Thought for Today

  1744: James Bradley announces discovery of earth's wobble 1770: America's first known "watch-night" service is held at St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia 1783: All Northern States ban importation of slaves 1862: Battle of Stone's River begins, lasts till January 2. 1864: Abraham Lincoln proposes to his cabinet that the Constitution be amended to recognize "the Deity." Cabinet opposes and the idea is dropped. 1879: Cornerstone of Iolani Palace is laid--only royal palace in the U.S. 1904: First New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square [then Longacre Square] 1911: Marie Curie receives her second Nobel Prize 1938: First breath-o-lizer introduced 1945: U.N. Charter ratified 1961: Beach Boys play their first gig using that name 1961: Packers win first of 5 NFL Championships in 7 years under Vince Lombardi 1967: Evel Knievel fails in jump over Caesar's Palace fountain 1981: CNN Headline News premiers 2010: "The Walking Dead"...

  1879: Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" premiers 1903: Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago kills 602 1922: Formation of the USSR 1924: Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies 1944: Corrie Ten Boom released from a concentration camp. Her father and sister had died in the camp. Corrie said, "You can never learn that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have." 1968: Frank Sinatra first records "My Way" 1978: Woody Hayes fired by Ohio State 2002: Three Christian missionaries are shot and killed in a Baptist Hospital in Yemen. Born: Titus [the Roman general who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD], Asa Candler [bought the recipe for Coca Cola from John Pemberton for $238.98 and founded the company known by that name], Rudyard Kipling, Simon Guggenheim, Bert Parks, Jack Lord, Bo Diddley, Skeeter Davis, Sandy Koufax, John Hartford ["Gentle on My Mind"], Meredith Vieira, Matt Lauer, Tiger Woods, LeBron James Died: Grigor...

  1065: Westminster Abbey consecrated [unfinished] 1612: First observation of Neptune--Galileo thought is was a star 1849: Dry cleaning discovered when lamp containing turpentine and oil spills on clothing 1869: Chewing gum patented 1905: Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States founded [became NCAA in 1910] 1945: Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance 1948: Jacob DeShazzar, one of Doolittle's raiders captured and tortured by the Japanese, returns to Japan as an evangelist. Read "Wounded Tiger" 1958: First sudden-death game in NFL--Colts beat Giants. 17 future Hall of Famers on the field 1973: Nixon signs the Endangered Species Act 1973: Solzhenitsyn publishes "The Gulag Archipelago" 1975: First time a pass is called a Hail Mary--Staubach to Pearson with 32 seconds left 2012: Putin bars adoption of Russian children by Americans Born: Calixa LaVallee [composed "O Canada"], Woodrow Wilson, Stan Lee, Maggie Smith, Denzel ...

 1845: Ether first used in childbirth by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson GA. Jan was born in the Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta 1932: Radio City Music Hall opens in NYC 1939: 20,000+ die in a magnitude 8 earthquake in Turkey 1945: International Monetary Fund established 1947: First telecast of "Howdy Doody Show" 1979: Soviets complete invasion of Afghanistan by killing its President Born: Johannes Kepler, Louis Pasteur, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Smart Died: Stephen F Austin, Gustave Eiffel, Norman Schwarzkopf, Carrie Fisher Thought: Look at the words of 2 Corinthians 11:3 this morning. Paul tells the church that Satan's goal is the same as the one he had in the garden--deceive me so that I am led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. What a simple way to state the ultimate struggle. Devotion to Christ is simple and pure. The gospel is not complex, intricate, convoluted. The gospel is simple. God made a perfect world. We disobeyed His simple comm...

 1606: First known performance of "King Lear" 1776: George Washington wins battle of Trenton 1799: Henry Lee eulogizes Washington with "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen" 1865: First coffee percolator patented 1931: Gershwin's "Of Thee I Sing" premiers 1933: FM radio patented 1946: Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas opens 1951: "The African Queen" premiers 1954: "The Shadow” airs for the first time 1963: The Beatles release "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and “I Saw Her Standing There" 2004: Tsunami kills 230,000 in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia Born: Charles Babbage, Henry Miller, Mao Zedong, Rosemary Woods, Steve Allen, Frank Broyles, Phil Spector, Carlton Fisk Died: Harry Truman, Jack Benny, Dian Fossey, Reggie White, Gerald Ford Thought: Reading 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 this morning. What a powerful four verses. We walk in the flesh. As humans, we must walk in the flesh. Here Paul...

