The Lady and her legacy...
We all want our lives to matter but you can be sure that Princess Diana Spencer wasn't thinking about what kind of legacy she would leave when she met her end in that tragic crash in France 9 years ago today. At 36 you still think you'll live forever. The life of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales mattered and she would leave a lasting legacy...
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was started on September 4th, 1997. $188 million has been raised to-date. This includes donations in her memory from around the globe, commercial licensing programs, money raised by the Spencer family home and proceeds from "Candle In The Wind '97" by Elton John. $133 million has been pledged in grants to over 420 worthy organizations world-wide...
The Fund's website lists where some of those grants have gone and they include: communities affected by landmines, young people with mental health programs, prisoners' families, young refugees and asylum seekers, palliative care and learning disabilities. A worthy and noble cause that started just a few days after that fatal automobile accident in a tunnel by the Seine in Paris...
Ten Timeline Memories...
(01) [1888] Mary Ann "Polly" Nicholls is found murdered in London's East End. The murder is generally accepted as the 1st "Jack the Ripper" murder (5 victims, all prostitutes, died at the hands of the still unknown "Ripper". As many as 13 other victims may have met their death at his hands as well in this stange and sketchy crime spree)...
(02) [1950] Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hits 4 home runs in a 19-3 pasting of the Boston Braves. Hodges hit them off of 4 different pitchers (Hodges played on 6 pennant winning teams and 1 World Series champion, all with the Dodgers. He would finish his career with 370 home runs, a record for right-handed hitters at the time)...
(03) [1954] Hurricane Carol hits the northeast, killing nearly 70 (60 in New England) and resulting in millions of dollars in damage...
(04) [1969] Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano (from Brockton Ma.) dies in a light plane crash in Iowa, the day before his 46th birthday (Rocky is the only undefeated heavyweight champ in history with a 49-0 record that includes 43 KO's)...
(05) [1974] After 4 seasons on the air, "The Patridge Family" TV show ends (David Cassidy goes on to have a successful solo career with several hits)...
(06) [1976] A judge rules that George Harrison is guilty of copying from the Chiffon's hit "He's So Fine" when writing "My Sweet Lord"...
(07) [1985] Richard Ramirez, later convicted of California's "Night Stalker" murders is captured by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood (he would be judged guilty of 13 murders, 5 attempted murders and numerous sexual assaults and burglaries. Despite appeals, he remains on Death Row)...
(08) [1995] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens in Cleveland (OH)...
(09) [1998] "Titanic" becomes the 1st movie in North America to earn more than $600 million (it still ranks #1 in total gross with $1.8 billion. "The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King" is #2 with a gross of $1.1 billion)...
(10) [2001] A Bronx team's 3rd-place finish in the Little League World Series is ruled invalid because pitching star Danny Almonte is found to be 2 years older than the age limit of 12 (Almonte, 19, who was pitching for James Monroe H.S. in April, was not drafted by any of the 30 major league teams in June). C'mon George you have enough money to sign Almonte and Jeffrey Maier (who won a playoff game for you by catching a ball in play in rightfield in '96...
"Happy Trails": 2002] The legendary Lionel Hampton at 94 (cardiac arrest)...
"Released on this date": 1974] "Jazzman" - Carole King...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
Deborah Gibson (36), Marcia Clark (53), Richard Gere (57), Giant coach Tom Coughlin (60), Van Morrison (61), Itzhak Perlman (61), Crickets drummer Jerry Allison (67), Frank Robinson (71), Dan Rather (75) and NPR's Daniel Schorr (90)...
"Happy Trails"
Great actor Glenn Ford who was in many big movies but I'll always remember him in the movie that propelled Rock and Roll music by including it in the sound track: "Blackboard Jungle". "Rock Around The Clock" never would have been as huge as it was without the help of this movie. Ford, 90, apparently died of natural causes...
Jumpin' Gene Simmons who was originally a Sun artist, opened some of Elvises shows and worked with the Bill Black Combo. His big hit was "Haunted House" in 1964. The song peaked at #11. Simmons died after a long illness at 69...
Timeline Countdown: 5 days until Labor Day, 9 days until NFL kickoff, 34 days until MLB playoffs and 122 days remain in 2006. The Mets (with the best record in baseball) Magic #: 16.
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