It's officially unofficially Summer...
New York City has to be the most fortified city in the U.S. as proven by the presence of the military fly-overs of the city yesterday. There was a period in the morning that those military "M*A*S*H" type helicopters that rattle windows and loosen fillings would fly over, followed by a low flying vee of jet fighters, followed by military planes of all sizes and descriptions. Memorial Day must be here and with that in mind, here's a brief history of the holiday, known as the unofficial start of the Summer:
Memorial Day which started out as Decoration Day has been celebrated as far back as the Civil War as a memorial to those who had died in that war. The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. That tiny village in upstate New York started observing the day on May 5, 1866 and each year thereafter. A proclamation followed that Decoration Day be observed nationally and it was starting on May 30th of that year...
"Memorial Day" was first used in 1882 but would not replace "Decoration Day" officially (by federal law) until 1967. On June 28, 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill which moved 4 holidays including Washington's Birthday which was changed to "Presidents Day", Memorial Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day. All would fall on a Monday with Memorial Day celebrated on the last Monday in May...
Since the origin of Memorial Day was based on our Civil War, this holiday is not celebrated outside the U.S. with most countries remembering their military on or around "Remembrance Day" which we call "Veterans Day"...
However you celebrate his Memorial Day make it a safe and happy occasion but do remember those who gave their lives for us...
May 26 Memories...
1647] A new law banned Catholic priests from the colony of Massachusetts with the penalty being banishment or death for a second offense (Yikes, you New Englanders are tough !)...
1868] President Andrew Johnson is acquitted (by 1 vote) of all charges in his impeachment trial...
1896] The Dow Jones is 1st published with the average price of the 11 initial stocks at $40.94 (a bloody fortune in 1896)...
1959] The word "Frisbee" becomes a registered trademark of Wham-O...
1959] Harvey Haddix of the Pirates pitches 12 perfect innings but loses in the 13th on the 1st hit he gives up (a Joe Adcock home run)...
1959] Johnny Horton is #1 with "The Battle of New Orleans" (everybody: "oh they ran through the bushes and they ran through the brambles...")...
1965] The Rolling Stones, Jackie DeShannon, Sonny & Cher and Jimmy Rodgers (yeah, but anyone big ?) all appear on "Shindig!"...
1969] The Apollo 10 astronauts return to earth after a successful dress rehearsal for the 1st manned moon landing...
1970] "Everything Is Beautiful" for Ray Stevens when he hits #1...
1972] SALT I is signed by the U.S. and USSR, putting a freeze on the testing and deployment of land and sub-based ICBM's and ballistic missiles for 5 years...
1975] Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" is released...
1975] Evel Knievel is severely injured when he crashes while attempting to jump 13 buses in his car (I think it would've been far more interesting if he tried to jump 13 cars in a bus)...
1977] George H. Willig is arrested after he scales the South Tower of the World Trade Center in 3 1/2 hours (it's very chilling to mention anything about the WTC)...
1978] The 1st legal casino in the eastern U.S. opens in Atlantic City (see Donald Trump...see Donald Trump with a wide grin on his face)...
1980] Lipps, Inc.(which was not Mick Jagger and Lisa Rinna) is #1 with "Funkytown" (great, great song even though it's a just a bit repetitious)...
1991] Rick Mears wins his 4th Indy 500, tying A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr. with an exciting 3-second victory...
1993] Jose Canseco was "heads-up" while trying to catch a flyball. The ball hits the top of his head, goes into the stands (HOME RUN !)...
1994] Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley secretly wed in the Dominican Republic (and Elvis hasn't stopped spinning). They will divorce 20 months later (what took so long ?)...
1998] The Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island is mainly in New Jersey, not New York (whew, what a relief it is to know that. Now my ancestors can rest easy)...
2004] Terry Nichols is found quilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing (he will receive 161 consecutive life sentences, yet somehow it doesn't seem like enough)...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy birthday, happy birthday"...
1923] James ("Gunsmoke", "Mission:Impossible") Arness...
1939] Brent Musburger...
1940] Levon (The Band) Helm...
1948] Stevie Nicks...
1949] Hank ("are you ready for some footballllllllllll") Williams Jr...
1949] Philip Michael Thomas ("Miami Vice" dude)...
1962] Wackjob Bobcat Goldthwait...
1964] Jewish singer (yes he is !) Lenny Kravitz...
[Today is the 146th day of 2006 with 219 days remaining in the year with Memorial Day weekend upon us)...
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Saturday, May 27, 2006...
May 27 Memories...
1647] Alse Young becomes the 1st person executed as a witch in America when she is hanged in Hartford, Conn (what ? You can't become a witch ?)...
1668] 3 colonists are expelled from Massachusetts for being Baptists (lighten up people)...
1929] Colonel Charles Lindbergh and Anne Spencer Murrow are wedded in bliss, pilot helmet and goggles in aviator jackets...
1932] Massachusetts Governor Joseph Ely signs a bill making Sunday baseball possible at Fenway Park...
1933] Walt Disney's "Three Little Pigs" is released...
1937] The Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County opens (but to"pedestrians only" the 1st day)...
1941] The German battleship Bismarck is sunk by British naval and air forces with 2,300 killed...
1957] "That'll be the Day" by the Crickets (with Buddy Holly) was released...
1960] The Orioles debut a giant sized catcher's mitt to help Baltimore catcher Clint Courtney catch Hoyt Wilhelm's knuckleball...
1962] Columbia Records releases "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" LP...
1968] George Halas retires after 48 years as coach of the Chicago Bears...
1969] Construction of Walt Disney World begins in Orlando...
1995] Actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed when thrown from his horse during a jumping event in Charlottesville, Virginia...
