Mel Phillips Remembers

(Weekend Edition) Dec. 4 - 6, 2009...

2009-12-04T07:33:00.002-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1783] Say goodnight Gracie: General George Washington bids farewell to his officers by raising a tankard or two at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan. The tavern is still there and open for business (12/4)…
1908] Numb3rs: The University of Pittsburgh Panthers are the first college football team to put numbers on their jerseys (12/5). When I was program director at KQV, I could see the Pittsburgh U. tower through my apartment window. The school is located in a section called Oakland…
1978] Her Mayoress: Diane Feinstein becomes San Francisco’s first woman mayor when she’s named to replace George Moscone who was murdered (12/4)…
1980] Guardsmen from hell: The bodies of four American nuns slain in El Salvador just days before, are found. Five national guardsmen are later convicted of murder (12/4)…
1987] D-I-V-O-R-C-E eventually: Madonna files for divorce from Sean Penn but changes her mind. She files for good in January, 1988, ending their love-hate marriage. These two sat in front of me at a movie. They were ushered in when the theater went dark. Madonna was wearing Sean all night. I was tempted to whisper “get a room” (12/4)…
1988] “Happy Trails”: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Roy Orbison dies from a heart attack while visiting his mother near Nashville. Orbison was 52 (12/6)…
1990] The Good Old Days: Due to the Persian Gulf crisis, gas prices sky-rocket to: $1.60 a gallon in New York City. Outrageous!!! (12/4)…
1996] Greenspanning the globe: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sends everyone scratching their heads after his famous “irriational exuberance” speech about the stock market and whether or not it was overvalued (12/5). Greenspan turns out to be overvalued…
2002] Sticky fingers: Actress Winona Ryder is sentenced to community service for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills (12/6). And then she steals from a drugstore…
2006] Trans fixed: New York becomes the first city in the nation to ban artery clogging trans fats at restaurants (12/5)…For more on Dec. 4 - 6:

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Thursday, December 3, 2009...

2009-12-03T06:32:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1833] Boys and girls together: Oberlin College (OH) opens as the first co-educational school of higher education in the U.S…
1931] Debuted on this date: Plop-plop, fizz-fizz: Alka Seltzer makes its debut. Enter ‘Speedy‘…1950] Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast…
1949] Lucky and good: Notre Dame stretches its unbeaten streak to 4 seasons and 38 games by beating the Kyle Rote SMU Mustangs 27-20. The Irish win their 7th national title…
1961] How do you do: The Beatles meet Brian Epstein for the first time in his record shop in Liverpool…
1967] Have a heart: Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant. Patient Louis Washkansky lives for 18 days with his new heart…
1967] Curtains: The famed 20th Century Limited luxury train, completes its final run from New York City to Chicago…
1968] How low can you go?: The major league pitching mound is lowered from 15 inches to 10 to get more offense in the game. It works…
1979] Concert catastrophe: 11 fans are crushed to death at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum before a concert by The Who. Laws will change to prevent “first-come, first-served” seating in the future…
1994] “Happy Trails“: AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser, wife of actor Paul Michael Glaser, dies at 47 after she and her two children were infected after a blood transfusion. Daughter Ariel will also succumb to the disease but son Jake survives…
2002] You can run but you can’t hide: Thousands of files show that the Archdiocese of Boston protected clergy after sex and drug charges are released…For more on December 3:

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009...

2009-12-02T07:21:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1901] Patent no longer pending: Gillette patents the first disposable razor…
1927] Debuted on this date: Ford rolls out their Model A, the successor to the Model T. It sold for $385…1969] Boeing shows off its 747 jumbo jet for the media…
1956] Next stop Boston: San Francisco University’s Bill Russell stars as the USA picks up a gold medal in basketball with an 89-55 trouncing of Russia at the Melbourne (Australia) Olympics (and we all know where he will star next)...
1961] I’m your leader: Fidel Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist who will lead Cuba to Communism. He will also lead them to ruin...
1967] “Happy Trails“: New York City’s Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman dies from natural causes at 78…
1982] The beat goes on: Retired dentist Barney Clark receives the first artificial heart. Clark will live for 112 days…
1992] Musical call letters: WQEW replaces WQXR on 1560 in New York. WQEW adapts a nostalgia music WNEW-AM type format that won’t be successful…
1994] Guilty as charged: “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss is convicted in Los Angeles on 3 counts of “pandering”. Charlie Sheen loses Heidi’s phone number…
1998] It’s only money: Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates donates $100 million to immunize children in developing countries, something that Gates continues to do…
2001] Chapter 11: Enron Corp. files for chapter 11 after Dynergy walks away from a $8.4 billion buyout. It’s the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history…For more on December 2:

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009...