  MERRY CHRISTMAS! 336: First recorded incidence of Jesus' birth celebrated on December 25. Found in the calendar of  Filocalus.  800: Charlemagne crowned Roman Emperor 1066: William the Conqueror crowned King of England ending the Norman Conquest 1621: William Bradford forbids game playing on Christmas in Plymouth Colony. Puritans in America and England objected to celebrating Christmas on December 25 since there was no evidence that it was the date on which Christ was born and there was no Biblical authority for the celebration. Some newly arrived colonist asked for the day off to celebrqate and Baradford allowed until he saw them playing games rather than worshipping.  1741: Anders Celsius introduces the centigrade temperature scale 1776: Washington crosses the Delaware 1818: Handel's "Messiah" premiers in the U.S.  1821: "Angels from the Realms of Glory" first used in a public service. 1868: Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all who participa...

  1223: Francis of Assisi assembles the first nativity scene. He invited his peasant neighbors to mass on Christmas Eve. They came singing Christmas hymns and found a manger in a cave with a doll depicting Jesus, two people dressed as Mary and Joseph, a donkey and an ox. Francis chanted the story of Christ's birth from the gospels and preached a sermon. 1777: Christmas Island discovered by James Cook 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the War of 1812 1818: "Silent Night" written by Peter Morh and composed by Franz Gruber 1851: Fire destroys 35,000 volumes in the Library of Congress 1895: George Vanderbilt opens the Biltmore House 1906: First broadcast of music over the radio 1920: Last public performance by Enrico Caruso 1943: Eisenhower named Supreme Allied Commander 1968: Apollo 8 astronauts read from the Book of Genesis 1982: Chaminade [850 students] an NAIA school beats #1 Virginia and Ralph Sampson 77-72 Born: Kit Carson, Howard Hughes, Ava Gardner, Anthony Fauci, P...

  1788: Maryland votes to cede 10 square miles for the District of Columbia 1815: "Emma" by Jane Austen published 1823: Clement Moore publishes "A Visit from St. Nicholas" 1888: Vincent Van Gough cuts off his ear 1913: President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act 1946: University of Tennessee refuses to play Duquesne in basketball when Duquesne suggests it might play a black athlete 1947: Transistor invented at Bell Labs 1954: First Human kidney transplant 1968: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders are first men to circle the moon 1972: Immaculate Reception, Bradshaw  to Franco Harris by way of either the Raiders safety, Jack Tatum, or the Steelers receiver, John Fuqua Born: Joseph Smith, Paul Hornung, Susan Lucci, Bill Roidgers [marathon], Jim Harbaugh Died: John Cotton [father of New England Congregationalist], Anthony Fokker, Jack Webb, Victor Borge, Oscar Peterson [jazz], Mikhail Kalashnikov [AK-47] Thought: Reading 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 today. I am alway...

 1872: Phileas Fogg completes his trip in Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days." 1891: First basketball game under the Naismith rules played in Springfield MA 1898: The Curie's discover radium 1929: First group hospital insurance plan offered--Dallas TX 1937: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" premiers 1959: Tom Landry becomes coach of the Cowboys 1970: Supreme Court lowers voting age in federal elections to 18 1988: Pan Am 103 destroyed over Lockerbie Scotland killing 258 1989: VP Dan Quayle sends Christmas cards with misspelling 1995: Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control Born: Thomas Becket, Roger Williams, Benjamin Disraeli, Walter Hagen, Josh Gibson, Paul Winchell, Joe Paterno, Phil Donohue, Jane Fonda, Frank Zappa, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Evert, Ray Romano, Florence Griffith Joyner, Kiefer Sutherland, Karrie Webb,  Died: John Newton ["Amazing Grace"], James Parkinson, F Scott Fitzgerald, George Patton, Dick Enberg Thou...

