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Post by pegasus on Feb 5, 2012 12:04:45 GMT -7
BOBBIE DAY
London’s finest, known as Bobbies, were named after Robert Peel, who was born on fEB. 5TH in 1788, in Lancashire, England. Robert aka Bobbie Peel was an English statesman who first established the Irish constabulary. The people commonly called this police organization ‘Peelers’ after Mr. Peel.
Then, when Robert Peel became Home Secretary of England, he reorganized the London police. It was 1829 and London’s populace had grown to the point that it needed an organized police force to question travelers after dark, hold all suspicious persons and quell any disturbances. (There were already special police to guard docks and markets and to serve notices and warrants.) Peel organized a paid and trained force for day and night duty called the Metropolitan Police of London. Once again, the people nicknamed the police after Peel.
They have been referred to as Bobbies ever since.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 12, 2012 21:00:09 GMT -7
HONEST ABE DAY
His life was what America was all about. An average boy, born on fh in 1809 on a farm in a log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky, was able to become the 16th President of the United States.
He studied hard, by the light of a fireplace, to become first, a lawyer, then a statesman. Abraham Lincoln, one of the most revered U.S. Presidents, served his country during one of the most turbulent times in its history. The term of his presidency (1861-1865) encompassed the Civil War between the States. His Emancipation Proclamation made on January 1, 1863 to free slaves; and his Gettysburg Address given on November 19, 1863 at the site of one of the most famous battlegrounds of the Civil War are still held high as classic statements of democratic beliefs and goals.
President Lincoln was also responsible for one of the most popular holidays in the U.S.: Thanksgiving Day. He proclaimed that the last Thursday of November shall be observed as such. And so it was, and still is.
Abraham Lincoln lived during tragic times and died a tragic death. While watching a performance of Our American Cousin at Washington’s Ford Theatre, he was shot by John Wilkes Booth and died a few hours later. Lincoln was the first U.S. President to be assassinated.
‘Honest Abe’ earned his nickname when he was practicing law in Illinois. It was his unfailing honesty that made him known throughout the state. When convinced that his client was right, he could argue the case strongly. If not convinced, he was hardly powerful in his client’s defense. Lincoln would persuade clients to settle out of court even though that meant he would receive a lesser fee. And, when this was not possible, he could argue a case equally as well before a judge or before an uneducated jury. To Abe Lincoln, being a lawyer or President meant seeking the truth for client or for country.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 13, 2012 17:33:40 GMT -7
AMERICAN GOTHIC DAY
The artist who is most remembered for portraying the architecture, landscape and people of 1930s Midwestern U.S. was born on Feb 13th in 1891, in Anamosa, Iowa. [/1]Grant Wood studied at the University of Iowa, taught there and made Iowa the focus of his paintings.
Wood was not only a teacher, but a printer, sculptor, woodworker and one of America’s first ‘regionalist’ painters. His was a style that was purely American. He portrayed scenes of Midwestern rural life as well as simplified, childlike versions of American history. His first works were unique in that they combined photographic realism with satire. His painting, "Daughters of the Revolution" was an example of Wood’s beginning style. "Dinner for Threshers", "Young Corn", "Fall Plowing" and "Stone City" are representative of his Middle Western realism.
And, there is hardly a soul who hasn’t viewed the most famous Grant Wood, "American Gothic". It has appeared in satirical situations on television, in magazines and newspapers. Its fame is such that many who have seen it have never even been in an art museum, yet "American Gothic" is recognizable just the same. The painting of the puritanical farmer and his wife (or daughter), the farmer holding a pitchfork, is on display at The Art Institute of Chicago.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 14, 2012 9:33:02 GMT -7
VALENTINE'S DAY
Sometime during the third century, the conservative right thought there should be something else to do on this date than to observe the ancient pagan holiday of Lupercalia. For those who don’t remember -- or can’t remember -- Lupercalia was an ancient Roman fertility festival. Instead of revelry and sacrificing goats and dogs, it was determined that two Christian martyrs should be celebrated. Both were named St. Valentine.