2009-12-01T07:15:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1824] Flip a coin: With no candidate receiving a majority of the vote in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives decides that John Quincy Adams is chosen over Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay…
1914] First in service: The first service station opens in Pittsburgh…
1917] Boy’s Town: Father Edward Flanagan opens “Boy’s Town” in Nebraska, a farm village designed for wayward boys. In 1979 it became co-ed. The Hollies‘ hit “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” was written as a tribute to Boys Town…
1924] Hockey, eh?: The 1st pro hockey game in the U.S. is played at the Boston Arena with the Bruins beating the Montreal Maroons (not Morons) 2-1. Both teams had just joined the 7-year old NHL. Boston became the 1st U.S. team…
1955] No more ‘back of the bus’: Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (AL), marking a milestone in the civil rights movement…
1969] There’s a draft in here: Charles Rangel will be happy to note that the U.S. government held its 1st draft lottery since WWII…
1973] “Happy Trails“: David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel and its first prime minister dies from natural causes at 87…
1992] Guilty as charged: In Mineola (LI) Amy Fisher is sentenced to 5 to 15 years for the shooting and serious wounding of Mary Jo Buttafuoco. The ‘Long Island Lolita’ was having an affair with Mary Jo’s husband Joey. Amy is now out and frankly we don’t care where Joey is...
1997] No choke: Golden State’s Latrell Sprewell chokes in practice…chokes his coach (P.J. Carlesimo) that is. He’s suspended for one year and the remainder of his 4-year, $23 million contract was terminated. Sprewell’s career ended in 2004. Carlesimo is still coaching…
1997] The name game: Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS…For more on December 1:

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Monday, November 30, 2009...

2009-11-30T07:23:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1939] Happy Landings: New York’s LaGuardia Airport begins operations as a plane from Chicago lands at 12:01 a.m…
1940] Wedding Bells: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz conga down the aisle to a latin beat…
1972] No news is good news: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning troup withdrawals from Vietnam after they had reached a level of 27,000…
1993] Brady Law: President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Bill) into law…
1993] Klaas murder solved: Richard Allen Davis is arrested after confessing to abducting and killing 12-year old Polly Klaas…
1994] Jaguar sighting: The NFL announces that the Jacksonville Jaguars will become the league’s 30th franchise…
1996] Happy Trails: After performing on stage, Tiny Tim collapses and dies from congestive heart failure at 71…2007] Daredevil motorcycle rider Evel Knievel passes away from a terminal lung disease at 69…
2001] Artificial heart victim: Robert Tools, the first person to receive a fully self-contained artificial heart, dies after living with the device for 151 days…
2004] Jeopardy champ falls: Ken Jennings finally loses but takes home $2.5 million, TV’s all-time biggest game show haul…
2007] Clinton crisis: Hillary Clinton’s Rochester (NH) campaign office experiences a hostage crisis when Leeland Eisenberg enters and holds three people hostage for 5 hours…For more on November 30:

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(Thanksgiving Edition) Nov. 25 - Nov. 29, 2009...

2009-11-24T16:55:00.004-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1789] 1st Thanksgiving: A day of Thanksgiving is set aside by President George Washington to observe the adoption of the U.S. Constitution (11/26)…
1925] Debuted on this date: The longest running live music show debuts on WSM Nashville when host George Dewey Hay invites an 83-year old Civil War veteran to play fiddle for an hour. The ‘WSM Barn Dance’ begins (11/28). In 1927 its name is changed to the “Grand Ole Opry“. Willie Nelson will make his debut 39 years to the date that the ‘Barn Dance’ debuted (1964)…
1934] A Thanksgiving Day tradition begins: The Detroit Lions begin an annual NFL tradition, dropping a 19-16 decision to da Bearsss. It was the first NFL game aired on national radio. Brent Mus-sorry, Graham McNamee did the play-by-play (11/29)…
1942] Play it again Sam: “Casablanca” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman debuts at the Hollywood Theater in Manhattan (11/26)…
1942] Down in flames: A devastating and deadly fire destroys the Cocoanut Grove night club in Boston, taking nearly 500 lives (11/28)…
1963] Laid to rest: The body of President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery (11/25)…
1978] City Hall massacre: San Francisco mayor George Moscone and City Hall Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist, are shot to death inside City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White (11/27)…
1980] No mas, no mas: Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Roberto Duran for the welterweight crown after Duran pleads “no mas, no mas” in the 8th round, ending the fight (11/25)…
1999] Elian gets his 15 minutes: 6-year old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez is rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida. The saga of Elian begins (11/25)…
2001] “Happy Trails“: Beatle George Harrison loses his battle with cancer at 58 (11/29)…For more on November 25 - 29:

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009...

