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7th day of 2011 - 358 remaining
Friday, January 7, 2011
RHAPSODY IN BLUE DAY
On this day in 1924, George Gershwin began work on the incomparable score of Rhapsody in Blue (he completed it some three weeks later). Incidentally, George was only 26 years old at the time. And, George didn’t even have an interest in music until his family got him a piano when he was twelve. Nine years later he had his first hit, Swanee, with lyrics written by Irving Caesar.
Rhapsody in Blue was commissioned by Paul Whiteman and then orchestrated by Ferde Grofe of Grand Canyon Suite fame. This first orchestration of Gershwin’s score was never quite right. Grofe’s style didn’t gel with Gershwin’s. Several other artists attempted to do justice to Rhapsody in Blue, never quite making the grade. Some thirty years later, orchestra leader Hugo Winterhalter with Byron Janis at the piano did a jazzed up version; pretty close to the way Gershwin had described his piece. However, it wasn’t until Gershwin’s original solo piano was accompanied by a jazz band led by Michael Tilson Thomas, that the true arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue was heard.
No matter how you hear it, Rhapsody in Blue will remain the signature of one of the most influential of composers, songwriters and pianists in American music history.
Events January 7
1782 - The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia, making it the first commercial bank in the United States.
1785 - French aeronaut/balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard successfully made the first air-crossing of the English Channel from the English coast to France. Mr. Blanchard and his American passenger, Dr. John Jeffries, had to shed all of their clothes as the wind died and the balloon’s airbag cooled too quickly over the sea. Blanchard also owns the one-trip record for the most consecutive number of times saying, “Gosh, I hope we make it.”
1887 - This is one of those truer-than-true factoids that makes us wonder (as so much does). Thomas Stevens completed the first worldwide bicycle trip, after starting his trek in April 1884. Stevens and his trusty bike traveled 13,500 miles, arriving back in San Francisco, California almost three years later. Now, what we want to know is pretty obvious: How’d he cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a bike? Where’d he keep his food? Where’d he sleep? Was he for real?
1894 - W.(William) K. (Kennedy) L.(Laurie) ****son received a patent for motion picture film. His demonstration included a 47-frame film. The demo ran about two seconds and showed comedian Fred Ott sneezing. Congratulations W.K.L., and bless you Fred!
1896 - Maybe you or someone you know received one for Christmas: a genuine Fannie Farmer Cookbook. There really was a Fannie Farmer, you know. Her first and now famous, Boston Cooking School Cookbook, was published this day. She became known as ‘the mother of level measurement’ and the cookbook became a best seller.
1904 - The distress signal, “CQD”, was established this day. It didn’t last long. Four years later, “SOS” became the radio distress signal because it was quicker to transmit by wireless radio and could not be misinterpreted.
1926 - A famous marriage that endured for many years is remembered this day. It’s the wedding anniversary of George Burns and Gracie Allen who were married by a Justice of the Peace in Cleveland, Ohio.
1927 - 31 calls were made on this, the first day of transatlantic telephone service. Service began between New York and London. The calls cost $75.00 (equivalent to about $900 today) for five minutes.
1929 - The debut of Buck Rogers 2429 A.D. took place in newspapers around the U.S. this day. The comic strip title was later changed to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
1933 - The famous WWVA Jamboree, later known as Jamboree USA, was first broadcast on radio station WWVA from Wheeling, West Virginia. Jamboree USA is still running and is the second oldest country music program -- after the The Grand Ole Opry.
1940 - The gate to Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch opened. The ‘singing cowboy’ would entertain on CBS radio for the next 16 years.
1941 - The NBC Blue radio network presented the first installment of The Squeaky Door. You might not remember the show by its original title, but how about when it became known as Inner Sanctum?
1941 - Good-for-Nothin’ Joe was recorded by the sultry Lena Horne. She sang the classic song with Charlie Barnet and his orchestra on Bluebird Records.
1949 - The announcement of the first photograph of genes was presented at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
1950 - Ernest Tubb made his first appearance at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Ernest also did a 15-minute radio program each day that became very popular in West Texas. So popular, in fact, that he bought the radio station that had aired the program for years and years: KGKL in San Angelo, Texas.
1950 - More Opry news: Hank Snow also made his debut on The Grand Ole Opry. Later that year (and well into the next), his recording of I’m Movin’ On parked itself on the Billboard country chart for 49 consecutive weeks.
1954 - The Duoscopic TV receiver was unveiled. The TV set allowed a person or group to watch two different shows at the same time. It was a primitive, picture-in-picture, split-screen that was tested in New York City and Chicago. The set was a product of DuMont Laboratories; which owned the DuMont Television Network.
1955 - The first black singer at the Metropolitan Opera was Marian Anderson, who appeared as Ulrica in Verdi’s The Masked Ball.
1958 - The Flying V guitar, which is a favorite of rock musicians, was patented this day by the Gibson Guitar Company.
1963 - First-class postage in the U.S. was raised from 4 cents to 5 cents.
1968 - U.S. postage rates increased a penny; taking the cost of sending an ounce of mail up to six cents.
1970 - Neighbors of New York landowner Max Yasgur sued him for $35,000 for property damage caused by ‘flower children’ who attended the August 1969 Woodstock Festival. More than 450,000 people attended the three-day event.
