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344th day of 2010 - 21 remaining
Friday, December 10, 2010
NOBEL PRIZE DAY
Each year on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the prizes bearing his name are awarded “to those persons who shall have contributed most materially to the benefit of mankind during the year immediately preceding.” Alfred Bernhard Nobel died on this day in 1896 and the first of the Nobel Prizes was presented in 1901 according to instructions in his will. Nobel chose this method to ease his conscience after inventing the deadly explosive, dynamite. One of the richest men in the world, he also felt it would be wrong to leave his fortune to relatives. “Inherited wealth is a misfortune which merely serves to dull man’s faculties.”
Events December 10
1810 - The first interracial, title boxing bout was staged at Copthall Common in England. An American, Tom Molineaux, lost to Englishman Tom Cribb on a fluke punch. The fight went 40 rounds!
1817 - Mississippi, the state with the same name as the mighty river that borders it, and the 20th state, entered the USA this day. Although the Indian word, Mississippi, translates to ‘father of waters’, Mississippi’s nickname is the Magnolia State. Not so coincidentally, the state flower is the magnolia. The mockingbirds sitting on the branches of the magnolia trees are the state birds. Jackson, one of the largest cities in the state is also the state capital. Now, class, how were we taught to remember how to spell this state? All together now: M-i-s, s-i-s, s-i-p-p-i; or M-i-s-s, i-s-s, i-p-p-i; or M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i, crooked letter-crooked letter-i, humpback-humpback-i.
1896 - Intercollegiate basketball was played for the first time as Wesleyan University defeated Yale, 4-3, in New Haven, Connecticut.
1907 - Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel prize for literature.
1910 - Tenor Enrico Caruso and conductor Arturo Toscanini were featured at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the world premiere of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West.
1915 - The one-millionth Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line at the Ford Motor Co.
1927 - For the first time, famed radio announcer George Hay introduced the WSM Barn Dance as The Grand Ole Opry. The show’s title may have changed but it remained the home of country music.
1930 - Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded the haunting Mood Indigo on Victor Records. It became one of the Duke’s most famous standards.
1930 - Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky Wildcats defeated Georgetown College, 67-19. It was the first time Rupp coached Kentucky and he wowed the crowd on hand with a fast break style of basketball that was practically unheard of at the time. Rupp continued to coach at Kentucky for 44 years, winning 874 games and earning four national titles. The sports arena where the Wildcats play is named after Rupp.
1931 - Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American woman so honored.
1941 - Japanese troops landed on northern Luzon island in the Philippines. In the days that followed, the Japanese pushed American and Filipino troops slowly southward. By January 1942, they were concentrated on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor Island, near the mouth of Manila Bay and General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to evacuate to Australia.
1947 - The first Toys for Tots campaign was organized by Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, and a group of U.S. Marine Corps. reservists in Los Angeles, California.
1949 - Fats Domino recorded his first sides for Imperial Records. The legend from New Orleans recorded The Fat Man, one of the earliest rock and roll records. The title also turned into Domino’s nickname and stayed with him through his years of success. For those with a burning desire to know, Fats’ real name is Antoine. The Fat Man, incidentally, is thought to have been a million-seller, but that can’t be verified.
1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first black to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. He was undersecretary of the U.N. at the time.
1953 - With an investment of $7,600, Hugh Hefner published the first Playboy magazine. There is no date printed on the first issue -- now a collector’s item. The reason, according to Hef, is that he doubted anyone would expect a second issue to be printed. Included in this first issue: A classic, nude, calendar photo of actress Marilyn Monroe.
1953 - Harry Belafonte debuted on Broadway in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac at the Imperial Theatre. Critics hailed Belafonte’s performance as “electrifyingly sincere.” Also starring in the show: Hermione Gingold, Billy DeWolfe, Polly Bergen and Orson Bean.
1955 - The Big Surprise on NBC-TV awarded the largest amount of money given away on television. Mrs. Ethel Park Richardson of Los Angeles, CA may have needed an armored truck to carry away her $100,000 in cash.
1958 - The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. A National Airlines Boeing 707 flew 111 passengers from New York to Miami in about two and one-half hours.
1963 - Zanzibar became an independent sultanate within British Commonwealth.
1964 - Rev. Martin Luther King became a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace. He was the youngest person to have won the award.
1966 - The Beach Boys made a one-week stop at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as Good Vibrations made it to #1. It was the third #1 hit the group scored. The others were I Get Around and Help Me, Rhonda.
1967 - Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays (Otis’ backup group) were killed in the crash of a private plane near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding was 26 years old. His signature song, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was recorded three days before his death. It was #1 for four weeks beginning February 10, 1968. Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. The Bar-Kays biggest hit was in July, 1967: Soul Finger. James Alexander, bass player for the group, was not on the plane. Ben Cauley, trumpet player, survived the crash. The group played for a time with various new members.
