Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Super Bowls past...

While they're gearing up for Super Bowl XL this week in Detroit, let's look back at the 3 Super Bowl games that were played on this date in 1988, 1993 and 1999. In those games we witnessed the successful debut of the first black quarterback, saw the beginning of the Dallas Cowboys dynasty and watched the oldest player ever to be named Super Bowl MVP lead his team to victory...

The last day of January 1988 saw Doug Williams, the first black quarterback in Super Bowl history, lead the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 rout of the Denver Broncos in SB XXII. All Williams did in that game was throw for 4 of his teams 5 touchdowns in the second quarter as Washington exploded for 35 points and never looked back...

On January 31, 1993 the Dallas Cowboys would win the first of 3 titles in the 90s by crushing the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII. The Cowboys featured a potent attack led by the passing of Troy Aikman, the running of Emmitt Smith and the defense of Charles Haley and Ken Norton Jr...

Super Bowl XXXIII was a repeat performance for the Denver Broncos who won their second consecutive Super Bowl with a convincing 34-19 win over the Atlanta Falcons on January 31, 1999. At 38, John Elway became the oldest player ever to be named Super Bowl MVP. Elway would retire following the game...

More January 31 Memories...

1865) Slavery is abolished with the ratification of the 13th Ammendment...

1936) "The Green Hornet" debuts on radio...

1949) The 1st daytime soap, "These Are My Children" airs on the NBC-TV affiliate in Chicago (the 15-minute show runs on weekdays at 5PM in January and February)...

1958) The U.S. enters the Space Age with its 1st successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I...

1961) The TV special "Bobby Darin and Friends" airs on NBC-TV...

1963) The Beach Boys record "Surfin' U.S.A." and "Shutdown"...

1965) The Righteous Brothers are #1 with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"...

1970) LSU's Pistol Pete Maravich breaks Oscar Robertson's collegiate scoring record with a career total of 2,974 points by scoring 53 in a game against Mississippi...

1971) Astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blast off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon...

1974) "The Way We Were" is #1 for Barbra Streisand...

1974) McDonald's founder Ray Kroc buys the San Diego Padres...

1976) The Ohio Players top the charts with "Love Rollercoaster"...

1979) The Clash begin their 1st U.S. tour with Bo Diddley as their opening act...

1981) Blondie is #1 with "The Tide Is High"...

1984) Culture Club have their only U.S. #1 hit with "Karma Chameleon" (their biggest hit in the UK)...

1984) Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years with the network...

1986) "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" premieres (Little Richard appears in the movie)...

1990) Mickey Dee's becomes Mickey Deeshky as McDonald's opens its 1st restaurant in Moscow (you don't sell enough Big Mac's it's off to Siberia for you)...

2000) Atlanta Braves problem child pitcher John Rocker is suspended by baseball commisioner Bud Selig for what you say, some disparaging remarks about those who travel on the #7 train and most of the human population in general (he spouts off to Sports Illustrated and pays for it)...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1921) Carol Channing...

1923) Author Norman Mailer...

1937) Suzanne Pleshette...

1947) Nolan Ryan...

1951) Harry (KC) Casey...

1956) Johnny Rotten...

1973) Portia de Rossi...

1981) Justin Timberlake...

Today is the 31st day of 2006 with 334 days remaining in the year, 48 days until Spring but only 16 days remaining until pitchers and catchers...


Monday, January 30, 2006

Monday, January 30, 2006

Up on the roof...

No this is not a story about the Drifters but the group that sang together for the last time on this date did sing up on the roof. This would have been a better story if they sang the song while they were up on the roof but the Beatles didn't have that in mind when they took the lift to the roof of the Apple Records building on Saville Row for an impromptu performance, their last...

Despite complaints (yes people actually complained about the "loud" music) from their London neighbors, the Beatles would do four songs including "Get Back" accompanied by Billy Preston on organ until London bobbies actually broke up the free concert. John Lennon closed the performance announcing "I'd like to thank you very much on behalf of the group and myself and I hope we passed the audition". The "audition" was filmed for the movie "Let It Be"...

In April 1970 Paul McCartney formally announced the group's breakup...

More January 30 Memories...

1862) The U.S. Navy's iron warship "The Monitor" is launched...

1933) "The Lone Ranger" is heard on radio for the 1st time and will run for 2,956 episodes (the show ends in 1955)...

1948) Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi is murdered by a Hundu extremist...

1950) "Robert Montgomery Presents", a drama series debuts on NBC-TV (the show lasts 7 seasons ending June 24, 1957)...

1956) Elvis Presley records his version of "Blue Suede Shoes"...

1962) Two members of the "Flying Wallendas" high-wire act are killed when their seven-person pyramid collapses during a performance in Detroit...

1968) Bobby Goldsboro records "Honey" (women reach for Kleenex, men reach for razor blades)...

1969) The Beatles perform together for the last time (feature story)...

1972) In Northern Ireland, British soldiers shoot and kill 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers. The day is known as "Bloody Sunday" as U2 will later document...

1973) Kiss make their debut at the Coventry Club in Queens...

1983) The Washington Redskins beat the Miami Dolphins 21-17 in Super Bowl XVII (John Riggins picks up 166 yards on 38 carries)...

1985) Foreigner is #1 with "I Want to Know What Love Is" (it's the group's 1st chart topper)...

1998) Elton John receives a knighthood in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's 1st New Year's Eve Honours List...

1999) Giant lineback Lawrence Taylor is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the 1st ballot...

2000) Kurt Warner hits Isaac Bruce for the winning touchdown with 2 minutes remaining as the St. Louis Rams pull off a 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV...

2003) Richard Reid, the British citizen and al-Qaida follower who had a bomb in his shoe on a trans-Atlantic flight is sentenced in Boston to life in prison...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1922) "Laugh-In" co-host Dick Martin...

1925) Dorothy Malone...

1926) Ruth Brown...

1928) Producer-Director Hal Prince...

1931) Gene Hackman...

1934) Tammy Grimes...

1942) Jefferson Airplane/Starship's Marty Balin...

1951) Phil Collins...

Today is the 30th day of 2006 with 335 days remaining in the year, 49 days until Spring and best of all, only 17 days until pitchers and catchers...


Friday, January 27, 2006

Friday-Sunday, January 27-29, 2006

Remembering the heroes of our space program...

January 27th and 28th were dark days for our country through the years as we suffered the loss of 10 astronauts. The first tragedy occurred on January 27, 1967 with the flash fire aboard Apollo I during a test conducted by astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee who all perished in the fire at Cape Kennedy. On January 28, 1986 we all watched in horror as Challenger Seven exploded taking the lives of 7 more space heroes. That night President Ronald Reagan addressed the country. What follows is part of the text of his address:

"Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But, we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes; Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together"...

Today's commentary is about remembering and paying tribute to our oldest veteran this weekend...

More January 27 Memories...

1880) Thomas Edison patents the electric incandescent lamp...

1918) "Tarzan of the Apes", the first Tarzan movie is released (this pre-Johnny Weissmuller film was silent but there would be 11 Tarzan movies starring the Olympic swimming champion from 1932 to 1948. The TV series would run from 1966 to 1969)...

1926) John Baird, a Scottish inventor, demonstrates a pictorial transmission machine called television...

1927) United Independent Broadcasters Inc. starts a radio network of 16 stations. The company would later be named the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)...

1948) The Wire Recording Corporation of America announces the 1st magnetic tape recorder. The "Wireway" machine with a built-in oscillator selling for $149.50 (but you can get 2 for $49.95 at Radio Shack)...

1951) Atomic testing begins in the Nevada desert when an Air Force plane drops a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flats...

1956) The football Giants move their home games from the Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium...

1956) "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley is released (By April 21st it tops the charts)...

1961) "Sing Along With Mitch" premieres on NBC-TV (Mitch Miller's popular sing-along show will run until September 2, 1966)...

1967) Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee die in their spacecraft which experiences a flash fire (feature story)...

1968) Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is released 6 weeks after Redding dies in a plane crash...

1968) The Bee Gees make their U.S. debut with a concert at the Anaheim Convention Center...

1976) "Laverne and Shirley", a spin-off of "Happy Days" premieres on ABC-TV starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams (the show will run until May 10, 1983)...

1977) The Vatican reaffirms the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests...

1981) President Reagan greets the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House...

1984) Wayne Gretzky sets an NHL record for consecutive game scoring with 51 games (and the streak ends there)...

