The Race To Space - It Happened ToDay

The Race To Space

January 31, 1958 - The first successful launch of an American satellite.

On this day in 1958, President Eisenhower received a telephone call shortly after 10:48 in the morning on his direct line to Cape Canaveral, Florida. The President was informed that the launch of the Explorer I satellite had been successful!

The U.S Army's Explorer program launched the first successful American satellite into orbit - the Explorer I. The Army's previously scrapped satellite program was revived as a crash program to catch up with the Soviet Union after the launch of Sputnik I four months earlier on October 4, 1957.

Two months earlier the first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite had failed. This time, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency's research team worked in conjunction with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to produce a modified Jupiter-C rocket that could carry Explorer I. Explorer I was put into orbit around the earth by a Jupiter-C rocket. Radio signals from the transmitter aboard the 30.8 pound satellite were picked up in California within a few minutes after the launch. Explorer I would orbit the earth in about 114 minutes at an altitude of altitude between 230 to 2,000 miles above the earth.

The success of Explorer I would initiate decisions that lead to the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA - in July of 1958. The race to space was on!

Besides being the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I is known for discovering the Van Allen radiation belt. Since 1958 NASA has launched a series of "Explorer" spacecraft to conduct a wide variety of scientific investigations.

Quote for ToDay:
"Everything we do ought to really be tied in to getting on to the Moon ahead of the Russians...otherwise we shouldn't be spending that kind of money, because I'm not interested in space... The only justification is because we hope to beat the Soviet Union to demonstrate that instead of being behind by a couple of years, by God, we passed them!" - President Kennedy to NASA's director James E. Webb

First Assassination Attempt - It Happened ToDay

First Assassination Attempt

January 30, 1835 - The First Assassination Attempt on an American President.

The first assassination attempt on an American president unfolded on this day in 1835, when Richard Lawrence attempted to murder President Andrew Jackson as the president was leaving a funeral at the Capitol Building.

Lawrence had two flintlock pistols, aiming the first one while he stood within 13 feet of Jackson, but it misfired. An angry Jackson retaliated by beating his would-be assassin repeatedly with his walking stick. Lawrence then pulled his second pistol at point-blank range, again that gun misfired. After the harrowing incident Lawrence was apprehended and committed to a mental institution for the rest of his life.

It was a narrow escape for President Jackson, the odds of two guns misfiring consecutively were 1 in 125,000. Five other sitting presidents would not be so lucky, four of them dying from their gunshot wounds:

Abraham Lincoln - April 14, 1865, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Southern sympathizer. Lincoln died the next morning.

James A. Garfield - July 2, 1881, less than four months after taking office, while waiting in the Baltimore and Potomac Railway station in Washington, D.C., accompanied by Secretary of State James G. Blaine, president James Abram Garfield was shot twice in the back by Charles J. Guiteau.

William McKinley - September 6, 1901. While attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, McKinley was shot twice in the chest by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Coincidentally the newly developed X-ray machine was on display at the fair, but it was thought of as merely novelty, no one thought to use it to search for the bullet, it might have saved his life and McKinley died of his wounds two weeks later.

John F. Kennedy - November 22, 1963. While traveling in a convertable with the top down in Dallas, Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded by rifle fire. He died 35 minutes later at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested later the same day and charged with shooting Kennedy. Oswald himself was shot and fatally wounded two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

Other Unsuccessful Attempts:

Harry S. Truman - November 1, 1950. Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola ambushed the Blair House where Truman was residing temporarily while the White House was undergoing renovations. Torresola was killed by guards and Collazo was wounded and captured. Collazo was found guilty of murder, assault, and attempted assassination of the president. He was sentenced to death. Truman commuted the sentence to life in prison. Curiously, Jimmy Carter would free Collazo in 1979.
Richard M. Nixon - First assassination attempt - April 1972. Arthur Bremer planned to assassinate Nixon during an appearance at Parliament Hill in Ottawa Canada. It was difficult for Bremer to get within firing range of Nixon. He finally to got close to Nixon's limousine as it was leaving Paliament and the car's windows closed just as it passed Bremer. Unsure bullets would go through the glass Bremer didn't open fire. However, the next month Bremer shot U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate George Wallace leaving him paralyzed for life. A second assassination attempt was made on February 22, 1974 by Samuel Byck attempting to crash a commercial airliner into the White House. Once on the plane, he was informed that it could not take off with the wheel blocks still in place. Byck shot the pilot and copilot before killing himself.
Gerald R. Ford - Two attempts, within three weeks, were made on President Ford in September of 1975. The first was on September 5th in Sacramento, California. Squeaky Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, drew a Colt .45 caliber pistol on Ford when he reached to shake her hand in a crowd. There were four cartridges in the pistol's magazine but the firing chamber was empty. She was soon restrained by a Secret Service agent. Fromme was sentenced to life in prison, where she remains. The second attempt was September 22nd in San Francisco, California, when Sara Jane Moore fired a revolver at Ford from about 40 feet away. The shot missed Ford because a bystander, Oliver Sipple, grabbed Moore's arm. Moore was sentenced to life in prison. Sara Jane Moore was paroled on December 31, 2007, a little more than a year after Ford died of natural causes on December 26, 2006, after she had served more than 30 years of her life sentence.
Ronald Reagan - March 30, 1981. John Hinckley fired five shots at Reagan in Washington, D.C. One bullet ruptured Reagan's lung and lodged close to his heart. Hinckley, supposedly trying to impress actress Jodie Foster by mimicking a scene from the movie Taxi Driver, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He remains in St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington D.C. Reagan was the first sitting president to survive an assassin's bullet, and the fifth sitting president overall to be shot. He was also the first president elected in a year ending in zero -1980- to survive the Curse of Tippecanoe and not die in office since 1820 re-elected president James Monroe.
Bill Clinton - Two attempts were made on Clinton in the Fall of 1994. The first assassination attempt on September 13th was by Frank Eugene Corder who crash landed a small Cessna airplane onto the South Lawn. The plane crashed through the branches of a magnolia tree planted by Andrew Jackson before coming to rest in a crumpled heap two stories below the Clintons' bedroom. At the time, the presidential family was sleeping at Blair House while repairs were being made to the White House's ventilation system. A second assassination attempt occured on October 29th when Francisco Martin Duran fired at least 29 shots at the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue. Duran thought that Clinton was among the men in dark suits standing on the South Lawn. Clinton was actually in the White House Residence watching a football game on TV. No one was hurt and Duran was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
George W. Bush - May 10, 2005. While President Bush was giving a speech at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia Vladimir Arutinian threw a live Soviet-made hand grenade towards the podium where Bush was standing and where Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and their two wives were seated. The hand grenade landed about 20 yards away from the podium in the crowd hitting a girl but did not detonate. Arutinian was arrested in July 2005 and convicted in January 2006. He is currently serving a life sentence.
Previously an attempt had been on his father and former U.S. president - G.H.W.Bush - in Kuwait. On April 13, 1993 just three months after the former president had left office. Sixteen men in the employment of Saddam Hussein smuggled a car bomb into Kuwait with the intent of killing Bush while he spoke at Kuwait University. The plot was foiled when Kuwaiti officials found the bomb and arrested the suspected assassins. On June 26, 1993, the Clinton administration launched a missile attack on the Baghdad intelligence headquarters in retaliation for the attempted attack against G.H.W.Bush.

Quote for ToDay:
"Every situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity." - Helen Schucman

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break - It Happened ToDay

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

January 29, 1880 - William Claude Dukenfield was born on this day.

William Claude Dukenfield was born on this day in 1880. Better known as W.C. Fields his stage and screen name, he became one of the most celebrated comics and actors in the U.S. W.C. Fields starting his career as a vaudeville juggler then spending several decades on the musical stage before turning to films. He made his first short silent film Pool Sharks, in 1915, then performed in many comedy classics like, My Little Chickadee with Mae West, The Bank Dick and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.

W.C. Fields' famous one-lines became subject matter for nightclub impersonators and comedians. One of the most-repeated quotes was originally directed at the child-actor Baby LeRoy, Fields' on-screen nemesis: "Go away, kid, you bother me." The line that demonstrated Fields' jaundiced humor the best and is probably his most-quoted, was fired at a party hostess who unfortunately had offered the bombastic curmudgeon a glass of water. "Never touch the stuff, fish f%@k in it!"

Some more infamous W.C. Fields witticisms:

"Doctors say don't worry about your heart - it will last as long as you live."
"Californians talk so much about their climate it makes their weather vane."
"It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I never even thanked her."

Quote for ToDay:
"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning." - Aristotle Onassis

Dr. Livingstone, I presume? - It Happened ToDay

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

January 28, 1866 - Livingstone begins final search for the source of the Nile.

On this day in 1866, Scottish physician, explorer, and missionary David Livingstone, embarked on his final expedition in Africa to establish the true source of the Nile.

Though he never reach the source of the Nile, Livingstone was instrumental in presenting sub-Saharan Africa to the western world. He would be the first European to document numerous African geographical features such as lakes Ngami, Malawi, Bangweulu, the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls. He filled in details of Lake Tanganyika, Lake Mweru and the course of many rivers including the Lualaba and upper Congo, and his writings enabled large regions of Africa to be mapped which previously had been blank. Livingstone was made a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London which awarded him a gold medal for his exploration and discoveries.