1971 - William H. Rehnquist was confirmed by the Senate, 68-26, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice. He replaced Justice John Harlan who resigned in September 1971. Rehnquist joined the Court on January 7, 1972, the same day as Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
1974 - Helios 1 was launched by the U.S. and Germany. The satellite later made the closest flyby of the Sun.
1977 - In only his second year of riding, Steve Cauthen became the first jockey to win $6-million in a single season. Cauthen was dubbed ‘The Six Million Dollar Kid’, and ‘Stevie Wonder’ by his admirers and was named 1977 Sportsman of the Year by "Sports Illustrated", the Associated Press, "ABC’s Wide World of Sports" and "The Sporting News".
1978 - In Oslo, Menachem Begin & Anwar Sadat accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1982 - Heavyweight Michael Dokes knocked out Mike Weaver at 1:03 of the first round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1983 - Danuta Walesa, wife of Polish labor leader Lech Walesa, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway on behalf of her husband.
1986 - Exxon announced the sale of its Manhattan landmark, the 53-story Exxon Building, to a Japanese real estate developer. The price tag was $610 million.
1988 - Chicago’s Look Away was the #1 single in the U.S. It was one of three top-ten hits from the Chicago 19 album (the others were I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love and You’re Not Alone).
1990 - Industrialist Armand Hammer died at the age of 92.
1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s Son of Sam Law that forced criminals’ profits for selling their stories to be seized and given to their victims. The High Court held that the New York law was inconsistent with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1991 - Alan Freed, the disc jockey credited with giving ‘Rock and Roll’ its name, was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Freed died Jan 20, 1965.)
1991 - Physicist Paul Kunz wrote and posted the first American Web page this day. As an aside to his work smashing and studying subatomic particles, he set up the first Web server outside Western Europe as a way of providing easier access to a database of scientific paper abstracts. Kunz didn't invent the Web. That credit goes to Tim Berners-Lee, an English researcher at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland (later the head of the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C] standards body). But with his powerful, practical demonstration of the Web’s potential, Kunz arguably set off a chain of events that turned the Web into a staple: first of academic research, and ultimately of everyday life.
1993 - South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela accepted their Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
1994 - Kenny G’s Miracles: The Holiday Album was number one in the U.S. It became the best selling Christmas album in history, selling over 8 million albums as of 2000. The tracks: Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silent Night, Greensleeves, Miracles, Little Drummer Boy, The Chanukah Song, Silver Bells, Away in a Manger and Brahms Lullaby.
1995 - The first group of U.S. Marines arrived in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to join NATO soldiers sent to enforce peace in the former Yugoslavia.
1995 - Kweisi Mfume, a U.S. Congressional Representative from Maryland, was elected to lead the NAACP.
1996 - Roman Catholic Bishop Filipe Ximenes Belo and exiled activist José Ramos-Horta, opponents of Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1998 - Six U.S. astronauts jubilantly swung open the doors to the new international space station, becoming the first guests aboard the 250-mile-high outpost.
1999 - These flicks opened in the U.S.: The Cider House Rules, starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Irving won the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published); Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (“He charges $10 but he’s willing to negotiate.”), with Rob Schneider, William Forsythe and Eddie Griffin; The End of the Affair (“The end was just the beginning.”), starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea; and The Green Mile (“Walk a mile you'll never forget.”), starring Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt and Michael Clarke Duncan (this one was nominated for a bunch of Oscars.
2000 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak submitted his resignation, starting the countdown toward a special election.
2000 - Jack S. Kilby received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the microchip (1958); Zhores Alferov of Russia and Herbert Kroemer of UC Santa Barbara shared the prize for their work on heterostructure semiconductors; and Kim Dae Jung, president of South Korea, received the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign to unify the country.
2001 - Secretary-General Kofi Annan accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of himself and the United Nations.
2002 - U.S. President George Bush (II) named 71-year-old William Donaldson, co-founder of Wall Street brokerage firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
2003 - Big Fish premiered in the U.S. The drama stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange and Alison Lohman.
2003 - U.S. allies that opposed the war in Iraq were angered and surprised by the Pentagon’s decision to bar their companies from bidding for $18.6 billion worth of reconstruction contracts, with France questioning its legality and Canada threatening to halt aid. The 63-nation eligibility list excluded Germany, France, Russia and China.
2004 - Ocean’s Twelve debuted in U.S. theatres. The crime thriller stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Vincent Cassel, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison and Carl Reiner.
2004 - United Flight 869 landed in Vietnam. It was the first U.S. passenger jet to do so since the end of the Vietnam War.