1991) Whitney Houston sings the definitive and most dynamic version of our "Star Spangled Banner" ever at Super Bowl XXV and oh by the way, the Giants beat the Buffalo Bills in that game 20-19 when Scott Norwood's kick goes "wide right"...

1998) First lady Hillary Clinton blames a "vast right-wing conspiracy" on her husband's personal problems on NBC-TVs "Today Show"...

2002) The Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game 24-17 (next stop, the Super Bowl and a game against the favored St. Louis Rams. Can't wait to report on the results of that game)...

2004) John Kerry wins the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1930) Bobby "Blue" Bland...

1946) The Ronettes' Nedra Talley...

1948) Mikhail Baryshnikov...

1956) Mimi Rogers...

1964) Bridget Fonda...

Commentary...

This Sunday the Watertown (MA) VFW Post is honoring our oldest WWI and WWII veteran, Russell Buchanon, 106 years young with an indoor walkathon to raise funds for the Veteran's Homeless Shelter in Boston. The walkathon is at the Arsenal Mall. For more information, e-mail Gordy Brown at countrygordy@aol.com Thanks for the item Gordy and good luck...

Today is the 27th day of 2006 with 338 days remaining in the year but just 52 days until Spring and better yet only 20 days until pitchers and catchers...

Saturday, January 28, 2006...

January 28 Memories...

1878) The 1st telephone switchboard is installed in New Haven (CT) ("one ringy dingy, two ringy dingies")...

1878) "The Yale News" is published becoming the 1st daily collegiate newspaper in the U.S...

1915) The U.S. Coast Guard is created by an act of Congress...

1916) Louis D. Brandeis is appointed to the Supreme Court, becoming the courts 1st Jewish judge...

1922) The Decatur (IL) NFL franchise moves to Chicago and takes the name Chicago Bears...

1938) The 1st ski tow (using rope) starts operation in Woodstock, Vermont...

1953) J. Fred Muggs (a chimp) joins NBC-TVs "Today Show"...

1956) Elvis Presley makes his 1st appearance on network televison singing "Heartbreak Hotel" on the "Dorsey Brothers Stage Show"...

1957) "Tonight America After Dark" premieres on NBC-TV with co-hosts Jack Lescoulie and Al (Jazzbo) Collins (the show runs between Steve Allen and Jack Paar and becomes "The Jack Paar Show" on July 29, 1957)...

1958) Dodger catcher Roy Campanella is paralyzed below the waist when his car overturns on an icy road in Glen Cove (LI). Campanella will never play again and is inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1969...

1959) Vince Lombardi is named head coach of the Green Bay Packers (he will win 5 titles in his 9 years in Green Bay)...

1965) (Got any GM stock ?) General Motors reports the biggest profit of any U.S. company in history...

1973) "Barnaby Jones" starring Buddy Ebsen premieres on CBS-TV (it runs until September 4, 1980)...

1978) "Fantasy Island" starring Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize ("the plane, the plane") premieres on ABC-TV (it runs until August 18, 1984 and then goes into syndication forever)...

1985) "We Are The World" is recorded (with more than 40 artists involved. Proceeds go to worldwide hunger prevention)...

1986) The space shuttle Challenger explodes killing all 7 astronauts aboard (feature story)...

1994) An L.A. superior court judge declares a mistrial in the case of Lyle Menendez in the murder of his parents (Lyle and his brother Erik would be retried and found quilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole)...

1996) Cowboy owner Jerry Jones creates "cash flows" around the salary cap, spending over $30 million over the cap and it pays off as his Dallas team beats the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX...

1999) Ford buys Sweden's Volvo for $6.45 billion...

2001) Ray Lewis leads the Baltimore Ravens to a 34-7 beating of the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1927) Acker Bilk...

1936) Alan Alda...

1950) Barbi Benton...

1968) Sarah McLachlan...

1969) Kathryn ("Cold Case") Morris...

Today is the 28th day of 2006 with 337 days remaining in the year but only 51 days until Spring and only 19 days until pitchers and catchers...

Sunday, January 29, 2006...

January 29 Memories...

1845) Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is published for the first time in the New York Evening Mirror...

1900) The American Baseball League is organized in Philadelphia with 8 teams (Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Washington, DC)...

1936) The Baseball Hall of Fame holds its 1st induction. Getting into the hallowed hall are Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson...

1958) Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward walk down the aisle...

1959) Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" is released...

1962) Warner Brothers signs Peter, Paul & Mary...

1964) Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" premieres...

1966) "I Fought The Law" by the Bobby Fuller Four is released...

1969) The "Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" debuts on CBS-TV (it runs until June 13, 1972)...

1972) Smokey Robinson leaves the Miracles for a solo career...

1979) Emerson, Lake and Palmer split up after a 10-year career...

1979) President Jimmy Carter commutes Patricia Hearst's 7-year sentence to 2 years...

1980) Jimmy Durante dies at 97...

1990) Joseph Hazelwood, former skipper of the Exxon Valdez goes on trial in Ancorage (AK) for his role in America's worst oil spill (he will be acquitted of all charges except a misdemeanor)...

1995) The San Francisco 49ers become the 1st team in the NFL to win 5 Super Bowls by beating San Diego 49-26 behind Steve Young's 6 touchdown passes (breaking Joe Montana's previous record of 5)...

1999) Paris prosecutors announce the end of the investigation into the accident that killed Britain's Princess Diana...

1999) The U.S. Senate delivers subpoenas for Monica Lewinsky and 2 presidential advisers for private videotaped testimony in President Clinton's impeachment trial...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1918) John Forsythe...

1940) Katherine Ross...

1945) Tom Selleck...

1952) Tommy (Erdelyl) Ramone (the only surviving member of the Ramones)...

1960) Olympic champion Greg Louganis...

This is the 29th day of 2006 with 336 days remaining in the year but only 50 days until Spring and better yet just 18 days until pitchers and catchers...


Thursday, January 26, 2006

Thursday, January 26, 2006

"Where stars are born and legends made"...

When Sidney Cohen bought the Seamon's Music Hall in 1933 he renamed it the Apollo Theater and in his letter to "friends and patrons" he called the renovated theater, "the finest theater in Harlem" with "high fidelity RCA sound equipment equal to Radio City Music Hall". It was on this night in 1934 that it was time to show off his new theater...

The Apollo's first show featured "Jazz a la Carte" with Benny Carter's big band and from that night on, the Apollo became the mecca for jazz bands in the '30s and '40s. By the '50s the theater was the nation's top stage for established black artists and with "Amateur Night" once a week, a staple since the theater's opening, unknown performers had a springboard to expose their talent...

Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Pearl Bailey and Nancy Wilson are just some of the artists who are graduates of Apollo's "Amateur Night". The list of artists who have perfomed at the legendary theater is endless and includes Duke Ellington, Count Basie, James Brown, all the major Motown acts and local R&B groups like the Chantels and Channels...

The official website of Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater traces the history of the theater in addition to providing schedule and ticket information for current shows: www.apollotheater.com

Some personal memories of the Apollo Theater in my commentary...

More January 26 Memories...

1784) In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expresses his unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America rather than the turkey which he proposed (I mean come on people, wouldn't you rather be gnawing on some fresh eagle on Thanksgiving ?)...

1875) George F. Green patents the electric dental drill (it hurts just to type this)...

1934) The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem (feature story)...

1960) 33-year old Los Angeles Rams GM Pete Rozelle is elected commissioner of the NFL succeeding Bert Bell (Rozelle is named on the 23rd ballot)...

1961) Elvis Presley is #1 with "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"...

1962) Ranger 3 is launched to land scientific instruments on the moon but the probe misses its target by 22,000 miles (oops !)...

1970) The Jackson 5 top the charts with "I Want You Back"...

1970) John Lennon writes and records "Instant Karma"...

1979) Former Vice President and New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller dies suddenly at age 70...

1979) "The Dukes of Hazzard" premieres on CBS-TV (eee ha). The show will run until August 16, 1985 (the Jessica Simpson movie was over before it started)...

1983) Bear Bryant dies of a heart attack 41 days after retiring as Alabama coach. Bryant who stepped down with 323 victories and 6 national titles was 69...

1984) Michael Jackson's hair catches on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial (contrary to rumors, he was not singing "Light My Fire")...

1984) Mickey Spillane's "Mike Hammer" debuts on CBS-TV (previously a syndicated show that premiered in 1957)...

1986) The good news is the Patriots play in their 1st Super Bowl. The bad news is they get crushed by the Bears 46-10 and even William (The Refrigerator) Perry scores a touchdown...