During most of this last exploration, Livingstone was unable to get word out about his activities, and his welfare became a matter of international concern. Five days after his arrival in Ujiji on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, a rescue party headed by Anglo-American explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley reached Livingstone. Stanley is supposed to have greeted Livingstone with the famous words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

After Livingstone convinced Stanley that he was not in need of rescue, the two men explored Lake Tanganyika. After separating from Stanley, Livingstone would later succumb to dysentery and die in 1873. His long-time porters buried his heart where he died in Zambia, then carried his body and writings back to Zanzibar, a trek of nine months, to place Livingstone on a boat back to England.

Quote for ToDay:
"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one." - Leo J. Burk

Holocaust Remembrance Day - It Happened ToDay

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

January 27, 1945 - Soviet troops liberate the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.

On this day in 1945 Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and nearby Birkenau in Poland, freeing 7600 prisoners abandoned there. 1.1 million people, about 90 percent of them were Jews, from almost every country in Europe were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Nazi regime.

On January 27, 2005 Holocaust survivors, former Red Army soldiers, leaders of more than 40 countries, and other people gathered in Oświęcim, Poland for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. This day of remembrance would prompt the United Nations on November 1st of 2005 to pass a resolution creating International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"There can be no reversing the unique tragedy of the Holocaust. It must be remembered, with shame and horror, for as long as human memory continues. Only by remembering can we pay fitting tribute to the victims. Millions of innocent Jews and members of other minorities were murdered in the most barbarous ways imaginable. We must never forget those men, women and children, or their agony."
-- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, January 27, 2006

Quote for ToDay:
"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." - Dorothy Nevill

It's Australia Day! - It Happened ToDay

It's Australia Day!

January 26, 1788 - Founding of First European Settlement on Australia

Today is Australia Day. What does that mean? I have asked that question to college-aged Aussies visiting and working at Colorado ski resorts during their "summer" break at university. Many of their answers did nothing to dispel the northern hemisphere's misconception that folks from down-under are up-side-down. Several shrugged and had no answer, many said it was "Australian Independence Day", and two proudly proclaimed that Aussie Independence Day is January 1st (which is sort of correct) but added that the holiday was moved to the 26th of January so everyone had a chance to sober-up from New Years before getting knockered again! I bought those two Aussies another pint, if for nothing else their exuberance, and for proving that American students are not the only ones coming up short in history and geography!

Australia Day, celebrated annually on 26 January since 1808, is in fact an official Australian national holiday commemorating the establishment of the first European settlement on the continent of Australia.

Britian in May of 1787, having lost its American colonies to independence, dispatched 11 boats under Capt Arthur Phillip to establish a penal colony near present day Sydney Australia, Capt James Cook had mapped the coast of Australia during his 1770 voyage noting this area. On January 26, 1788 this British flotilla landed in Port Jackson and planted the Union Jack, and then began the first permanent European settlement on Australian soil.

In 1808 the anniversary date was celebrated in honor of the colony surviving 20 years. On the thirtieth anniversary in 1818, Governor Macquarie proclaimed January 26th as a national holiday. More recently on Australia Day, the Australian Prime Minister announces national awards for "Australian of the Year" in several categories and "Australian Local Hero".

This date in Australia has also been known as Anniversary Day or Foundation Day. However, for the Aborigine, the indigenous Australians, this day has been referred to as "Day of Mourning" marked with protests, especially in 1938 during the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary), and "Invasion Day" during the 1988 bicentennial celebration. And most recently with a series of remembrances called "Survival Day" and the "Wogganmagule" ceremony to honor the past and to mark the loss of indigenous culture.

So let's raise a pint to all the folks down-under - G'day and cheers mates!

Quote for ToDay:
"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead"
- Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) from Betting on the Muse

Conviction of the Manson Family - It Happened ToDay

Conviction of the Manson Family

January 25, 1971 - Conviction of Charles Manson and His Followers

Charles Manson remains one of America's most notorious mass murders. Manson was the cult leader and founding father of the "Helter Skelter" prophecy, which forecasted a racial war in America that would end with him rising as the messiah and the Beatles as his angels.

Manson established a base for the group first at Spahn Ranch, near the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, then later in Death Valley. His followers were instructed to murder celebrities in order to gain widespread recognition of his religion, which he proclaimed would be more famous than the Beatles. Manson instructed his disciples to murder everyone at the home of actress Sharon Tate in 1969 to try and achieve this goal.

