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362nd day of 2010 - 3 remaining
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
ALMANACK DAY
The Pennsylvania Gazette, owned by Benjamin Franklin, ran an ad for the first issue of Poor Richard’s Almanack on this day in 1732. The ad promised “...Many pleasant and witty verses, jests and sayings ... new fashions, games for kisses ... men and melons ... breakfast in bed, &c.”
Poor Richard’s Almanack was published from 1733 to 1757 by Richard Saunders, who was really Ben Franklin. An almanac is a calendar, but Franklin found room on his calendars to include short, witty sayings about daily situations. This unique idea was a popular success and Franklin became very rich.
Here are some of the epigrams Ben served up in Poor Richard’s Almanack:
*Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
*Let thy maidservant be faithful, strong, and homely.
*God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.
Not all of the maxims were as pointed or cynical. Writing in 1754, he advised:
*Think of three things: whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.
Franklin earned so much money with his almanack that, for the first time in his life, he could enjoy the luxury of leisure time. He began to fly kites (experimenting with electricity) and you know the rest of that story...
Events December 28
1846 - Exactly one year and one day after the 28th state entered the Union, the United States of America grew one state larger by adding Iowa. The 29th state’s name is derived from an American Indian word meaning ‘the beautiful land’. It is widely thought that Iowa’s nickname, the Hawkeye State, is in honor of Black Hawk, the famous Indian chief who led the Sauk and Fox tribes against the Iowa area settlers in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Iowa City was the first capital of Iowa. 11 years later, Des Moines, the state’s largest city, became the permanent capital. The Iowa state Bird is the eastern goldfinch, the state flower, the wild rose, and the state motto: “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”
1869 - William Finley Semple of Mt. Vernon, Ohio patented “the combination of rubber with other articles adapted to the formation of an acceptable chewing gum.” Yikes! Sounds to us, here in the lab, that this guy was trying to make tires, not chewing gum!
1877 - John Stevens, of Neenah, WI, applied for a patent for his flour-rolling mill which boosted production by 70%. We can thank John for all of that flat flour we have today.
1902 - The first World Series of pro football was played -- at Madison Square Garden in New York City. New York and Syracuse played in the indoor football game before 3,000 on this day. Syracuse, with Glen (Pop) Warner at guard, won 6-0 and went on to win the tournament.
1912 - The first municipally-owned street cars took to the streets of San Francisco, California. The first car was named, RICE-A-RONI. (We’re still checking that last fact.)
1941 - The Helen Hayes Theater, on CBS radio, was called the first casualty of World War II. Lipton Tea dropped sponsorship of the program as it prepared for shortages in tea imports from India.
1944 - The musical, On the Town, opened in New York City for a run of 462 performances. It was Leonard Bernstein’s first big Broadway success. The show’s hit song, New York, New York, continues to be successful.
1945 - The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.
1948 - Premier Nokrashy Pasha of Egypt was assassinated by a member of the outlawed Moslem Brotherhood because of his failure to achieve victory in the war against Israel.
1956 - After five years on television, the last Ding Dong School was seen on NBC-TV. Miss Frances (Dr. Frances Horwich) rang the bell for one last time this day.
1957 - At the Hop, by Danny and The Juniors, hit #1 on the music charts. It stayed at the top spot for seven weeks. The title of the tune was originally Do the Bop, but was changed at the suggestion of ‘America’s Oldest Living Teenager’ **** Clark. Trivia: Danny and The Juniors filled in for a group that failed to appear on Clark’s American Bandstand show in Philadelphia. He called The Juniors to come into the studio immediately. They did and lip-synced At The Hop (written by Junior, DAVE White and a friend, John Medora). It took off like a rocket to number one. (A few years later, Danny and The Juniors handed stardom to Chubby Checker when they failed to appear on Clark’s show.) I’m Casey Kasem in Hollywood. Keep your feet on the ground. Keep reaching for the stars...
1958 - An exciting football game was played this day. The National Football League championship game saw quarterback Johnny Unitas lead the Baltimore Colts over the New York Giants, 23-17, in an extra sudden-death overtime.
1961 - Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana premiered at the Royale Theatre in New York City.
1963 - American journalist and writer A.J. (Abbott Joseph) Liebling died. (“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”)
1964 - Principal filming of the movie classic, Doctor Zhivago, began on location near Madrid, Spain. When completed, the film was 197 minutes long and so spectacular that it received ten Oscar nominations, winning five of the Academy Awards, including Best Original Score. Remember Lara’s Theme?
1968 - The (double) album named The Beatles (called by most, The White Album) was #1 in the U.S. It was the Beatles’ first album on their own Apple label and was #1 for nine weeks. The tracks: Back in the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Wild Honey Pie, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Martha My Dear, I’m So Tired, Blackbird , Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Don’t Pass Me By, Why Don’t We Do It in the Road, I Will, Julia, Birthday, Yer Blues, Mother Nature’s Son, Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, Sexy Sadie, Helter Skelter, Long, Long, Long, Revolution I, Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, Cry Baby Cry, Revolution 9, and Good Night.