1988) The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Phantom of the Opera" opens at the Majestic Theater on Broadway...

1996) First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe...

1997) The Green Bay Packers beat the Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI (not a good date for the home team in Super Bowl history but it gets better and it was a good halftime show with ZZ Top, James Brown and the Blues Brothers performing)...

1998) President Bill Clinton makes his famous "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" speech...

1999) The NTSB concludes that John Denver's 1997 fatal airplane crash was caused by too little fuel in the tank at the time of takeoff...

2003) Billy Joel is hospitalized after crashing his car into a tree in Sag Harbor (a lift?, uh, no thanks Billy)...

To ensure accuracy multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1925) Paul Newman...

1935) The highly entertaining baseball play-by-play guy Bob Uecker...

1957) Eddie Van Halen...

1958) Ellen DeGeneres...

1961) Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky...

Commentary...

I was not yet out of high school the first time I went to the Apollo Theater to see one of their great shows. There was something that set the Apollo apart from other Rock and Roll venues like the Brooklyn and New York Paramount Theaters, the Brooklyn Fox, Academy of Music and others and it was the relaxed atmosphere for the artists who felt at home playing there. The crowds were just as loud and enthusiastic but it was just different and somehow better. The acts would do several shows a day and there was a movie (usually a bad one) that was the opening act for each show. The credits would roll and you would see the band (usually led by Ruben Phillips) through the curtain as they warmed up and then it was "show time at the Apollo" and I was never disappointed by any show I ever saw there. I even got to go back stage one time, watching the acts preparing to go on. The Apollo Theater became a national historic landmark in 1983 and manages to survive through a series of rough times through the years. The old theater is still rocking though on 125th Street and 7th Avenue...

Today is the 26th day of 2006 with 329 days left in the year but only 53 days until Spring and just 21 days until pitchers and catchers report...


Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Truly Giants...

Big Blue finally lived up to their name on this date in 1987, winning their first Super Bowl with a convincing 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos. Super Bowl XXI was played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on January 25, 1987 in a game that propelled Giant quarterback Phil Simms into one of the elite QBs in the NFL. The games MVP completed 22 of 25 passes for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns. His completion percentage of 88% set a Super Bowl record...

CBS-TV provided coverage of the game which featured Pat Summerall and John Madden on play-by-play. Neil Diamond sang the national anthem and the Beach Boys were featured in a halftime salute to Hollywood's 100th anniversary. Nielsen ratings for the game were 45.8 with a market share of 66 and the cost of a 30-second commercial was $600,000...

Bronco quarterback John Elway failed to win a Super Bowl in his fourth season of play but on this same date in 1998 and after 3 previous losses, Elway would lead Denver to a 31-24 win over the Green Bay Packers to win Super Bowl XXXII for the first of 2 consecutive Super Bowl wins for the quarterback...

More January 25 Memories...

1890) The United Mine Workers of America is founded...

1915) In New York, Alexander Graham Bell speaks to his assistant in San Francisco inaugurating the 1st transcontinental phone service...

1924) The 1st Winter Olympic Games are held in Chamonix in the French Alps...

1927) Jack Benny marries Sadye Marks who changes her name to Mary Livingstone...

1937) NBC radio presents the 1st broadcast of "The Guiding Light". The show remains on radio until 1956 before moving to CBS-TV in 1952 ("The Guiding Light" is still on the air and is the longest running program in broadcast history)...

1947) Gangster Al Capone dies at 48...

1959) American Airlines flies the 1st scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707...

1961) John F. Kennedy presents the 1st live presidential news conference from Washington, DC (covered on both radio and television)...

1962) Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away" is released...

1971) Charles Manson and 3 female "family" members are sentenced to life imprisonment for their 1969 murders...

1973) "Superstition" tops the charts for Stevie Wonder (it's his 1st #1 song in more than 9 years)...

1981) The 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days arrive in the U.S. and reunite with their families...

1982) Hall & Oates are #1 with "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"...

1987) The Giants win their 1st Super Bowl (feature story)...

1994) Michael Jackson settles a child molestation lawsuit out of court (one source puts the settlement at $10 million)...

1997) Astrologer Jeane Dixon dies at 79...

1998) After years of trying, John Elway leads Denver to the 1st of 2 consecutive Super Bowl wins (feature story)...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1918) Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell...

1919) Journalist Edwin Newman...

1931) Dean Jones...

1931) Corazon Aquino (who will celebrate by buying every pair of shoes she sees)...

1938) Etta James...

1981) Alicia Keys...

Today is the 25th day of 2006 with 340 days remaining in the year but only 54 days until Spring and better yet just 22 days remain until pitchers and catchers...


Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

A model franchise in the making...

When Robert Kraft bought the Patriots on this date in 1994 he was buying a faltering, money losing franchise that won less than half of their games (225 of 510) since its founding in 1959. Buying the team for $172 million, Kraft has transformed a dying franchise into one of the most valuable franchises in the world. The FORBES 2005 NFL team value rankings put the Patriots at #3 at $1 billion, trailing only the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. The only other sports team carrying a billion-dollar price tag is the U.K. soccer team, Manchester United. Since buying the Patriots in 1994, the team has won 3 Super Bowls. Kraft explains why the Patriots work, "I hire good people I can trust, no superstars, no Lone Rangers. If you keep the turkeys out of your life, then good things can happen"...

Another sports franchise changed hands on this date in 1980 when the original Mets owner Joan Whitney Payson sold the franchise to Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon for a reported $21.1 million, the most ever paid for a major league franchise at the time. Since that date the Mets have been in 2 World Series, winning one of them in 1986 but losing to the Yankees in 2000. There would be another change in ownership in 2002 when Wilpon took over full control of the team. The Mets, after a busy off-season of trades and free agent signings hope to contend this year and on March 16th will launch their new cable network, SportsNet New York...

Two legendary sports franchises sold on the same date, one is a model franchise, the other faces another season of hope...

Read about Robert Kraft, the fan, in my commentary...

More January 24 Memories...

1848) James W. Marshall discovers a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California. The discovery leads to the gold rush of '49...

1888) The typewriter ribbon is patented by Jacob L. Wortman (hopefully he has a typewriter to put it in)...

1899) Humphrey O'Sullivan patents the rubber heel (hopefully he has a shoe to put it on)...

1908) The 1st Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell...

1916) The U.S. Supreme Court rules that income tax was unconstitutional (I say bring back the judges on that court)...

1922) Christian K. Nelson, an Iowa native, patents the Eskimo Pie...

1935) The Krueger Brewing Company places the 1st canned beer on sale in Richmond, VA...

1957) Elvis Presley records "Teddy Bear"...

1962) Brian Epstein becomes the Beatles manager and begins to clean up their image, dressing the Fab Four in matching suits...

1965) Winston Churchill dies at the age of 90...

1970) James "Shep" Sheppard of the Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelites is found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway...

1974) Ringo Starr tops the charts with "You're Sixteen" (with a brief solo by Paul McCartney on the song)...

1980) Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon buy the Mets (feature story)...

1989) Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy is put to death in Florida's electric chair for the 1978 kidnapping and murder of 12-year old Kimberly Leach...

1994) Robert Kraft buys the Patriots for $172 million (feature story)...

1995) The prosecution gives its opening statement at the O.J. Simpson murder trial...

2003) The Department of Homeland Security begins operations under Tom Ridge (colors of the rainbow to follow)...

2003) "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin and Peter, Paul and Mary's "Blowin' in the Wind" are among 21 new additions to the Grammy Hall of Fame...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1917) Ernest Borgnine...

1918) Oral Roberts...

1939) Ray Stevens...

1941) Neil Diamond...

1941) Aaron Neville...

1951) Yakov Smirnoff...

1968) Mary Lou Retton...

1986) Mischa Barton...

Commentary...

Boston born businessman Robert Kraft was a Patriot fan for years before buying the team in 1994. He went to his 1st game in 1971, sitting on the cold, hard metal benches at the old Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough (and if you ever sat in one of those seats you remember how cold they would get). Kraft even remembers where he sat, "section 217, row 23, seats one through six". Kraft would bring his 4 boys and sometimes a friend along to watch what was likely to be another defeat by the home team. In 1994 he turned the franchise around, into an eventual 3-time Super Bowl champion...