2009-11-24T07:43:00.002-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1859] The Grandfather of “Cavemen”: British naturalist Charles Darwin publishes “On the Origin of Species” which explains his theory of evolution…
1871] The Grandfather of the NRA: The National Rifle Association is incorporated and its first president is Major General Ambrose E. Burnside…
1953] One by one: New Brooklyn Dodger manager Walter Alston signs the 1st of 23-one year contracts…
1963] Live from Dallas: Jack Ruby shoots and mortally wounds Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy. This happened live on television - still hard to believe. Here’s the video clip…
1963] The games must go on ?: The NBA, NHL and AFL cancel their scheduled games, the NFL does not. Pete Rozelle considered this his worst decision as NFL commissioner…
1969] Guilty as charged: Lt. William Calley is charged with the massacre of over 100 civilians in My Lai, Vietnam in March, 1968…
1971] AWOL with ransom: Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachutes from a Northwest flight over Washington State with $200,000 in ransom. His fate is still unknown…
1985] “Happy Trails”: Big Joe Turner dies of a heart attack at 74…1991] Freddie Mercury of Queen dies of AIDS at 45…
1998] Wedding Bells: AOL confirms that its buying Netscape for $10 billion…
2003] Death sentence: A jury in Virginia Beach, VA, sentences John Allen Muhammad to death for the Washington-area sniper shootings…For more on November 24:

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Monday, November 23, 2009...

2009-11-23T07:36:00.002-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1876] Politics as usual: Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy (Boss) Tweed is captured in Spain and returned to authorities in New York…
1889] Jukebox Saturday Night every night: The first jukebox goes into service at the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco. Owned by developer Louis T. Glass, the box contains an Edison tinfoil phonograph with 4 listening tubes. A nickel bought a few minutes of music. The jukebox took in a whopping $1,000 in 6 months…
1936] A Life is born: The first edition of Life is published…
1971] Chinese imports: Representatives of the People’s Republic of China are seated at the U.N…
1980] Earthshaking: A series of earthquakes in Southern Italy takes 3,000 lives…
1981] A secret no longer: Ronald Reagan secretly signs off on Iran-Contra…
1984] Hail Mary: Doug Flutie connects with roomie Gerard Phelan and Boston College defeats Miami 47-45 in one of the greatest college football games of all-time. Bernie Kosar was the Miami QB…
1985] Hijacking: Gunman hijack an Egyptian plane, 60 are killed…
2006] Spy snuffing: Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko dies in London from radiation poisoning after making a deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin…
2000] Drawing a blank: The Florida Supreme Court refuses to order Miami-Dade County to resume counting ballots by hand in the presidential race…For more on November 23:

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(Weekend Edition) November 20 - 22, 2009...

2009-11-20T07:42:00.002-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1877] Talking Machine: Thomas A. Edison announces the invention of the phonograph or as he calls it, his “talking machine.” (11/21)…
1928] Debuted on this date: The Boston Bruins lose to Montreal 1-0 as the Boston Garden makes its debut (11/20)…
1960] Knocked into Monday: Frank Gifford is leveled by the Eagles Chuck Bednarik in a blind-sided hit that will wind up ending the career of the Giants star running back. The Eagles clinch the Eastern Conference title. As a reward Gifford will wind up with Kathie Lee (11/20)…
1962] MVP…MVP…MVP: Mickey Mantle wins his 3rd American League MVP award. The Mick and Roger Maris starred in the movie “Safe At Home” the same year (11/20)…
1963] A day we’d all like to forget but never will: John Fitzgerald Kennedy is gunned down in Dallas. A day we always remember what we were doing at the time. I was recording a Canada Dry spot at WMID, Atlantic City. LBJ is sworn in as our next president (11/22)...
1980] “Happy Trails“: Aging blonde bombshell Mae West suffers a fatal stroke at 87 (11/22)…1997] INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, 37, is found hanging in his Sydney, Australia hotel suite (11/22)…
1982] Youngest SNL host: That would be 7-year old Drew Barrymore who also made an appearance that year on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show…
1987] Wedding Bells: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis rock down the aisle. They divorce in 2000 when Demi discovers where Ashton Kutcher lives. She robs his cradle in 2005 (11/21)…
1994] Rock and Roll transplant: David Crosby receives a liver transplant (11/20)…
1998] Dr. Death: “60 Minutes” airs videotape of Dr. Jack Kevorkian unethically administering lethal drugs to a terminally ill patient (11/22)...For more on November 20 - 22:

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Thursday, November 19, 2009...

2009-11-19T07:05:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1863] Four Score, for sure: President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address as he dedicates a national cemetery at the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania…
1954] What a wreck: Sammy Davis, Jr. losses an eye in a serious auto crash in San Bernardino (CA)...
1954] Two tolls, no waiting: Two automatic toll machines are installed on the Garden State Parkway. Now there’s just one big toll when you get off the Parkway…
1959] Rama Lama Ding Dong: The Ford Motor Company halts production of the Edsel…
1966] Hanging them up: Future Hall of Fame pitcher, Sandy Koufax announces his retirement from baseball, one month shy of his 32nd birthday, due to arm problems. Koufax simply dominated his era…
1969] Fly me to the Moon: Apollo XII astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean make man’s second lunar landing…
1985] A Geneva treat: Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev meet for the first time as they begin their summit in Geneva…
1998] A Starr is born: Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr lays out his evidence against President Bill Clinton during a daylong appearance before the House Judiciary Committee…
2001] MVP…MVP…MVP…MVP: Barry Bonds wins his 4th MVP award (he’ll win 3 more). Wasn’t this the year they said Bonds started using the ‘clear cream’???
2004] Fight Night: In one of sports ugliest scenes, a fight breaks out on the floor, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of the Pacers charge into the stands and fight with fans during an NBA game in Detroit. Officials end the Pacers’ 97-82 win with 45.9 ticks left. Fines and suspensions follow. Fan John Green who tossed his drink at Artest, was banned for life in Detroit and hefty fines are levied at Artest, Jackson and others…For more on November 19:

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009...

2009-11-18T06:47:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1928] Mickey debuts: The 1st successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon premiers in New York City. It's Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse...
1959] Also Premiering on this date: William Wyler's "Ben Hur" at a Loew's Theater in Times Square...2005] "Walk The Line", the story of Johnny Cash opens...
1969] 'Happy Trails': Kennedy patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy dies in Hyannis Port (MA) at 81. Kennedy had suffered a massive stroke 8 years earlier. 1994] Cab Calloway dies in a Delaware nursing home of a stroke at 86...
1978] The horror of Jonestown: People's Temple leader Jim Jones forces his followers to commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit-flavored concoction. Only about a dozen escape. The final death toll: 913, including 276 children. Jones is fatally shot in the head...
1987] Pink slips are on the way: CBS Inc. agrees to sell its record division to SONY Corporation for about $2 billion...
1990] Wedding Bells: Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall tie the knot in Bali. They will have 2 children during their 9 year marriage which breaks up after allegations that Mick fathered a child with Brazilian model Luciana Morad. 2006] Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are married in Italy. That's amore...
1991] Free at last: Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon free Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and educator Thomas Sutherland...
1999] Guilty as charged: A jury in Jasper (TX) convicts Shawn Allen Berry of murder for his role in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., but spare him the death penalty...
2002] A new call for arms inspection: U.N. arms inspectors return to Iraq after a four-year hiatus. They call on Saddam Hussein's government to cooperate with their search for weapons of mass destruction. You know the rest of this story...
2003] Right to marry: The Massachusetts Supreme Court Judicial Court rules 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry...For more on Nov. 18:

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009...

2009-11-17T06:41:00.001-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1934] Wedding Bells: Lyndon B. Johnson marries Claudia Alta Taylor, but you know her as "Lady Bird"...
1956] A Hollywood ending: Jim Brown finishes his college career at Syracuse by running for 6 touchdowns and kicking 7 extra points in a 61-7 massacre of Colgate...
1968] Heidi Ho: NBC-TV switches from an exciting Jets-Oakland game to "Heidi". Here's what we didn't see: The Raiders score 2 TD's in 9 seconds to hold on to a 43-32 win over the Jets. The final score is shown in a crawl over, what else ? "Heidi"...
1973] I'm not a crook: President Richard Nixon tells an AP managing editors meeting in Orlando (FL) that "people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." In front of a news organization's meeting ? Nice timing Mr. President...
1985] Debuted on this date: Howard Stern on K-Rock (WXRK)...
1997] The Joe Gibbs Academy: To graduate, you get elected to the Hall of Fame and then come back. NHL great Mario Lemieux gets inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame and then returns to play and eventually get into ownership of the Pittsburgh Penguins...
2003] Guilty as charged: John Allen Muhammad is convicted of two counts of capital murder in the Washington (D.C.)-area sniper shootings. He was executed by injection last week...
2003] This I swear: Action actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in as the 38th Governor of California. Just call him 'The Governator'...
2006] Kramer goes off: Former 'Seinfeld' star Michael Richards unleashes a barrage of racial slurs during a stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory...
2006] 'Happy Trails': Hall of Fame college football coach Bo Schembechler dies at 77...For more on November 17:

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Monday, November 16, 2009...

2009-11-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1957] The streak ends: Dick Lynch scampers around right end for a touchdown, ending Oklahoma's streak of 47 consecutive wins. Notre Dame beats the #1 ranked Sooners 7-0 in Norman (OK)...
1959] The birth of The Pats: William "Billy" Sullivan Jr. and a group of Boston businessmen is awarded the 8th and final franchise in the American Football League (AFL). The Boston Patriots are born...
1960] "Happy Trails": Clark Gable dies of a heart attack at 59...1961] House speaker Sam Rayburn is the victim of cancer at 79...
1966] Dr. Sam is free: Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard is acquitted in his second trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife in 1954...
1973] Put this in your pipe and smoke it: President Richard M. Nixon signs the Alaska Pipeline measure into law...
1981] Wedding Bells: Luke marries Laura on "General Hospital" before a TV audience of 16 million viewers...1987] Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet rock down the aisle. They separate in 1990 and divorce in 1993...
1982] Over and out: An agreement is announced in the 57th day of a strike by the NFL players...
1995] Diseased: Attorney General Janet Reno discloses that she has Parkinson's disease...
2001] A federal case: Congress passes an aviation security bill mandating that airport screeners be federal employees...
2004] Rice is nice: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is picked as the new secretary of state. She succeeds Colin Powell...For more on November 16:

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(Weekend Edition) November 13 - 15, 2009...