On January 25, 1971 Manson and four of his followers were found guilty of the murders and later sentenced to death. The death sentences would be changed to life imprisonment in February 1972 when California's capital punishment would be abolished by the state's Supreme Court. Three other members of Manson's "Family" would later be convicted for the murders in separate trials.

Quote for ToDay:
"Oh wad some power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us!" -- Robert Burns from Auld Lang Syne.

The Zoom Zoom Zoom of '07 - It Happened ToDay

The Zoom Zoom Zoom of '07

January 24, 1907 - Motorcyclist Zooms to 136 M.P.H.

Glen Curtiss, perhaps best known as the first licensed airplane pilot (the Wright Brothers were actually #3 an #4 licenses) and operating America's first airplane manufacturing company (later it would merge with the Wright's company and become Curtiss Wright and still in operations), was a formidable figure in the history of flight. His "June Bug" was the first plane to make an extended flight - over one mile.

Curtiss was foremost an inventor, and contributed to the development and refinement of many different modes of transportation - bicycles, automobiles, airplanes, and one of his true joys - motorcycles. He would be instrumental in developing light-weight internal combustion engines and creating the handlebar throttle control for motorcycles.

One hundred and one years ago on this day in 1907, Curtiss would set the world land-speed record at 136.36 mph in his V8 powered motorcycle in Ormond Beach, Florida. Curtiss' land-speed record would stand for 30 years.

Relative Speed: Three years later in May of 1910, Curtiss would claim the air-speed record and $10,000 prize from publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Curtiss flew his bi-plane along a 137 mile course in New York in 153 minutes, averaging about 55 mph and then flew over Manhattan Island and circled the Statue of Liberty. British pilot Andy Green holds the current land-speed record for a motor powered vehicle at 763 mph driving the Thrust Super Sonic Car. The "car" was powered by twin jet engines, reached 600mph in less than 16 seconds, and was the first "car" to break the sound barrier. The record was set October 1997 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

Quote for ToDay:
" On Politics: Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President, should on no account be allowed to do the job! " - - Douglas Adams, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

It Happened ToDay - First Female Secretary of State

First Female Secretary of State

January 23, 1997 - Madeleine Albright Sworn In as Secretary State

Madeleine Albright became the first female Secretary of State, and also the highest-ranking female official in American history, on this day in 1997.

Albright was born in Czechoslovakia (now the two countries of the Czech Republic and Slovak Federative Republic) in 1937 and came to the United States as a political refugee of the communist regime in 1948. She earned a Ph.D. in law and government from Columbia University and served on the National Security Council staff after graduating. Then president Bill Clinton first appointed Albright as a United Nations representative in 1993 before naming her as his Secretary of State in 1997.

Quote for ToDay:
" Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be. " - - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Robert Frost & JFK Inauguration - It Happened ToDay

Robert Frost & JFK Inauguration

January 20, 1961 - Robert Frost Recites at JFK Inauguration

John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States of America on this day in 1961. The inauguration of Kennedy featured the celebrated American poet Robert Frost reciting his poem - "The Gift Outright." Originally, Frost had intended to recite a new poem, "Dedication"; however, a typewriter glitch rendered the copy nearly impossible to read.

On January 20^th 1961, Kennedy gave his memorable inaugural address that included the words, "Ask not what your country can do for you.?" He was the youngest person ever to be elected president of the United States. He was also the first American president to be born in the 20th century.

Also sworn in as president on this day:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes the first United States president to be sworn into office on January 20, as required by the new 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The following presidents would also be sworn in on January 20th - Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson (his own term), Nixon, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush. Eisenhower would be sworn in for his second term during a private ceremony on January 20, 1957 and then publicly the following day because the 20th fell on a Sunday. Johnson would first be sworn in as president on November 22, 1963 to assume the presidency after Kennedy's assassination. Ford would be sworn in August 9, 1974 following Nixon's resignation.

Quote for ToDay:

"To invent,you need a good imagination and a pile of junk"-Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

First Female Prime Minister - It Happened ToDay

First Female Prime Minister of India

January 19, 1966 - India Elected Indira Gandhi as it's First Female Prime Minister

On this day in 1966, Indira Gandhi succeeded the recently deceased Lal Bahadur Shastri to become the first (and to this date only) female Prime Minister in Indian history.

Following the May 1964 death of her father - Jawaharlal Nehru, a pivotal figure in the Indian independence and the first Prime Minister of Independent India - Gandhi had become Minister of Information and Broadcasting in Shastri's government. Gandhi succeeded him as Prime Minister on this day after Shastri suddenly died.