Fred Wilpon was a Brooklyn Dodger fan and teammate of Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. In 1986 he would share the World Series championship with partner Nelson Doubleday and a World Series appearance against the Yankees in the 2000 World Series, although a losing one. In all fairness to Wilpon, he's only been the sole owner of the team since 2002 and while the Mets future looks bright, the time has come for a World Championship flag to fly over Shea Stadium. Let's hope we see it...

Today is the 24th day of 2006 with 341 days left in the year but only 55 days until Spring. Better yet only 23 days remain until pitchers and catchers...


Monday, January 23, 2006

Monday, January 23, 2006

Tracing "Roots...

We were riveted to our TV sets for 8 consecutive nights back in 1977 starting on this night, January 23rd by an ABC-TV mini-series that would average a phenomenal 44.9 rating and 66% audience share. "Roots" remains one of television's landmark programs, not only for its overwhelming numbers but for it's programming content as well...

Executive Producer David Wolper used a blend of both fiction and fact in tracing the roots of slavery based on Alex Haley's best selling novel, "Roots" in which Haley followed several generations of his African ancestors starting with Kunta Kinte played by LeVar Burton. Each episode was a compelling portrayal of the story, chapter by chapter, through the generations and contained one of the best casts ever assembled. In addition to Burton there was John Amos, Cicely Tyson, Edward Asner, Louis Gosett, Jr., Lorne Greene, Vic Morrow, Robert Reed, Chuck Connors, Sandy Duncan, Leslie Uggams, Lloyd Bridges and my favorite character, Chicken George played by Ben Vereen...

ABC programming chief Fred Silverman was looking for a way to cut his network's rating and revenue losses and gambled that "Roots" would be the vehicle that would do it and did it, it did, indeed. 80 million viewers watched each of the last seven episodes on average and 100 million, almost half of the country saw the final episode which still claims one of the highest Nielsen ratings ever recorded, a 51.1 with a 71 share, a stunning 85% of all television homes saw all or part of the mini-series...More "Roots" stats in my commentary...

More January 23 Memories...

1789) Georgetown University is established in Washington, D.C...

1929) Jacob Rupert, co-owner of the New York Yankees announces that in the coming season the team will wear uniform numbers to help identify the players (the team starts using numbers based on the batting order, Ruth #3, Gehrig #4, etc...

1962) Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson are elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame...

1968) John Fred and his Playboy Band are #1 with "Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)"...

1968) North Korea seizes the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo holding the crew for 11 months on suspicion of spying...

1971) UCLA loses to Notre Dame (UCLA then wins their next 88 games in a row and that streak will be broken by ? You guessed it, Notre Dame)...

1973) President Richard Milhous Nixon announces an accord ending the Vietnam War...

1975) Ralph Kiner is elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame...

1975) "Barney Miller" debuts on ABC-TV (the series will run 7 years, ending September 9, 1982)...

1977) "Roots" debuts as a mini-series on ABC-TV (feature story)...

1978) Chicago's Terry Kath dies after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a pistol he didn't know was loaded. Kath was just 32...

1979) Willie Mays is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the 1st ballot...

1983) The Jets 14-year wait for an AFC championship ends dismally (sound familiar ?) when QB Richard Todd is intercepted 5 times in a 14-0 loss to Miami (Miami advances to the Super Bowl but loses to the Redskins)...

1985) O.J. Simpson becomes the 1st Heisman Trophy winner to be elected to Pro Football's Hall of Fame...

1986) The 1st annual induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is held in New York City (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley are inducted)...

1988) "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson is #1 (The song is the 3rd consecutive #1 hit from "Bad"...

1989) Surrealist painter Salvador Dali dies in his native Spain at 84...

1997) Richard Berry, R&B pioneer who wrote "Louie Louie" dies at the age of 61...

1998) President Bill Clinton assures his cabinet that he was innocent of charges that he had had an affair "with that woman, Miss Lewinsky", a White House intern (Mr. President, your uh-nose is gonna grow)...

2002) EMI gives Mariah Carey a $28 million kiss goodbye to end their association which was supposed to last for several albums estimated at $100 million (somehow Mariah struggles by)...

2005) The Patriots win the AFC championship with a convincing 41-27 victory over Pittsburgh and are headed for Super Bowl XXXIX to face Philadelphia (and we know what happens there, don't we ?)...

(To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline...)

Happy Birthday To...

1933) Chita Rivera...

1948) Anita Pointer (Pointer Sisters)...

1953) Cheap Trick's Robin Zander...

1957) Monaco's Princess Caroline...

1958) Anita Baker...

1964) Mariska Hargitay...

Commentary...

More "Roots" info:

  • The final night held the single episode ratings record until 1983 when the finale of M*A*S*H aired on CBS-TV...
  • Roots almost single-handedly spawned a new television format, the consecutive mini-series (previously the 1976 series Rich Man, Poor Man ran in weekly installments...
  • There was a sequel to Roots, called Roots: The Next Generations that performed extremely well with a total audience of 110 million...

Today is the 23rd day of 2006 with 342 days remaining in the year but 56 days until Spring and better yet only 24 days until pitchers and catchers...


Friday, January 20, 2006

Friday-Sunday, January 20-22, 2006

Rowan and Martin 'socked it to us'...

Sunday marks the date that the first of 140 episodes of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" made Monday nights "must see TV" from January 22, 1968 until May 14, 1973. Originally aired as a one-time special in September of 1967, "Laugh-In" would become the #1 rated Nielsen show in the fall of 1968 and again in 1969...

Gary Owens with cupped hand over his ear (in the style of radio guys we all worked with) was the announcer, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin would follow with their monologue and it was off to the races or at least to the opening cocktail party that featured painted bodies, dancing, sight gags and tons of catch phrases and oh, what a cast. There was Goldie Hawn, Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, Alan Sues, Dave Madden and Lily Tomlin. Guests included John Wayne, Pigmeat Markham, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tiny Tim and Flip Wilson. The most famous guest ? That would've been then-presidential candidate Richard Milhous Nixon who offered a "sock it to me" of his own on September 16, 1968...

Just some of the catch phrases on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In":

  • "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's"...
  • Of course, "sock it to me"...
  • "You bet your sweet bippy"...
  • "Here come da judge"...
  • Lily Tomlin's "one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies"...
  • "Go to your room"...
  • Arte Johnson's "verrrrrry interesting"...

For being the most innovative comedy show of its era, this humble blogger gives "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" a most deserving honor, the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award"...

January 20 Memories...

1885) The roller coaster is patented by L.A. Thompson...

1892) The 1st official basketball game is played at a YMCA court in Springfield, MA (the game was invented the year before by Dr. James Naismith, a phys-ed teacher at Springfield College). The game was played using peach baskets for the hoops with 9 players on each side (in 1896 when the University of Iowa played the 1st collegiate game, there were 5 players on each team)...

1958) The Silhouettes release "Get a Job"...

1961) John F. Kennedy is sworn in as our 35th President...

1961) Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller agree to disagree and get divorced (they married on June 29, 1956)...

1964) The LP "Meet The Beatles" is released...

1965) The Byrds record "Mr. Tambourine Man"...

1965) A sad day for Rock & Roll as an unemployed Alan Freed dies at 43...

1967) Arthur Conley records "Sweet Soul Music" (as Paul Power points out Wilson Pickett, mentioned in the song was 25 at the time)...

1968) In one of college basketball's classic matchups, Elvin Hayes and Lew Alcindor face off as #2 ranked Houston beats #1 UCLA 71-69 (Hayes scores 39 for the winning Cougars)...

1969) Elvis Presley records "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds" in Memphis (it marks the 1st time in 13 years that Elvis has recorded in Memphis)...

1977) Stevie Wonder is #1 with "I Wish" (from his "Songs in the Key of Life" LP, only the 3rd album to debut at #1 on the LP charts)...

1981) Iran releases 52 American hostages (held for 444 days) minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as our 40th President...

1985) The 49ers beat Miami 38-16 in Super Bowl XIX (in the most-watched SB game in TV history as 115.9 million look on. For the 1st time TV commercials sell for a million dollars a minute)...

1987) Billy Vera & the Beaters are #1 with "At This Moment" (featured on "Family Ties")...

1987) Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite disappears in Beirut, Lebanon while attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages...

1988) The Beach Boys, Beatles, Drifters, Bob Dylan and the Supremes are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

1989) George H.W. Bush takes the oath of office as our 41st President...

1993) Bill Clinton is sworn in as our 42nd President...

1993) Audrey Hepburn dies at 63...

2001) George W. Bush takes the oath of office as our 43rd President...

2003) Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld dies in New York at age 99...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1924) Slim Whitman...