2005 - 109 of the 110 people on board were killed when Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (inbound from the Nigerian capital of Abuja) crash-landed at Port Harcourt International Airport, Nigeria.
2005 - The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, received the Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo City Hall, Norway.
2006 - 3,000 firefighters battled some of Australia’s worst wildfires in 70 years. Throughout December 2006, large bushfires raged through national parks and other remote areas of Victoria’s Barry Mountains.
2006 - Boston opened its new $41-million Institute of Contemporary Art, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro architects. Three dozen works by 27 internationally high-profile artists were shown in Super Vision, the inagural showcase exhibition at the ICA.
2007 - Led Zeppelin performed their first full concert in nearly three decades -- in London. Three surviving members, singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, were joined by the late John Bonham’s son Jason on drums.
2008 - Taha Abdul-Rahman of Sydney was jailed for 3½ years in Australia for buying seven rocket launchers stolen from the military between 2001 and 2003.
2009 - A consortium including Google and KDDI Corp signed a deal to build and operate a $400-million, 17Tbps international undersea cable system. Globe Telecom, part owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, and units of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were also part of the consortium.
2009 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that nearly 10,000 people had died from H1N1 influenza through Nov 14, 2009. Over 200,000 people were reported to have been hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic 7 months earlier. The CDC estimated 50 million Americans had contacted the disease.
2010 - Movies debuting in U.S. theatres: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter and Bill Nighy; The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Thomas Kee, Craig Mathers, Gary Galone and Tommy Lee Jones; The Fighter, with Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo and Dendrie Taylor; The Garden of Eden, with Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Richard E. Grant, Caterina Murino and Carmen Maura; The Tempest, starring Helen Mirren, Chris Cooper, Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming and Djimon Hounsou; and The Tourist, staring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Rufus Sewell, Clément Sibony and Timothy Dalton
Birthdays December 10
1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
educator: founded first public school for deaf children [now the American School for the Deaf]; died Sep, 10 1851
1830 - Emily ****inson
poet: This is My letter to the World, If You Were Coming in the Fall, Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church, Because I Could Not Stop for Death; died May 15, 1886
1851 - Melvil Dewey
librarian: inventor of the Dewey Decimal System; died Dec 26, 1931
1903 - Mary Norton
author: children’s books: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Borrowers; died Aug 29, 1992
1906 - Harold Adamson
lyricist: Time on My Hands, Daybreak; died Aug 17, 1980
1911 - Chet (Chester Robert) Huntley
Emmy Award-winning newscaster: co-anchor [w/David Brinkley]: The Huntley-Brinkley Report [1958-1959, 1959-1960, 1960-1961, 1961-1962, 1962-1963, 1963-1964]; died Mar 20, 1974
1913 - Morton Gould
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer: Stringmusic [1995]; Fall River Legend, Billion Dollar Baby; film score: Delightfully Dangerous; died Feb 21, 1996
1914 - Dorothy Lamour (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton)
actress: Road to Singapore and other ‘Road’ movies with Bob Hope; The Love Goddesses, Pajama Party, Donovan’s Reef, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Hurricane; Miss New Orleans [1931]; died Sep 22, 1996
1918 - Anne Gwynne
actress: Adam at Six A.M., Phantom of the Jungle, The Enchanted Valley, The Glass Alibi, Moon Over Las Vegas, Men of Texas, The Blazing Sun; died Mar 31, 2003
1919 - John Hammond
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer: talent scout: discovered Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan; died July 10, 1987
1923 - Harold Gould
actor: Romero, Dream Chasers, Seems Like Old Times, Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, The Sting, Rhoda, Under One Roof, The Golden Girls, Spencer, Singer & Sons, He & She, The Feather and Father Gang; died Sep 11, 2010
1924 - Ken Albers
bass singer: group: The Four Freshmen: LPs: And Five Trumpets, And Five Saxes, In Person, Voices in Love, And Five Guitars; died Apr 19, 2007
1927 - Joe Olivier
musician: guitar: group: Bill Haley and His Comets [1957, 1958]; solo as Cappy Bianco; died Dec 25, 2001
1928 - Dan Blocker
actor: Bonanza, Cimarron City, Come Blow Your Horn, Lady in Cement, Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County; died May 13, 1972
1933 - Mako (Makoto Iwamatsu)
actor: Red Sun Rising, Sidekicks, Taking Care of Business, Pacific Heights, Kung Fu: The Movie, Conan the Destroyer, Sand Pebbles, Hawaiian Heat; died July 21, 2006
1941 - Fionnula Flanagan
Emmy Award-winning actress: Rich Man, Poor Man [2/2/76], Money for Nothing, Youngblood, Picture of Dorian Gray, How the West was Won, Hard Copy
1941 - Tommy Kirk
actor: Blood of Ghastly Horror, Village of the Giants, Pajama Party, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Shaggy Dog, Old Yeller, Bikini Beach