1997] The Supreme Court rules that Paula Jones can pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton while he is in office...
1998] The government's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison for not apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday, happy birthday"...
1922] Christopher Lee...
1923] Henry Kissinger...
1935] Ramsey Lewis...
1935] Actress & 1955 Miss America Lee Meriwether...
1936] Louis Gossett Jr...
1943] Early British Invasion female singer Cilla Black...
1943] Bruce ("Hill Street Blues") Weitz...
1961] Peri (Roz on "Frasier") Gilpin...
1965] Todd ("Diff'rent Strokes") Bridges...
[Today is the 147th day of 2006 with 218 days remaining. The Memorial Day weekend is upon us with Monday being Memorial Day]
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Sunday, May 28, 2006...
May 28 Memories...
1928] Chrysler Corporation merges with Dodge Brothers, Inc...
1934] The Dionne quintuplets (Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne) are born to Elzire Dionne at their farm in Ontario, Canada (of course if Celine Dion were born to the Dionne's she'd be Celine Dion Dionne)...
1951] Willie Mays goes yard for a home run against the great Brave pitcher Warren Spahn for his 1st major league hit (interestingly enough, both future Hall of Famers would be teammates on the Mets at the end of their careers)...
1953] The Walt Disney film "Melody" premieres in Hollywood as the 1st 3-D cartoon...
1955] Billboard reports that "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is the most popular song in the U.S...
1956] The Pirates' Dale Long becomes the 1st player to hit home runs in 8 consecutive games (in 1987 the Yankees' Don Mattingly and in 1993, Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. will tie the mark)...
1957] The National League approves the move of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California (a sad day for New York)...
1957] The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) is established. NARAS puts on the Grammy Awards every year...
1976] The Allman Brothers Band breaks up after Gregg Allman testifies against his personal road manager in a drug case but the band will reform in 1978...
1977] Heart releases "Barracuda" (which every AOR jock in America "cleverly" calls "Baccaruda" in at least one intro)...
1977] John Davidson escapes a fire at a supper club in Kentucky that will take the lives of 164 and injure 130...
1985] Vanity Fair debuts with President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy on the cover...
1987] 19-year old West German pilot Mathias Rust lands his plane in Moscow's Red Square after evading Soviet air defenses (I just saw an interview in which Rust said he's getting use to life in the gulag)...actually Rust was released in August, 1988. I mean you know how "red" tape can be...
1989] Emerson Fittipaldi (great name !) and Al Unser Jr. play bumper cars in the Indy 500 with Unser helping Fittipaldi cross the finish line and win the race (not Unser's intention)...
1996] President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James and Susan McDougal take the bullet for Bubba and end up in jail. Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker is also convicted of fraud...
1998] Comic actor Phil Hartman of SNL and "NewsRadio" is shot to death at his home in California by his wife, Brynn who then kills herself (why couldn't she start with herself first ?)...
1999] In Milan, Italy, Leonardo de Vinci's "The Last Supper" is put back on display after 22 years of restoration work...
2005] The Red Sox beat the Yankees 17-1 in the most lopsided score in that rivalries history...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
1931] Carroll Baker...
1938] Basketball Hall of Famer and the guy on the NBA logo, Jerry West...
1944] Rudolph Giuliani...
1944] Gladys Knight...
1944] Billy Vera...
1945] John Fogerty...
1977] Elizabeth ("The View") Hasselbeck...
[Today is the 148th day of 2006 with 217 days remaining in the year and tomorrow is Memorial Day]
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Monday, May 29, 2006 Memorial Day...
May 29 Memories...
1905] Dodger pitcher Elmer Stricklett introduces the spitball helping Brooklyn beat the Giants 4-3...
1910] An airplane races a train from Albany, NY to New York City (why ?). The plane beats the train (duh) and pilot Glenn Curtiss wins a $10,000 prize...
1911] Ray Harroun wins the 1st Indy 500 (a year earlier they could have had a 3-way race between the plane, the train and the race car)...
1917] The man who would become our 35th president, John F. Kennedy, is born in Brookline, Mass...
1922] The Supreme Court rules that organized baseball is not a business and exempts the sport from antitrust laws and interstate commerce rules (whaaa, huhhh ???)...
1942] Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra records Irving Berlin's "White Christmas"...
1953] Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and sherpa Tenzing Norgay (an all-time great name) become the 1st climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest...
1962] Buck O'Neil becomes the 1st black coach in major league history when he accepts a job with the Chicago Cubs...
1969] The self-titled debut album by Crosby, Stills and Nash is released...
1971] The Rolling Stones are #1 with "Brown Sugar"...
1973] Clive Davis is fired from Columbia Records for allegedly misappropriating company funds...
1976] Joe Niekro and the Astros beats brother Phil and the Braves 4-1...
1984] The Red Sox retire Joe Cronin's #4 and Ted Williams' #9 at Fenway Park...
1987] George Michael releases "I Wan't Your Sex"...
1989] Phillies' future Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt announces his retirement...
1998] Former Arizona senator and Republican presidential candidate Barry ("Mr. Conservative") Goldwater dies at 89...
1999] Space shuttle Discovery completes its 1st docking with the International Space Station...
2001] 4 followers of Osama bin Laden are convicted of a global conspiracy to murder Americans, including the 1998 bombings of 2 embassies in Africa that took 224 lives...
2004] America dedicates a memorial to World War II veterans in Washington, D.C...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
1938] Former Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent...
1939] Al Unser Sr...
1948] Anthony ("General Hospital") Geary...
1950] Rebbie Jackson...
1956] LaToya Jackson...
1958] Annette Bening...
1961] Melissa Etheridge...
[Today is the 149th day of 2006 with 216 days remaining in the year and today is Memorial Day]
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