2009-11-13T07:26:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1789] Death and Taxes: Benjamin Franklin writes in a letter to a friend, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes" (11/13)...
1926] NNNNNBC: The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) debuts with a radio network of 24 stations. The first network broadcast is a 4-hour special featuring live big band music from the Waldorf Astoria (11/15)...
1967] Triple Crown MVP: The Red Sox' Carl Yastrzemski wins the AL MVP in a year that made him a Hall of Famer. All Yaz does is win the Triple Crown (highest batting average, most home runs (tie) and runs batted in). It was the best individual performance by any player (including Mantle & Maris) I've ever witnessed. To this day, there hasn't been another Triple Crown winner yet (11/15)...
1968] Premiered on this date: "Yellow Submarine", the animated movie (11/13)...1997] The Disney musical "The Lion King" opens on Broadway (11/13)...
1974] "Happy Trails": Karen Silkwood, 28, a technician and union activist from Oklahoma who inspired a movie of her life, is killed in a suspicious car crash (11/13)...
1979] Vote for the "Gipper": Former California Governor Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination while visiting New York (11/13)...
1979] 'Chocolate Thunder': 76er Darryl Dawkins shatters a fiberglass backboard doing a monster dunk in Kansas City and starts a new fad that provides ESPN with about a million 'Sports Update' show opens (11/13)...
1986] It's a family affair: Doubleday Publishing agrees to sell the Mets to Nelson Doubleday & Fred Wilpon for $80.7 million (11/14). The publishing company bought the team for a then-record $21.1 million in 1980...
1996] Wedding Bells: Michael Jackson and mother-for-hire Deborah Rowe make it official (11/14)...1998] Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman marry but there's some debate over who wore the bridal gown (11/14). The marriage ends in 9 days. So what took so long???
2004] McGrieved: New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey leaves office 3 months after resigning due to a gay extra-marital affair. State Senator Richard Codey takes over as interim Governor (11/15)...For more on November 13 - 15:

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Thursday, November 12, 2009...

2009-11-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1920] Here come de judge: Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis is elected baseball's first commissioner which brings a smile to Shorty Long's face wherever he is...
1931] A 'Nessie' sighting: The first known photo of the 'Loch Ness Monster' is taken...
1940] Premiered on this date: "Fantasia", not the singer, the Walt Disney masterpiece...
1948] Guilty as charged: Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other WWII Japanese leaders are sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal...1996] Jonathan Schmitz, 26, is convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Scott Amedure, a gay man who'd revealed a crush on Schmitz on a "Jenny Jones" TV show. Schmitz is serving a 20-25 year prison term...1997] Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Yousef is serving a sentence of life without parole...2004] Scott Peterson is sentenced to death for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. Peterson remains on death row...
1954] Closed for renovations: Ellis Island closes after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892...
1987] AIDS ban banned: The AMA issues a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person has AIDS or is HIV-positive...
1993] "Happy Trails": H.R. Haldeman, a former Nixon White House chief of staff, dies of undisclosed causes at 67...
1998] Wedding Bells: Daimler-Benz, Chrysler and baby Daimler-Chrysler unite...
2001] Belle Harbor hell: American Airlines flight 587 crashes in Belle Harbor, Queens shortly after taking off in perfect weather, from JFK, taking more than 260 lives...
2006] Breaking a record: Gerald R. Ford surpasses Ronald Reagan as the longest-lived U.S. president at 93 years and 121 days. Ford will pass away the following month...For more on November 12:

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(Veterans Day) Wednesday, November 11, 2009...

2009-11-11T07:20:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1918] Armistice Day: World War I ends when the Allies and Germany sign an armistice a.k.a. "Armistice Day". Many countries refer to Veterans Day as Remembrance Day...
1921] Dedication Day: The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated at Arlington Cemetery by U.S. President Warren Harding...
1938] The Philadelphia Flyers take note: Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" for the 1st time on network radio...
1940] Debuted on this date: The Jeep, manufactured for the war effort...
1972] 'Happy Trails': Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers) is killed in a motorcycle accident one year and 13 days after Duane Allman met the same fate - and just 3 blocks away. Oakley was 24...2004] Palestinian leader, controversial Yasser Arafat dies in Paris at 75. Israel does not sing 'Happy Trails'...
1984] The gift that keeps on giving: President Ronald Reagan accepts the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Memorial Fund...
1986] Wedding Bells: Sperry Rand and Burroughs walk down the aisle with their baby "Unisys" becoming the second largest computer company...
1993] Dedication Day II: A bronze statue is dedicated in Washington (D.C.) to honor more than 11,000 American women who served in the Vietnam War...
1996] The Wall that heals: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveils "The Wall that Heals", a half-scale replica of the memorial that will tour communities throughout the U.S...
2002] MVP x 5: Barry Bonds wins the MVP award for an unprecedented fifth time...For more on November 11:

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009...