1941 - Tommy Rettig
actor: Lassie, The Cobweb, River of No Return, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T; died Feb 15, 1996
1943 - Chad Stuart
musician: guitar, lyricist, singer: duo: Chad & Jeremy: Yesterday’s Gone, A Summer Song, Willow Weep for Me, If I Loved You, Before and After, I Don’t Wanna Lose You Baby, Distant Shores; emcee for The Smothers Brothers Show
1944 - Steve (Steven) Renko
basebal: pitcher: Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, KC Royals
1944 - Tisha (Patricia) Sterling
actress: Killer Inside Me, Betrayal, Snatched, Powder Keg, Defiant, Coogan’s Bluff
1946 - Christopher ‘Ace’ Kefford
musician: bass: group: The Move: Night of Fear, I Can Hear the Grass Grow, Flowers in the Rain, Fire Brigade, Blackberry Way
1946 - Gloria Loring
singer: Friends and Lovers, I Get a Kick Out of You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You, From Here to There, Here, There and Everywhere; actress: Renegade, Days of Our Lives, Mike Hammer, Fantasy Island
1946 - Walter ‘Clyde’ Orange
musician: drums, singer: group: The Commodores: Machine Gun, Just to Be Close to You, Sweet Love, Easy, Sail On, Three Times a Lady, Still, Nightshift
1947 - Bob Birdsell
hockey: WHL: Salt Lake Golden Eagles; CHL: Kansas City Blues, Amarillo Wranglers; AHL: Hershey Bears
1948 - Jessica Cleaves
singer: group: Friends of Distinction: Grazing in the Grass
1950 - Lloyd Neal
basketball: Portland Trailblazers
1951 - Johnny Rodriguez
singer: Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico
1952 - Susan Dey
actress: The Partridge Family, L.A. Law, Love and War, Emerald Point N.A.S., Blue River, Sunset Limousine, Comeback Kid, First Love
1953 - DAVE Tipton
football: Western Illinois, New England Patriots DL
1954 - Jack Hues
musician: guitar, keyboards; singer: group: Wang Chung: Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Dance Hall Days
1959 - Mark Aguirre
basketball: NBA Dallas Mavericks: led NBA in field goals [925 in 1983-84], Detroit Pistons: NBA Championship teams [1989, 1990]
1960 - Kenneth Branagh
actor: Henry V, Another Country, Othello, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Much Ado About Nothing, Look Back in Anger; autobiography: Beginning; cofounder: Renaissance Theater Company in England
1963 - Doug Henry
baseball [pitcher]: Arizona State Univ; Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals
1968 - Rob Davis
football [defensive tackle]: NFL: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers
1973 - Rusty LaRue
basketball [guard]: Wake Forest Univ; NBA: Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors
1974 - Meg White
musician: drums: duo: The White Stripes: Blue Orchid, Jolene Live Under Blackpool Lights, Hardest Button to Button, Hotel Yorba, Fell in Love With a Girl, Seven Nation Army
1975 - Joe Mays
baseball [pitcher]: Minnesota Twins
1978 - Summer Phoenix
actress: The Faculty, Can’t Hardly Wait, Russkies, Suzie Gold
1983 - Patrick Flueger
actor: The 4400, The Princess Diaries, The World’s Fastest Indian, Scoundrels, You Are Here, Paradise, Twelve Mile Road, The Job
1985 - Raven-Symoné
actress: The Cheetah Girls series, Dr. Dolittle series, The Little Rascals, The Muppets at Walt Disney World
Chart Toppers December 10
1945It’s Been a Long, Long Time - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal Kitty Kallen)
That’s for Me - **** Haymes
It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
It’s Been So Long Darling - Ernest Tubb
1954Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
Count Your Blessings - Eddie Fisher
Dim Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere) - Bill Haley & His Comets
More and More - Webb Pierce
1963Dominique - The Singing Nun
Everybody - Tommy Roe
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1972I Am Woman - Helen Reddy
If You Don’t Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
You Ought to Be with Me - Al Green
Got the All Overs for You (All Over Me) - Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats
1981Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police
Bet Your Heart on Me - Johnny Lee
1990Because I Love You (The Postman Song) - Stevie B
From a Distance - Bette Midler
Justify My Love - Madonna
I’ve Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
1999Heartbreaker - Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z
Waiting for Tonight - Jennifer Lopez
(You Drive Me) Crazy - Britney Spears
When I Said I Do - Clint Black (featuring Lisa Hartman Black)
2008Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
I’m Yours - Jason Mraz
Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
Enjoy All
Chart Topper December 10th, 1981...Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Friday, December 10, 2010
NOBEL PRIZE DAY
Each year on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the prizes bearing his name are awarded “to those persons who shall have contributed most materially to the benefit of mankind during the year immediately preceding.” Alfred Bernhard Nobel died on this day in 1896 and the first of the Nobel Prizes was presented in 1901 according to instructions in his will. Nobel chose this method to ease his conscience after inventing the deadly explosive, dynamite. One of the richest men in the world, he also felt it would be wrong to leave his fortune to relatives. “Inherited wealth is a misfortune which merely serves to dull man’s faculties.”