The following year Gandhi was elected to a 5-year term by the Indian Parliament members of the dominant Congress Party as she led her party to a landslide victory in the national elections of 1971. After being banned from politics due to a voting controversy in 1975, she rallied her political troops and started her own party - the Congress (I) Party - The "I" stood for "Indira". Nine years later Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31st of 1984 by Sikh members of her security guard.

Quote for ToDay:
"Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers, is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock. - Ben Hecht (1893 - 1964)

Oh Pooh! - It Happened ToDay

"...bump, bump, bump...here is Edward Bear, coming down the stairs now on the back of his head. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it."

It Happened ToDay:

Oh Pooh!

January 18, 1882 - A.A. Milne,Creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, Born ToDay

ToDay, eighty-two years after itwas first published, Winnie-the-Pooh remains one of the best-selling children's books of all time. Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne, the creator of this wildly popular cast of characters - which includes Winnie-the-Pooh, Owl, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga and Roo, and of course, Piglet - was born in Hampstead, London on this day in 1882. Milne was a gifted child, teaching himself to read at age two and to write soon there after.

Milne would become a most prolific author, playwright, and poet, penning novels and collections of short stories for both children and adults, and over two dozen plays. A.A.Milne is best remembered for his two collections of stories for children - Winnie-the-Pooh and House at Pooh Corner - which have sold over 40 million copies in English and have been translated into dozens of other languages, making Pooh one of the most recognized and loved characters around the world. [click for expanded article & illustrations and more Pooh!]

Quote for ToDay:
"This communicating of a man's self to his friend workstwo contrary effects; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in half."-- Aristotle

The Endless Wire Rope Way - It Happened ToDay

The Endless Wire Rope Way

January 17, 1919 - Patent Granted For San Francisco Cable Car System

Andrew Smith Hallidie of San Francisco, California received a patent for a cable car system on this day in 1871. The public transportation system was put into operation in the city by the bay in 1873, providing a fast and safe way to travel up and down San Francisco's steep hills.

Now, Hallidie didn't just wake up one day and invent his cable car system. This was one situation that proves the truth of the age old adage, "necessity is the mother of invention." Hallidie realized the necessity for the cable car system when he saw a loaded horse-drawn San Francisco streetcar slide backwards on a slippery hill. It was a summer day in 1869, but the cobblestones were wet from the usual San Francisco dampness. The heavily weighted trolley car dragged five of the horses to their deaths. The catastrophe prompted Andrew Hallidie and his partners to do something to prevent this from happening again.

Coincidentally, Hallidie already had the basic product needed to produce his cable car system. His father had filed the first patent in Great Britain for the manufacture of wire rope. Although Andrew was born inEngland, he had moved to the U.S. in 1852. As a young man, he was able to use his father's new, tough rope when he designed and built a suspension bridge across Sacramento's American River. He also had used the wire rope to pull heavy ore cars out of underground gold mines on tracks. The light bulb went on and his wire-rope manufacturing plant (that he had already moved to San Francisco) began the process of making the new cable car system.

A little known fact is that Mr. Hallidie didn't call them cable cars at first. Originally, one took a trip on "the endless wire rope way." The cars ran on rails, pulled by an endless steel cable moving in a slot beneath the street surface. In fact, the San Francisco landmark and tourist attraction still works the same way today. Visitors and commuters alike still consider the cable cars a true San Francisco treat.

A Quote for ToDay:

"Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it." - W. SomersetMaugham - English dramatist & novelist

Who Does Not Love Wine, Wife and Song? - It Happened ToDay

"Who does not love wine, wife and song, will be a fool for his life long!" - from a vigorous 1873 assertion of cultural values of German-American immigrants

January 16, 1919 - 18^th Amendment Ratified -Prohibition

Temperance, or the "dry" movement had been gaining traction in the United States during the middle of the 19^th century. After the Civil War, the Women's Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1873. In spite of its name, the WCTU did not promote moderation or temperance, but rather out-right prohibition of alcohol. In1881, Kansas became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution, with Carrie Nation gaining notoriety for enforcing the provision herself by walking into saloons, scolding customers, and using her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor.

On this day in 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages, was ratified. On this same date a year later, 1920, National Prohibition went into effect in the United States.

The 18^th Amendment and Prohibition accomplished much less than expected, failing to curb the country's thirst for alcohol. Inspite of Prohibition, the decade was known as the Roaring 20's. It is an era remembered for Flappers, Zoot Suits, Boogie Woogie, the Speak Easy, and Bathtub Gin and Bootleggers!

Prohibition would later be repealed by enactment of the 21st Amendment in 1933.