1926) Patricia Neal...

1929) "Laugh-In's" Arte Johnson..."verrrrry interesting"...

1930) Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin...

1950) Paul Stanley of Kiss...

1956) Bill Maher...

1963) James Denton of "Desperate Housewives"...

1968) Melissa Rivers...

Happy Trails To...

Wilson Pickett, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who gave us "In the Midnight Hour" and "Mustang Sally". "The Wicked Pickett" died yesterday at a hospital near his home in Virginia after suffering a heart attack. Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) in his own words: "He never made it easy on himself and sometimes not on other people but he sure could put on a show" (from David Hinckley's New York Daily News article)...

Wilson Pickett was 64...

Today is the 20th day of 2006 with 345 days remaining in the year but only 59 days until Spring and better yet only 27 days remain until pitchers and catchers...

Saturday, January 21, 2006...

January 21 Memories...

1789) The 1st American novel is published. William H. Brown's "The Power of Sympathy" was an account of the seduction and suicide of a young woman...

1946) "The Fat Man" debuts on ABC Radio (the show was not inspired by Fats Domino)...

1954) Celtics great Bob Cousy steals the show in one of the most exciting NBA All-Star games in history scoring 10 of the East team's 14 points in OT and then icing the game with his dribbling for a 98-93 victory...

1954) The Nautilus is launched in Groton, CT (it's the 1st atomic powered submarine, christened by first lady Mamie Eisenhower)...

1957) Patsy Cline appears on Arthur Godfrey's nightime TV show singing "Walking After Midnight"...

1957) Chuck Berry records "School Day"...

1957) Filming begins on Elvis Presley's 2nd movie, "Loving You"...

1959) Alfalfa from "Our Gang" is shot fatally in Northern California (Carl Switzer is killed in a brawl in an argument over a $50 debt. Authorities rule the shooting "justifiable homicide")...

1962) Jackie Wilson appears on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...

1966) George Harrison and Patty Boyd walk down the aisle (next up for Patty is Eric Clapton)...

1970) The Boeing 747 makes its 1st commercial flight from New York to London on Pan Am...

1976) The French Concorde SST begins regular service for Air France and British Airways...

1977) President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam War draft evaders...

1979) Terry Bradshaw's 4 TD passes leads Pittsburgh to its 3rd Super Bowl win, a 35-31 victory over Dallas in Super Bowl XII...

1984) Jackie Wilson dies after being in a coma for 8 years (he suffered a heart attack on stage, September 25, 1975 while singing "Lonely Teardrops")...

1987) Aretha Franklin is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

1990) MTV's "Unplugged" series makes its debut with Squeeze...

1991) CBS correspondent Bob Simon is captured by Iraqis in the Persian Gulf...

1994) A jury in Manassas, VA. acquits Lorena Bobbitt (by reason of insanity) for her "slice & dice" job on husband John...

1998) Jack Lord of "Hawaii Five-O" dies in Honolulu at 77...

2003) The census bureau announces that Hispanics have surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group...

2004) The recording industry sues 532 computer users it said were illegally distributing songs over the Internet...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1940) Jack Nicklaus...

1941) Richie Havens...

1942) Mac Davis...

1947) Jill Eikenberry...

1950) Billy Ocean...

1956) Robbie Benson...

1957) Geena Davis...

Today is the 21st day of 2006 with 344 days remaining in the year but only 58 days until Spring and better yet 26 days until pitchers and catchers...

Sunday, January 22, 2006...

January 22 Memories...

1889) The Columbia Phonograph Company is formed (the mother ship has landed)...

1957) Suspected "Mad Bomber" George P. Metesky is arrested in Waterbury, CT and accused of planting more than 30 explosive devices in the metropolitan New York area...

1960) Sam Cooke signs with RCA Records...

1962) Gene Chandler makes his TV debut on "American Bandstand"...

1963) The Drifters record "On Broadway"...

1966) The Beach Boys record "Wouldn't It Be Nice"...

1968) "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" debuts on NBC-TV (feature story)...

1971) John & Yoko record "Power to the People"...

1973) LBJ dies at 64...

1973) George Foreman wins the heavyweight championship with a 2nd round KO of Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica...

1973) Roe vs. Wade is born, legalizing abortion after the Supreme Court strikes down state laws prohibiting abortion...

1984) Apple introduces the Macintosh...

1984) Barry Manilow sings the national anthem at Super Bowl XVIII...

1989) Joe Montana leads the 49ers on an 11-play, 92 yard touchdown drive with 34 seconds remaining to lift San Francisco to a 20-16 win over Cincinnati in the Super Bowl (it's the 3rd SB title for SF)...

1995) Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the matriarch of the family dies at the family compound in Hyannisport at 104...

1997) The senate confirms Madeleine Albright as the nation's 1st female secretary of state...

1998) Theodore Kaczynski pleads quilty to being the Unabomber in return for a life sentence without parole...

2001) Former NFL player Rae Carruth is sentenced to a minimum of 18 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the 1999 murder of his pregnant girlfriend (the baby survives and lives with the victim's mother)...

2002) AOL Time Warner files suit against Microsoft seeking damages for harm done to AOL's Netscape Internet Browser when Microsoft gives away a competing browser...

2002) Kmart files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1928) Birch Bayh...

1932) Piper Laurie...

1937) Joseph Wambaugh...

1940) John Hurt...

1954) Islander great and Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy...

1965) Diane Lane...

Today is the 22nd day of 2006 with 343 days remaining in the year but only 57 days until Spring and better yet only 25 days until pitchers & catchers...


Thursday, January 19, 2006

Thursday, January 19, 2006

A great day for the Irish...

The most remarkable consecutive game winning streak in sports history ended on this date in 1974 as the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame stopped the Bruins of UCLA in their bid for an 89th straight win. Playing at home, Notre Dame overcame an 11-point deficit in the last 3 and a half minutes to win 71-70. Dwight Clay hit a jumper with 29 seconds remaining and the Irish held on for the victory...

Notre Dame came into the game as the #2 team in the country and would replace UCLA at the top, the first time the Bruins weren't #1 since the 1968 NCAA championship tournament...

The victory would come 20 days after Notre Dame's football team ended their season at #1 with an exciting Sugar Bowl win over Alabama...

Some highlights of that remarkable 88-day winning streak follow in my commentary...

More January 19 Memories...

1883) Thomas Edison's 1st village electric lighting system using overhead wires began operation in Roselle, NJ...

1898) Brown beats Harvard 6-0 in the 1st intercollegiate hockey game...

1907) The 1st film reviews appear in Variety Magazine (to which I say "Boffo", "Kudos" and "Socko")...

1937) Howard Hughes sets a transcontinental air record, flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds...

1949) The President's salary is increased from $75,000 to $100,000 with an additional $50,000 expense allowance for each year in office (Congress is outraged and demands a raise for themselves)...

1952) The NFL buys the New York Yankees franchise from Ted Collins, then awards the franchise to a group in Dallas on January 24th. The Dallas Texans will move to Kansas City to become the Chiefs (Are you following all this ? There will be a quiz)...

1953) A whopping 68% of all TV sets are tuned to CBS-TV as Lucy Ricardo gives birth to a baby boy on "I Love Lucy"...

1955) President Eisenhower allows a filmed news conference to be used on television and in movie newsreels for the 1st time...

1955) "The Millionaire" premieres on CBS-TV (the never seen John Beresford Tipton starts "instructing" Michael Anthony (Marvin Miller) to dispense the checks)...

1955) "Scrabble" debuts as a board game...

1957) Ernie Kovacs does a half-hour local TV show in Philadelphia without saying a single word of dialogue...

1957) Johnny Cash makes his 1st network TV appearance on CBS-TV's "Jackie Gleason Show"...

1957) Pat Boone sings at Ike's presidential inauguration ball...

1961) The 1st episode of the "Dick Van Dyke Show" is filmed...

1967) Lesley Gore appears on "Batman" as Pussycat, the Catwoman's sidekick...

1971) The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" is played at Charles Manson's murder trial ("helter skelter" was written on a crime scene mirror)...

1972) Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra and Early Wynn are elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame...

1976) Promoter Bill Sargent offers the Beatles $30 million to reunite but the group turns down the offer...

1977) Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker play at Jimmy Carter's inauguration (Aretha Franklin sings "God Bless America")...

1979) Former Attorney General John Mitchell is released on parole after serving 19 months in federal prison for Watergate-related crimes...