1973 - The Chamber of Commerce of Akron, OH terminated its association with the All-American Soap Box Derby, stating that the race had become “a victim of cheating and fraud.” Overanxious youngsters and their dads were found to be hiding things like heavy lead in secret places in the home-built cars; and they could also do funny things with the wheels to make them spin faster; and some cars were designed like Indy cars instead of soap box cars. “Clever... but unfair,” the folks in Akron said.
1973 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn published first volume of his Gulag Archipelago in Paris. It was an expose of the Soviet prison and labor camps. The publication led to his expulsion from the Soviet Union in February of 1974.
1974 - A 5.5 magnitude earthquake in the Karakom mountains of Pakistan killed 5,200 people. Another 16,000 were injured.
1981 - WEA Records (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) raised the price of its 45 rpm records from $1.68 to $1.98 this day. The company was the leader of the pack with other labels soon boosting their prices. Within a few years, the 45 rpm record was boosted right out of existence.
1983 - The Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson drowned in Marina Del Ray, California while diving at the location where his boat Harmony was docked. Autopsy reports showed Wilson was legally drunk. He had been diving to bringing up personal items that he had previously thrown overboard. Some accounts say that Dennis brought up a wedding photo of him and ex-wife Karen Lamm from their first wedding, and then he dove again, but didn’t resurface.
1986 - Starting a comeback after being sidelined seven months for back surgery, Pat Cash (ranked 412th among world tennis competitors) won the Davis Cup (men’s international tennis team championship) for Australia by defeating Mikael Pernfors.
1988 - British investigators of the explosion that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 Dec 21 over Lockerbie, Scotland, concluded that a bomb caused the blast aboard the jumbo jet.
1989 - Alexander Dubcek was named chairman of Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly. Dubcek was the former Czechoslovak Communist leader deposed in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion.
1991 - Nine people died in a crush to get into a basketball game at City College in New York. The game was promoted by rapper Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs
1993 - Journalist William L. Shirer author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, died in Boston. He was 89 years old.
1997 - One woman was killed, and more than 100 other people hurt, when a United Airlines jumbo jet en route from Tokyo to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence over the Pacific.
1998 - “For rewriting the book on crime and punishment, for putting prices on values we didn’t want to rank, for fighting past all reason a battle whose casualties will be counted for years to come...” Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr were TIME’s 1998 Men of the Year.
1999 - TV star Clayton Moore, of Lone Ranger fame, died at age 85. Moore’s episodes of The Lone Ranger ran from 1949-1957.
1999 - Seattle canceled its public New Year’s Eve celebration because of terrorism fears.
2000 - President-elect George W. Bush selected former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to return to the Pentagon and push for a missile defense plan that was central to the Bush campaign. “This is a man who has great judgment,” Bush said. “He has strong vision and he's going to be a great secretary of defense -- again.” Rumsfeld served as defense secretary under President Ford from 1975 to 1977; before that, he was Ford’s chief of staff, U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Nixon and an Illinois congressman.
2000 - Montgomery Ward, originator of mail/telephone-order shopping that operated general merchandise stores in thirty states, announced that it was closing down after 128 years. In addition to its retail outlets, the company Closed ten distribution centers.
2000 - The U.S. Census Bureau released its first numbers from the 2000 census. They showed that population in the U.S. had risen to 281,424,602, up 13.2 percent from 1990.
2001 - Charlotte Gray opened in U.S. theatres. The movies stars Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones, Anton Lesser, Ron Cook and James Fleet.
2001 - Buffalo, NY dug out from a five-day storm that left nearly 7 feet of snow.
2001 - A 45-car crash (plus six tractor-trailers) on snow-slickened I-80 near Williamsport, PA resulted in the deaths of six people.
2002 - Iraq delivered to U.N. officials a list of over 500 scientists who had worked on Iraqi nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs. The list was in response to a key demand made by Security Council Resolution 1441, aimed at forcing Iraq to verify it had no weapons of mass destruction.
2003 - A motor home carrying ten people went off I-15 and crashed near Salt Lake City, Utah. Six people were killed including four children. The father, who was driving, and four children were killed instantly in the crash. The mother died a few hours later in a hospital.
2004 - The death toll from the Dec 26 earthquake-tsunami rose above 55,000.
2004 - Actor Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer at age 69. He had played the sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV’s Law & Order and starred on Broadway as a song-and-dance man. Orbach appeared in some 60 movies during his 45-year career.
2004 - Writer, filmmaker and social critic Susan Sontag died (leukemia) at 71 years of age. Her seventeen books included Against Interpretation, and Other Essays.