 1522: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the Knights of Rhodes who later become the Knights of Malta 1803: Formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase territory to the U.S. 1812: "Grimm's Fairy Tales" published 1820: Missouri imposes a "bachelor's tax" on unmarried men between 21-50 1860: South Carolina votes to secede 1917: Lenin forms the Checka, forerunner to the KGB 1946: "It's a Wonderful Life" premiers 1957: Elvis receives his draft notice 1960: Viet Cong officially form in South Viet Nam Born: Harvey Firestone, Jonah Hill,  Died: Sacagawea, John Steinbeck, Carl Sagan Thought:  Yesterday we were looking at our role as ambassadors for Christ, carrying a message of reconciliation to the world. The first 10 verses of 2 Corinthians 6 continues this thought. Here is what I am receiving today: I am working with Jesus to carry the message of reconciliation. [6:1] As Blackaby tells us, see where God is working and join Him there. I ...

 1686: Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years according to the book 1732: Ben Franklin begins publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac" 1776: Thomas Paine publishes "American Crisis" beginning with the line, "These are the times that try men's souls." 1843: Charles Dickens publishes "A Christmas Carol" 1910: Rayon first commercially produced 1942: Robert Stroud transferred to Alcatraz--The Birdman of Alcatraz 1955: Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes." 1998: House votes to impeach Bill Clinton Born: Leonid Brezhnev, W. A. Criswell, Edith Piaf, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Cicely Tyson, Al Kaline, Janie Fricke, Reggie White, Warren Sapp, Jake Gyllenhaal Died: Emily Bronte, Desmond Llewelyn [Q on the Bond movies], Hope Lange, Robert Bork, Katharina Luther [wife of Martin Luther] Thought: Reading 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 this morning. As you read chapter 5, notice the number of times Paul says "therefore....

 1719: Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies for Children" 1892: "The Nutcracker Suite" premiers 1916: Battle of Verdun ends with 1 million casualties 1956: Israel's flag raised on Mount Sinai 1961: Wilma Rudolph named athlete of the year for the second time 2011: Last US troops leave Iraq 2019: House votes to impeach Donald Trump Born: Joseph Stalin, Ty Cobb, Willy Brandt, Ray Meyer [UT basketball], Betty Grable, Ossie Davis, Jacques Pepin, Keith Richards, Steven Spielberg, Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt, Christina Aguilera Died: Bobby Jones, Mark Goodson, Chris Farley, Joseph Barbera, Zsa Zsa Gabor Thought: Yesterday we read about how our outer man is decaying, but the inner man is being renewed. That we carry the treasure of Christ in earthen vessels that are subject to affliction, persecution, and even death. Today read with me 2 Corinthians 5:1-9. What Paul wrote in chapter 4 may be a little discouraging. Our earthly tent, our earthen vessel is under a...

  1538: Pope Paul II excommunicates Henry VIII 1777: France recognizes the American colonies as independent 1791: First one-way street--NYC 1798: First impeachment trial of a Senator--William Blount of Tennessee 1862: General Grant issues an order expelling Jews from Tennessee 1900: Prize of 100,000 francs offered for communication with extraterrestrials, but communication with Martians excluded as too easy 1903: Wright Brothers first successful flight of motorized plane 1947: Patent for the holograph issued 1989: "The Simpsons" premiers Born: Arthur Fiedler, Erskine Caldwell, William Saffire, George Lindsey, Ernie Hudson, Bill Pullman, Michele Tafoya Died: Simon Bolivar, William Thompson [Kelvin scale], Dana Andrews, Otto Graham, Sammy Baugh, Penny Marshall John Rippon died on this day in 1836. At age 20 and being a Christian for only 4 years, he was called as pastor of Carter Lane Baptist Church in London, later renamed the Metropolitan Tabernacle when Spurgeon was pastor. ...

 1631: Mt. Vesuvius erupts killing about 3000 1773: Boston Tea Party 1811: New Madrid Earthquake 1897: African American delegates gather at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington DC to organize the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention--a work that continues today to evangelize Africa for Christ. 1908: First credit union in the US formed 1930: Bobby Jones wins Sullivan Award as the best amateur athlete 1946: Fashion House of Christian Dior founded 1951: "Dragnet" premiers in black and white 1953: First White House press conference 1972: Dolphins complete undefeated regular season--14-0 Born: Catherine of Argon, George Whitfield, Beethoven, Jane Austen, Noel Coward, Margaret Meade, Arthur C Clarke, Frank Deford, Liv Ullmann, Don Meyer [Lipscomb], Yosemite Sam, Refrigerator Perry,  Died: Wilhelm Grimm, Somerset Maugham, Colonel Sanders, Lee Van Cleef, Dan Fogelberg, Ray Price,  Thought: Reading 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 this morning. These verses both encourage and challenge me. Jus...

