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...