1972 - Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1972 - U.S. poet John Berryman died after jumping off a bridge. Berryman’s 77 Dream Songs won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize.
1975 - Shenandoah opened at Alvin Theater on Broadway, for 1050 performances.
1979 - In the AFC title game, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers 34-5 for a Super Bowl trip and their third AFC championship title. They played in a steady rain at Three Rivers Stadium. In the NFC championship game, the Dallas Cowboys shut out the Los Angeles Rams 28-0. (The Steelers beat the Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII Jan 21.)
1979 - The Cambodian government of Pol Pot was overthrown. It took the combined forces of Cambodian rebels and Vietnamese troops to end the bloody regime that hadkilled millions of people.
1980 - The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The act provided Chrysler $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees.
1985 - A big day for Dayton, Ohio’s Phil Donahue, who broadcast the first of his long-running talkfests from New York City, his new home base. Phil started his MultiMedia Productions show in 1967.
1985 - Yul Brynner returned to the stage this night as The King and I returned to where Yul first began his reign, 33 years before. Through his career to that date, Brynner appeared in 4,434 shows without missing a single performance. His performance as the King of Siam was regal!
1987 - Government sources said the combined local, state, and national debt had risen to $10,047 per person in the U.S.; the Federal debt, alone, amounting to $7,650 per person. (Check the current figures here.)
1989 - Japan’s longest-reigning monarch, Emperor Hirohito died of cancer. He was 88 years old and had ruled Japan for 62 years. Part of the agreement ending World War II called for Hirohito to renounced his claims of divinity. His radio address announcing Tokyo’s surrender marked the first time most of the Japanese public had heard their emperor’s voice.
1990 - The Tower of Pisa was Closed to the public after leaning too far. The closing of the monument allowed “the work of consolidation of the foundations and reduction of the inclination.” The tower reopened on Dec 15, 2001 to guided visits only (with a maximum of 30 people), accompanied by employed personnel (the visit takes about 35 minutes). The work, at a cost of more than 27,370,000 Euro, decreased the leaning of the tower by 40.6 centimeters. The tower began to lean at the beginning of its construction in 1173 because of the marshy ground on which it rests and the inclination had continued to increase each year up to the decision to intervene in 1990.
1991 - The plane that could elude radar was unable to escape the budget-cutter’s knife when U.S. Defense Secretary **** Cheney cancelled funding for the U.S. Navy A-12 Stealth attack plane.
1992 - Pitchers Tom Seaver and Rollie Fingers were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1995 - Russian Major General Viktor Vorobyov, a senior commander in the advance on the secessionist capital of Chechnya, was killed by a mortar explosion.
1996 - A blizzard paralyzed the Eastern U.S. The storm moved slowly, taking five days to reach New England from the Gulf of Mexico. The National Weather Service called it a storm of “historic proportions” with more than two feet of snow in the Baltimore and Washington, DC area. The mountains of Virginia and West Virginia got up to three feet. More than 100 deaths were blamed on the storm -- the majority from heart attacks.
1997 - Beryl Bainbridge won the British Whitbread Prize for best novel of 1996 for Every Man for Himself, a tale of the Titanic disaster; Seamus Heaney won the poetry award for The Spirit Level.
1998 - The government of Canada apologized to the nation’s indigenous peoples for past acts of oppression and pledged $245 million for counseling and treatment programs. The aboriginal population is about 810,000 that includes 38,000 Inuits and 139,000 Metis, people of mixed Indian and white ancestry.
1999 - The Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began. Chief Justice William Rehnquist was sworn in to preside over the trial. Bill Clinton was ultimately acquitted of charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
2000 - These movies opened in the U.S.: Magnolia (the study of nine lives in one day in San Fernando Valley, California), with Jeremy Blackman, Michael Bowen, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon and Henry Gibson; and Snow Falling on Cedars (“It's Stand By Me and To Kill a Mockingbird blended into one.”), starring Ethan Hawke, James Rebhorn, Sam Shepard, Max Von Sydow, Youki Kudoh, Rick Yune and Celia Weston.
2001 - The price of a First-class postage first class U.S. postage stamp increased from 33 to 34 cents.
2002 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and nine United States Senators arrived at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan for an unannounced visit. The group promised Afghan leaders full support in rebuilding the shattered country.
2003 - Kobe Bryant broke the NBA record for most 3-point field goals (12 -- nine of them consecutive) in a single basketball game.
2004 - Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin died in Stockholm. Her films include Foreign Intrigue (1956), Wild Strawberries (1957) and The ****ed (1969).
2004 - Digital radios went on sale in the U.S. The launch officially began in Cedar Rapids, IA where one station was already broadcasting in digital.
2005 - White Noise opened in U.S. movie theatres. The romantice drama/thriller stars Michael Keaton, Deborah Unger, Ian McNeice, Chandra West, Colin Chapin, Anastasia Corbett, Mike Dopud, Aaron Douglas, Miranda Frigon, Mitchell Kosterman, Micki Maunsell, Marsha Regis, Suzanne Ristic, Amber Rothwell, Brad Sihvon, Bill Tarling, April Telek and Chuck Walkinshaw.