1900: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation  law beginning the study of quantum physics 1901: First table tennis tournament 1903: Wright Brothers make first attempt with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk 1911: Roald Amundsen is first to reach the South Pole 1916: America's first board certified doctors named following an examination at UT Medical School in Memphis 1947: NASCAR founded in Daytona Beach 1961: Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is first country song to get gold record 1981: Israel annexes the Golan Heights 2003: President George W Bush announces the capture of Saddam Hussein 2012: 28 people, including 20 children, shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School Born: Nostradamus, Tycho Brahe, Jimmy Dolittle, Charlie Rich, Lee Remick, Ernie Davis, Stan Smith, Bill Buckner, Kyle Shanahan Died: Vlad the Impaler, George Washington, George Gipp, John Harvey Kellogg, Dinah Washington, Roger Maris, Peter O'Toole, Bess Myerson Thought: Reading ...

  1577: Sir Francis Drake begins his circumnavigation of the globe aboard the Golden Hind 1642: Abel Tasmand sights the south island of New Zealand 1769: Dartmouth College chartered 1920: International Court of Justice established at The Hague 1937: Japanese troops plunder Nanjing [Nanjing Massacre] 1944 "Dear Ruth" premiers. I played Lt. William Seawright in our high school play. I remember the concern of our teacher with the kissing scene. I am told Marilyn Donohue and I did well. 1961: Beatles sign with Brian Epstein 1989: "Driving Miss Daisy" released 2003: Saddam Hussein captured near Tikrit--Operation Red Dawn 2010: Cam Newton wins the Heisman 2015: Derrick Henry wins the Heisman 2022: Biden signs "Respect for Marriage Act"  recognizing same-sex marriages Born: Mary Todd Lincoln, George Shultz, Ben Bernanke, Christopher Plummer, Dick Van Dyke, Steve Buscemi, Jamie Foxx, Taylor Swift, Archie Moore,  Died: Donatello, Samuel Johnson, Arthur Dow, Samuel ...

  1694: Edmund Halley is censured by The Royal Society for suggesting that Noah's flood could be caused by a comet impacting earth 1800: Washington D.C. established as capitol 1874: First State Dinner at the White House--U.S. Grant and King Klakaua of Hawaii 1899: Wooden golf tee patented 1901: Marconi sends the first trans-Atlantic radio signal 1930: Baseball rules change so that a ball that bounces into the stands is a double, not home run 1946: John D Rockefeller donates 6 blocks in NYC to the UN for its headquarters 1977: "Saturday Night Fever" premiers 1985: 248 soldiers and 10 others die in plane crash at Gander Newfoundland 2000: Supreme Court rules in Bush v. Gore Born: John Jay, Henry Wells [Wells Fargo and American Express], Gustave Flaubert, Edvard Munch, Edward G Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Bob Barker, Bob Petit, Connie Francis, Dionne Warwick, Cathy Rigby, Tracy Austin Died: John Wannamaker, Douglas Fairbanks, Tallulah Bankhead, Joseph Heller, Keiko [star of ...

 1844: First dental use of nitrous oxide 1913: Mona Lisa recovered 2 years after being stolen from Louvre 1919: Boll Weevil Monument dedicated in Enterprise Alabama 1961: Elvis' "Blue Hawaii" goes to number 1 and stays there for 20 weeks 1967: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" premiers 1971: U.S. Libertarian Party formed 1980: Congress passes the Superfund Act 1981: Ali's last fight--lost to Trevor Berbick 1990: 13 die in chain reaction wreck in Chattanooga  Born: George Mason, Charles Wesley, David Brewster [invented the kaleidoscope], Hector Berlioz, Walter Knott [Knott's Berry Farm], Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Doc Blanchard, Rita Moreno, John Kerry, Brenda Lee Died: Oliver Winchester, Sam Cooke, Ravi Shankar Charles Wesley was the 18th of 19 children. Member of the Holy Club at Oxford. The strict regimen caused them to be called "methodists." He wrote 56 volumes of hymns [8989 in all]. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing, " Love Divine, All...