2005 - M.C. Puri, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, was killed -- and three others were injured -- when a gunman opened fire at India’s premier educational institute, the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore.
2006 - A delegation of six U.S. senators, led by incoming Majority Leader Harry Reid, met with Bolivian President Evo Morales, in hopes of smoothing relations with the South American country’s left-leaning government.
2007 - Hundreds of thousands of mourners, weeping and chanting for justice, thronged the mausoleum of Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty in an outpouring of grief for Benazir Bhutto. The government blamed al-Qaida and the Taliban for the assassination of the opposition leader, who was buried alongside her father. Furious supporters rampaged through several cities in violence that left at least 23 dead. The government said that Bhutto was not killed by gunshots or shrapnel as originally claimed but by a skull fracture suffered when her head slammed against her car during a suicide attack.
2008 - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the higher than expected turnout in elections in disputed Kashmir a “vote for democracy,” as results showed no one party dominated the voting.
2008 - Eight snowmobilers in Canada were killed when they were hit by a pair of avalanches in southeast British Columbia. Three men survived.
2009 - A Chinese audit reported that officials in that country had misused or embezzled about $35 billion in government money during the first 11 months of 2009. A total of 863 cases and clues involving 1,068 people had been handed over to judicial authorities for charges such as money laundering, insider trading and providing false receipts.
Birthdays December 28
1763 - John Molson
beer brewer: founded Molson Beer; died Jan 11, 1836
1856 - Woodrow Wilson
28th U.S. President [1913-1921]: asked Congress to declare war on Germany [Apr 2, 1917]; president of Princeton University [1902-1910]; Governor of New Jersey [1911-1913]; married to Ellen Axson [three daughters], Edith Galt; nickname: Schoolmaster in Politics; died Feb 3, 1924
1900 - Ted Lyons
Baseball Hall of Famer [pitcher]: Chicago White Sox [won 260 games]; died July 25, 1986
1905 - Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines
musician: piano: classic duet with Louis Armstrong: Weather Bird ; songwriter: Blues in Thirds, A Monday Date; bandleader; died Apr 23, 1983
1905 - Cliff Arquette (Charley Weaver)
actor: The RCA Victor Show, The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show, The Jack Paar Show, The Jonathan Winters Show; TV panelist: Hollywood Squares; grandfather of actress Roseanne Arquette; died Sep 23, 1974
1908 - Lew Ayres
actor: All Quiet on the Western Front, Johnny Belinda, Advice and Consent, Of Mice and Men, Battle for the Planet of the Apes; died Dec 30, 1996
1911 - Sam Levenson
humorist: Today I Am a Fountain Pen; died Aug 27, 1980
1913 - Lou Jacobi
actor: Irma La Douce, Arthur, Avalon, The Diary of Anne Frank, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex; died Oct 23, 2009
1913 - Charles Maxwell
actor: The Adventures of Superboy, The Search for Bridey Murphy, The Go-Getter, Finger Man, A Life at Stake; died Aug 7, 1993
1914 - Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples
musician: guitar, singer: group: Staple Singers: I’ll Take You There, Marching Up Jesus, Tell Heaven, I'm Coming Home; died Dec 19, 2000
1916 - Maris Wrixon
actress: As You Were, The Glass Alibi, White Pongo, The Old Homestead, Sunset in Wyoming, A Shot in the Dark, The Ape, Flight Angels, The Adventures of Jane Arden; died Oct 6, 1999
1920 - Steve Van Buren
Pro Football Hall of Famer [halfback]: Louisiana State Univ; NFL: Philadelphia Eagles [#1 draft pick; career: rushed for 5,860 yards, scored 464 points
1921 - Johnny Otis (Veliotes)
‘inventor of R&B’: composer, song writer, musician: drums, vibes: group: The Johnny Otis Show: Willie and the Hand Jive, Every Beat of My Heart, Roll [Dance] with Me Henry
1922 - Stan Lee
artist, writer: creator of Marvel Comics
1925 - Hildegard Knef
actress: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Three Penny Opera, Svengali, Bluebeard; died Feb 1, 2002
1929 - Terry Sawchuk
Hockey Hall of Famer [goalie]: NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, LA Kings, NY Rangers; career: he played in more games (971), seasons (20+) and had more shutouts (103) than any other goalie in NHL history; played in three different professional leagues (USHL, AHL, NHL); died May 31, 1970
1931 - Martin Milner
actor: Surfside 6, Route 66, Adam 12, Columbo, The Halls of Montezuma, Mr. Roberts, Valley of the Dolls
1932 - Dorsey Burnette
singer: Tall Oak Tree, Hey Little One; brother of singer Johnny Burnette; died Aug 19, 1979
1932 - Nichelle Nichols
actress: Escape From Heaven, Lady Magdalene’s, Snow Dogs, The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space
1934 - Dame Maggie Smith
Tony Award-winning actress: Lettice & Lovage [1990]; Academy Award: Best actress: Prime of Miss Jean Brodie [1969]; British Academy Award: A Room with a View [1986]; Sister Act
1935 - Bruce Yarnell