Events December 10
1810 - The first interracial, title boxing bout was staged at Copthall Common in England. An American, Tom Molineaux, lost to Englishman Tom Cribb on a fluke punch. The fight went 40 rounds!
1817 - Mississippi, the state with the same name as the mighty river that borders it, and the 20th state, entered the USA this day. Although the Indian word, Mississippi, translates to ‘father of waters’, Mississippi’s nickname is the Magnolia State. Not so coincidentally, the state flower is the magnolia. The mockingbirds sitting on the branches of the magnolia trees are the state birds. Jackson, one of the largest cities in the state is also the state capital. Now, class, how were we taught to remember how to spell this state? All together now: M-i-s, s-i-s, s-i-p-p-i; or M-i-s-s, i-s-s, i-p-p-i; or M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i, crooked letter-crooked letter-i, humpback-humpback-i.
1896 - Intercollegiate basketball was played for the first time as Wesleyan University defeated Yale, 4-3, in New Haven, Connecticut.
1907 - Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel prize for literature.
1910 - Tenor Enrico Caruso and conductor Arturo Toscanini were featured at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the world premiere of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West.
1915 - The one-millionth Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line at the Ford Motor Co.
1927 - For the first time, famed radio announcer George Hay introduced the WSM Barn Dance as The Grand Ole Opry. The show’s title may have changed but it remained the home of country music.
1930 - Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded the haunting Mood Indigo on Victor Records. It became one of the Duke’s most famous standards.
1930 - Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky Wildcats defeated Georgetown College, 67-19. It was the first time Rupp coached Kentucky and he wowed the crowd on hand with a fast break style of basketball that was practically unheard of at the time. Rupp continued to coach at Kentucky for 44 years, winning 874 games and earning four national titles. The sports arena where the Wildcats play is named after Rupp.
1931 - Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American woman so honored.
1941 - Japanese troops landed on northern Luzon island in the Philippines. In the days that followed, the Japanese pushed American and Filipino troops slowly southward. By January 1942, they were concentrated on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor Island, near the mouth of Manila Bay and General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to evacuate to Australia.
1947 - The first Toys for Tots campaign was organized by Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, and a group of U.S. Marine Corps. reservists in Los Angeles, California.
1949 - Fats Domino recorded his first sides for Imperial Records. The legend from New Orleans recorded The Fat Man, one of the earliest rock and roll records. The title also turned into Domino’s nickname and stayed with him through his years of success. For those with a burning desire to know, Fats’ real name is Antoine. The Fat Man, incidentally, is thought to have been a million-seller, but that can’t be verified.
1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first black to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. He was undersecretary of the U.N. at the time.
1953 - With an investment of $7,600, Hugh Hefner published the first Playboy magazine. There is no date printed on the first issue -- now a collector’s item. The reason, according to Hef, is that he doubted anyone would expect a second issue to be printed. Included in this first issue: A classic, nude, calendar photo of actress Marilyn Monroe.
1953 - Harry Belafonte debuted on Broadway in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac at the Imperial Theatre. Critics hailed Belafonte’s performance as “electrifyingly sincere.” Also starring in the show: Hermione Gingold, Billy DeWolfe, Polly Bergen and Orson Bean.
1955 - The Big Surprise on NBC-TV awarded the largest amount of money given away on television. Mrs. Ethel Park Richardson of Los Angeles, CA may have needed an armored truck to carry away her $100,000 in cash.
1958 - The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. A National Airlines Boeing 707 flew 111 passengers from New York to Miami in about two and one-half hours.
1963 - Zanzibar became an independent sultanate within British Commonwealth.
1964 - Rev. Martin Luther King became a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace. He was the youngest person to have won the award.
1966 - The Beach Boys made a one-week stop at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as Good Vibrations made it to #1. It was the third #1 hit the group scored. The others were I Get Around and Help Me, Rhonda.
1967 - Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays (Otis’ backup group) were killed in the crash of a private plane near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding was 26 years old. His signature song, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was recorded three days before his death. It was #1 for four weeks beginning February 10, 1968. Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. The Bar-Kays biggest hit was in July, 1967: Soul Finger. James Alexander, bass player for the group, was not on the plane. Ben Cauley, trumpet player, survived the crash. The group played for a time with various new members.