2005 - The nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground -- hitting the ocean floor -- 350 miles off the island of Guam, injuring about 20 crew members (one died the next day).
2006 - The Australian government claimed that properly-applied technology could be three times more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than the Kyoto Protocol.
2007 - A helicopter crashed into the garden terrace of a restaurant in southeastern France, killing three people on the ground and severely injuring a fourth. The four people on board the helicopter were not hurt.
2008 - A fire tore through a refrigeration warehouse under construction in an industrial district south of Seoul, Korea, killing 40 people.
2008 - Australians battled both fires and heavy flooding that stranded residents in several communities. This, after days of intense summer heat and storms.
2009 - Bank of America raised more money to cope with U.S. economic turmoil by selling part of its stake in China Construction Bank, China’s second-biggest commercial lender, for $2.8 billion.
2009 - The United States reported that it had released another $99 million as part of an aid package to support Mexico’s police and soldiers in their fight against drug cartels. The U.S. had released $197 million in December as part of the $1.3 billion U.S. anti-drug package, known as the Merida Initiative.
2009 - Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused big travel delays across Europe. The storm was blamed for at least 12 deaths.
2010 - Russian police in Dagestan killed two suspected militants in a counterterrorism operation launched in response to a suicide blast that took the lives of six officers. One of the slain militants was named as Ismail Ichakayev, a man reportedly wanted for masterminding several bombings and other attacks on officials.
2011 - Movies opening in U.S. theatres: Season of the Witch Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen, Claire Foy, Robert Sheehan and Christopher Lee; Country Strong, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, Tina White, Leighton Meester and Marshall Chapman; and The Absent, with Damon Abdallah, Sam Ball, Cloud Bannick, Ari Bernstein, and Jennifer Blanc.
Birthdays January 7
1745 - Jacques Montgolfier
inventor [w/brother Joseph]: hot air balloon; died Aug 2, 1799
1800 - Millard S. Fillmore
U.S. Vice-President [1849-1850]; 13th U.S. President [1850-1853], second Vice-President to inherit the office [became President when Zachary Taylor died]; died Mar 8, 1874
1908 - Philip Bourneuf
actor: Captains and Kings, Frankenstein, Lassie: Peace is Our Profession, Istanbul Express, Chamber of Horrors; died March 23, 1979
1908 - Estée Lauder
cosmetics mogul: started Estée Lauder Companies with a jar of skin cream developed by her chemist uncle; died Apr 24, 2004
1911 - (Thelma) Butterfly McQueen
actress: The Mosquito Coast, Duel in the Sun, Gone with the Wind; died Dec 22, 1995
1912 - Charles Addams
cartoonist: The New Yorker; TV and films: The Addams Family; died Sep 29, 1988
1913 - Johnny (John Robert) Mize
‘The Big Cat’: Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman: SL Cardinals [all-star: 1937, 1939-1941/1939 NL batting champ]; NY Giants [all-star: 1942, 1946-1949/NL record for left-handed batters: 51 homeruns: 1947]; NY Yankees [World Series: 1949-1953]; hit a home run in every major league ballpark during career; died June 2, 1993
1920 - Vincent Gardenia
Tony Award-winning actor: The Prisoner of Second Avenue; Emmy Award-winner [1990]: Age-Old Friends [HBO]; L.A. Law, Breaking Away, All in the Family, The Super, Skin Deep, Moonstruck, Little Shop of Horrors, Death Wish series, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Hustler; died Dec 9, 1992
1921 - Charles Loloma
jeweler: designed American Indian jewelry; died June 9, 1991
1922 - Alvin (Ralph) ‘Blackie’ Dark
baseball: Boston Braves [World Series: 1948/Rookie of the Year: 1948], NY Giants [World Series: 1951, 1954/all-star: 1951, 1952, 1954], SL Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies
1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal
musician: flutist: recitals world wide; played with New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Houston, Minnesota, San Francisco, San Diego and Cincinnati symphony orchestras; died May 20, 2000
1928 - William Peter Blatty
screenwriter: The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, Darling Lili, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, Promise Her Anything, A Shot in the Dark
1929 - Terry Moore (Helen Koford)
actress: Beverly Hills Brats, Kill Factor, Peyton Place, Come Back, Little Sheba, Gaslight
1930 - Jack Greene
The Jolly Green Giant: singer: CMA Male Vocalist, Album, Single and Song of the Year: There Goes My Everything [1967]
1930 - Douglas Kiker
newscaster: NBC-TV News; journalist: NBC Magazine with David Brinkley; author: Death Below Deck; died Aug 14, 1991
1938 - Lou Graham
golf: U.S. Open Champion [1975]
1938 - Paul Revere
singer, musician: keyboards: group: Paul Revere and The Raiders: Hungry , Kicks, Him or Me-What’s it Gonna Be, Indian Reservation
1942 - Jim (James Kenneth) Lefebvre
baseball: LA Dodgers [NL Rookie of the Year: 1965/World Series: 1965, 1966/all-star: 1966]; manager: Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers
1945 - Tony (Anthony Richard) Conigliaro
baseball: Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1967], California Angels; died Feb 24, 1990
1946 - Andy Brown
musician: drums: group: The Fortunes: You’ve Got Your Troubles, Caroline, Here It Comes Again, This Golden Ring, The Idol, Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again
1946 - Jann Wenner
publisher: Rolling Stone
1948 - Kenny Loggins
musician, singer: I’m Alright, This is It, Welcome to Heartlight, Danger Zone