actor: The Road Hustlers, Irma la Douce, The Outlaws; died Nov 30, 1973
1938 - Charles Neville
musician: saxophone, flute, percussion: group: The Neville Brothers: Mardis Gras Mambo, Cha Booky Doo, Zing Zing, Oooh-Whee Baby, Sitting in Limbo, Iko Iko, Brother John, The Ten Commandments of Love
1946 - Hubert ‘Hubie’ Green
golf champion: U.S. Open [1977]; PGA [1985]
1946 - Jorge Velásquez
jockey: Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner [1981 on Pleasant Colony]
1946 - Edgar Winter
musician: keyboards, saxophone, singer: group: Edgar Winter’s White Trash: Hangin’ Around, Frankenstein, Free Ride, LP: They Only Come Out at Night
1947 - **** Diamonde (Dingeman Van Der Sluys)
musician: bass: group: The Easybeats: She’s So Fine, Wedding Ring, Sad and Lonely and Blue, Woman, Come and See Her, Friday on My Mind, Who’ll Be the One, Hello How are You, Good Times
1947 - Aurelio (Ituarte) Rodriguez
baseball: California Angels, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, NY Yankees [World Series: 1981], SD Padres, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles; died Sep 23, 2000
1950 - Alex Chilton
musician: guitar, singer: groups: Big Star: LPs: No.1 Record, Radio City; The Box Tops: The Letter, Neon Rainbow, Cry like a Baby, Choo-Choo Train, I Met Her in Church, Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March, Soul Deep
1954 - Denzel Washington
Academy Award-winning actor: Glory [1989]; Malcolm X, St. Elsewhere, The Pelican Brief, Crimson Tide, Courage Under Fire, The Hurricane, Remember the Titans
1958 - Carlos Carson
football: Louisiana State Univ.
1958 - Joe Diffie
singer: Home, You Want Me To, If the Devil Danced [In Empty Pockets], New Way [To Light Up an Old Flame], Is It Cold in Here, Ships That Don’t Come In
1960 - Ray Bourque
Hockey Hall of Famer: Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche; career: won Norris Trophy five times, 410 goals, 1,169 assists, 1,579 points in 1,612 regular season games; Bourque added 180 points on 41 goals and 139 assists in 214 playoff games
1960 - Terri Garber
actress: Adam and Eve, Thank You, Good Night, Slappy and the Stinkers, North and South, Beyond My Reach, Toy Soldiers, As the World Turns
1960 - Marty Roe
musician: guitar, singer: group: Diamond Rio: Meet in the Middle, Mirror Mirror, Mama Don’t Forget to Pray for Me, Norma Jean Riley, Nowhere Bound, In a Week or Two
1962 - Keith Lee
basketball: Memphis State
1968 - Michael J. Burg
actor: Standard Time, The Audrey Hepburn Story, Sleepers, Quiz Show, The Guiding Light, As the World Turns
1969 - James Trapp
football [safety]: Clemson Univ; NFL: LA/Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars
1971 - Benny Agbayani
baseball: Hawaii-Pacific Univ; New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals
1972 - Einar Diaz
baseball [catcher, third base]: Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, St. Louis Cardinals
1972 - Adam Vinatieri
football [kicker]: South Dakota State Univ; NFL: New England Patriots
1973 - Seth Meyers
actor, comedian: Saturday Night Live, Key Party, Spring Breakdown, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Perception, Maestro
1974 - Rob Niedermayer
hockey: NHL: Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
1975 - B.J. Ryan
baseball [pitcher]: Southeastern Louisiana Univ; Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays
1981 - Sienna Miller
actress: Stardust, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Casanova, Alfie [2004], The Ride, South Kensington
Chart Toppers December 28
1945It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
It’s Been a Long, Long Time - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
Silver Dew on the Blue Grass Tonight - Bob Wills
1954White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
Count Your Blessings - Eddie Fisher
More and More - Webb Pierce
1963Dominique - The Singing Nun
There! I’ve Said It Again - Bobby Vinton
Since I Fell for You - Lenny Welch
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1972Me & Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
You Ought to Be with Me - Al Green
Clair - Gilbert O’Sullivan
Got the All Overs for You (All Over Me) - Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats
1981Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire
Love in the First Degree - Alabama
1990Because I Love You (The Postman Song) - Stevie B
Justify My Love - Madonna
Impulsive - Wilson Phillips
I’ve Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
1999I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden
I Wanna Love You Forever - Jessica Simpson
Then The Morning Comes - Smash Mouth
Breathe - Faith Hill
2008Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
Womanizer - Britney Spears
Just Dance - Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis
Roll with Me - Montgomery Gentry
Chart Topper December 28th, 1999...I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
ALMANACK DAY
The Pennsylvania Gazette, owned by Benjamin Franklin, ran an ad for the first issue of Poor Richard’s Almanack on this day in 1732. The ad promised “...Many pleasant and witty verses, jests and sayings ... new fashions, games for kisses ... men and melons ... breakfast in bed, &c.”