1981) Frank Sinatra, Donny & Marie Osmond and Dean Martin perform at President Reagan's inaugural ball...

1988) "48 Hours" premieres on CBS-TV (the news show is still on)...

1989) President Reagan pardons George Steinbrenner for his illegal contributions to Richard Nixon's presidential campaign...

1993) IBM announces a loss of $4.97 billion for 1992, the largest single-year loss in U.S. corporate history...

1993) Fleetwood Mac reunites to perform "Don't Stop" at Bill Clinton's inauguration...

1993) Tom Waits is allowed to keep $2.5 million awarded to him after he sued Frito-Lay for using a sound alike in a 1988 commercial (a lot of money for chips)...

1998) The legendary Carl Perkins dies at 65 from complications caused by several strokes...

2000) Robert F. Kennedy nephew Michael Skakel surrenders to Greenwich, CT police to face charges in the 1975 death of a 15-year old girl (he was convicted of the crime and is now serving time)...

2002) The Patriots make their last game at Schaefer Stadium a winning one as they defeat Oakland in OT 16-13 on an Adam Vinatieri field goal (the game is played in a snowstorm and the infamous "tuck rule" is used to protect QB Tom Brady) in an AFC divisional playoff game...

2004) John Kerry wins Iowa's Democratic presidential caucus and Howard Dean who finishes 3rd delivers his famous fist-pumping, over the top speech that will bury him as a serious candidate...

To ensure accuracy, miltiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1923) Jean Stapleton...

1926) Fritz Weaver...

1931) Tippi Hedren...

1931) Robert MacNeil...

1939) Phil Everly...

1944) Shelley Fabares...

1946) Dolly Parton...

1952) America's Dewey Bunnell...

1953) Desi Arnaz Jr...

Commentary...

Highlights of UCLA's 88-game winning streak in 1974:

  • It was the first loss for the Bruins in 3 years...
  • It was Bill Walton's 1st varsity loss as a player...
  • It was only the 6th loss for Bruins coach John Wooden in 8 years...
  • Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps was in his 3rd year as Irish coach after leaving Fordham...
  • One week later UCLA would beat Notre Dame and return to #1 in the polls...

One of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, John Wooden, the "Wizard of Westwood" is still with us at 96...

Today is the 19th day of 2006 with 345 days remaining in the year but only 60 days until Spring and better yet, only 28 days remaining until pitchers and catchers...


Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

"Round and round she goes and where she stops, nobody knows"...

That's not a description of Paris Hilton doing pirouettes. That's the line that Ted Mack used to open each "Original Amateur Hour" show, the precursor of "American Idol" that debuted on this date in 1948. The show was a spin-off of the popular radio show, "Major Bowes' Amateur Hour"...

The TV show would run for 12 years and was one of the few programs to be aired on all four early TV networks (DuMont, ABC, CBS and NBC) at different times. Ted Mack, originally an assistant of Major Bowes, proved the be the genial host who shared the emotional roller coaster ride of each contestant until the show bowed out on September 26, 1960...

You think of "American Idol" and you think of the four winners: Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Stoddard, Fantasia Barrino and Carrie Underwood but the "Original Amateur Hour" had its share of winners you may have heard of. The radio version gave us Frank Sinatra, the TV version produced 7-year old Gladys Knight and 18-year old Pat Boone...

More January 18 Memories...

1778) English navigator Capt. James Cook discovers the Hawaiian Islands, calling it the "Sandwich Islands" (the Earl of Sandwich meanwhile discovers the sandwich which he calls the Hawaiian Islands)...

1929) Walter Winchell debuts on radio...

1948) "The Original Amateur Hour" debuts on The DuMont Network (feature story)...

1958) Boston Bruin Willie O'Ree becomes the 1st black NHL player...

1961) Bert Kaempfert tops the charts with "Wonderland by Night"...

1964) The Beatles chart with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (at #35)...

1965) Barbra Streisand and Bobby Darin perform for LBJ's presidential inauguration...

1967) The self-proclaimed "Boston Strangler", Albert DeSalvo is convicted in Cambridge and sentenced to life in prison (DeSalvo will be killed by a fellow inmate in 1973)...

1969) Pete Best wins his defamation suit against the Beatles. Asking for $8 million, he settles for considerably less...

1971) "Knock Three Times" by Dawn is #1...

1973) Pink Floyd begins recording "Dark Side Of The Moon"...

1974) Bad Company is formed by ex-members of Free, Mott the Hoople and King Crimson...

1975) "The Jeffersons" debuts on CBS-TV (the show was a spin-off of "All in the Family", George Jefferson was a neighbor of Archie Bunker's)...

1976) The Pittsburgh Steelers win their 2nd Super Bowl in a row, a 21-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Miami (the game goes down to the last play in one of the most exciting SB games in history as Dallas runs out of time-outs)...

1980) Capricorn Records, home of Southern rock acts, files for bankruptcy...

1980) Pink Floyd's "The Wall" hits #1...

1980) Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager are sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $20,000 (drugs ? what drugs ?)...

1986) Dionne & Friends (Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John) top the charts with "That's What Friends Are For" with all proceeds going to the "American Foundation for AIDS Research"...

1989) Dion, the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

1990) Washington, DC Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting (Barry is later convicted of a misdemeanor)...

1991) Eastern Airlines shuts down after 62 years in business due to financial problems...

1993) The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is observed in all 50 states for the 1st time (even Arizona)...

1996) Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson (somewhere Elvis is smiling)...

1996) Baseball owners unanimously approve interleague play to start in 1997 (now maybe they can unanimously disapprove it)...

1998) The Boston Celtics retire Robert ("The Chief") Parrish's #00 uniform...

2001) Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson reveals an extramarital affair that resulted in the birth of a daughter...

2004) The Patriots beat Indianapolis (the team that can never go all the way) 24-14 to win the AFC championship and advance to Super Bowl XXXVIII to face Carolina (we know what happened in that game, don't we ?)...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1933) Ray Dolby (inventor of the noise reduction system named after him)...

1941) Bobby Goldsboro...

1955) Kevin Costner...

1961) Hockey great Mark Messier...

Today is the 18th day of 2006 with 347 days remaining in the year but only 61 days until Spring and better yet, only 29 days before pitchers and catchers...


Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

The Beetle invasion...

The first Beetle invasion did not come from England in the 60s and no, I did not mis-spell "Beetle". Do you see where this is going ? On this date in 1949 America welcomed the first Volkswagen Beetle to our shores. By July of 2003, VW #21,529,464 rolled off the production line and was shipped to the company's museum in Wolfsburg, Germany. Unlike a thoroughbred champion it will not go to stud to produce future champions but will instead reside in VW heaven and rust in peace...

Volkswagen or "people's car" was designed by Ferdinand Porsche at the request of Adolf Hitler. The car was designed to be a durable workhorse vehicle for the common German and after the defeat of the Nazi regime, the car gained a reputation for affordable reliability, making it a profitable export...

In September of 2005, Porsche bought a 20% stake in Volkswagen to ensure that there would not be a hostile takeover of the company by foreign investors. The Volkswagen group includes: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini...

Personal memories of the VW Beetle, in my commentary...

More January 17 Memories...

1913) All 36 Golden Rule stores in Utah are consolidated into one company. The new corporation will be called the J.C. Penney Company...

1916) The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) is formed in New York City (about 5 billion un-funny jokes about golf are ready to be hatched)...

1929) Popeye makes his 1st appearance in the comic strip "Thimble Theater"...

1946) The U.N. Security Council holds its 1st meeting...

1949) The 1st VW Beetle arrives in the U.S. (feature story)...

1961) In his farewell address, President Eisenhower warns against the rise of "the military-industrial complex)...

1964) "There! I've Said It Again" tops the charts for Bobby Vinton (it's considered the last #1 song before the British Invasion. In 4 weeks, the Beatles replace Vinton with "I Want To Hold Your Hand")...

1969) Charlie Watts "Ode to a High Flying Bird", a book about Charlie Parker, is published...

1969) Led Zeppelin's debut album is released...

1970) Billy Stewart and 3 of his band members are killed when their car goes out of control and off a bridge in North Carolina...

1971) Jim O'Brien kicks a 32-yard field goal with 5 seconds left, giving the Baltimore Colts a win over Dallas 16-13 in the Super Bowl, played in Miami (a record 11 turnovers are made in what is considered the most sloppily played Super Bowl on record)...

1974) Al Wilson is #1 with "Show and Tell"...

1976) "I Write The Songs" is #1 for Barry Manilow...

1977) Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, 36, is shot by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in the 1st U.S. execution in a decade...

1984) "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is #1 for Yes...

1984) The U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 to allow private use of home video cassette recorders to tape TV programs (hello TiVo)...

1990) Bobby Darin, The Who, Simon & Garfunkel, 4 Seasons, 4 Tops, Hank Ballard, Platters & Kinks are all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

1994) The Northridge earthquake rocks Los Angeles, registering a 6.7 on the Richter Scale. At least 61 are killed with damage at $20 billion...

1994) Donny Osmond and Danny Bonaduce square off in the ring in a charity fight in Chicago with Bonaduce winning a split decision (Bonaduce receives no further brain damage)...

1995) A magnitude 7.2 earthquake devastates the city of Kobe, Japan with more than 6,000 killed...

1996) In a ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria, Pink Floyd is officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

1998) President Clinton becomes the 1st U.S. President to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit when he answers questions from lawyers for Paula Jones, who had accused the president of sexual harassment...

1999) Up by 10-0 early in the game, the Jets commit 6 turnovers (including 4 fumbles) and lose the AFC championship game to Denver 23-10 at Mile High Stadium (Eric Mangini, take note, it's the closest to the Super Bowl the Jets got under Bill Parcells in his 3 seasons as coach)...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1922) Betty White...

1927) Eartha Kitt...

1931) James Earl Jones...

1939) Maury Povich...

1942) Muhammad Ali...

1956) Paul Young...

1957) The Bangles Susanna Hoffs...

1962) Jim Carrey...

1971) Kid Rock...

Commentary...

If you ever owned a VW you've got to remember the car that looked like it was going forward when it was backing up. You also had to experience the most uncomfortable ride you would ever have in a car. VW's were mostly used as a second car, as used by yours truly back in the 70s. The motor was in the back, the trunk in the front but talk about economy, that baby could go a week on a gallon of gas and it was just a perfect car for parking. And let's be grateful that this was the only German invasion we would ever experience...

Today is the 17th day of 2006 with 348 days remaining in the year but only 62 days remain until Spring but better yet, only 30 days before pitchers & catchers...


Monday, January 16, 2006

Monday, January 16, 2006

A little bit Country, a little bit Rock & Roll...

A show even your mother could love, debuted on this date in 1976 when 18-year old Donny Osmond and 16-year old sister Marie took the stage for their first prime-time series, the "Donny & Marie Show" on ABC-TV. It was Fred Silverman, then president of the ABC-TV network that watched the pair co-host a week of "The Mike Douglas Show" in 1975 and became so impressed he signed Donny & Marie to their own variety series...

While there were numerous skits, sight gags and guests, the like of Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Kris Kristofferson, Andy Gibb, Paul Lynde and Ruth Buzzi, one of the most popular segments of the show was the song segment which was called "A little bit country, a little bit rock & roll". Marie was "country", Donny was "rock & roll". Comedy was another essential ingredient to the show's success as the pair would try to confuse each other and play their version of Sonny & Cher. It all worked somehow as "Donny & Marie" became one of the most popular variety shows of the 70s. In January of 1979 the show would move to Sunday night when it was retitled "The Osmond Family Show". It would end May 6, 1979...

Donny & Marie would return to TV as hosts of the syndicated "Donny & Marie" talk show on September 21, 1998. The one-hour talk show would last 2 years before production costs put an end to it. There would be family reunion shows, depression, books and breakups but through it all, Donny & Marie would always resurface. To paraphrase the title of their recent double-video compilation, "The best of Donny & Marie", that's exactly what they gave us when they debuted with their variety show 30 years ago today...

More January 16 Memories...

1896) The 1st 5-player college basketball game is played at Iowa City, IA...

1920) Prohibition (banning alcohol) goes into effect in the U.S. (bathtub gin is born)...

1939) The comic strip version of "Superman" debuts...

1957) Little Richard records "Lucille"...

1961) Mickey Mantle signs a contract making him the highest paid player in the American League at $75,000 for the 1961 season (that amount will be surmounted many times over)...

1964) "Hello Dolly!" starring Carol Channing opens on Broadway...

1965) "Outer Limits" bows out on ABC-TV after 2 years...

1970) Curt Flood files a civil lawsuit challenging baseball's reserve clause...

1972) The Dallas Cowboys win their 1st Super Bowl 24-3 as they dominate the Miami Dolphins in New Orleans...

1973) "Bonanza" airs its last episode (the show started on September 12, 1959)...

1974) Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame...

1974) "Jaws" by Peter Benchley is published and quickly becomes a best seller...

1976) The TV show "Donny & Marie" premieres on ABC-TV (feature story)...

1976) The LP "Frampton Comes Alive" is released...

1979) Cher and Greg Allman are divorced...

1988) CBS-TV fires Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder one day after his comment that during slavery, blacks had been bred to produce stronger offspring...

1991) The White House announces the start of Operation Desert Storm, designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait...

1996) Jamaican authorities fire upon Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. Neither Buffett nor U2s Bono, also aboard, are hurt...

1997) Bill Cosby's only son, Ennis, 27, is shot to death while changing a flat tire on a dark road in Los Angeles...

1998) Federal judges secretly grant Kenneth Starr authority to probe whether President Clinton or Vernon Jordan urged Monica Lewinsky to lie about her relationship with Clinton...

2005) The Patriots beat the Colts 20-3 to win the AFC divisional playoffs (they will play and beat Pittsburgh in the championship game one week later)...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1934) Opera singer Marilyn Horne...

1935) Race driver A. J. Foyt...

1942) Barbara Lynn...

1944) Jim Stafford...

1948) Movie director John Carpenter...

1950) Debbie Allen...

1959) Sade (Adu)...

1974) Kate Moss...

Commentary...

Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 77 yesterday and today we honor his memory. King told us that "a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus". We'll leave you with 2 more quotes from the eloquent leader: "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live" and "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that"...

Today is the 16th day of 2006 and there are 349 days left in the year. 63 days remain until the Spring, 31 days until pitchers and catchers...


Friday, January 13, 2006

Friday-Sunday, January 13-15, 2006

The genius of Ernie Kovacs...

The word genius is too often freely placed on the undeserving but Ernie Kovacs would not have a problem qualifying for the description that Webster uses: "extraordinary intellectual power as manifested in creative activity". He had all of those things in spades...

His local show in Philadelphia would morph into network specials which would lead to "The Ernie Kovacs Show" in 1952 (on CBS-TV and then NBC-TV in 1956). Every week for 4 years we were treated to the most innovative and creative hours of television ever seen on the medium, to this day. We witnessed video tricks no one ever dreamed of before, like milk being poured sideways by Kovacs seated at a table that was straight. He once attached a camera lens to a kaleidoscope for a truly psychedelic effect before that word was ever used. There would be Ernie underwater blowing smoke from a cigar which was actually milk that Kovacs had filled his mouth with before submerging in a tank of water. And how can we ever forget the Nairobi Trio, the derby wearing apes that moved to a tune that was called "Solfeggio" which translates to "the silent show". The experimentation which included superimpositions, reverse polarity and scanning, the quick "blackouts" and running gags were priceless. Kovacs once spent $50,000 on a piece that lasted 6 seconds on screen...

The genius of Ernie Kovacs met a tragic end on January 13, 1962 when his Corvair station wagon crashed into a telephone pole during a Southern California rainstorm. When his body was found there was an unlit cigar lying just out of his reach. Authorities theorized that he may have lost control of his car while trying to light his ever present cigar. Ten days earlier Kovacs had just turned 43...

More on Ernie Kovacs in my commentary...

More January 13 Memories...

1854) Anthony Faas of Philadelphia patents the accordion ("Lady of Spain" would soon follow)...

1906) Hugh Gernsback of the Electro Importing Company advertises radio receivers for sale at a price of just $7.50 in "Scientific American" magazine...

1928) Ernest F. W. Alexanderson gives the 1st public demonstration of television...

1930) "Mickey Mouse" appears in a comic strip for the 1st time...

1957) Wham-O begins producing "Pluto Platters", the beginning of production of the flying disc a.k.a. "The Frisbee"...

1959) The Platters are #1 with "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"...

1962) Ernie Kovacs dies in a car crash at 43 (feature story)...

1966) Elizabeth Montgomery's character Samantha on "Bewitched" gives birth to Tabitha...

1968) Minnesota's 30-year old winger, Bill Masterson is fatally injured when he's checked heavily into the boards, hitting his head on the ice. He dies 2 days later of brain injuries...