One of the saints was a priest and doctor who was beaten and beheaded while on the Flaminian Way, Rome, Italy in the year 269. A year later, the Bishop of Terni met the same fate in the same place.
Something got lost in the translation and the two celebrations became one. St. Valentine’s Day, the most widely celebrated unofficial holiday, is a modern-day fertility rite. (There’s even an old legend that says birds choose their mates on this day.)
This is the day that lovers of all ages give tokens of affection to each other; with kisses accompanied by flowers, candy or romantic, candlelit dinners. Thoughts of love are traded between lovers; often expressed in greeting card form or with sunset, moonlight, a glass of wine and thou!
Hearts and flowers to you on this Valentine’s Day!
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Post by pegasus on Feb 15, 2012 10:53:10 GMT -7
REAPER DAY
What do you do when there are too few hands to harvest the crops and there are miles and miles of flat, stoneless prairie on which to grow crops? You build a mechanical reaper. And that’s exactly what Cyrus Hall McCormick did.
McCormick, who was born on Feb. 15th in 1809 on a farm in Walnut Grove, Virginia, had watched his father’s unsuccessful attempts at building a reaper. Cyrus was bound and determined to succeed where his father had failed. So he went about the task of building a mechanical reaper which he tested in a Virginia wheat field. By his 25th birthday, he had improved the reaper enough to get a patent for it. Then, at the age of 38, with sixty dollars in his pocket, Cyrus went to Chicago where he set up a reaper factory.
The time and place were right for reaping ... the rich prairie wheatlands of the United States were being developed. Little did Cyrus McCormick know that he was creating the machine that would be second only to the railroad in the development of the United States, a symbol of the mechanical revolution in agriculture.
McCormick survived two decades of court battles to gain patent rights fo reaper parts. He purchased other patents and made his company a leader in reapers. His invention had achieved worldwide notoriety and he became a millionaire before his fortieth birthday as head of The McCormick Harvesting Machine Company.
Cyrus Hall McCormick died on May 13, 1884. 18 years later, his company merged into what we now know as International Harvester Company. And the world has been reaping the benefits of his wonderful machine ever since.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 16, 2012 20:18:43 GMT -7
GOODSON-TODMAN DAY
“That’s three down. We move now to Arlene Francis.” On Feb. 16th in 1950, Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, humorist Hal Block, and Louis Untermeyer joined host John Daly as one of the classics of early television debuted on CBS. What’s My Line stayed on the air for 17 years -- the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time network television -- and launched one of TV’s biggest production companies: that of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.
During many years in the television industry, the Goodson-Todman name became famous for such hit game shows as I’ve Got a Secret, Beat the Clock, The Name’s the Same, To Tell the Truth, The Price is Right and The Match Game. What many people don’t know is that Mark Goodson and Bill Todman also produced a dramatic anthology, The Web, which aired on CBS-TV from July 1950 through September 1954 and then on NBC-TV (for four months) in 1957.
As the announcer for these shows would say, “This program is a Mark Goodson - Bill Todman Production.”
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Post by pegasus on Feb 17, 2012 17:10:14 GMT -7
PTA DAY
The National Congress of Mothers was organized on Feb 17th in 1897 in Washington, DC by Alice McLellan Birney (shown here) and Phoebe Apperson Hearst. At first, the objectives of the organization were devoted to child study. The National Congress urged parents to study the school curriculums that were being used in the schools their children attended. The Congress also suggested that parents, both mothers and fathers, should take reading courses that provided information about children and schooling.
The group later changed its name to the National Congress of Parents and Teachers or the NPTA with local groups known as the PTA (Parent-Teacher Associations). The first State Congress of the NPTA was organized in New York in 1897. And one of the first major projects the PTA worked on was the extension of kindergartens to the elementary school grades.