1520: Martin Luther publicly burns the papal edict calling on him to recant 1768: First part of Encyclopedia Britannica published 1864: Sherman reaches Savannah 1869: Wyoming Territory grants women the right to vote 1884: "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published 1901: First Nobel Prizes awarded 1903: Marie and Pierre Curie win Nobel for study of radiation 1904: Ivan Pavlov wins Nobel for studies in digestion 1906: Theodore Roosevelt is first American to win the Nobel 1907: Rudyard Kipling wins Nobel for literature 1909: Selma Lagerlof is the first woman to win Nobel for literature 1919: Woodrow Wilson wins Nobel Peace Prize 1925: George Bernard Shaw wins Nobel 1926: Hitler publishes the second half of "Mein Kampf" 1927: Grand Ole Opry called that for the first time during a Barn Dance radio broadcast 1935: James Chadwick wins Nobel for discovery of the neutron 1954: Albert Schweitzer wins Nobel Peace Prize 1962: "Lawrence of Arabia" premiers 1964: Martin...

 1621: Deacon Robert Cushman preaches the first recorded sermon in America. It is also the first sermon printed in America. 1640: Hugh Bewitt banished from Massachusetts after declaring he was free from original sin. 1854: Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" published 1905: Strauss' "Salome" premiers 1907: First Christmas seals sold 1926: USGA legalizes steel shaft golf clubs 1941: Hitler orders U.S. ships torpedoed 1946: Communists burn a group of Christians in a seminary at Xiwanzi China 1965: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiers 1990: Lech Walesa wins first Polish presidential election Born:John Milton, Joel Chandler Harris, Clarence Birdseye, Emmett Kelly [clown], Margaret Hamilton [Wicked Witch of the West], Grace Hopper [Navy admiral invented the first compiler for universal computer programming language and coined the term "debugging"], Broderick Crawford, Tip O'Neill, Kirk Douglas, Redd Foxx, Judi Dench, Dick Butkus Died:...

  1787: Delaware is the first state to ratify the Constitution 1877: Edison demonstrates the phonograph for the editors of Scientific American 1934: Wiley Post discovers the jet stream 1941: A Day in Infamy--Japan attacks Pearl Harbor 1963: First use of the instant replay machine--Army/Navy football game 1967: Otis Redding from Macon Georgia records "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" 1985: Auburn's Bo Jackson wins the Heisman 1995: "The Grateful Dead" break-up Born: Madame Tussaud, Eli Wallach, Ted Knight, Ellen Burstyn, Harry Chapin, Johnny Bench, Larry Bird, Terrell Owens, Luke Doanld,  Died: Cicero, William Bligh [HMS Bounty], Rube Goldberg, Thornton Wilder, Beatrix Loughran [3 Olympic Gold in figure skating], Lee Roy Yarbrough, Harry Morgan, Four Medal of Honor recipients at Pearl Harbor [Mervyn Bennion, Herbert Jones, Thomas Reeves, Franklin Walkenburgh] Thought: Today is a day that will live in infamy. So said President Roosevelt following the bombing of...

1735: First recorded appendectomy  1768: First edition of Encyclopedia Brittanica is published 1849: Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery for the second and final time 1865: 13th Amendment ratified abolishing slavery 1876: First crematorium in the US opens 1877: Thomas Edison records himself saying "Mary had a little lamb" 1877: Washington Post publishes first issue 1884: Aluminum capstone placed on Washington Monument 1947: Everglades National Park dedicated 1961: Ernie Davis is first black to win the Heisman 1973: Gerald Ford sworn-in as first unelected Vice-President 1992: Jerry Rice catches his 101st touchdown pass--NFL record 2006: NASA reveals photos of Mars suggesting the presence of liquid water on the planet 2017: President Trump recognizes Jerusalem as capital of Israel 2018: Derrick Henry rushes for 288 years and 4 touchdowns Born: Agnes Moorhead, Andrew Cuomo, Baby Face Nelson, Ira Gershwin, Otto Graham Giannis Antetokounmpo Died: Saint Nicholas [343 AD], Jefferson...