Poor Richard’s Almanack was published from 1733 to 1757 by Richard Saunders, who was really Ben Franklin. An almanac is a calendar, but Franklin found room on his calendars to include short, witty sayings about daily situations. This unique idea was a popular success and Franklin became very rich.
Here are some of the epigrams Ben served up in Poor Richard’s Almanack:
*Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
*Let thy maidservant be faithful, strong, and homely.
*God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.
Not all of the maxims were as pointed or cynical. Writing in 1754, he advised:
*Think of three things: whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.
Franklin earned so much money with his almanack that, for the first time in his life, he could enjoy the luxury of leisure time. He began to fly kites (experimenting with electricity) and you know the rest of that story...
Events December 28
1846 - Exactly one year and one day after the 28th state entered the Union, the United States of America grew one state larger by adding Iowa. The 29th state’s name is derived from an American Indian word meaning ‘the beautiful land’. It is widely thought that Iowa’s nickname, the Hawkeye State, is in honor of Black Hawk, the famous Indian chief who led the Sauk and Fox tribes against the Iowa area settlers in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Iowa City was the first capital of Iowa. 11 years later, Des Moines, the state’s largest city, became the permanent capital. The Iowa state Bird is the eastern goldfinch, the state flower, the wild rose, and the state motto: “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”
1869 - William Finley Semple of Mt. Vernon, Ohio patented “the combination of rubber with other articles adapted to the formation of an acceptable chewing gum.” Yikes! Sounds to us, here in the lab, that this guy was trying to make tires, not chewing gum!
1877 - John Stevens, of Neenah, WI, applied for a patent for his flour-rolling mill which boosted production by 70%. We can thank John for all of that flat flour we have today.
1902 - The first World Series of pro football was played -- at Madison Square Garden in New York City. New York and Syracuse played in the indoor football game before 3,000 on this day. Syracuse, with Glen (Pop) Warner at guard, won 6-0 and went on to win the tournament.
1912 - The first municipally-owned street cars took to the streets of San Francisco, California. The first car was named, RICE-A-RONI. (We’re still checking that last fact.)
1941 - The Helen Hayes Theater, on CBS radio, was called the first casualty of World War II. Lipton Tea dropped sponsorship of the program as it prepared for shortages in tea imports from India.
1944 - The musical, On the Town, opened in New York City for a run of 462 performances. It was Leonard Bernstein’s first big Broadway success. The show’s hit song, New York, New York, continues to be successful.
1945 - The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.
1948 - Premier Nokrashy Pasha of Egypt was assassinated by a member of the outlawed Moslem Brotherhood because of his failure to achieve victory in the war against Israel.
1956 - After five years on television, the last Ding Dong School was seen on NBC-TV. Miss Frances (Dr. Frances Horwich) rang the bell for one last time this day.
1957 - At the Hop, by Danny and The Juniors, hit #1 on the music charts. It stayed at the top spot for seven weeks. The title of the tune was originally Do the Bop, but was changed at the suggestion of ‘America’s Oldest Living Teenager’ **** Clark. Trivia: Danny and The Juniors filled in for a group that failed to appear on Clark’s American Bandstand show in Philadelphia. He called The Juniors to come into the studio immediately. They did and lip-synced At The Hop (written by Junior, DAVE White and a friend, John Medora). It took off like a rocket to number one. (A few years later, Danny and The Juniors handed stardom to Chubby Checker when they failed to appear on Clark’s show.) I’m Casey Kasem in Hollywood. Keep your feet on the ground. Keep reaching for the stars...
1958 - An exciting football game was played this day. The National Football League championship game saw quarterback Johnny Unitas lead the Baltimore Colts over the New York Giants, 23-17, in an extra sudden-death overtime.
1961 - Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana premiered at the Royale Theatre in New York City.
1963 - American journalist and writer A.J. (Abbott Joseph) Liebling died. (“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”)
1964 - Principal filming of the movie classic, Doctor Zhivago, began on location near Madrid, Spain. When completed, the film was 197 minutes long and so spectacular that it received ten Oscar nominations, winning five of the Academy Awards, including Best Original Score. Remember Lara’s Theme?
1968 - The (double) album named The Beatles (called by most, The White Album) was #1 in the U.S. It was the Beatles’ first album on their own Apple label and was #1 for nine weeks. The tracks: Back in the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Wild Honey Pie, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Martha My Dear, I’m So Tired, Blackbird , Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Don’t Pass Me By, Why Don’t We Do It in the Road, I Will, Julia, Birthday, Yer Blues, Mother Nature’s Son, Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, Sexy Sadie, Helter Skelter, Long, Long, Long, Revolution I, Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, Cry Baby Cry, Revolution 9, and Good Night.
