BROWNNOSE
BOOTLICKER
285th day of 2010 - 80 remaining
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
COLUMBUS DAY
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And on this day, with a crew of 90 and three ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, he landed on Guanahani Island in the Bahamas.
Italian born Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain’s Queen Isabel, had been in search of a water passageway to Cathay. It was a long and dangerous journey across what Columbus called “shoreless seas,” so there was much jubilation when they saw land. Columbus renamed the island, San Salvador, and claimed it for the Spanish Crown.
An entry in his journal described meeting the natives of the island, “As I saw that they were friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force, I presented them with some red caps, and strings of beads to wear upon the neck, and many other trifles of small value, wherewith they were much delighted and became wonderfully attached to us.”
And most people in Spanish-speaking countries and the Americas are still pretty much attached to Columbus, as they continue to celebrate this day as a holiday in his honor.
Events October 12
1792 - The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated -- in Baltimore, MD.
1823 - Charles Macintosh of Scotland began selling raincoats. The early ‘macs’ were stiff in the winter and sticky in hot weather and it wasn’t until vulcanised rubber, which resisted temperature changes, became available in 1839 that the ‘mackintosh’ became widely popular.
1850 - Classes began at the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first medical school entirely for women.
1895 - The first amateur golf tournament was held -- in Newport, Rhode Island. A chap named Charles Blair McDonald beat a field of 31 others in the event.
1901 - By executive order, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt renamed the ‘Executive Mansion’ ‘The White House’.
1915 - Former U.S. President (1901-1909) Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities, saying, “There is no room in this country for ‘hyphenated Americanism’.”
1920 - The leading race horse money winner of the day ran for the last time. Man o’ War beat Sir Barton in Canada’s Kenilworth Park. Man o’ War’s career earnings totaled nearly $250,000.
1920 - Construction of the Holland Tunnel got underway. The tunnel would provide a direct link between Twelfth Street in Jersey City, NJ and Canal Street in New York City. The tunnel has two tubes more than 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) long. It opened to traffic on November 13, 1927. Oh, and one more thing: The Holland Tunnel was named for Clifford Milburn Holland (1883-1924), the civil engineer who died while directing the tunnel’s construction.
1923 - The largest crowd to catch a World Series game (over 62,000) saw Casey Stengel hit the winning home run as the New York Giants beat the Yankees 1-0.
1937 - The longest-running detective show on radio debuted. Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons lasted until 1955. Three different actors played the title role, Bennett Kilpack was Mr. Keen the longest, and Arthur Hughes saw the final show. Phil Clark also played the part. There were many more than three sponsors -- Anacin, Kolynos (a toothpaste), BiSoDol antacid mints, Hill’s cold tablets, Heet liniment, Dentyne, Aerowax, RCA Victor and Chesterfield cigarettes. Some are long gone, some are still around, some don’t advertise on radio anymore, and some are not allowed to.
1942 - U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.
1944 - Who could forget the picture of a huge crowd of swooning bobbysoxers stopping traffic in New York’s Times Square as Frank Sinatra made his triumphant return to the famed Paramount Theatre (he had played there for eight weeks starting on December 30, 1942). In what was called the ‘Columbus Day Riot’, 25,000 teenagers, mostly young women, blocked the streets, screaming and swooning for Frankie. Sinatra later explained, “It was the war years, and there was a great loneliness. And I was the boy in every corner drug store ... who’d gone off, drafted to the war. That was all.”
1946 - Joseph W. Stilwell, U.S. general in China, died.
1950 - The Kefauver Crime Commission convened in New York to investigate interstate organized crime. TV was there the following year, showing Frank Costello’s hands for a long, long time on screen. Mr. Costello told Senator Estes Kefauver’s committee that he would refuse to testify on TV if his face was shown. So, viewers were shown his hands instead.
1950 - The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show made its debut on CBS-TV. Burns and Allen had been on the radio since 1935. The TV show ran through Sep 22, 1958, featuring the real-life married couple at home. George played on-screen host/narrator and straight man for Gracie’s scatterbrained (but hillarious) schemes.
1957 - Canada Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his solution to the Suez Crisis: the establishment of the U.N. Emergency Force.
1960 - At the United Nations, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev went ballistic, taking off his shoe and pounding it on his desk! The UN Assembly President, Frederick Boland, was so irritated that he split his gavel trying to reestablish order.
1961 - The first video memoirs by a U.S. president were made. CBS presented a three-hour discussion with former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Reportedly, 11 hours of film were used and later, edited to the final print. The interviewer was Walter Cronkite.
1963 - Traffic on the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was reconfigured -- with five westbound lanes on the upper deck and five eastbound lanes on the lower deck.
1967 - The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3 in the World Series. A few stats worth remembering: In 27 innings, Bob Gibson allowed three runs and 14 hits to notch St. Louis’ eighth title. Although he and Boston’s Jim Lonborg pitched spectacularly, the series tied the record for most pitchers used (20). St. Louis’ Lou Brock collected 12 hits for a .414 average and a Series-record seven stolen bases. He also tied a Series mark with eight runs. Roger Maris batted .385, collecting ten hits. Julian Javier batted .360. Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski batted .400 with three homers. Dalton Jones batted .389.
1968 - Cheap Thrills, the album by Big Brother and the Holding Company, started an eight-week run as number one in the U.S. It was the first and only album (for a major label) Janis Joplin made with Big Brother and the Holding Company. The album’s tracks: Combination of the Two, I Need a Man to Love, Summertime, Piece of My Heart, Turtle Blues, Oh, Sweet Mary, Ball and Chain.
1968 - The games of the XIX Olympiad were opened in Mexico City by Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo became first woman to light the Olympic flame. The high-altitude (2,240 meters or 7,573 feet above seal level) and polluted air in Mexico City, put the athletes to a real test. Black Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the black power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the U.S. They were expelled from the Olympic Village & thrown off the team by the USOC.
1971 - Some folks weren’t pleased when Jesus Christ Superstar premiered on Broadway because of the controversial content of the musical. Before the show opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, some 2.5 million copies of the album were sold to the curious. The Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Weber collaboration would become a big hit. Jesus Christ Superstar would run on Broadway for 720 shows, and spawn several hit songs, including I Don’t Know How to Love Him (Helen Reddy) and the title song, Jesus Christ Superstar (Murray Head).
1971 - 1950s pop singer Gene Vincent died of a bleeding ulcer. He was 36 years old. Vincent’s biggest claim to fame was the multi-million-selling "Be-Bop-A-Lula".
1973 - U.S. President Richard Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. to become vice-president (after Spiro Agnew’s resignation). On December 6, 1973, Ford was approved by Congress and sworn in. He was the first vice president to be appointed, rather than elected, and the first to take office in the middle of an administration.
1975 - Archbishop Oliver Plunkett became the first Irish-born saint in 700 years. He had been beheaded by Cromwell’s troops.
1976 - China announced that Hua Guofeng was named to succeed the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Communist Party.
1981 - Barbara Mandrell walked away with the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year honor for the second year in a row.
1986 - It cost $100 a seat. It featured refreshments and food. It ran for 8.5 hours. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Closed on Broadway this day. Incidentally, those who saw it may remember that there were potty breaks scheduled, so the audience wouldn’t miss one thrilling moment...
1987 - The Forbes magazine list of The 400 Richest Americans ranked Sam Walton, founder of WalMart Stores, as the richest; worth some $8.5 billion.
1987 - Alfred ‘Alf’ M. Landon, who ran for president against Franklin Roosevelt, died. The former Kansas Governor passed away at his home in Topeka, Kansas. Landon was 100 years old.
1990 - The Cincinnati Reds won the National League baseball pennant, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-to-1.
1992 - An earthquake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, hit Dahshur, near Cairo, Egypt. More than 500 people were killed and about 6500 others were injured.
1993 - The Toronto Blue Jays won their second straight American League pennant, defeating the Chicago White Sox in six games.
1994 - American Clifford G. Shull and Canadian Bertram N. Brockhouse won the Nobel Prize in Physics; American George A. Olah won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1994 - The Magellan space probe ended its four-year mapping mission of Venus, plunging into the planet’s atmosphere.
1997 - Singer/songwriter John Denver, piloting an experimental, amateur-built Rutan Long-EZ airplane, crashed into Monterey Bay, California. Witnesses said the plane, made of fiberglass with a single engine and two seats, was flying about at about 500 feet “when it just sort of dropped unexpectedly into the ocean. When it hit the water it broke into numerous parts.” Denver, age 53 and the only occupant of the plane, was killed.
1998 - Americans Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for blood vessel research.
1999 - Ahmed H. Zewail of the California Institute of Technology won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Dutch scientists Gerardus ’t Hooft and Martinus J.G. Veltman won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
1999 - According to estimates by the United Nations, the world’s population had reached 6 billion. The new benchmark came 12 years after the previous billion.
2000 - Chinese writer Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
2000 - A small ship, described as either a Zodiac-type rubber craft or a fiberglass boat loaded with explosives, rammed the U.S. destroyer Cole. The explosion blew a 40 by 40 foot hole in the ship, at anchor in the port of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors. (The Cole returned to active duty in 2003 following $250 million in repairs.)