2009-11-10T07:16:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1775] Semper Fi: The U.S. Marines are organized under authority of the Continental Congress...
1871] Dr. Livingstone, I presume?: Journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley finds missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone in central Africa and delivers his famous greeting: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" to which Livingstone replies: "And you arrrrrre?"...
1954] Dedicated to the ones we love: The Iwo Jima Memorial is dedicated in Arlington (VA)...
1969] Debuted on this date: 'Sesame Street' on PBS...
1975] Down with the ship: The ore-hauling ship Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm in Lake Superior with all 29 crew members on board (leading to the hit by Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" or as one CBS-FM caller asked: "Can you play the 'Wreck of Ella Fitzgerald?")...
1980] Cabnapping: CBS-TV network anchor Dan Rather claims he was kidnapped in a cab but it turns out that Rather refused to pay the driver for the ride (leading to the R.E.M. hit: "What's the cab fare Kenneth?")...
1982] Memorialized: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is opened in Washington (D.C.)...
1984] Comeback Terps: Backup Maryland QB Frank Reich stages one of the greatest comebacks in college football history, throwing 6 TD passes in the 2nd half and overcoming a 31-0 deficit as the Terps beat Miami 42-40...
1993] With malice toward none: John Wayne Bobbitt is acquitted on the charge of marital sexual assault against his wife Lorena Bobbitt (aka "The Blade") who is later acquitted of malicious wounding of her husband. Apparently cutting off one's genitals is not malicious enough in Virginia...
1997] Wedding Bells: WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp. walk down the $37 billion dollar aisle, link by link and chip by chip...For more on November 10:

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Monday, November 9, 2009...

2009-11-09T07:10:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1872] Beantown's ablaze: The Great Boston Fire kills 20, causing millions of dollars in damage...
1888] The Ripper rests: Jack the Ripper kills Mary Jane Kelly, his last known victim...
1913] Great Lakes storm: More than 250 die in the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the Great Lakes -- 19 ships are destroyed...
1938] Kristallnacht: Nazi troops and sympathizers destroy and loot Jewish buinesses, burn synagogues and kill 91 Jews. They also round up 25,000 in an event known as 'Kristallnacht' or 'Night of Broken Glass'...
1953] Supes Rule: Somehow the Supreme Court upholds a 1922 ruling that major league baseball does not come within the scope of federal antitrust laws. Were there 9 justices named Ito???
1965] Lights out: The great northeast blackout turns the lights out in 9 states and two provinces of Canada. It affects 25 million people for more than 13 hours...
1967] On the cover of Rolling Stone: The first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine is published with John Lennon gracing the cover...
1979] False alarm: NORAD computers and a military command center in Maryland detect a massive Soviet nuclear missile attack. After reviewing the raw data, guess what? No attack. Oops...
1989] Wall? What wall?: Happy Germans dance on top of the Berlin Wall as Communist East Germany opens its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the west...
2005] Suicide kills: Three suicide bombers carry out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S. based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 and wounding hundreds...For more on November 9:

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(Weekend Edition) November 6 - 8, 2009...

2009-11-06T07:07:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1869] Tee for two: Rutgers beats Princeton 6-4 at New Brunswick (NJ) in the first college football game. There were 25 players on each side, touchdowns were worth one point and the game resembled soccer more than football (11/6)...
1923] A patented shave: Colonel Jacob Schick patents the first electric shaver (11/6)...
1935] The birth of FM: Edwin H. Armstrong announces the development of FM broadcasting. Bless you Edwin H. Armstrong (11/6)...
1960] Election Daze: Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon for the presidency. The age of Camelot dawns (11/8)...
1962] I get no kicks from champagne: Nixon who fails in his bid to become Governor of California tells reporters: "You won't have me to kick around anymore" (11/7)...
1965] Premiered on this date: The Pillsbury Dough Boy debuts (11/8)...1967] Phil Donahue begins his TV talk show in Dayton (OH) and stays on the air for over 25 years with it (11/6)...
1970] Record Breaker: New Orleans placekicker Tom Dempsey, born without toes on his kicking foot, kicks a record-setting 63-yard field goal (11/8). In 1998 Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos ties Dempsey with his 63-yard boot, no doubt aided by Denver's mile-high altitude...
1973] Body snatcher: Singer Gram Parsons' manager Phil Kaufman is fined $300 for stealing Parsons' body from LAX. Kaufman claims it was Parsons wish to be cremated (11/6)...
1995] Banned in Cleveland: Browns' owner Art Modell announces a plan to move the team to Baltimore. It gets worse when the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl (11/6)...
2002] Gotcha: A jury in Beverly Hills convicts Winona Ryder of stealing $5,500 worth of merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue. Winona is placed on probation for 3 years (11/6)...For more on November 6 - 8:

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Thursday, November 5, 2009...