1973 - The Chamber of Commerce of Akron, OH terminated its association with the All-American Soap Box Derby, stating that the race had become “a victim of cheating and fraud.” Overanxious youngsters and their dads were found to be hiding things like heavy lead in secret places in the home-built cars; and they could also do funny things with the wheels to make them spin faster; and some cars were designed like Indy cars instead of soap box cars. “Clever... but unfair,” the folks in Akron said.
1973 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn published first volume of his Gulag Archipelago in Paris. It was an expose of the Soviet prison and labor camps. The publication led to his expulsion from the Soviet Union in February of 1974.
1974 - A 5.5 magnitude earthquake in the Karakom mountains of Pakistan killed 5,200 people. Another 16,000 were injured.
1981 - WEA Records (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) raised the price of its 45 rpm records from $1.68 to $1.98 this day. The company was the leader of the pack with other labels soon boosting their prices. Within a few years, the 45 rpm record was boosted right out of existence.
1983 - The Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson drowned in Marina Del Ray, California while diving at the location where his boat Harmony was docked. Autopsy reports showed Wilson was legally drunk. He had been diving to bringing up personal items that he had previously thrown overboard. Some accounts say that Dennis brought up a wedding photo of him and ex-wife Karen Lamm from their first wedding, and then he dove again, but didn’t resurface.
1986 - Starting a comeback after being sidelined seven months for back surgery, Pat Cash (ranked 412th among world tennis competitors) won the Davis Cup (men’s international tennis team championship) for Australia by defeating Mikael Pernfors.
1988 - British investigators of the explosion that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 Dec 21 over Lockerbie, Scotland, concluded that a bomb caused the blast aboard the jumbo jet.
1989 - Alexander Dubcek was named chairman of Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly. Dubcek was the former Czechoslovak Communist leader deposed in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion.
1991 - Nine people died in a crush to get into a basketball game at City College in New York. The game was promoted by rapper Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs
1993 - Journalist William L. Shirer author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, died in Boston. He was 89 years old.
1997 - One woman was killed, and more than 100 other people hurt, when a United Airlines jumbo jet en route from Tokyo to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence over the Pacific.
1998 - “For rewriting the book on crime and punishment, for putting prices on values we didn’t want to rank, for fighting past all reason a battle whose casualties will be counted for years to come...” Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr were TIME’s 1998 Men of the Year.
1999 - TV star Clayton Moore, of Lone Ranger fame, died at age 85. Moore’s episodes of The Lone Ranger ran from 1949-1957.
1999 - Seattle canceled its public New Year’s Eve celebration because of terrorism fears.
2000 - President-elect George W. Bush selected former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to return to the Pentagon and push for a missile defense plan that was central to the Bush campaign. “This is a man who has great judgment,” Bush said. “He has strong vision and he's going to be a great secretary of defense -- again.” Rumsfeld served as defense secretary under President Ford from 1975 to 1977; before that, he was Ford’s chief of staff, U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Nixon and an Illinois congressman.
2000 - Montgomery Ward, originator of mail/telephone-order shopping that operated general merchandise stores in thirty states, announced that it was closing down after 128 years. In addition to its retail outlets, the company Closed ten distribution centers.
2000 - The U.S. Census Bureau released its first numbers from the 2000 census. They showed that population in the U.S. had risen to 281,424,602, up 13.2 percent from 1990.
2001 - Charlotte Gray opened in U.S. theatres. The movies stars Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones, Anton Lesser, Ron Cook and James Fleet.
2001 - Buffalo, NY dug out from a five-day storm that left nearly 7 feet of snow.
2001 - A 45-car crash (plus six tractor-trailers) on snow-slickened I-80 near Williamsport, PA resulted in the deaths of six people.
2002 - Iraq delivered to U.N. officials a list of over 500 scientists who had worked on Iraqi nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs. The list was in response to a key demand made by Security Council Resolution 1441, aimed at forcing Iraq to verify it had no weapons of mass destruction.
2003 - A motor home carrying ten people went off I-15 and crashed near Salt Lake City, Utah. Six people were killed including four children. The father, who was driving, and four children were killed instantly in the crash. The mother died a few hours later in a hospital.
2004 - The death toll from the Dec 26 earthquake-tsunami rose above 55,000.
2004 - Actor Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer at age 69. He had played the sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV’s Law & Order and starred on Broadway as a song-and-dance man. Orbach appeared in some 60 movies during his 45-year career.
2004 - Writer, filmmaker and social critic Susan Sontag died (leukemia) at 71 years of age. Her seventeen books included Against Interpretation, and Other Essays.
2005 - M.C. Puri, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, was killed -- and three others were injured -- when a gunman opened fire at India’s premier educational institute, the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore.