 1360: French franc created 1492: Columbus discovers Hispaniola 1525: Anabaptist Hans Schlaffer is arrested and burned at the stake for refusing to recant his opposition to infant baptism 1776: Phi Beta Kappa formed at College of William and Mary--proud to be a member 1854: Folding theater chair patented 1893: Electric car invented that could go 15 miles on a charge 1932: Einstein granted a visa to enter the US 1933: Prohibition ends with passage of the 21st Amendment 1955: Birmingham bus boycott begins 1988 Federal Grand Jury indicts Jim Bakker for fraud 1992: 1st SEC Championship game--Alabama 28--Florida 21 2008: OJ Simpson sentenced to 33 years in jail for kidnapping and armed robbery 2018: Einstein's letter on religion sells for $2.9 million Born: Martin Van Buren, George Armstrong Custer, Walt Disney, Otto Preminger, Little Richard, James Cleveland [gospel singer], Jim Messina [Loggins & Messina] Died: Mozart, Alexander Dumas, Claude Monet, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Al Gore, ...

  1093: St. Anselm consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. The first to present the ontological argument for the existence of God. 1154: Adrian IV, elected as the first and only Englishman to serve as Pope 1674; Father Marquette builds the first dwelling in what is now Chicago 1881: First edition of the LA Times published 1882: Georgia Bulldog Herschel Walker wins the Heisman 1991: The Judds final concert--Nashville 1991: Terry Anderson released after more than 6 years as a hostage Born: Thomas Carlyle, Carzy Horse, Garfield Wood [first to travel over 100 mph on water], Francisco Franco, Pappy Boyington [Medal of Honor combat pilot], Robert Adler [invented remote control for TV], John Portman [architect], Wink Martindale, Max Baer [Beverly Hillbillies], Jeff Bridges, Bernard King, Jay Z, Tyra Banks, my friend Wanda Smith Diet: Thomas Hobbes, Charles Dow, Christine Keeler Thought: Reading 1 Corinthians 10:13 today. This verse makes me think about every excuse I use when I mess up....

 1586: Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England from Columbia 1736: Anders Celsius confirms Newton's theory that the earth is ellipsoid, not a sphere 1847: Frederick Douglas publishes the first edition of his newspaper, "North Star" 1910: Neon lights first publicly displayed [Paris] 1931: Alka Seltzer goes on sale 1950: Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast 1956: Wilt Chamberlain plays his first college game--52 points, 31 rebounds 1967: First human heart transplant by Dr. Christian Barnard in South Africa 1989: President Bush and Gorbachev announce end to Cold War 2017: First pizza party in space at the International Space Station Born: Rowland Hill [first adhesive postage stamp], George McClellan [Union Army General], Charles Pillsbury, Joseph Conrad, Andy Williams, Bobby Allison, Ozzy Osbourne, Julianne Moore Died: Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Baker Eddy [Christian Science], Renoir, Walter Knott [Knott's Berry Farm], Hossmein Soodmand Never heard of ...

1697: St. Paul's Cathedral in London consecrated.  1804: Napoleon crowned Emperor of France 1823: President Monroe presents the Monroe Doctrine 1901: King Gillette begins selling safety razor blades 1927: First Model A Ford sold [$385] 1942: First self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction by Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago 1950: "I Robot" published by Issac Asimov 1969: First public preview of the Boeing 747 1970: EPA begins operations 1888: "Naked Gun" premiers Born: George Seurat, Charles Ringling, Maria Callas, Alexander Haig, Dan Jenkins, Ed Meese, Gianni Versace, Ann Patchett, Monica Seles, Britney Spears, Aaron Rogers Died: Hernan Cortes, Marquis de Sade, John Ringling, Desi Arnaz, Aaron Copeland I love to hear Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" written in 1942. Wake-up music for the Space Shuttle crew, played at the dedication of the 9/11 Memorial, heard in Independence Hall as the Pope spoke on religious freedom from the lectern...