1971 - William H. Rehnquist was confirmed by the Senate, 68-26, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice. He replaced Justice John Harlan who resigned in September 1971. Rehnquist joined the Court on January 7, 1972, the same day as Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
1974 - Helios 1 was launched by the U.S. and Germany. The satellite later made the closest flyby of the Sun.
1977 - In only his second year of riding, Steve Cauthen became the first jockey to win $6-million in a single season. Cauthen was dubbed ‘The Six Million Dollar Kid’, and ‘Stevie Wonder’ by his admirers and was named 1977 Sportsman of the Year by "Sports Illustrated", the Associated Press, "ABC’s Wide World of Sports" and "The Sporting News".
1978 - In Oslo, Menachem Begin & Anwar Sadat accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1982 - Heavyweight Michael Dokes knocked out Mike Weaver at 1:03 of the first round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1983 - Danuta Walesa, wife of Polish labor leader Lech Walesa, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway on behalf of her husband.
1986 - Exxon announced the sale of its Manhattan landmark, the 53-story Exxon Building, to a Japanese real estate developer. The price tag was $610 million.
1988 - Chicago’s Look Away was the #1 single in the U.S. It was one of three top-ten hits from the Chicago 19 album (the others were I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love and You’re Not Alone).
1990 - Industrialist Armand Hammer died at the age of 92.
1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s Son of Sam Law that forced criminals’ profits for selling their stories to be seized and given to their victims. The High Court held that the New York law was inconsistent with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1991 - Alan Freed, the disc jockey credited with giving ‘Rock and Roll’ its name, was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Freed died Jan 20, 1965.)
1991 - Physicist Paul Kunz wrote and posted the first American Web page this day. As an aside to his work smashing and studying subatomic particles, he set up the first Web server outside Western Europe as a way of providing easier access to a database of scientific paper abstracts. Kunz didn't invent the Web. That credit goes to Tim Berners-Lee, an English researcher at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland (later the head of the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C] standards body). But with his powerful, practical demonstration of the Web’s potential, Kunz arguably set off a chain of events that turned the Web into a staple: first of academic research, and ultimately of everyday life.
1993 - South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela accepted their Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
1994 - Kenny G’s Miracles: The Holiday Album was number one in the U.S. It became the best selling Christmas album in history, selling over 8 million albums as of 2000. The tracks: Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silent Night, Greensleeves, Miracles, Little Drummer Boy, The Chanukah Song, Silver Bells, Away in a Manger and Brahms Lullaby.
1995 - The first group of U.S. Marines arrived in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to join NATO soldiers sent to enforce peace in the former Yugoslavia.
1995 - Kweisi Mfume, a U.S. Congressional Representative from Maryland, was elected to lead the NAACP.
1996 - Roman Catholic Bishop Filipe Ximenes Belo and exiled activist José Ramos-Horta, opponents of Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1998 - Six U.S. astronauts jubilantly swung open the doors to the new international space station, becoming the first guests aboard the 250-mile-high outpost.
1999 - These flicks opened in the U.S.: The Cider House Rules, starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Irving won the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published); Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (“He charges $10 but he’s willing to negotiate.”), with Rob Schneider, William Forsythe and Eddie Griffin; The End of the Affair (“The end was just the beginning.”), starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea; and The Green Mile (“Walk a mile you'll never forget.”), starring Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt and Michael Clarke Duncan (this one was nominated for a bunch of Oscars.
2000 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak submitted his resignation, starting the countdown toward a special election.
2000 - Jack S. Kilby received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the microchip (1958); Zhores Alferov of Russia and Herbert Kroemer of UC Santa Barbara shared the prize for their work on heterostructure semiconductors; and Kim Dae Jung, president of South Korea, received the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign to unify the country.
2001 - Secretary-General Kofi Annan accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of himself and the United Nations.
2002 - U.S. President George Bush (II) named 71-year-old William Donaldson, co-founder of Wall Street brokerage firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
2003 - Big Fish premiered in the U.S. The drama stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange and Alison Lohman.
2003 - U.S. allies that opposed the war in Iraq were angered and surprised by the Pentagon’s decision to bar their companies from bidding for $18.6 billion worth of reconstruction contracts, with France questioning its legality and Canada threatening to halt aid. The 63-nation eligibility list excluded Germany, France, Russia and China.
2004 - Ocean’s Twelve debuted in U.S. theatres. The crime thriller stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Vincent Cassel, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison and Carl Reiner.
2004 - United Flight 869 landed in Vietnam. It was the first U.S. passenger jet to do so since the end of the Vietnam War.