1978) Former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey dies in Waverly, Minnesota at 66...

1978) The Police begin recording their debut album...

1979) Donny Hathaway dies after either jumping or falling from a 15th floor hotel room in Manhattan. Hathaway was 34...

1979) The Y.M.C.A. files a lawsuit against the Village People over their song "Y.M.C.A." (after clearly thinking about all the free publicity they would receive forever, they drop the suit)...

1982) An Air Florida 737 crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge after taking off in a blinding snowstorm. The plane lands in the Potomac killing 78 (Howard Stern lost his job over this when asking when the next flight was scheduled to arrive at the 14th Street Bridge)...

1982) Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson are elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame...

1989) Subway vigilante Bernhard H. Goetz is sentenced to one year in prison for gun possession but is freed the following September...

1989) The "Friday the 13th" virus strikes computers worldwide (hardest hit is Britain)...

1990) L. Douglas Wilder takes office as the nation's 1st elected black governor (in Virginia)...

1998) NBC-TV agrees to pay almost $13 million for each episode of "E.R." (the highest amount ever paid for a TV show)...

1999) Michael Jordan announces his retirement from the Bulls and the NBA (Michael will return in a couple of years with the Washington Wizards)...

2000) Microsoft chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes president Steve Ballmer to the position...

2002) The off-Broadway musical "The Fantasticks" is performed for the last time ending a run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 shows (and it seems like only yesterday - not!)...

2002) President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel (obviously a gift of Ted Kennedy)...

2003) Pete Townshend of The Who is arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children (Townshend denies the charge and is later cleared)...

2003) FAO Schwarz files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1930) Frances Sternhagen...

1931) Charles Nelson Reilly...

1934) Rip Taylor...

1938) Billy ("Bud" from "Father Knows Best") Gray...

1943) Richard ("Bull" from "Night Court") Moll...

1961) Julia Louis-Dreyfus...

1977) Orlando Bloom...

Commentary...

Some interesting things you may not have known about Ernie Kovacs:

  • Ernie's epitaph reads "Nothing in moderation/We all loved him"...
  • Two of Ernie's 3 daughters, Mia and Kippie were both killed in auto accidents...
  • Kovacs played poker with entertainment friends and Jack Lemmon was quoted as saying that Ernie and Walter Matthau were "two of the worst players he had ever known"...
  • Ernie disliked working in front of a live audience...
  • Shortly before his death, Kovacs had been signed to play Melville Crump in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"...
  • Although a long-time spokesman for Dutch Masters cigars, in real life Ernie only smoked expensive Cuban cigars, as many as 20 a day...

Bob Sherwood commenting on Mark McGwire's chances of being elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame next year: "Sadly the ill-advised and stupid whining testimony of McGwire in front of Congress and the American people will keep Mark out". Bob also feels that as difficult a person as Jim Rice was to the media, "his numbers clearly mandate his admission". And finally Bob commenting on Frank Zappa's admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "Zappa presented us at Mercury, album art that showed him in Lawrence of Arabia attire for an album entitled "Sheik Yurbuti". I can't recall what we sold but the LP is a classic". Thanks for your feedback Bob...

This is the 13th day of 2006 with 352 days left in the year but only 66 days remaining until Spring...

Saturday, January 14, 2006..

January 14 Memories...

1699) Massachusetts holds a day of fasting for wrongly persecuting witches (what's this commonwealth coming to ?)...

1784) The U.S. ratifies a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War...

1882) The Myopia Hunt Club in Winchester, Mass. becomes the 1st country club in the U.S. (were glasses necessary for members ?)...

1952) "The Today Show" premieres on NBC-TV with Dave Garroway and Jack Lescoulie...

1954) Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe marry at San Francisco's city hall (Marilyn charges "mental cruelty" in October and the couple are divorced)...

1955) Alan Freed produces his 1st Rock 'n Roll show in New York. Held at St. Nicholas Arena, the show features the Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner and others...

1956) Little Richard releases "Tutti Frutti"...

1960) Elvis Presley is promoted to "Sergeant" in the U.S. Army...

1963) George C. Wallace vows "segregation forever" as he is sworn in as governor of Alabama...

1966) David Jones changes his last name to "Bowie" to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees...

1967) Sonny and Cher release "The Beat Goes On"...

1968) The Green Bay Packers defeat the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II (just a plain ole "championship game", "Super Bowl" wouldn't be used until SBIII)...

1970) Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their last concert together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas...

1970) The 1st "Human Be-in" takes place in Golden Gate Park ("far-out, man")...

1972) "Sanford & Son" starring Redd Foxx debuts on NBC-TV (and runs until September 2, 1977 on the network before going into syndication)...

1973) The Miami Dolphins complete an undefeated, 17-0 season when they beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII (the 1st and only team to finish a season undefeated)...

1973) Elvis Presley's "Aloha From Hawaii" concert is broadcast live around the world...

1976) "Bionic Woman" starring Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC-TV (and then later on NBC-TV). The show will run until September 2, 1978...

1984) Madonna debuts "Holiday" on American Bandstand...

1985) Martina Navratilova joins Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert Lloyd as the only tennis players to win 100 tournaments...

1989) Paul McCartney releases his "Back In The U.S.S.R." LP...

1993) David Letterman announces that he's moving from NBC to CBS-TV...

1998) Whitewater prosecutors begin questioning Hillary Rodham Clinton about the gathering of FBI files on past Republican political appointees...

2001) The Giants gain their 3rd trip to a Super Bowl by beating Minnesota 41-0 in the NFC title game (they will lose to Baltimore in SBXXXV)...

2002) "The Today Show" celebrates its 50th anniversary on the air...

2004) J.P. Morgan Chase strikes a deal to buy Bank One for $58 billion...

2004) President Bush unveils a plan to send astronauts (and Ted Kennedy) to the moon, Mars and beyond...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To..

1919) Andy Rooney...

1936) Clarence Carter...

1938) Jack Jones...

1940) Julian Bond...

1941) Faye Dunaway...

This is the 14th day of 2006 with 351 days left in the year but only 65 days until Spring...

Sunday, January 15, 2006...

January 15 Memories...

1777) The people of New Connecticut declare their independence from Great Britain. The tiny republic later becomes known as the state of Vermont...

1844) The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana (everybody, "cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame")...

1863) "The Boston Morning Journal" becomes the 1st paper in the U.S. to be published on wood pulp paper...

1870) The Democratic Party is represented as a donkey for the 1st time in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in "Harper's Weekly"...

1892) The rules of basketball are published for the 1st time in Springfield, Mass., where the game originated...

1943) Work is completed on the Pentagon...

1947) The mutilated remains of 22-year old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, known as the "Black Dahlia" for her dark outfits, are found in a vacant L.A. lot (the case is never solved)...

1953) Harry S. Truman becomes the 1st U.S. President to give his farewell speech on both radio and TV...

1961) Motown signs The Supremes...

1964) Vee Jay Records files a suit against Capitol and Swan over rights to Beatles recordings...

1967) On "The Ed Sullivan Show" the Rolling Stones change the lyrics to "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "let's spend some time together" for network censors...

1967) The Buckinghams begin recording "Don't You Care"...

1967) The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in what will become known as "Super Bowl I"...

1971) George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord"...

1973) Gene Shalit brings his bushy mustache and doctor's bag to "The Today Show" for movie reviews which he continues to contribute in a very annoying way using far too many cliches (but how do I really feel ?)...

1974) "Happy Days" premieres on ABC-TV (it will run until July 12, 1984 and spawn the spinoff, "Laverne and Shirley" in January, 1976)...

1975) "Space Mountain" debuts at Disneyland...

1976) Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Ford in San Francisco...

1977) "The Coneheads" debut on Saturday Night Live...

1978) Two students are murdered in their Florida State sorority house (Ted Bundy is later convicted of the crime and executed)...

1978) The 1st "indoor" Super Bowl finds Dallas beating Denver 27-10 in Super Bowl XII played in the Superdome in New Orleans...

1981) "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV (running until 1987 and winning Emmys in 1982, 1983 and 1984)...

1987) Ray Bolger, the scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz" dies at 83...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1937) Margaret O'Brien...

1941) Captain Beefheart...

1947) Andrea Martin...

1957) Mario Van Peebles...

1967) Lisa Lisa...

1968) Chad Lowe...

This is the 15th day of 2006 with 350 days left in the year but only 64 days remaining until Spring...