Quote for ToDay:

Absolute liberty is absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself. -Henry Adams, American writer and historian.

Democrats Unveiled as Jackasses - It Happened ToDay

Democrats Unveiled as Jackasses

January 15, 1870 - The cartoon by Thomas Nast titled
"A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion"
appeared in "Harper's Weekly."

Thomas Nast would become the most influential American political cartoonist and illustrator of his era. Nast immigrated to the United States with his parents as a young child. Even as a teenager he was a talented artist, selling his sketches to the "Illustrated Newspaper" for $4.00 a week. After the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Nast became a staff artist for Harper'sWeekly, where he was encouraged to illustrate ideas rather than events.

The "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" cartoon used the jackass to symbolize the Democratic Party for the first time. Thomas Nast first used the jackass in his January 15, 1870 Harper's Weekly cartoon to represent the "Copperhead Press" of northern Confederate sympathizers kicking a dead lion, the lion symbolizing Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin M.Stanton, who had recently died. Nast intended the jackass to represent the Democrat leaning Copperhead anti-war faction, with whom he disagreed, but the symbol caught the public's fancy and the cartoonist continued using it to indicate Democratic editors and newspapers.

Some of Nast's best known illustrations/cartoons helped bring the downfall of "Boss" Tweed and expose the corruption of the New York City political machine of Tammany Hall. Through his illustrations Nast also helped create the immortal images of "Uncle Sam", "Columbia" an early version of Lady Liberty, and the now popularized image of a jolly and rotund elf - Santa Claus.

Nast would portray the Republican party as Elephants in a 1874 Harper's Weekly illustration. Nast's depictions of the two major political parties are still prominently displayed and recognized more than a century later. Over the years, the jackass and the elephant have become the accepted symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties. Although the Democrats have never officially adopted thejackass as a party symbol, they have used various jackass designs on their publications over the years. The Republicans have actually adopted the elephantas their official symbol.

ToDay's Quote:

My occupation now, I suppose, is jail inmate.
- Unibomber Theodore Kaczynski, when asked
in court what his current profession was.

Buster Brown & Yellow Kid - It Happened ToDay

Buster Brown & Yellow Kid

January 14, 1863 - Richard Outcault, Creator of the "Sunday" Comic Strip was born.

Richard Outcault, the artist whose comics were the first to appear in color 1894 in the "New York World", was born on this day in 1863. A pioneering force in the world of illustration and comics, Outcault would bring the use of color, word balloons, and multiple panels to the forefront of the art of drawing comics.

Outcault previously worked as an illustrator for Thomas Edison. At the height of the New York paper-wars of the Glitter Era, Outcault would be recruited by Joseph Pulitzer to draw comics and illustrations for the"New York World" newspaper. He would later be lured away by William Randolph Hearst to do the same at the "New York Journal".

In 1895 his comic "Hogan's Alley" would debut as the first color comic on the front page of a newspaper. The color would be yellow, and featured the primary character of a bald-headed boy in a nightshirt who became known as "Yellow Kid". This character would give rise to the pejorative term"Yellow Journalism". The Yellow Kid comics would also be one of the first examples of cross-merchandising in media. Retailers vied to have references to a variety of products emblazoned on the front of Yellow Kid's nightshirt.

After defecting to Hearst's "New York Journal" Outcault would continue to draw Yellow Kid and created the endearing character of "Buster Brown" and his dog Tige. The likeness of Buster and his dog would later be licensed as the logo for another iconoclastic American product - Buster Brown Shoes!

Quote for ToDay:
Opportunities multiply as they are seized. - Sun Tzufrom "The Art of War"

Rags To Riches - It Happened Today

Rags To Riches

January 13, 1832 - Renown Author Horatio Alger Born

Horatio Alger, author and champion of the self-made man, was born on this day in1832. Wanting to be a poet, at age sixteen Alger enrolled at Harvard to study under the tutelage of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for the next four years. As the son of a Unitarian minister he attended divinity school, entering and then departing the clergy under a cloud of suspicion.

Three years after leaving the church Alger would publish his first rags-to-riches novel - Street Life in New York with the Bootblacks - in 1868. Over the next thirty years he would publish over 130 books in this genre, a few of them post-humously. As a best-selling author Horatio Alger's literary success rivaled his contemporary Mark Twain.

The term "Horatio Alger story" has become a compliment to describe a person who begins with very little and obtains a degree of success. Alger's characters do not usually become wealthy instead they achieve comparable success in life attaining personal stability but not great wealth or prominent position. Alger himself was never rich as he gave away most of the earnings from his books to the less fortunate and died nearly penniless.