2005 - 109 of the 110 people on board were killed when Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (inbound from the Nigerian capital of Abuja) crash-landed at Port Harcourt International Airport, Nigeria.
2005 - The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, received the Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo City Hall, Norway.
2006 - 3,000 firefighters battled some of Australia’s worst wildfires in 70 years. Throughout December 2006, large bushfires raged through national parks and other remote areas of Victoria’s Barry Mountains.
2006 - Boston opened its new $41-million Institute of Contemporary Art, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro architects. Three dozen works by 27 internationally high-profile artists were shown in Super Vision, the inagural showcase exhibition at the ICA.
2007 - Led Zeppelin performed their first full concert in nearly three decades -- in London. Three surviving members, singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, were joined by the late John Bonham’s son Jason on drums.
2008 - Taha Abdul-Rahman of Sydney was jailed for 3½ years in Australia for buying seven rocket launchers stolen from the military between 2001 and 2003.
2009 - A consortium including Google and KDDI Corp signed a deal to build and operate a $400-million, 17Tbps international undersea cable system. Globe Telecom, part owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, and units of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were also part of the consortium.
2009 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that nearly 10,000 people had died from H1N1 influenza through Nov 14, 2009. Over 200,000 people were reported to have been hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic 7 months earlier. The CDC estimated 50 million Americans had contacted the disease.
2010 - Movies debuting in U.S. theatres: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter and Bill Nighy; The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Thomas Kee, Craig Mathers, Gary Galone and Tommy Lee Jones; The Fighter, with Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo and Dendrie Taylor; The Garden of Eden, with Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Richard E. Grant, Caterina Murino and Carmen Maura; The Tempest, starring Helen Mirren, Chris Cooper, Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming and Djimon Hounsou; and The Tourist, staring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Rufus Sewell, Clément Sibony and Timothy Dalton
Birthdays December 10
1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
educator: founded first public school for deaf children [now the American School for the Deaf]; died Sep, 10 1851
1830 - Emily ****inson
poet: This is My letter to the World, If You Were Coming in the Fall, Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church, Because I Could Not Stop for Death; died May 15, 1886
1851 - Melvil Dewey
librarian: inventor of the Dewey Decimal System; died Dec 26, 1931
1903 - Mary Norton
author: children’s books: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Borrowers; died Aug 29, 1992
1906 - Harold Adamson
lyricist: Time on My Hands, Daybreak; died Aug 17, 1980
1911 - Chet (Chester Robert) Huntley
Emmy Award-winning newscaster: co-anchor [w/David Brinkley]: The Huntley-Brinkley Report [1958-1959, 1959-1960, 1960-1961, 1961-1962, 1962-1963, 1963-1964]; died Mar 20, 1974
1913 - Morton Gould
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer: Stringmusic [1995]; Fall River Legend, Billion Dollar Baby; film score: Delightfully Dangerous; died Feb 21, 1996
1914 - Dorothy Lamour (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton)
actress: Road to Singapore and other ‘Road’ movies with Bob Hope; The Love Goddesses, Pajama Party, Donovan’s Reef, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Hurricane; Miss New Orleans [1931]; died Sep 22, 1996
1918 - Anne Gwynne
actress: Adam at Six A.M., Phantom of the Jungle, The Enchanted Valley, The Glass Alibi, Moon Over Las Vegas, Men of Texas, The Blazing Sun; died Mar 31, 2003
1919 - John Hammond
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer: talent scout: discovered Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan; died July 10, 1987
1923 - Harold Gould
actor: Romero, Dream Chasers, Seems Like Old Times, Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, The Sting, Rhoda, Under One Roof, The Golden Girls, Spencer, Singer & Sons, He & She, The Feather and Father Gang; died Sep 11, 2010
1924 - Ken Albers
bass singer: group: The Four Freshmen: LPs: And Five Trumpets, And Five Saxes, In Person, Voices in Love, And Five Guitars; died Apr 19, 2007
1927 - Joe Olivier
musician: guitar: group: Bill Haley and His Comets [1957, 1958]; solo as Cappy Bianco; died Dec 25, 2001
1928 - Dan Blocker
actor: Bonanza, Cimarron City, Come Blow Your Horn, Lady in Cement, Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County; died May 13, 1972
1933 - Mako (Makoto Iwamatsu)
actor: Red Sun Rising, Sidekicks, Taking Care of Business, Pacific Heights, Kung Fu: The Movie, Conan the Destroyer, Sand Pebbles, Hawaiian Heat; died July 21, 2006