2006 - A delegation of six U.S. senators, led by incoming Majority Leader Harry Reid, met with Bolivian President Evo Morales, in hopes of smoothing relations with the South American country’s left-leaning government.
2007 - Hundreds of thousands of mourners, weeping and chanting for justice, thronged the mausoleum of Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty in an outpouring of grief for Benazir Bhutto. The government blamed al-Qaida and the Taliban for the assassination of the opposition leader, who was buried alongside her father. Furious supporters rampaged through several cities in violence that left at least 23 dead. The government said that Bhutto was not killed by gunshots or shrapnel as originally claimed but by a skull fracture suffered when her head slammed against her car during a suicide attack.
2008 - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the higher than expected turnout in elections in disputed Kashmir a “vote for democracy,” as results showed no one party dominated the voting.
2008 - Eight snowmobilers in Canada were killed when they were hit by a pair of avalanches in southeast British Columbia. Three men survived.
2009 - A Chinese audit reported that officials in that country had misused or embezzled about $35 billion in government money during the first 11 months of 2009. A total of 863 cases and clues involving 1,068 people had been handed over to judicial authorities for charges such as money laundering, insider trading and providing false receipts.
Birthdays December 28
1763 - John Molson
beer brewer: founded Molson Beer; died Jan 11, 1836
1856 - Woodrow Wilson
28th U.S. President [1913-1921]: asked Congress to declare war on Germany [Apr 2, 1917]; president of Princeton University [1902-1910]; Governor of New Jersey [1911-1913]; married to Ellen Axson [three daughters], Edith Galt; nickname: Schoolmaster in Politics; died Feb 3, 1924
1900 - Ted Lyons
Baseball Hall of Famer [pitcher]: Chicago White Sox [won 260 games]; died July 25, 1986
1905 - Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines
musician: piano: classic duet with Louis Armstrong: Weather Bird ; songwriter: Blues in Thirds, A Monday Date; bandleader; died Apr 23, 1983
1905 - Cliff Arquette (Charley Weaver)
actor: The RCA Victor Show, The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show, The Jack Paar Show, The Jonathan Winters Show; TV panelist: Hollywood Squares; grandfather of actress Roseanne Arquette; died Sep 23, 1974
1908 - Lew Ayres
actor: All Quiet on the Western Front, Johnny Belinda, Advice and Consent, Of Mice and Men, Battle for the Planet of the Apes; died Dec 30, 1996
1911 - Sam Levenson
humorist: Today I Am a Fountain Pen; died Aug 27, 1980
1913 - Lou Jacobi
actor: Irma La Douce, Arthur, Avalon, The Diary of Anne Frank, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex; died Oct 23, 2009
1913 - Charles Maxwell
actor: The Adventures of Superboy, The Search for Bridey Murphy, The Go-Getter, Finger Man, A Life at Stake; died Aug 7, 1993
1914 - Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples
musician: guitar, singer: group: Staple Singers: I’ll Take You There, Marching Up Jesus, Tell Heaven, I'm Coming Home; died Dec 19, 2000
1916 - Maris Wrixon
actress: As You Were, The Glass Alibi, White Pongo, The Old Homestead, Sunset in Wyoming, A Shot in the Dark, The Ape, Flight Angels, The Adventures of Jane Arden; died Oct 6, 1999
1920 - Steve Van Buren
Pro Football Hall of Famer [halfback]: Louisiana State Univ; NFL: Philadelphia Eagles [#1 draft pick; career: rushed for 5,860 yards, scored 464 points
1921 - Johnny Otis (Veliotes)
‘inventor of R&B’: composer, song writer, musician: drums, vibes: group: The Johnny Otis Show: Willie and the Hand Jive, Every Beat of My Heart, Roll [Dance] with Me Henry
1922 - Stan Lee
artist, writer: creator of Marvel Comics
1925 - Hildegard Knef
actress: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Three Penny Opera, Svengali, Bluebeard; died Feb 1, 2002
1929 - Terry Sawchuk
Hockey Hall of Famer [goalie]: NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, LA Kings, NY Rangers; career: he played in more games (971), seasons (20+) and had more shutouts (103) than any other goalie in NHL history; played in three different professional leagues (USHL, AHL, NHL); died May 31, 1970
1931 - Martin Milner
actor: Surfside 6, Route 66, Adam 12, Columbo, The Halls of Montezuma, Mr. Roberts, Valley of the Dolls
1932 - Dorsey Burnette
singer: Tall Oak Tree, Hey Little One; brother of singer Johnny Burnette; died Aug 19, 1979
1932 - Nichelle Nichols
actress: Escape From Heaven, Lady Magdalene’s, Snow Dogs, The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space
1934 - Dame Maggie Smith
Tony Award-winning actress: Lettice & Lovage [1990]; Academy Award: Best actress: Prime of Miss Jean Brodie [1969]; British Academy Award: A Room with a View [1986]; Sister Act
1935 - Bruce Yarnell