2001 - These movies debuted in U.S. theatres: Bandits, with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Troy Garity and Bobby Slayton; Corky Romano, starring Chris Kattan, Peter Berg, Chris Penn, Richard Roundtree, Vinessa Shaw, Matthew Glave, Fred Ward, Peter Falk and DAVE Sheridan; Iron Monkey, with Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen, Jean Wang, Tsang Sze-Man and Yuen Shun-Yee; and Mulholland Drive, starring Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Robert Forster and Dan Hedaya.
2001 - The United Nations and its secretary-general, Kofi Annan, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
2001 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft urged federal agencies to resist most Freedom of Information Act requests made by American citizens. The act had been passed in 1974 during the Watergate scandal.
2002 - Bandleader Ray Conniff, “one of the few commercially successful musical geniuses of our time,” died in Escondido, CA. He was 85 years old. Recordings by Ray Conniff’s Orchestra and Chorus and the Ray Conniff Singers were heard on just about every easy-listening radio station in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s.
2003 - Some 70,000 employees of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons grocery stores began a strike in Southern California, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. Health care costs were a main issue. Workers approved an agreement for Southern California on Feb 29, 2004.
2004 - The Seattle Storm won their first WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) title with a 74-60 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
2005 - Six armed Somali pirates hijacked the MV Miltzow, a freighter that was carrying United Nations food aid. After its cargo of 850 tons of food aid was offloaded in the port of Merka, the ship was forced to sail down the coast to Barawa before being released two days later.
2006 - A tugboat pushing two barges hit an undersea pipeline in West Cote Blanche Bay (100 miles from New Orleans). The ensuing explosion and fire killed six people. Two others were rescued.
2007 - Films opening in U.S. theatres: Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton and Abbie Cornish; Why Did I Get Married?. starring Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal, Jill Scott, Tasha Smith, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones and Michael Jai White; and We Own the Night, with Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes and Alex Veadov.
2007 - Two men were sentenced to prison for distributing pornographic e-mails. It was the first successful criminal prosecution under the CAN-SPAM Act -- in Phoenix, AZ. James R. Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, AZ and Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, CA had been convicted of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and obscenity.
2007 - Former U.S. VP Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
2008 - Australia and New Zealand gave a blanket guarantee to all bank deposits and European leaders hammered out action to confront the financial crisis, adding their voices to a global chorus of demands for coordinated action.
2009 - Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the Nobel economics prize for their work in economic governance. Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel prize in Economic Sciences.
2009 - Global food giant Nestle said its Zimbabwe banking was back to normal just days after newspapers reported that the government froze its accounts and ordered an audit after the company stopped buying milk from a farm owned by the wife of President Robert Mugabe.
Birthdays October 12
1860 - Elmer A. (Ambrose) Sperry
inventor: Sperry Automatic Pilot [gyroscopic compass]; founder: Sperry-Rand Corp.; died Jun 16, 1930
1872 - Ralph Vaughan Williams
composer: The Pilgrim’s Progress, Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis, Mass in G Minor; died Aug 26, 1958
1891 - Perle Mesta (Skirvin)
socialite: ‘The hostess with the mostes’; diplomat: appointment as U.S. envoy to Luxembourg [1949] inspired Broadway play Call Me Madam; died Mar 16, 1975
1906 - Joe (Joseph Edward) Cronin
Baseball Hall of Famer: Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals [World Series: 1933/all-star: 1933, 1934], Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941]; American League president; American League Chairman; died Sep 7, 1984
1923 - Jean Nidetch
diet mogul: founder of Weight Watchers
1923 - Jean Wallace
actress: No Blade of Grass, The Big Combo, Blaze of Noon, Ziegfeld Girl; was married to actors Cornel Wilde and Franchot Tone; died Feb 14, 1990
1929 - Nappy Brown
singer: Don’t Be Angry, Night Time Is the Right Time; died Sep 20, 2008
1932 - **** Gregory
comedian; civil rights activist
1932 - Ned Jarrett
auto racer: NASCAR/International Motorsports Hall of Famer: 50 Grand National victories; radio/TV commentator
1935 - Tony (Anthony Christopher) Kubek
baseball: NY Yankees outfielder/shortstop [Rookie of the Year: 1957/World Series: 1957, 1958, 1960-1963/all-star: 1958, 1959, 1961]; broadcaster: Toronto Blue Jays, NBC Game of the Week
1935 - Samuel Moore
singer: group: Sam & DAVE : Hold On! I’m a Comin’, Soul Man, I Thank You, Soul Sister Brown Sugar
1935 - Luciano Pavarotti
Emmy Award-winning opera star: Pavarotti in Philadelphia: La Boheme [1982-1983]; actor: Yes, Giorgio; died Sep 6, 2007
1939 - Jerry Hill
football: Baltimore Colts running back: Super Bowl III, V
1940 - Glenn (Alfred) Beckert
baseball: Chicago Cubs [all-star: 1969-1972], SD Padres
1947 - Chris Wallace
news broadcaster, TV host: FOX: FOX News Sunday; son of news broadcaster Mike Wallace
1948 - Rick Parfitt
singer, musician: guitar: group: Status Quo: LPs: Picturesque Matchstickable, Piledriver, Hello, On the Level, Blue for You, 1982
1949 - Dan Medlin
football: Oakland Raiders guard: Super Bowl XI
1950 - Susan Anton
singer: Killin’ Time [w/Fred Knoblock]; actress: Cannonball Run 2, Goldengirl, Baywatch, Stop Susan Williams
1951 - Sally Little
golf champion: Nabisco Dinah Shore [1982], Du Maurier Classic [1988], LPGA [1980]
1951 - Jeff Winans
football: University of Southern California [USC], Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1956 - DAVE Vanian (Letts)
singer; group: The ****ed: Love Song, Grimly Fiendish, Shadow of Love, Eloise, Alone Again Or
1960 - Steve Lowery
golf pro: PGA Tour wins: Sprint International [1994], Southern Farm Bureau Classic [2000], AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am [2008]
1965 - Chris Chandler
football [quarterback]: Univ of Washington; NFL: Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Phoenix Cardinals, L.A./St. Louis Rams, Houston Oilers, Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears
1968 - Hugh Jackman
actor: Wolverine, Happy Feet, X-Men series, The Fountain, Van Helsing, Standing Room Only, Kate & Leopold, Swordfish
1968 - Adam Rich
actor: Eight is Enough, The Devil & Max Devlin, Zertigo Diamond Caper, Code Red
1968 - Sophie von Kessel
actress: Eisfieber, Das Geheimnis im Wald, Ich BIN ein Berliner, Einsteins Ende, Nachtfenster
1969 - Martie Maguire
musician: fiddle, mandolin; singer: group: The Dixie Chicks: Landslide, Goodbye Earl, Long Time Gone, There’s Your Trouble, I Can Love You Better, Give It Up or Let Me Go
1970 - Kirk Cameron
actor: Growing Pains, Listen to Me, The Best of Times, Like Father, like Son, Two Marriages
1970 - Tanyon Sturtze
baseball [pitcher]; Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers
1970 - Charlie Ward
football: Florida State quarterback: Heisman Trophy winner [1993]
1975 - Randy Robitaille
hockey: Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators, LA Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Atlanta Thrashers, Philadelphia Flyers
1979 - Adrian Wilson
football [safety]: North Carolina State Univ; NFL: Arizona Cardinals
ABA Birthdays Today
Emax , atabo40 (70) , wacooper (65) , LongeeHarry (62) , kenlor , needey , edwin lopez (53) , rafaelrod57 (53) , don1065 (50) , wolfman61 (49) , pc_duty (46) , soldier275 (41) , thanhhung69 (41) , bgbaby1972 (38) , cbds (38) , Goldgot54 (38) , esoj (37) , ran025 (36) , redrazor (35) , tiggn (34) , hunter22 (33) , suzita (28) , kewrad (26)
Chart Toppers October 12
1949You’re Breaking My Heart - Vic Damone
That Lucky Old Sun - Frankie Laine
Someday - Vaughn Monroe
Slipping Around - Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely
1958It’s All in the Game - Tommy Edwards
Rock-in Robin - Bobby Day
Tea for Two Cha-Cha - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Bird Dog - The Everly Brothers
1967The Letter - The Box Tops
Never My Love - The Association
Little Ole Man (Uptight-Everything’s Alright) - Bill Cosby
Turn the World Around - Eddy Arnold
1976A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
Lowdown - Boz Scaggs
If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
The Games that Daddies Play - Conway Twitty
1985Oh Sheila - Ready For The World
Take on Me - a-ha
Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston
Meet Me in Montana - Marie Osmond with Dan Seals
1994I’ll Make Love to You - Boyz II Men
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
When Can I See You - Babyface
Who’s that Man - Toby Keith
2003Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
Baby Boy - Beyoncé Knowles featuring Sean Paul
Can't Hold Us Down - Christina Aguilera featuring Lil’ Kim
Real Good Man - Tim McGraw
Happy Birthday Samuel Moore of Sam & Dave
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
COLUMBUS DAY
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And on this day, with a crew of 90 and three ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, he landed on Guanahani Island in the Bahamas.
Italian born Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain’s Queen Isabel, had been in search of a water passageway to Cathay. It was a long and dangerous journey across what Columbus called “shoreless seas,” so there was much jubilation when they saw land. Columbus renamed the island, San Salvador, and claimed it for the Spanish Crown.
An entry in his journal described meeting the natives of the island, “As I saw that they were friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force, I presented them with some red caps, and strings of beads to wear upon the neck, and many other trifles of small value, wherewith they were much delighted and became wonderfully attached to us.”
And most people in Spanish-speaking countries and the Americas are still pretty much attached to Columbus, as they continue to celebrate this day as a holiday in his honor.
Events October 12
1792 - The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated -- in Baltimore, MD.
1823 - Charles Macintosh of Scotland began selling raincoats. The early ‘macs’ were stiff in the winter and sticky in hot weather and it wasn’t until vulcanised rubber, which resisted temperature changes, became available in 1839 that the ‘mackintosh’ became widely popular.
1850 - Classes began at the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first medical school entirely for women.
1895 - The first amateur golf tournament was held -- in Newport, Rhode Island. A chap named Charles Blair McDonald beat a field of 31 others in the event.
1901 - By executive order, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt renamed the ‘Executive Mansion’ ‘The White House’.
1915 - Former U.S. President (1901-1909) Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities, saying, “There is no room in this country for ‘hyphenated Americanism’.”
1920 - The leading race horse money winner of the day ran for the last time. Man o’ War beat Sir Barton in Canada’s Kenilworth Park. Man o’ War’s career earnings totaled nearly $250,000.
1920 - Construction of the Holland Tunnel got underway. The tunnel would provide a direct link between Twelfth Street in Jersey City, NJ and Canal Street in New York City. The tunnel has two tubes more than 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) long. It opened to traffic on November 13, 1927. Oh, and one more thing: The Holland Tunnel was named for Clifford Milburn Holland (1883-1924), the civil engineer who died while directing the tunnel’s construction.
1923 - The largest crowd to catch a World Series game (over 62,000) saw Casey Stengel hit the winning home run as the New York Giants beat the Yankees 1-0.
1937 - The longest-running detective show on radio debuted. Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons lasted until 1955. Three different actors played the title role, Bennett Kilpack was Mr. Keen the longest, and Arthur Hughes saw the final show. Phil Clark also played the part. There were many more than three sponsors -- Anacin, Kolynos (a toothpaste), BiSoDol antacid mints, Hill’s cold tablets, Heet liniment, Dentyne, Aerowax, RCA Victor and Chesterfield cigarettes. Some are long gone, some are still around, some don’t advertise on radio anymore, and some are not allowed to.
1942 - U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.
1944 - Who could forget the picture of a huge crowd of swooning bobbysoxers stopping traffic in New York’s Times Square as Frank Sinatra made his triumphant return to the famed Paramount Theatre (he had played there for eight weeks starting on December 30, 1942). In what was called the ‘Columbus Day Riot’, 25,000 teenagers, mostly young women, blocked the streets, screaming and swooning for Frankie. Sinatra later explained, “It was the war years, and there was a great loneliness. And I was the boy in every corner drug store ... who’d gone off, drafted to the war. That was all.”
1946 - Joseph W. Stilwell, U.S. general in China, died.
1950 - The Kefauver Crime Commission convened in New York to investigate interstate organized crime. TV was there the following year, showing Frank Costello’s hands for a long, long time on screen. Mr. Costello told Senator Estes Kefauver’s committee that he would refuse to testify on TV if his face was shown. So, viewers were shown his hands instead.
1950 - The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show made its debut on CBS-TV. Burns and Allen had been on the radio since 1935. The TV show ran through Sep 22, 1958, featuring the real-life married couple at home. George played on-screen host/narrator and straight man for Gracie’s scatterbrained (but hillarious) schemes.
1957 - Canada Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his solution to the Suez Crisis: the establishment of the U.N. Emergency Force.
1960 - At the United Nations, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev went ballistic, taking off his shoe and pounding it on his desk! The UN Assembly President, Frederick Boland, was so irritated that he split his gavel trying to reestablish order.
1961 - The first video memoirs by a U.S. president were made. CBS presented a three-hour discussion with former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Reportedly, 11 hours of film were used and later, edited to the final print. The interviewer was Walter Cronkite.
1963 - Traffic on the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was reconfigured -- with five westbound lanes on the upper deck and five eastbound lanes on the lower deck.
1967 - The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3 in the World Series. A few stats worth remembering: In 27 innings, Bob Gibson allowed three runs and 14 hits to notch St. Louis’ eighth title. Although he and Boston’s Jim Lonborg pitched spectacularly, the series tied the record for most pitchers used (20). St. Louis’ Lou Brock collected 12 hits for a .414 average and a Series-record seven stolen bases. He also tied a Series mark with eight runs. Roger Maris batted .385, collecting ten hits. Julian Javier batted .360. Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski batted .400 with three homers. Dalton Jones batted .389.
1968 - Cheap Thrills, the album by Big Brother and the Holding Company, started an eight-week run as number one in the U.S. It was the first and only album (for a major label) Janis Joplin made with Big Brother and the Holding Company. The album’s tracks: Combination of the Two, I Need a Man to Love, Summertime, Piece of My Heart, Turtle Blues, Oh, Sweet Mary, Ball and Chain.
1968 - The games of the XIX Olympiad were opened in Mexico City by Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo became first woman to light the Olympic flame. The high-altitude (2,240 meters or 7,573 feet above seal level) and polluted air in Mexico City, put the athletes to a real test. Black Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the black power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the U.S. They were expelled from the Olympic Village & thrown off the team by the USOC.
1971 - Some folks weren’t pleased when Jesus Christ Superstar premiered on Broadway because of the controversial content of the musical. Before the show opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, some 2.5 million copies of the album were sold to the curious. The Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Weber collaboration would become a big hit. Jesus Christ Superstar would run on Broadway for 720 shows, and spawn several hit songs, including I Don’t Know How to Love Him (Helen Reddy) and the title song, Jesus Christ Superstar (Murray Head).
1971 - 1950s pop singer Gene Vincent died of a bleeding ulcer. He was 36 years old. Vincent’s biggest claim to fame was the multi-million-selling "Be-Bop-A-Lula".
1973 - U.S. President Richard Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. to become vice-president (after Spiro Agnew’s resignation). On December 6, 1973, Ford was approved by Congress and sworn in. He was the first vice president to be appointed, rather than elected, and the first to take office in the middle of an administration.
1975 - Archbishop Oliver Plunkett became the first Irish-born saint in 700 years. He had been beheaded by Cromwell’s troops.
1976 - China announced that Hua Guofeng was named to succeed the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Communist Party.
1981 - Barbara Mandrell walked away with the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year honor for the second year in a row.
1986 - It cost $100 a seat. It featured refreshments and food. It ran for 8.5 hours. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Closed on Broadway this day. Incidentally, those who saw it may remember that there were potty breaks scheduled, so the audience wouldn’t miss one thrilling moment...
1987 - The Forbes magazine list of The 400 Richest Americans ranked Sam Walton, founder of WalMart Stores, as the richest; worth some $8.5 billion.
1987 - Alfred ‘Alf’ M. Landon, who ran for president against Franklin Roosevelt, died. The former Kansas Governor passed away at his home in Topeka, Kansas. Landon was 100 years old.
1990 - The Cincinnati Reds won the National League baseball pennant, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-to-1.
1992 - An earthquake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, hit Dahshur, near Cairo, Egypt. More than 500 people were killed and about 6500 others were injured.
1993 - The Toronto Blue Jays won their second straight American League pennant, defeating the Chicago White Sox in six games.
1994 - American Clifford G. Shull and Canadian Bertram N. Brockhouse won the Nobel Prize in Physics; American George A. Olah won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1994 - The Magellan space probe ended its four-year mapping mission of Venus, plunging into the planet’s atmosphere.
1997 - Singer/songwriter John Denver, piloting an experimental, amateur-built Rutan Long-EZ airplane, crashed into Monterey Bay, California. Witnesses said the plane, made of fiberglass with a single engine and two seats, was flying about at about 500 feet “when it just sort of dropped unexpectedly into the ocean. When it hit the water it broke into numerous parts.” Denver, age 53 and the only occupant of the plane, was killed.
1998 - Americans Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for blood vessel research.
1999 - Ahmed H. Zewail of the California Institute of Technology won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Dutch scientists Gerardus ’t Hooft and Martinus J.G. Veltman won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
1999 - According to estimates by the United Nations, the world’s population had reached 6 billion. The new benchmark came 12 years after the previous billion.
2000 - Chinese writer Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
2000 - A small ship, described as either a Zodiac-type rubber craft or a fiberglass boat loaded with explosives, rammed the U.S. destroyer Cole. The explosion blew a 40 by 40 foot hole in the ship, at anchor in the port of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors. (The Cole returned to active duty in 2003 following $250 million in repairs.)
2001 - These movies debuted in U.S. theatres: Bandits, with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Troy Garity and Bobby Slayton; Corky Romano, starring Chris Kattan, Peter Berg, Chris Penn, Richard Roundtree, Vinessa Shaw, Matthew Glave, Fred Ward, Peter Falk and DAVE Sheridan; Iron Monkey, with Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen, Jean Wang, Tsang Sze-Man and Yuen Shun-Yee; and Mulholland Drive, starring Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Robert Forster and Dan Hedaya.
2001 - The United Nations and its secretary-general, Kofi Annan, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
2001 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft urged federal agencies to resist most Freedom of Information Act requests made by American citizens. The act had been passed in 1974 during the Watergate scandal.
2002 - Bandleader Ray Conniff, “one of the few commercially successful musical geniuses of our time,” died in Escondido, CA. He was 85 years old. Recordings by Ray Conniff’s Orchestra and Chorus and the Ray Conniff Singers were heard on just about every easy-listening radio station in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s.
2003 - Some 70,000 employees of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons grocery stores began a strike in Southern California, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. Health care costs were a main issue. Workers approved an agreement for Southern California on Feb 29, 2004.
2004 - The Seattle Storm won their first WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) title with a 74-60 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
2005 - Six armed Somali pirates hijacked the MV Miltzow, a freighter that was carrying United Nations food aid. After its cargo of 850 tons of food aid was offloaded in the port of Merka, the ship was forced to sail down the coast to Barawa before being released two days later.
2006 - A tugboat pushing two barges hit an undersea pipeline in West Cote Blanche Bay (100 miles from New Orleans). The ensuing explosion and fire killed six people. Two others were rescued.
2007 - Films opening in U.S. theatres: Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton and Abbie Cornish; Why Did I Get Married?. starring Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal, Jill Scott, Tasha Smith, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones and Michael Jai White; and We Own the Night, with Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes and Alex Veadov.
2007 - Two men were sentenced to prison for distributing pornographic e-mails. It was the first successful criminal prosecution under the CAN-SPAM Act -- in Phoenix, AZ. James R. Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, AZ and Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, CA had been convicted of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and obscenity.
2007 - Former U.S. VP Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
2008 - Australia and New Zealand gave a blanket guarantee to all bank deposits and European leaders hammered out action to confront the financial crisis, adding their voices to a global chorus of demands for coordinated action.
2009 - Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the Nobel economics prize for their work in economic governance. Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel prize in Economic Sciences.
2009 - Global food giant Nestle said its Zimbabwe banking was back to normal just days after newspapers reported that the government froze its accounts and ordered an audit after the company stopped buying milk from a farm owned by the wife of President Robert Mugabe.
Birthdays October 12
1860 - Elmer A. (Ambrose) Sperry
inventor: Sperry Automatic Pilot [gyroscopic compass]; founder: Sperry-Rand Corp.; died Jun 16, 1930
1872 - Ralph Vaughan Williams
composer: The Pilgrim’s Progress, Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis, Mass in G Minor; died Aug 26, 1958
1891 - Perle Mesta (Skirvin)
socialite: ‘The hostess with the mostes’; diplomat: appointment as U.S. envoy to Luxembourg [1949] inspired Broadway play Call Me Madam; died Mar 16, 1975
1906 - Joe (Joseph Edward) Cronin
Baseball Hall of Famer: Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals [World Series: 1933/all-star: 1933, 1934], Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941]; American League president; American League Chairman; died Sep 7, 1984
1923 - Jean Nidetch
diet mogul: founder of Weight Watchers
1923 - Jean Wallace
actress: No Blade of Grass, The Big Combo, Blaze of Noon, Ziegfeld Girl; was married to actors Cornel Wilde and Franchot Tone; died Feb 14, 1990
1929 - Nappy Brown
singer: Don’t Be Angry, Night Time Is the Right Time; died Sep 20, 2008