1950 - Erin Gray
actress: Starman, Silver Spoons, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, T-Force, A Dangerous Place, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Breaking Home Ties, Six Pack, Born Beautiful, The Ultimate Imposter
1953 - Morris Titantic
hockey: NHL: Buffalo Sabres
1956 - David Caruso
actor: C.S.I.: Miami, N.Y.P.D. Blue, An Officer and a Gentleman, Mad Dog and Glory, Michael Hayes
1957 - Katie Couric (Katherine Anne Couric)
TV news anchor (and managing editor): CBS Evening News with Katie Couric; TV host: Today
1958 - Linda Kozlowski
actress: Crocodile Dundee series; Backstreet Justice, Village of the ****ed, Shaughnessy; wife of actor Paul Hogan
1960 - Tierre Turner
actor: The Crow, The Cop and the Kid, Earth 2; stunt man: The Facult, Escape from L.A., Glory
1962 - Jeff (Jeffrey Thomas) Montgomery
baseball: pitcher: Cincinnati Reds, KC Royals [all-star: 1992, 1993, 1996]
1963 - Craig (Barry) Shipley
baseball: LA Dodgers, NY Mets, SD Padres, Houston Astros
1964 - Nicolas Cage (Nicholas Coppola)
actor: The Best of Times, The Rock, Leaving Las Vegas, Vampire’s Kiss, Raising Arizona, Racing with the Moon, Moonstruck, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Cotton Club, Birdy, Valley Girl, Con Air, Face/Off, The Family Man, Windtalkers; nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire
1964 - John Decker (Adam Lee Vaughn)
actor: X-rated films: Raincoat Fantasies, The Wicked Web, Taboo 16, Sex Freaks, Wild Bananas on Butt Row, Hunchback of Nasty Dames, PornWorld, Erotic Illusions, Love Games
1966 - Randy Burridge
hockey: NHL: Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, LA Kings, Buffalo Sabres
1966 - Caroline Besette Kennedy
wife of John F. Kennedy Jr.; killed July 16, 1999 [w/John and her sister Lauren] when the plane John was piloting crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, MA
1967 - Guy Hebert
hockey: NHL: SL Blues, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
1969 - Erric Pegram
football: RB: Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, NY Giants, San Diego Chargers
1969 - David Yost
actor: Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Ladykiller, Power Rangers Zeo
1970 - Todd Day
basketball: Univ of Arkansas; NBA: Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves
1970 - Doug E. Doug
comedian, actor: Eight Legged Freaks, Citizen James, My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, That Darn Cat, Operation Dumbo Drop, Cool Runnings
1971 - Frank Mene*****
baseball: Univ of Alabama; Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays
1972 - Donald Brashear
hockey: Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers
1972 - Johan Witehall
hockey: NY Rangers, Montreal Canadiens
1973 - Bobby Engram
football: Penn State Univ; NFL: Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks
1973 - Esta TerBlanche
actress: Three Thieves and a Wedding, The Syndicate, All My Children
1973 - Brian Milne
football: Penn State Univ; NFL: Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, NO Saints
1974 - Trevor Winter
basketball: Univ of Minnesota; NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers
1975 - Justin Watson
football: San Diego State Univ; NFL: St. Louis Rams
1976 - Eric Gagne
baseball [pitcher]: LA Dodgers
1976 - Alfonso Soriano
baseball: NY Yankees, Texas Rangers
1977 - Dustin Diamond
actor: She’s Out of Control, Purple People Eater, Saved By the Bell
1981 - Reece Gaines
basketball: Univ of Louisville; NBA: Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets
1982 - Francisco Rodriguez
baseball [pitcher]: Anaheim Angels
1987 - Lyndsy Fonseca
actress: The Young and the Restless
1990 - Liam Aiken
actor: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, I Dreamed of Africa, Stepmom, The Object of My Affection, Montana
1990 - Camryn Grimes
actress: Sharing the Secret, The Young and the Restless, Days Of Our Lives
Chart Toppers January 7
1946Symphony - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Clyde Rogers)
It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
I Can’t Begin to Tell You - Bing Crosby with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra
White Cross on Okinawa - Bob Wills
1955Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane - The Ames Brothers
Hearts of Stone - The Fontane Sisters
Loose Talk - Carl Smith
1964There! I’ve Said It Again - Bobby Vinton
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Since I Fell for You - Lenny Welch
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1973You’re So Vain - Carly Simon
Clair - Gilbert O’Sullivan
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
She’s Got to Be a Saint - Ray Price
1982Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire
Fourteen Carat Mind - Gene Watson
1991Justify My Love - Madonna
High Enough - **** Yankees
Tom’s Diner - D.N.A. featuring Suzanne Vega
I’ve Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
2000I Wanna Love You Forever - Jessica Simpson
Then the Morning Comes - Smash Mouth
I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden
Breathe - Faith Hill
2009Womanizer - Britney Spears
Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
Just Dance - Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis
Here - Rascal Flatts
Happy Birthday Paul Revere of Paul Revere and The Raiders
Friday, January 7, 2011
RHAPSODY IN BLUE DAY
On this day in 1924, George Gershwin began work on the incomparable score of Rhapsody in Blue (he completed it some three weeks later). Incidentally, George was only 26 years old at the time. And, George didn’t even have an interest in music until his family got him a piano when he was twelve. Nine years later he had his first hit, Swanee, with lyrics written by Irving Caesar.
Rhapsody in Blue was commissioned by Paul Whiteman and then orchestrated by Ferde Grofe of Grand Canyon Suite fame. This first orchestration of Gershwin’s score was never quite right. Grofe’s style didn’t gel with Gershwin’s. Several other artists attempted to do justice to Rhapsody in Blue, never quite making the grade. Some thirty years later, orchestra leader Hugo Winterhalter with Byron Janis at the piano did a jazzed up version; pretty close to the way Gershwin had described his piece. However, it wasn’t until Gershwin’s original solo piano was accompanied by a jazz band led by Michael Tilson Thomas, that the true arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue was heard.
No matter how you hear it, Rhapsody in Blue will remain the signature of one of the most influential of composers, songwriters and pianists in American music history.
Events January 7
1782 - The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia, making it the first commercial bank in the United States.
1785 - French aeronaut/balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard successfully made the first air-crossing of the English Channel from the English coast to France. Mr. Blanchard and his American passenger, Dr. John Jeffries, had to shed all of their clothes as the wind died and the balloon’s airbag cooled too quickly over the sea. Blanchard also owns the one-trip record for the most consecutive number of times saying, “Gosh, I hope we make it.”
1887 - This is one of those truer-than-true factoids that makes us wonder (as so much does). Thomas Stevens completed the first worldwide bicycle trip, after starting his trek in April 1884. Stevens and his trusty bike traveled 13,500 miles, arriving back in San Francisco, California almost three years later. Now, what we want to know is pretty obvious: How’d he cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a bike? Where’d he keep his food? Where’d he sleep? Was he for real?
1894 - W.(William) K. (Kennedy) L.(Laurie) ****son received a patent for motion picture film. His demonstration included a 47-frame film. The demo ran about two seconds and showed comedian Fred Ott sneezing. Congratulations W.K.L., and bless you Fred!
1896 - Maybe you or someone you know received one for Christmas: a genuine Fannie Farmer Cookbook. There really was a Fannie Farmer, you know. Her first and now famous, Boston Cooking School Cookbook, was published this day. She became known as ‘the mother of level measurement’ and the cookbook became a best seller.
1904 - The distress signal, “CQD”, was established this day. It didn’t last long. Four years later, “SOS” became the radio distress signal because it was quicker to transmit by wireless radio and could not be misinterpreted.
1926 - A famous marriage that endured for many years is remembered this day. It’s the wedding anniversary of George Burns and Gracie Allen who were married by a Justice of the Peace in Cleveland, Ohio.
1927 - 31 calls were made on this, the first day of transatlantic telephone service. Service began between New York and London. The calls cost $75.00 (equivalent to about $900 today) for five minutes.
1929 - The debut of Buck Rogers 2429 A.D. took place in newspapers around the U.S. this day. The comic strip title was later changed to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
1933 - The famous WWVA Jamboree, later known as Jamboree USA, was first broadcast on radio station WWVA from Wheeling, West Virginia. Jamboree USA is still running and is the second oldest country music program -- after the The Grand Ole Opry.
1940 - The gate to Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch opened. The ‘singing cowboy’ would entertain on CBS radio for the next 16 years.
1941 - The NBC Blue radio network presented the first installment of The Squeaky Door. You might not remember the show by its original title, but how about when it became known as Inner Sanctum?
1941 - Good-for-Nothin’ Joe was recorded by the sultry Lena Horne. She sang the classic song with Charlie Barnet and his orchestra on Bluebird Records.
1949 - The announcement of the first photograph of genes was presented at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
1950 - Ernest Tubb made his first appearance at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Ernest also did a 15-minute radio program each day that became very popular in West Texas. So popular, in fact, that he bought the radio station that had aired the program for years and years: KGKL in San Angelo, Texas.
1950 - More Opry news: Hank Snow also made his debut on The Grand Ole Opry. Later that year (and well into the next), his recording of I’m Movin’ On parked itself on the Billboard country chart for 49 consecutive weeks.
1954 - The Duoscopic TV receiver was unveiled. The TV set allowed a person or group to watch two different shows at the same time. It was a primitive, picture-in-picture, split-screen that was tested in New York City and Chicago. The set was a product of DuMont Laboratories; which owned the DuMont Television Network.
1955 - The first black singer at the Metropolitan Opera was Marian Anderson, who appeared as Ulrica in Verdi’s The Masked Ball.
1958 - The Flying V guitar, which is a favorite of rock musicians, was patented this day by the Gibson Guitar Company.
1963 - First-class postage in the U.S. was raised from 4 cents to 5 cents.
1968 - U.S. postage rates increased a penny; taking the cost of sending an ounce of mail up to six cents.
1970 - Neighbors of New York landowner Max Yasgur sued him for $35,000 for property damage caused by ‘flower children’ who attended the August 1969 Woodstock Festival. More than 450,000 people attended the three-day event.
1972 - Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1972 - U.S. poet John Berryman died after jumping off a bridge. Berryman’s 77 Dream Songs won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize.
1975 - Shenandoah opened at Alvin Theater on Broadway, for 1050 performances.
1979 - In the AFC title game, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers 34-5 for a Super Bowl trip and their third AFC championship title. They played in a steady rain at Three Rivers Stadium. In the NFC championship game, the Dallas Cowboys shut out the Los Angeles Rams 28-0. (The Steelers beat the Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII Jan 21.)
1979 - The Cambodian government of Pol Pot was overthrown. It took the combined forces of Cambodian rebels and Vietnamese troops to end the bloody regime that hadkilled millions of people.
1980 - The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The act provided Chrysler $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees.
1985 - A big day for Dayton, Ohio’s Phil Donahue, who broadcast the first of his long-running talkfests from New York City, his new home base. Phil started his MultiMedia Productions show in 1967.
1985 - Yul Brynner returned to the stage this night as The King and I returned to where Yul first began his reign, 33 years before. Through his career to that date, Brynner appeared in 4,434 shows without missing a single performance. His performance as the King of Siam was regal!
1987 - Government sources said the combined local, state, and national debt had risen to $10,047 per person in the U.S.; the Federal debt, alone, amounting to $7,650 per person. (Check the current figures here.)
1989 - Japan’s longest-reigning monarch, Emperor Hirohito died of cancer. He was 88 years old and had ruled Japan for 62 years. Part of the agreement ending World War II called for Hirohito to renounced his claims of divinity. His radio address announcing Tokyo’s surrender marked the first time most of the Japanese public had heard their emperor’s voice.
1990 - The Tower of Pisa was Closed to the public after leaning too far. The closing of the monument allowed “the work of consolidation of the foundations and reduction of the inclination.” The tower reopened on Dec 15, 2001 to guided visits only (with a maximum of 30 people), accompanied by employed personnel (the visit takes about 35 minutes). The work, at a cost of more than 27,370,000 Euro, decreased the leaning of the tower by 40.6 centimeters. The tower began to lean at the beginning of its construction in 1173 because of the marshy ground on which it rests and the inclination had continued to increase each year up to the decision to intervene in 1990.
1991 - The plane that could elude radar was unable to escape the budget-cutter’s knife when U.S. Defense Secretary **** Cheney cancelled funding for the U.S. Navy A-12 Stealth attack plane.
1992 - Pitchers Tom Seaver and Rollie Fingers were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1995 - Russian Major General Viktor Vorobyov, a senior commander in the advance on the secessionist capital of Chechnya, was killed by a mortar explosion.
1996 - A blizzard paralyzed the Eastern U.S. The storm moved slowly, taking five days to reach New England from the Gulf of Mexico. The National Weather Service called it a storm of “historic proportions” with more than two feet of snow in the Baltimore and Washington, DC area. The mountains of Virginia and West Virginia got up to three feet. More than 100 deaths were blamed on the storm -- the majority from heart attacks.
1997 - Beryl Bainbridge won the British Whitbread Prize for best novel of 1996 for Every Man for Himself, a tale of the Titanic disaster; Seamus Heaney won the poetry award for The Spirit Level.
1998 - The government of Canada apologized to the nation’s indigenous peoples for past acts of oppression and pledged $245 million for counseling and treatment programs. The aboriginal population is about 810,000 that includes 38,000 Inuits and 139,000 Metis, people of mixed Indian and white ancestry.
1999 - The Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began. Chief Justice William Rehnquist was sworn in to preside over the trial. Bill Clinton was ultimately acquitted of charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
2000 - These movies opened in the U.S.: Magnolia (the study of nine lives in one day in San Fernando Valley, California), with Jeremy Blackman, Michael Bowen, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon and Henry Gibson; and Snow Falling on Cedars (“It's Stand By Me and To Kill a Mockingbird blended into one.”), starring Ethan Hawke, James Rebhorn, Sam Shepard, Max Von Sydow, Youki Kudoh, Rick Yune and Celia Weston.
2001 - The price of a First-class postage first class U.S. postage stamp increased from 33 to 34 cents.
2002 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and nine United States Senators arrived at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan for an unannounced visit. The group promised Afghan leaders full support in rebuilding the shattered country.
2003 - Kobe Bryant broke the NBA record for most 3-point field goals (12 -- nine of them consecutive) in a single basketball game.
2004 - Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin died in Stockholm. Her films include Foreign Intrigue (1956), Wild Strawberries (1957) and The ****ed (1969).
2004 - Digital radios went on sale in the U.S. The launch officially began in Cedar Rapids, IA where one station was already broadcasting in digital.
2005 - White Noise opened in U.S. movie theatres. The romantice drama/thriller stars Michael Keaton, Deborah Unger, Ian McNeice, Chandra West, Colin Chapin, Anastasia Corbett, Mike Dopud, Aaron Douglas, Miranda Frigon, Mitchell Kosterman, Micki Maunsell, Marsha Regis, Suzanne Ristic, Amber Rothwell, Brad Sihvon, Bill Tarling, April Telek and Chuck Walkinshaw.