1941 - Fionnula Flanagan
Emmy Award-winning actress: Rich Man, Poor Man [2/2/76], Money for Nothing, Youngblood, Picture of Dorian Gray, How the West was Won, Hard Copy
1941 - Tommy Kirk
actor: Blood of Ghastly Horror, Village of the Giants, Pajama Party, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Shaggy Dog, Old Yeller, Bikini Beach
1941 - Tommy Rettig
actor: Lassie, The Cobweb, River of No Return, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T; died Feb 15, 1996
1943 - Chad Stuart
musician: guitar, lyricist, singer: duo: Chad & Jeremy: Yesterday’s Gone, A Summer Song, Willow Weep for Me, If I Loved You, Before and After, I Don’t Wanna Lose You Baby, Distant Shores; emcee for The Smothers Brothers Show
1944 - Steve (Steven) Renko
basebal: pitcher: Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, KC Royals
1944 - Tisha (Patricia) Sterling
actress: Killer Inside Me, Betrayal, Snatched, Powder Keg, Defiant, Coogan’s Bluff
1946 - Christopher ‘Ace’ Kefford
musician: bass: group: The Move: Night of Fear, I Can Hear the Grass Grow, Flowers in the Rain, Fire Brigade, Blackberry Way
1946 - Gloria Loring
singer: Friends and Lovers, I Get a Kick Out of You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You, From Here to There, Here, There and Everywhere; actress: Renegade, Days of Our Lives, Mike Hammer, Fantasy Island
1946 - Walter ‘Clyde’ Orange
musician: drums, singer: group: The Commodores: Machine Gun, Just to Be Close to You, Sweet Love, Easy, Sail On, Three Times a Lady, Still, Nightshift
1947 - Bob Birdsell
hockey: WHL: Salt Lake Golden Eagles; CHL: Kansas City Blues, Amarillo Wranglers; AHL: Hershey Bears
1948 - Jessica Cleaves
singer: group: Friends of Distinction: Grazing in the Grass
1950 - Lloyd Neal
basketball: Portland Trailblazers
1951 - Johnny Rodriguez
singer: Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico
1952 - Susan Dey
actress: The Partridge Family, L.A. Law, Love and War, Emerald Point N.A.S., Blue River, Sunset Limousine, Comeback Kid, First Love
1953 - DAVE Tipton
football: Western Illinois, New England Patriots DL
1954 - Jack Hues
musician: guitar, keyboards; singer: group: Wang Chung: Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Dance Hall Days
1959 - Mark Aguirre
basketball: NBA Dallas Mavericks: led NBA in field goals [925 in 1983-84], Detroit Pistons: NBA Championship teams [1989, 1990]
1960 - Kenneth Branagh
actor: Henry V, Another Country, Othello, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Much Ado About Nothing, Look Back in Anger; autobiography: Beginning; cofounder: Renaissance Theater Company in England
1963 - Doug Henry
baseball [pitcher]: Arizona State Univ; Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals
1968 - Rob Davis
football [defensive tackle]: NFL: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers
1973 - Rusty LaRue
basketball [guard]: Wake Forest Univ; NBA: Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors
1974 - Meg White
musician: drums: duo: The White Stripes: Blue Orchid, Jolene Live Under Blackpool Lights, Hardest Button to Button, Hotel Yorba, Fell in Love With a Girl, Seven Nation Army
1975 - Joe Mays
baseball [pitcher]: Minnesota Twins
1978 - Summer Phoenix
actress: The Faculty, Can’t Hardly Wait, Russkies, Suzie Gold
1983 - Patrick Flueger
actor: The 4400, The Princess Diaries, The World’s Fastest Indian, Scoundrels, You Are Here, Paradise, Twelve Mile Road, The Job
1985 - Raven-Symoné
actress: The Cheetah Girls series, Dr. Dolittle series, The Little Rascals, The Muppets at Walt Disney World
Chart Toppers December 10
1945It’s Been a Long, Long Time - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal Kitty Kallen)
That’s for Me - **** Haymes
It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
It’s Been So Long Darling - Ernest Tubb
1954Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
Count Your Blessings - Eddie Fisher
Dim Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere) - Bill Haley & His Comets
More and More - Webb Pierce
1963Dominique - The Singing Nun
Everybody - Tommy Roe
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1972I Am Woman - Helen Reddy
If You Don’t Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
You Ought to Be with Me - Al Green
Got the All Overs for You (All Over Me) - Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats
1981Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police
Bet Your Heart on Me - Johnny Lee
1990Because I Love You (The Postman Song) - Stevie B
From a Distance - Bette Midler
Justify My Love - Madonna
I’ve Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
1999Heartbreaker - Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z
Waiting for Tonight - Jennifer Lopez
(You Drive Me) Crazy - Britney Spears
When I Said I Do - Clint Black (featuring Lisa Hartman Black)
2008Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
I’m Yours - Jason Mraz
Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
Enjoy All
Chart Topper December 10th, 1981...Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