1932 - **** Gregory
comedian; civil rights activist
1932 - Ned Jarrett
auto racer: NASCAR/International Motorsports Hall of Famer: 50 Grand National victories; radio/TV commentator
1935 - Tony (Anthony Christopher) Kubek
baseball: NY Yankees outfielder/shortstop [Rookie of the Year: 1957/World Series: 1957, 1958, 1960-1963/all-star: 1958, 1959, 1961]; broadcaster: Toronto Blue Jays, NBC Game of the Week
1935 - Samuel Moore
singer: group: Sam & DAVE : Hold On! I’m a Comin’, Soul Man, I Thank You, Soul Sister Brown Sugar
1935 - Luciano Pavarotti
Emmy Award-winning opera star: Pavarotti in Philadelphia: La Boheme [1982-1983]; actor: Yes, Giorgio; died Sep 6, 2007
1939 - Jerry Hill
football: Baltimore Colts running back: Super Bowl III, V
1940 - Glenn (Alfred) Beckert
baseball: Chicago Cubs [all-star: 1969-1972], SD Padres
1947 - Chris Wallace
news broadcaster, TV host: FOX: FOX News Sunday; son of news broadcaster Mike Wallace
1948 - Rick Parfitt
singer, musician: guitar: group: Status Quo: LPs: Picturesque Matchstickable, Piledriver, Hello, On the Level, Blue for You, 1982
1949 - Dan Medlin
football: Oakland Raiders guard: Super Bowl XI
1950 - Susan Anton
singer: Killin’ Time [w/Fred Knoblock]; actress: Cannonball Run 2, Goldengirl, Baywatch, Stop Susan Williams
1951 - Sally Little
golf champion: Nabisco Dinah Shore [1982], Du Maurier Classic [1988], LPGA [1980]
1951 - Jeff Winans
football: University of Southern California [USC], Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1956 - DAVE Vanian (Letts)
singer; group: The ****ed: Love Song, Grimly Fiendish, Shadow of Love, Eloise, Alone Again Or
1960 - Steve Lowery
golf pro: PGA Tour wins: Sprint International [1994], Southern Farm Bureau Classic [2000], AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am [2008]
1965 - Chris Chandler
football [quarterback]: Univ of Washington; NFL: Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Phoenix Cardinals, L.A./St. Louis Rams, Houston Oilers, Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears
1968 - Hugh Jackman
actor: Wolverine, Happy Feet, X-Men series, The Fountain, Van Helsing, Standing Room Only, Kate & Leopold, Swordfish
1968 - Adam Rich
actor: Eight is Enough, The Devil & Max Devlin, Zertigo Diamond Caper, Code Red
1968 - Sophie von Kessel
actress: Eisfieber, Das Geheimnis im Wald, Ich BIN ein Berliner, Einsteins Ende, Nachtfenster
1969 - Martie Maguire
musician: fiddle, mandolin; singer: group: The Dixie Chicks: Landslide, Goodbye Earl, Long Time Gone, There’s Your Trouble, I Can Love You Better, Give It Up or Let Me Go
1970 - Kirk Cameron
actor: Growing Pains, Listen to Me, The Best of Times, Like Father, like Son, Two Marriages
1970 - Tanyon Sturtze
baseball [pitcher]; Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers
1970 - Charlie Ward
football: Florida State quarterback: Heisman Trophy winner [1993]
1975 - Randy Robitaille
hockey: Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators, LA Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Atlanta Thrashers, Philadelphia Flyers
1979 - Adrian Wilson
football [safety]: North Carolina State Univ; NFL: Arizona Cardinals
ABA Birthdays Today
Emax , atabo40 (70) , wacooper (65) , LongeeHarry (62) , kenlor , needey , edwin lopez (53) , rafaelrod57 (53) , don1065 (50) , wolfman61 (49) , pc_duty (46) , soldier275 (41) , thanhhung69 (41) , bgbaby1972 (38) , cbds (38) , Goldgot54 (38) , esoj (37) , ran025 (36) , redrazor (35) , tiggn (34) , hunter22 (33) , suzita (28) , kewrad (26)
Chart Toppers October 12
1949You’re Breaking My Heart - Vic Damone
That Lucky Old Sun - Frankie Laine
Someday - Vaughn Monroe
Slipping Around - Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely
1958It’s All in the Game - Tommy Edwards
Rock-in Robin - Bobby Day
Tea for Two Cha-Cha - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Bird Dog - The Everly Brothers
1967The Letter - The Box Tops
Never My Love - The Association
Little Ole Man (Uptight-Everything’s Alright) - Bill Cosby
Turn the World Around - Eddy Arnold
1976A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
Lowdown - Boz Scaggs
If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
The Games that Daddies Play - Conway Twitty
1985Oh Sheila - Ready For The World
Take on Me - a-ha
Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston
Meet Me in Montana - Marie Osmond with Dan Seals
1994I’ll Make Love to You - Boyz II Men
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
When Can I See You - Babyface
Who’s that Man - Toby Keith
2003Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
Baby Boy - Beyoncé Knowles featuring Sean Paul
Can't Hold Us Down - Christina Aguilera featuring Lil’ Kim
Real Good Man - Tim McGraw
Happy Birthday Samuel Moore of Sam & Dave