Alger's books are no longer as popular as they once were, but the messages they convey were an important factor in popularizing the concept of the American Dream.

The Big Four Meet - It Happened Today

The Big Four Meet

January 12, 1919 - First Meeting in Paris of the Leaders of the Big Four

On this day in 1919, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George met with prime ministers Vittorio Orlando of Italy and Georges Clemenceau of France, as well as President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. The "Big Four" nations conducted this conference in order to establish the post-bellum peace terms after defeating the Central Powers (Germany, Autro-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) and winning the Great War or the First World War - WWI - as many of us know it.

The Armitise or ceasefire had been declared two months earlier on 11 November 1918 and the meeting of the "Big Four" of the Allied Powers convened the Paris Peace Conference to settle claims resulting from the Great War. After a week the conference would be expanded and move to the Palace of Versailles, and six months later present the Treaty Of Versailles as the formalized end of the war.

Some of the results and consequences to come from the Big Four and their following treaties would be the dissolution of four previous empires - German, Austo-Hungarian (the Hapsburgs), Ottoman, and Russian - which would also set the stage for the demise of the British Empire. The treaties would bring about the emergence of several new autonomous countries, the creation of the Soviet Union, and sow the seeds for not only World War II, but also the Cold War, and an unstable Middle East.

It's a Grand Old Canyon - It Happened Today

It's a Grand Old Canyon

January 11, 1908 - Roosevelt Declares the Grand Canyon a National Monument

The Grand Canyon is one of America's most awe-inspiring natural wonders, so majestic that it ranks among the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The Grand Canyon is known for its overwhelming size and colorful landscape. The Grand Canyon is geologically significant because of the sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geological history of the North American continent.

In 1540, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas of Spain became the first European to behold the more than a mile (1.6km) deep and 4 to 18 miles wide canyon. However, because the area was so dangerous to navigate, few explored the canyon until American fascination with the western wildernesses began to blossom during the latter part of the nineteenth century. In 1869 John Wesley Powell made the first recorded "voyage" through the canyon on the Colorado River in small wooden boats.

On this day in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the increasingly popular southwestern landmark a National Monument. The Grand Canyon would later be added to the growing list of U.S. National Parks in 1919. Last year a new observation platform opened. It is cantilevered over the rim of the canyon allowing visitors to walk out over the canyon edge.

The Crude Awakening - It Happened Today

The Crude Awakening

January 10, 1901- First Discovery of Oil in Texas

It wasn't Jed Clampet shooting at some food, but America struck black gold - Texas T - !!!OIL!!! - on this day in 1901, when a drilling expedition in Beaumont, Texas turned up an abundant supply of black crude oil. After this, combustion engine designs quickly evolved to create an increasing demand for the substance. Had the expedition not found the crude oil, a discovery that forever altered the course of American and world economics and politics, we might still be driving the Stanley Steamer type steam-boiler-powered cars.

Run Off and Join the Circus - It Happened ToDay

Run Off and Join the Circus

January 9, 1768- Debut of the Modern Circus

The circus, one of America's favorite family pastimes, dates back nearly 250 years. On this day in 1768, the first incarnation of the modern-day circus debuted. English equestrian Philip Astley had first snared the public's attention by riding horses standing up and realized quickly that there was money to be made in death-defying stunts.

Astley founded the modern concept of a circus as a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats, though he named it the 'Amphitheatre of Equestrian Arts' instead of a circus, in Lambeth, London. Much like the Circus Maximus of ancient Rome, the early incarnations of the modern circus were held in purpose-built arenas. However, Astley brought the equestrian events indoors with the construction of the amphitheatre to house his groundbreaking show.

Astley then added musicians, clowns, and menageries to the spectacle. His circus was an overnight success, even garnering the attention of the French king Louis the 15th.

Mona Does D.C. - It Happened ToDay

Mona Does D.C.

January 8, 1962 - Washington D.C. Hosts Mona Lisa

Even though Leonardo DaVinci's "Mona Lisa" is over five hundred years old, it was not until this day in 1962 that it was first displayed in the United States.

The painting was unveiled at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. President John F. Kennedy was among the first to view the beloved work of art on American soil. Jackie Kennedy was the orchestrator of this historic event and secured the loan of the "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre Museum in Paris France.

The mysterious painting, which has long been the fodder for all manner of artistic criticism, drew over a half million visitors during its three week stay in the nation's capitol.

The "Mona Lisa" and her enigmatic smile have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories over the years. The painting had a supporting role in the recent best-selling novel and block-buster movie "The DaVinci Code".

Crossing the Channel - a First Flight

"Traversee en Ballon du Pas de Calais"

January 7, 1785 - 1st Manned Balloon Flight Across the English Channel

On this day in 1785, a gas-powered (helium-filled) balloon became thefirst aircraft to cross the English Channel. A monumental feat in light of the first successful manned flight in a balloon had happened just a little more than a year earlier. The flight narrowlyescaped disaster as the balloon was weighed down with unnecessaryequipment by pilots Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries.

As they neared their historic destination, the duo began frantically tossing items overboard from the overburdened aircraft. A panicked Blanchard even stripped off and tossed his trousers out of the basket in hopes of lightening the load and averting catastrophe!

"Up, up and away in my beautiful, beautiful balloon!"

George's Wedding Day - It Happened ToDay

George's Wedding Day

January 6, 1759 & 1945 - Wedding Day For Two Presidents Named George

The wedding anniversaries of George Washington and George Herbert Walker Bush coincide on this day (in 1759 and 1945 respectively).

George Washington married the widow Martha Custis and settled in Mount Veron Virginia with her and her two children from her previous marriage.

George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce and the couple raised five children, including the sitting president George W. Bush.

The First Duel of the Three Musketeers - It Happened ToDay

The First Duel of the Three Musketeers

January 5, 1825 - Alexandre Dumas' First Duel

Alexandre Dumas, author of such quintessential classic novels as TheThree Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, fought his own real-life duel on this day in 1825 against a soldier over a botched game of billiards. Both The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo are ageless classics in the world of literature and have inspired countless films.

Europe United - It Happened ToDay

A United Europe

January 4,1999 - Launch of the €uro

Since the debut of the uniform European currency on this day in 1999, the Euro -or- ΕΥΡΩ has proven to be a formidable opponent to the almighty American dollar, and closed at 1.17 U.S. dollars on its first day of trading. In late 2000 through the first half of 2001 the Euro slipped to 83 cents, but since 09/11/2001 has steadily risen against the dollar and is currently trading around an all-time high of $1.48. The Euro began life on this day in 1999 as an "accounting" currency traded by the central banks, and the actual coins and paper bills did not begin replacing the old currencies in daily commerce until January 2002.

The Euro currency, which bears various European symbols and architecture, replaced fifteen of the older monetary systems of individual countries like the lira, mark, franc, and drachma. Several other sovereign countries (Monaco, San Marino, Andorra) that previously used currency of one or more of the now Euro countries have adopted the Euro as their official currency. Over the next six years nine more countries are scheduled to yield their individual currencies and switch to the Euro. The Euro is widely perceived to be a major global reserve currency, sharing that status with the U.S. dollar, albeit to a lesser degree. The U.S. dollar continues to enjoy its status as the primary reserve currency of most commercial and central banks worldwide.

The debut of the Euro marked the first time since the era of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire that Europe is unified under a single currency.

Dance Like An Egyptian - It Happened ToDay

Dance Like An Egyptian

January 3, 1924 - Discovery of King Tut

Of all the treasure of the Nile, perhaps the most valuable of all was discovered on this day in 1924. Archaeologist Howard Carter and his expedition team found the mummified remains of King Nebkheperure Tutankhamen encased in a solid gold sarcophagus or coffin. Even more miraculously, Tut's remains were still fully intact after more than three thousand years! King Tut's tomb, originally discovered two years earlier in 1922, was every archaeologist's dream, divided into four rooms filled with priceless artifacts and treasures. It was two years before Carter and his crew stumbled across the burial room which contained Tutankhamen's sarcophagus and two other coffins.

Diva Storms Off Stage - It Happened ToDay

Diva Storms Off Stage

January 2,1958 - Maria Callas Storms Off Stage

The idea that life imitates art, and vice-versa, knows no better example than Maria Callas the Greek-American soprano diva whose personallife was as melodramatic as her on-stage persona. Callas began singing as a child and made her stage debut in Verona Italy during a 1947 performance of La Giacondo. Her first American role was with the New York Metropolitan Opera in Norma where she made an early and dramatic exit after the first act on this day in 1958. She had stayed out late celebrating the night before and the champagne took its toll on her vocal chords. Callas stormed off the stage when the audience booed her strained and squeaky notes.

the Mummers - It Happened ToDay

Mummers

January 01, 1876 - First Parading Mummers

The time-honored tradition of the Mummers Parade dates back to this day in 1876, when Philadelphia hosted the first major parade of its kind. Inspired by the New Year's celebrations of the Swedish, the parade involves not only shouting and singing, but also the the heart-stopping spectacle of gunfire in the streets. Though the first major parade did not take place until 1876, the Mummers had been entertaining Americans for years, including George Washington when he lived in Philadelphia.