2005 - The nuclear submarine USS San Francisco ran aground -- hitting the ocean floor -- 350 miles off the island of Guam, injuring about 20 crew members (one died the next day).
2006 - The Australian government claimed that properly-applied technology could be three times more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than the Kyoto Protocol.
2007 - A helicopter crashed into the garden terrace of a restaurant in southeastern France, killing three people on the ground and severely injuring a fourth. The four people on board the helicopter were not hurt.
2008 - A fire tore through a refrigeration warehouse under construction in an industrial district south of Seoul, Korea, killing 40 people.
2008 - Australians battled both fires and heavy flooding that stranded residents in several communities. This, after days of intense summer heat and storms.
2009 - Bank of America raised more money to cope with U.S. economic turmoil by selling part of its stake in China Construction Bank, China’s second-biggest commercial lender, for $2.8 billion.
2009 - The United States reported that it had released another $99 million as part of an aid package to support Mexico’s police and soldiers in their fight against drug cartels. The U.S. had released $197 million in December as part of the $1.3 billion U.S. anti-drug package, known as the Merida Initiative.
2009 - Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused big travel delays across Europe. The storm was blamed for at least 12 deaths.
2010 - Russian police in Dagestan killed two suspected militants in a counterterrorism operation launched in response to a suicide blast that took the lives of six officers. One of the slain militants was named as Ismail Ichakayev, a man reportedly wanted for masterminding several bombings and other attacks on officials.
2011 - Movies opening in U.S. theatres: Season of the Witch Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen, Claire Foy, Robert Sheehan and Christopher Lee; Country Strong, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, Tina White, Leighton Meester and Marshall Chapman; and The Absent, with Damon Abdallah, Sam Ball, Cloud Bannick, Ari Bernstein, and Jennifer Blanc.
Birthdays January 7
1745 - Jacques Montgolfier
inventor [w/brother Joseph]: hot air balloon; died Aug 2, 1799
1800 - Millard S. Fillmore
U.S. Vice-President [1849-1850]; 13th U.S. President [1850-1853], second Vice-President to inherit the office [became President when Zachary Taylor died]; died Mar 8, 1874
1908 - Philip Bourneuf
actor: Captains and Kings, Frankenstein, Lassie: Peace is Our Profession, Istanbul Express, Chamber of Horrors; died March 23, 1979
1908 - Estée Lauder
cosmetics mogul: started Estée Lauder Companies with a jar of skin cream developed by her chemist uncle; died Apr 24, 2004
1911 - (Thelma) Butterfly McQueen
actress: The Mosquito Coast, Duel in the Sun, Gone with the Wind; died Dec 22, 1995
1912 - Charles Addams
cartoonist: The New Yorker; TV and films: The Addams Family; died Sep 29, 1988
1913 - Johnny (John Robert) Mize
‘The Big Cat’: Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman: SL Cardinals [all-star: 1937, 1939-1941/1939 NL batting champ]; NY Giants [all-star: 1942, 1946-1949/NL record for left-handed batters: 51 homeruns: 1947]; NY Yankees [World Series: 1949-1953]; hit a home run in every major league ballpark during career; died June 2, 1993
1920 - Vincent Gardenia
Tony Award-winning actor: The Prisoner of Second Avenue; Emmy Award-winner [1990]: Age-Old Friends [HBO]; L.A. Law, Breaking Away, All in the Family, The Super, Skin Deep, Moonstruck, Little Shop of Horrors, Death Wish series, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Hustler; died Dec 9, 1992
1921 - Charles Loloma
jeweler: designed American Indian jewelry; died June 9, 1991
1922 - Alvin (Ralph) ‘Blackie’ Dark
baseball: Boston Braves [World Series: 1948/Rookie of the Year: 1948], NY Giants [World Series: 1951, 1954/all-star: 1951, 1952, 1954], SL Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies
1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal
musician: flutist: recitals world wide; played with New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Houston, Minnesota, San Francisco, San Diego and Cincinnati symphony orchestras; died May 20, 2000
1928 - William Peter Blatty
screenwriter: The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, Darling Lili, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, Promise Her Anything, A Shot in the Dark
1929 - Terry Moore (Helen Koford)
actress: Beverly Hills Brats, Kill Factor, Peyton Place, Come Back, Little Sheba, Gaslight
1930 - Jack Greene
The Jolly Green Giant: singer: CMA Male Vocalist, Album, Single and Song of the Year: There Goes My Everything [1967]
1930 - Douglas Kiker
newscaster: NBC-TV News; journalist: NBC Magazine with David Brinkley; author: Death Below Deck; died Aug 14, 1991
1938 - Lou Graham
golf: U.S. Open Champion [1975]
1938 - Paul Revere
singer, musician: keyboards: group: Paul Revere and The Raiders: Hungry , Kicks, Him or Me-What’s it Gonna Be, Indian Reservation
1942 - Jim (James Kenneth) Lefebvre
baseball: LA Dodgers [NL Rookie of the Year: 1965/World Series: 1965, 1966/all-star: 1966]; manager: Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers
1945 - Tony (Anthony Richard) Conigliaro
baseball: Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1967], California Angels; died Feb 24, 1990
1946 - Andy Brown