In recent years many local PTA groups emphasized greater involvement of students and are known as Parent-Teacher-Student Associations or PTSA. PTA or PTSA meetings are commonly held monthly at public schools throughout the U.S. If you’re a member, remember that you’re supposed to be promoting the educational, emotional and social welfare of our children.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 19, 2012 17:23:24 GMT -7
BOLLINGEN PRIZE DAY
Thanks to the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University, starving poets have the opportunity to win thousands of dollars. The first Bollingen Prize in Poetry ($5,000) was awarded to Ezra Pound on Feb. 19th in 1949. Mr. Pound was presented with the prize for his poetry collection, The Pisan Cantos. Unfortunately, this first award presentation by the Bollingen Foundation was filled with controversy. It seems that Ezra Pound, a talented poet, was also a pro-fascist, and had been charged with treason for broadcasting his political beliefs while in Italy during WWII. Pound was still given the award.
The Bollingen Prize was presented annually through 1963 when Robert Frost was the recipient, after which it became a biennial award. The $5,000 award was upped to $10,000 in 1989 when Edgar Bowers was the prize winner, and to $25,000 in 1995. The $25,000 award went to poet, Kenneth Koch.
Keep writing those odes, rhymes and stanzas. You may be the next winner of the Bollingen Prize in Poetry. And maybe, just maybe, the award will receive another cost-of-living adjustment.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 22, 2012 11:05:36 GMT -7
GENTLE GIANT DAY
How tall is the tallest man? Most information collected before the 1900s can not be proven. In fact, exaggeration and dishonesty prevailed. Even medical papers were unreliable. Depending on the measurements of the time and the translation of such, even Goliath stood a mere 6 feet, 10 inches.
However, there is irrefutable evidence that Robert Pershing Wadlow, born on Feb. 22nd in 1918 in Alton, Illinois, still holds the record for being the tallest recorded man. Oh yes, Robert was quite normal at birth, weighing in at 8.5 lbs. At the age of two, he had a double hernia operation and something changed. He started to grow, and grow and grow. By age 5 he was 5’4" tall and weighed 105 lbs. On his 8th birthday, Robert weighed in at 169 lbs. and topped the ruler at six feet. He grew another foot by the time he was thirteen and still another by his seventeenth year.
On June 27, 1940, Mr. Wadlow was measured by Dr. Cyril MacBryde and Dr. C. M. Charles, Associate Professor of Anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. They recorded Wadlow’s height at 8’ 11.1". A week later, Wadlow was fitted with a brace on his right leg. The brace fit poorly and inflamed his ankle, causing cellulitis. Robert Wadlow died from the infection on July 15, 1940. A coffin was made especially for him: 10’9" long, 32" wide, 30" deep. Had he not died, he would have continued to grow, according to the doctors.
Wadlow, who faced constant public attention and often, ridicule, was always kind, patient and friendly, a demeanor that earned him the nickname ‘the gentle giant’. Fortunately he was a gentle giant. If he wasn’t, his harassers would have faced a 439 lb. man who wore shoes, size 37AA, a size-25 ring on hands that measured 12 3/4" from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. His arm span was nine feet, five and three-quarter inches.
What we want to know is, where did he buy his clothes? And, could he play basketball?
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Post by pegasus on Feb 25, 2012 11:33:24 GMT -7
MR. MAGOO DAY
Mr. Magoo was born on Feb. 25th in 1913 ... well, not really. It’s the birthday of Mr. Magoo’s voice, actor Jim Backus. The actor, who bore no resemblance to the extremely nearsighted, Rutgers College pennant-waving, elderly Magoo, brought him to life once John Hubley created him in 1949. Backus’ raspy, Mr. Magoo voice is immediately recognizable to ’toon aficionados the world over.
Mr. Backus entire persona is also immediately recognizable to Gilligan’s Island fans. From 1964 to 1967 (with reruns, it seems much longer than 4 seasons), He played the role of Thurston Howell III in CBS-TV’s popular Gilligan’s Island series; and returned for several sequels, the first, Rescue from Gilligan’s Island aired in 1978 and was a big hit. (Later versions did not fare as well; although one can catch them in reruns on late-night TV.)
Jim (James Gilmore) Backus starred in I Married Joan from 1952 through 1955; was the first host of Talent Scouts in 1962 and played the role of Dagwood’s boss, Mr. Dithers, in the 1968 version of Blondie. Jim Backus appeared in many films including: The Great Lover in 1949, Rebel Without a Cause in 1955, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963, Angel’s Brigade in 1979 and Slapstick of Another Kind in 1984.