2009-11-05T06:42:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1895] Patented: George B. Selden of Rochester (NY) receives the first U.S. patent for an automobile...
1935] Premiered on this date: The game of Monopoly is introduced by Parker Brothers...
1940] Election results: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins an unprecedented 3rd term but will be the last president to do so by a new law that limits presidents to two terms. In New York, it's a lot easier to serve 3 terms for mayor. Just ask Mike Bloomberg..1946] 29-year old Boston Democrat John F. Kennedy is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives...1968] Republican Richard M. Nixon wins the presidency over VP Hubert H. Humphrey and George Wallace...1996] Voters return Bill Clinton to the White House for a second term as Clinton beats Dole...
1960] "Happy Trails": Johnny Horton, 33, is killed in an auto accident in Texas...
1981] Busted: Former Miami Dolphin running back Mercury Morris is sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficking and possession of cocaine...
1982] Put it in the books: The Nets put the Cleveland Cavaliers in the record books when they hand the Cavs their 24th consecutive loss, 99-91...
1990] Gunned down: Jewish Defense League Rabbi Meir Kahane, 58, is shot to death after a speech in Manhattan. His assassin, an Egyptian, is later sentenced to life in prison. Many believe Kahane was the first victim of Al Qaida...
1994] The new champ is the old champ: George Foreman becomes boxing's oldest heavyweight champ at 45 by knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round...
1994] Former presidential announcement: Former President Ronald Reagan discloses he has Alzheimer's disease...
1998] Former presidential offspring: A study shows strong genetic evidence that Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one child by his slave, Sally Hemmings...For more on November 5:

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009...

2009-11-04T07:24:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1842] Wedding Bells: Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd rock down the aisle...
1922] King Tut sighting: The entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb is discovered (by Steve Martin?) in Egypt...
1924] Madam Governor: Nellie T. Ross (Wyoming) is elected the nation's 1st woman Governor, chosen to serve the remaining term of her husband William who died in office...
1979] Hostage Crisis Day 1: Militants storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran as the Iranian Hostage Crisis begins (52 hostages will be held for the next 14 months)...
1980] Reagan romp: Ronald Reagan wins the White House, defeating Jimmy Carter soundly...
1991] Reagan retirement: Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Bush help Reagan dedicate his Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley (CA)...
1995] Cut down: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish extremist after speaking at a peace rally in Tel Aviv...
2007] Record breaker: Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers breaks the record for the longest play in NFL history with a 109-yard missed field goal return...
2008] 'Happy Trails': Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, The Lost World and The Andromeda Strain, dies from lymphoma at 66...
2008] Barack and roll: Democrat Barack Obama wins the 2008 U.S. presidential election, beating Republican John McCain. Obama becomes the first African American President of these United States...For more on November 4:

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009...

2009-11-03T07:30:00.001-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1961] Batday: The Boston Patriots beat the Dallas Texans 28-21 at Braves Field when a fan sneaks onto the field and bats away Dallas QB Cotton Davidson's pass into the end zone as time runs out. The play stands, the Patriots win (we love these endings especially when the home team wins. Remember when that convict on work patrol cleared a spot on the field for a winning field goal ? Then there's the "tuck rule" imposed to favor Tom Brady in a big game against Oakland). We love this stuff...
1971] Premiered on this date: "Play Misty For Me" starring Clint Eastwood. Every disc jockey's worst nightmare...1978] "Different Strokes" begins for 8 successful seasons...
1979] Wedding Bells: James Taylor and Carly Simon tie the knot in Carly's Manhattan apartment. Sadly they separate in 1982 and divorce in 1983...
1986] Breaking the story: A Lebanese magazine breaks the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, which exposes the Iran-Contra affair...
1988] Breaking the nose: Geraldo Rivera breaks his nose in an on-camera brawl with skinheads. I didn't know who to root for in this fight...
1992] Two big winners on Election Day: Bill Clinton is elected our 42nd President, defeating President George H.W. Bush (and) Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the 1st black woman elected to the U.S. Senate...
1994] Guilty as charged: Susan Smith is arrested for drowning her two young sons, 9 days after claiming the children had been kidnapped. She's still serving life without parole in prison...
1999] Guilty as charged II: Aaron McKinney is convicted of murder in the beating of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard. McKinney and Russell Henderson are each serving life in prison for the 1998 murder...
2004] A political first: Hamid Karzai is declared the winner of Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election. Apparently he was just re-elected...
2005] Scooter is busted: VP Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby pleads not guilty to a five-count felony indictment in the CIA leak case. Libby is convicted and sentenced to 30-months in prison but 'W' commutes his sentence...For more on November 3:

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Monday, November 2, 2009...

