of France imprisoned 10 August 1821: Missouri became the 24th state in the United States. 10 August 1846: The Smithsonian Institution was established in Washington, D.C., from funds left by British scientist James Smithson. 10 August 1948: Candid Camera with Allen Funt debuted on television. 09...
06 August 1806: The Holy Roman Empire ended with the abdication of Emperor Francis II. 06 August 1945: The first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. 06 August 1962: Jamaica gained its independence within the Britain Commonwealth. The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. - Winston Churchill A bore is a man who...
05 August 1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island. 05 August 1914: The first electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio. 05 August 1962: Marilyn Monroe died. Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations. - Orson Welles Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a...
04 August 1704: Gibraltar captured by Britain 04 August 1914: Germany invaded Belgium and, in response, Britain declared war on Germany. 04 August 1944: Anne Frank and her family were found hiding in Amsterdam by Nazis. Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house. - Rod Stewart A man can be happy with any woman, as long as...
July 2009
3 posts
30 July 1932: The tenth modern Olympic Games opened in Los Angeles. 30 July 1956: The phrase “In God We Trust” was adopted as the U.S. national motto. 30 July 1975: Jimmy Hoffa Disappears from a Detroit Parking Lot 30 July 1980: The Republic of Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides, gained its independence from France and Britain. We need a president who’s fluent in...
28 July 1540: King Henry VIII of England’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed and Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. 28 July 1821: Peru declared its independence from Spain. 28 July 1868: The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which established the citizenship of African Americans and guaranteed due process of law, was ratified. 28 July 1914: Beginning of World...
07.17.09 I am fat. I just am. Clinically. Socially. In every definition of the word by all opinions. I shop in the plus sized sections and at plus sized stores. And I have to vent about something that has been bothering me for some time now. The big lady stores, the ones that specialise in the extended sizes, the plus sizes, the womens sizes, the real women sizes, the diva sizes…...
June 2009
7 posts
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. -Napoleon A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you. - Bert Leston Taylor
26 June 1819: The bicycle was patented by W. K. Clarkson. 26 June 1843: Hong Kong was proclaimed a British crown colony. 26 June 1906: The first Grand Prix motor race was held in Le Mans, France.
19 June 1846: First Baseball Game Played with Modern Rules. 19 June 1862: Congress abolished slavery in the U.S. territories. 19 June 1934: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created. 19 June 1953: Rosenbergs executed for espionage. 19 June 1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved.
18 June 1812: The War of 1812 began. 18 June 1815: Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by British, German, and Dutch forces. 18 June 1983: Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. I’ve done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not. - Fran Lebowitz If you’re going through hell, keep going. - Winston...