musician: drums: group: The Fortunes: You’ve Got Your Troubles, Caroline, Here It Comes Again, This Golden Ring, The Idol, Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again
1946 - Jann Wenner
publisher: Rolling Stone
1948 - Kenny Loggins
musician, singer: I’m Alright, This is It, Welcome to Heartlight, Danger Zone
1950 - Erin Gray
actress: Starman, Silver Spoons, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, T-Force, A Dangerous Place, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Breaking Home Ties, Six Pack, Born Beautiful, The Ultimate Imposter
1953 - Morris Titantic
hockey: NHL: Buffalo Sabres
1956 - David Caruso
actor: C.S.I.: Miami, N.Y.P.D. Blue, An Officer and a Gentleman, Mad Dog and Glory, Michael Hayes
1957 - Katie Couric (Katherine Anne Couric)
TV news anchor (and managing editor): CBS Evening News with Katie Couric; TV host: Today
1958 - Linda Kozlowski
actress: Crocodile Dundee series; Backstreet Justice, Village of the ****ed, Shaughnessy; wife of actor Paul Hogan
1960 - Tierre Turner
actor: The Crow, The Cop and the Kid, Earth 2; stunt man: The Facult, Escape from L.A., Glory
1962 - Jeff (Jeffrey Thomas) Montgomery
baseball: pitcher: Cincinnati Reds, KC Royals [all-star: 1992, 1993, 1996]
1963 - Craig (Barry) Shipley
baseball: LA Dodgers, NY Mets, SD Padres, Houston Astros
1964 - Nicolas Cage (Nicholas Coppola)
actor: The Best of Times, The Rock, Leaving Las Vegas, Vampire’s Kiss, Raising Arizona, Racing with the Moon, Moonstruck, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Cotton Club, Birdy, Valley Girl, Con Air, Face/Off, The Family Man, Windtalkers; nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire
1964 - John Decker (Adam Lee Vaughn)
actor: X-rated films: Raincoat Fantasies, The Wicked Web, Taboo 16, Sex Freaks, Wild Bananas on Butt Row, Hunchback of Nasty Dames, PornWorld, Erotic Illusions, Love Games
1966 - Randy Burridge
hockey: NHL: Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, LA Kings, Buffalo Sabres
1966 - Caroline Besette Kennedy
wife of John F. Kennedy Jr.; killed July 16, 1999 [w/John and her sister Lauren] when the plane John was piloting crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, MA
1967 - Guy Hebert
hockey: NHL: SL Blues, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
1969 - Erric Pegram
football: RB: Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, NY Giants, San Diego Chargers
1969 - David Yost
actor: Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Ladykiller, Power Rangers Zeo
1970 - Todd Day
basketball: Univ of Arkansas; NBA: Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves
1970 - Doug E. Doug
comedian, actor: Eight Legged Freaks, Citizen James, My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, That Darn Cat, Operation Dumbo Drop, Cool Runnings
1971 - Frank Mene*****
baseball: Univ of Alabama; Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays
1972 - Donald Brashear
hockey: Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers
1972 - Johan Witehall
hockey: NY Rangers, Montreal Canadiens
1973 - Bobby Engram
football: Penn State Univ; NFL: Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks
1973 - Esta TerBlanche
actress: Three Thieves and a Wedding, The Syndicate, All My Children
1973 - Brian Milne
football: Penn State Univ; NFL: Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, NO Saints
1974 - Trevor Winter
basketball: Univ of Minnesota; NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers
1975 - Justin Watson
football: San Diego State Univ; NFL: St. Louis Rams
1976 - Eric Gagne
baseball [pitcher]: LA Dodgers
1976 - Alfonso Soriano
baseball: NY Yankees, Texas Rangers
1977 - Dustin Diamond
actor: She’s Out of Control, Purple People Eater, Saved By the Bell
1981 - Reece Gaines
basketball: Univ of Louisville; NBA: Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets
1982 - Francisco Rodriguez
baseball [pitcher]: Anaheim Angels
1987 - Lyndsy Fonseca
actress: The Young and the Restless
1990 - Liam Aiken
actor: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, I Dreamed of Africa, Stepmom, The Object of My Affection, Montana
1990 - Camryn Grimes
actress: Sharing the Secret, The Young and the Restless, Days Of Our Lives
Chart Toppers January 7
1946Symphony - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Clyde Rogers)
It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
I Can’t Begin to Tell You - Bing Crosby with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra
White Cross on Okinawa - Bob Wills
1955Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane - The Ames Brothers
Hearts of Stone - The Fontane Sisters
Loose Talk - Carl Smith
1964There! I’ve Said It Again - Bobby Vinton
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Since I Fell for You - Lenny Welch
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1973You’re So Vain - Carly Simon
Clair - Gilbert O’Sullivan
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
She’s Got to Be a Saint - Ray Price
1982Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire
Fourteen Carat Mind - Gene Watson
1991Justify My Love - Madonna
High Enough - **** Yankees
Tom’s Diner - D.N.A. featuring Suzanne Vega
I’ve Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
2000I Wanna Love You Forever - Jessica Simpson
Then the Morning Comes - Smash Mouth
I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden
Breathe - Faith Hill
2009Womanizer - Britney Spears
Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
Just Dance - Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis
Here - Rascal Flatts
Happy Birthday Paul Revere of Paul Revere and The Raiders