2009-11-02T07:02:00.000-05:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1947] Taking Off: Howard Hughes pilots his huge wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasts about a minute over Long Beach Harbor (CA)...
1948] Chicago Tribune street cred is questioned: The front page of the Chicago Tribune screamed 'DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN'. Too bad it was the other way. Truman defeated Dewey...
1959] The birth of payola: "Twenty-One" contestant Charles Van Doren tells a House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight that he was given questions and answers in advance of his appearances. The committee starts radio investigations as part of their probe. Uh-oh...
1964] SOLD: CBS Inc. purchases 80% of the New York Yankees for $11 million. They buy the remaining shares eventually. CBS actually loses money when they sell the team to the George Steinbrenner-led Cleveland group 9 years later...
1976] From peanuts to president: Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter defeats Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford to become the first president from the deep south since the Civil War. Texas is in the southwest so LBJ doesn't qualify...
1983] On the dotted line: President Ronald Reagan signs a bill establishing a federal holiday on the third Monday of January in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr...
1984] Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1962...
1988] Wormy: The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention is launched from MIT...
2004] Re-upped: President George W. Bush is elected to a second term as Republicans strengthen their hold on Congress...
2006] Hanky spanky: The Rev. Ted Haggard resigns as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after a man says they had had sexual trysts together...For more on November 2:

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(Halloween Weekend Edition) October 30 - November 1, 2009...

2009-10-30T06:39:00.000-04:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1894] Number One with a bullet: Billboard Advertising is published for the first time (11/1). The trade publication will later be known as Billboard Magazine...
1926] Last disappearing act: Harry Houdini dies from complications of a ruptured appendix at 52 on Halloween, no less (10/31)...
1938] War of the Worlds: H.G. Wells' epic is aired on "Mercury Theater on the air presents Orson Welles". Of the 6 million listeners, more than 1.7 million believed the fictional account of Martians invading New Jersey. Maybe they were looking for Jimmy Hoffa (10/30)...
1941] What huge busts: Okay, get your mind off the female anatomy. Mount Rushmore is declared completed after 14 years of work. Sixty-foot busts of Washington, Jefferson, (Theodore) Roosevelt and Lincoln are finished and the landmark would soon open to the public (10/31)...
1946] WNNNNNBC: WEAF changes call letters to WNBC (11/1)...
1971] Runaway: Cornell running back Ed Marinaro runs for 272 yards against Columbia to surpass 4,000 yards and break Steve Owens record at Oklahoma (10/30)...
1974] Are you ready to rumble?: "The Rumble in the Jungle" is fought in Kinshasa, Zaire with Muhammad Ali beating George Foreman on a TKO in the 8th round (10/30)...
1975] DROP DEAD!!!: That was the subtle headline on page one of the New York Daily News after President Gerald R. Ford says he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City. Yep, better to use the money on police body armor in Keokuk, Iowa any day (10/30)...
1988] Questionable seance: Debbie Gibson holds a seance at her Halloween party to contact the spirits of Liberace and Sid Vicous but channels Zazu Pitts instead (10/31)...
1997] Convicted: A Cambridge (MA) jury convicts British au pair Louise Woodward of second degree murder in the death of 8-month old Matthew Eappen. The judge later reduces the verdict to manslaughter and sets Woodward free. Who was the judge? Lance Ito??? (10/30)...For more on October 30 - November 1:

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Thursday, October 29, 2009...

2009-10-29T06:53:00.000-04:00

10 Timeline Memories:

1652] The birth of the Bay State: The Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaims itself an independent commonwealth. Knowing this wouldn't work on a T-shirt, the founding fathers rename it Massachusetts...
1929] Cur-rash: "Black Tuesday" ushers in 'The Great Depression' as banks and stocks go belly up...
1940] Brrrrrrr there's a draft in here: The first peacetime military draft begins in the U.S...
1956] Premiered on this date: Chet Huntley (from New York) & David Brinkley (Washington) debut on the "Huntley-Brinkley Report" which begins a 15-year run...1967] "Hair" opens on Broadway...
1964] Natural History heist: Thieves make off with the Star of India and other gems from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Tom Cruise is arrested immediately...
1966] NOW and then: The National Organization for Women is founded...
1971] "Happy Trails": Duane Allman is killed in a motorcycle crash in Macon (GA) at 24...
1998] Deja Vu all over again: The space shuttle Discovery blasts off with 77-year old John Glenn. In 1962 he was the first American astronaut to orbit...
2004] Osama sighting: Osama bin Laden in a videotaped statement, directly admits for the first time, ordering the September 11 attacks. He tells America "the best way to avoid another Manhattan" is to stop threatening Muslims' security"...
2008] Fightin' Phillies Phantastic Phinish: The Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series 4 games to 1, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 5...For more on October 29:

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