This is just a sampling of the entertainment brought to us by the man whose career spanned several decades of radio, film and TV until his death on July 3, 1989. We miss you, Mr. Quincy Magoo.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 27, 2012 18:58:42 GMT -7
3]MARIAN ANDERSON DAY
In the 1960s, folk-rock singer Joan Baez was exposed to the prejudices of the Daughters of the American Revolution when she was refused permission to use their hall for a concert. Similarly, the D.A.R. prevented opera singer Marian Anderson from performing at Washington’s Constitution Hall in 1939. The former was based on political prejudice, the latter on racial prejudice. Negative reactions to both incidents were directed at the D.A.R. and ironically, helped to promote the success of the singers.
Anderson did sing in Washington, D.C., on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was Easter Sunday, 1939. 75,000 people showed up to hear her sing. Thousands more heard her sensational voice on a simultaneous radio broadcast.
Marian Anderson, who was born in Philadelphia on Feb. 27th in 1897, was destined to become one of the world’s finest contraltos. She began her singing career as a member of the Union Baptist Church choir. However, even a performance with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra could not dispel the racial hate that would prevent her from having a successful career in the United States. And so, Marian Anderson moved to Europe where she was accepted for her color and her magnificent voice and versatility.
Marian Anderson was the first African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera [1955]. In 1958 she became an alternate U.S. delegate to the United Nations. In 1961, she came full circle. This time, she was invited to sing in Washington, D.C. -- at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. She was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, a Congressional Gold Medal in 1978, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1984 and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.
Marian Anderson passed away on April 8, 1993; but the sound of her voice will live forever.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 28, 2012 21:15:01 GMT -7
FAREWELL TO M*A*S*H DAY
M*A*S*H became the most watched television program in history, as the final original episode of the fictitious, but uncommonly real, 4077th M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit of the Korean conflict aired fEB. 28th in 1983. An estimated 125-million people in the U.S. tuned in to see the broadcast on CBS. The program earned a 60.3 rating and a 77% share. According to Nielsen Media Research, the 60.3 rating was the average audience rating or the percent tuned to M*A*S*H during the average minute, while the share measured the percentage of TV households whose sets were turned on that night and were tuned to the 2 1/2 hour special of M*A*S*H. "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" (the title of this last original episode) was a fitting farewell to Capt. Benjamin Franklin Pierce (Hawkeye: played by Alan Alda), Maj. Margaret Houlihan (Hot Lips: Loretta Swit), Cpl. Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr: Clinger), Capt. B.J. Hunnicut (Mike Farrell), Col. Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan) and the rest of one of television’s most endearing ensembles. Audience's other favorite regular M*A*S*H players, Capt. John McIntyre (Trapper John: by Wayne Rogers), Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville), Cpl. Walter O’Reilly (Radar: Gary Burghoff), and Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) bid adieu between 1975-1977. Radar, Blake and Trapper were discharged, Major Burns was transferred after being AWOL.
The TV version of M*A*S*H first aired on September 17, 1972 and followed the popular movie of the same title. Gary Burghoff was the only actor to take his movie role to TV. The movie had followed the novel, also of the same name, by author Richard Hooker, a doctor who had actually served in a M.A.S.H. unit in Korea. The 251 episodes of M*A*S*H will always be regarded as eleven years of television’s finest moments.
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Post by pegasus on Feb 29, 2012 17:33:37 GMT -7
LEAP YEAR DAY
We all know that Leap Year is the year we add an extra day to the month of February -- giving February 29 days; but do you know when this all began and why it is called LEAP year? This confusing state of calendars began in 45 B.C., when Julius Caesar added an extra day to the Julian calendar every fourth year upon the advice of astronomer, Sosigenes. Or it could have been 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII ordered every fourth year to be a leap year (leap year brought the Gregorian calendar closer to the earth’s orbital period of 365.2422 days) unless it is a century year that cannot be divisible by 400. Or maybe it was 1698 when the Protestant rulers of Germany and the Netherlands thought it was time they agreed with the pope, or 1752 when the English made this calendar move or 1918 when the Russians picked up on the Gregorian calendar. It’s your call.
It is called Leap Year because it is not a COMMON year. A common year consists of exactly 52 weeks plus one day. That extra day means that a specific date moves one day (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.) ahead the following year. For example: if your birthday falls on a Tuesday in one common year, it will fall on a Wednesday in the next one. Just when you get it all straight, four years have passed and a leap year comes along to confuse the issue. A leap year consists of exactly 52 weeks plus two days. So now, if your birthday fell on a Wednesday last year, it will fall on a Friday this year (February 29 through February 28 of next year). Got that?
Just be happy you’re not listed on our Birthday Board for this leap year. Those who are must divide their years by four for their calendar ages unless there’s a century year in the way -- one that cannot be divided by 400, that is.
Leap Years also have a very uncommon tradition attached to them. It seems that in a Leap Year or Bissextile, a woman could propose marriage to the man of her choice. At least that’s what happened in Scotland in 1288 when a law was passed making this custom legal. This traditon spread throughout the rest of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, as did the law. A woman was expected to enforce and insist upon acceptance from the gentleman of choice or he would receive a penalty or fine. A penalty could be that the gentleman had to pay for a silk or satin dress selected by the scorned woman. And, you know the old saying, “Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned.” ... especially in a Leap Year.
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Post by pegasus on Mar 1, 2012 8:13:19 GMT -7
FM RADIO DAY
Hey gang, crank up the FM stereo tuner and celebrate the reason why you listen to that hard rock/alternative music stuff in the first place. For those of you who don’t remember, FM stands for ‘frequency modulation’ as opposed to AM ‘amplitude modulation’.
Commercial FM broadcasting began in the U.S. when station W47NV in Nashville, TN started operations on this day in 1941. W47NV was the first commercial FM radio station to receive a license, some 20 years after its AM radio counterpart, KDKA in Pittsburgh. W47NV operated with 20,000 watts on a frequency of 44,700 kilocycles.
FM stations don’t do that anymore. They operate in a different segment of the radio spectrum (88-108 MHz) and at power outputs not exceeding 100,000 watts, except in rare instances. (There are a few FM stations in the U.S. with power output up to 300,000 watts and antennas more than a thousand feet high.)
In the beginning, FM radio was pretty much a graveyard for beautiful music that numbed us in doctor’s offices and in elevators. It became a primary source for educational programming; featuring classical music, opera and jazz.
Today, more than 80% of radio listening in the United States is done by way of FM and one can hear just about everything, from oldies, rock and pop, country and blues to National Public Radio -- not to mention Howard Stern and his ilk. (And if you haven’t heard Howard Stern’s ilk, you haven’t heard anything.)
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Post by pegasus on Mar 2, 2012 9:52:15 GMT -7
LUCKY LADY II DAY
For the first time in history, no enemy country anywhere in the world could attack the US without potentially being in instant danger, itself. The flight of the USAF B-50 bomber, #B-5046010 aptly named Lucky Lady II, proved that an airplane could be refueled in-air and fly around the world, nonstop.
It took 94 hours from takeoff at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Tex. for Lucky Lady II to return to home base on Mar. 2nd in 1949. The crew of 14, commanded by Capt. James Gallagher; 2nd pilot 1st Lt. Arthur M. Neal, and copilot Capt. James H. Morris, refueled in mid-air four times, once over the Azores, then over Saudi Arabia, followed the third day in flight over the Philippines and then over Hawaii.
Although they met with extreme adversity –- turbulence, bad weather, mechanical problems, extreme fatigue, and tragedy (a tanker plane returning to Clark Field in the Philippines after the refueling crashed, killing all aboard) –- the mission was deemed a major success.
All members of the crew of Lucky Lady II received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the MacKay Trophy for the most meritorious US Air Force flight of the year.
Today, the flight of Lucky Lady II is all but forgotten. However, it was the start of something bigger, changing the world-view of the power of America’s land-based bombers.
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