actor: The Road Hustlers, Irma la Douce, The Outlaws; died Nov 30, 1973
1938 - Charles Neville
musician: saxophone, flute, percussion: group: The Neville Brothers: Mardis Gras Mambo, Cha Booky Doo, Zing Zing, Oooh-Whee Baby, Sitting in Limbo, Iko Iko, Brother John, The Ten Commandments of Love
1946 - Hubert ‘Hubie’ Green
golf champion: U.S. Open [1977]; PGA [1985]
1946 - Jorge Velásquez
jockey: Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner [1981 on Pleasant Colony]
1946 - Edgar Winter
musician: keyboards, saxophone, singer: group: Edgar Winter’s White Trash: Hangin’ Around, Frankenstein, Free Ride, LP: They Only Come Out at Night
1947 - **** Diamonde (Dingeman Van Der Sluys)
musician: bass: group: The Easybeats: She’s So Fine, Wedding Ring, Sad and Lonely and Blue, Woman, Come and See Her, Friday on My Mind, Who’ll Be the One, Hello How are You, Good Times
1947 - Aurelio (Ituarte) Rodriguez
baseball: California Angels, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, NY Yankees [World Series: 1981], SD Padres, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles; died Sep 23, 2000
1950 - Alex Chilton
musician: guitar, singer: groups: Big Star: LPs: No.1 Record, Radio City; The Box Tops: The Letter, Neon Rainbow, Cry like a Baby, Choo-Choo Train, I Met Her in Church, Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March, Soul Deep
1954 - Denzel Washington
Academy Award-winning actor: Glory [1989]; Malcolm X, St. Elsewhere, The Pelican Brief, Crimson Tide, Courage Under Fire, The Hurricane, Remember the Titans
1958 - Carlos Carson
football: Louisiana State Univ.
1958 - Joe Diffie
singer: Home, You Want Me To, If the Devil Danced [In Empty Pockets], New Way [To Light Up an Old Flame], Is It Cold in Here, Ships That Don’t Come In
1960 - Ray Bourque
Hockey Hall of Famer: Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche; career: won Norris Trophy five times, 410 goals, 1,169 assists, 1,579 points in 1,612 regular season games; Bourque added 180 points on 41 goals and 139 assists in 214 playoff games
1960 - Terri Garber
actress: Adam and Eve, Thank You, Good Night, Slappy and the Stinkers, North and South, Beyond My Reach, Toy Soldiers, As the World Turns
1960 - Marty Roe
musician: guitar, singer: group: Diamond Rio: Meet in the Middle, Mirror Mirror, Mama Don’t Forget to Pray for Me, Norma Jean Riley, Nowhere Bound, In a Week or Two
1962 - Keith Lee
basketball: Memphis State
1968 - Michael J. Burg
actor: Standard Time, The Audrey Hepburn Story, Sleepers, Quiz Show, The Guiding Light, As the World Turns
1969 - James Trapp
football [safety]: Clemson Univ; NFL: LA/Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars
1971 - Benny Agbayani
baseball: Hawaii-Pacific Univ; New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals
1972 - Einar Diaz
baseball [catcher, third base]: Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, St. Louis Cardinals
1972 - Adam Vinatieri
football [kicker]: South Dakota State Univ; NFL: New England Patriots
1973 - Seth Meyers
actor, comedian: Saturday Night Live, Key Party, Spring Breakdown, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Perception, Maestro
1974 - Rob Niedermayer
hockey: NHL: Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
1975 - B.J. Ryan
baseball [pitcher]: Southeastern Louisiana Univ; Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays
1981 - Sienna Miller
actress: Stardust, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Casanova, Alfie [2004], The Ride, South Kensington
Chart Toppers December 28
1945It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
It’s Been a Long, Long Time - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
Silver Dew on the Blue Grass Tonight - Bob Wills
1954White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
Count Your Blessings - Eddie Fisher
More and More - Webb Pierce
1963Dominique - The Singing Nun
There! I’ve Said It Again - Bobby Vinton
Since I Fell for You - Lenny Welch
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1972Me & Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
You Ought to Be with Me - Al Green
Clair - Gilbert O’Sullivan
Got the All Overs for You (All Over Me) - Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats
1981Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire
Love in the First Degree - Alabama
1990Because I Love You (The Postman Song) - Stevie B
Justify My Love - Madonna
Impulsive - Wilson Phillips
I’ve Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
1999I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden
I Wanna Love You Forever - Jessica Simpson
Then The Morning Comes - Smash Mouth
Breathe - Faith Hill
2008Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
Womanizer - Britney Spears
Just Dance - Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis
Roll with Me - Montgomery Gentry
Chart Topper December 28th, 1999...I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden
