Thursday, July 21, 2011

Today in history…

I am all about little facts. The today in history things fascinate me. So do all those random quizzes that people email me. LOVE THEM! So…today I want to present you with some facts that I found. Make sure to read all the way to the bottom. This is the huge post I was talking about…
 
The First Battle of Bull Run, 1861
American Revolution
Battle of Brewster Island, 1775
Automotive
Germany passes controversial "Volkswagen Law", 1960
Civil War
First Battle of Bull Run begins, 1861
Crime
The "Trial of the Century" draws national attention, 1925
Disaster
Tsunami hits Alexandria, Egypt, 365
General Interest
Monkey Trial ends, 1925
Aswan High Dam completed, 1970
Bombers attempt to attack London transit system, 2005
Hollywood
Final Harry Potter book released, 2007
Music
"Soul Makossa" is the first disco record to make the Top 40, 1973
Old West
Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown, 1865
Presidential
Former President Martin Van Buren lapses into a coma, 1862
Sports
Pumpsie Green becomes first African-American to play for Red Sox, 1959

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history?paidlink=1&vid=HIS_SEM_Search&keywords=today%2Bin%2Bhistory&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=this%20day%20in%20history&utm_term=today%20in%20history

And if that wasn’t enough for you…I found more!

July 21
1873 - The first train robbery in America was pulled off by Jesse James and his gang. They took $3,000 from the Rock Island Express at Adair, IA. Stick ’em up. And don’t try to grab my mask!

1930 - The Veterans’ Administration of the United States was established this day.

1931 - Ted Husing was master of ceremonies for the very first CBS-TV program. The gala show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.

1944 - Harry S Truman accepted the Democratic party’s nomination for vice president of the U.S. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected for a fourth term that year -- with Truman as his VP. On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died and Truman became president.

1957 - Althea Gibson became the first black woman to win a major U.S. tennis title. She won the Women’s National clay-court singles competition.

1958 - The last of Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts programs aired on CBS-TV. Many artists got their start on Talent Scouts, including Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, The McGuire Sisters and a singer named Connie Francis -- who not only sang, but played the accordion, as well.

1959 - A U.S. District Court judge in New York City ruled that Lady Chatterley’s Lover was not a dirty book. The ruling was upheld in U.S. appeals court one year later. The book, incidentally, has been called a literary work of art. We recommend pages 21, 46 and 319.

1968 - Arnold Palmer became the first golfer to make a million dollars in career earnings after he tied for second place at the PGA Championship. Palmer accomplished the feat in just 13 years and 2 months as a professional golfer. He won 52 golf tournaments during that period.

1969 - Just one day after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Duke Ellington and a portion of his band performed a 10-minute composition on ABC-TV titled Moon Maiden. The work featured piano, drums, bass and vocals.

1973 - Bad, Bad Leroy Brown reached the top spot on the Billboard pop-singles chart, becoming Jim Croce’s first big hit. Croce died in a plane crash two months later (September 20, 1973).

1985 - Race horse John Henry retired. The thoroughbred was originally purchased for $1,100. The 1984 Horse of the Year had career winnings of $6.5 million. John Henry won 39 of 83 races and was 10 years old when he retired.

1987 - TV personality Mary Hart of Entertainment Tonight made news as she had her legs insured by Lloyd’s of London for $2 million.

1989 - Former president Ronald Reagan was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in recognition of his role as George Armstrong Custer in The Santa Fe Trail (1940) and as host of TV’s Death Valley Days (1965-1966).

1990 - Some 250,000 people celebrated at the site where the Berlin Wall once stood in East Berlin. Included in the benefit concert was an all-star cast performing Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Artists who performed: The Band, The Scorpions, Ute Lemper, Thomas Dolby, Sinead O'Connor, Joni Mitchel, James Galway, Brian Adams, Jerry Hall, Van Morrison, Marianne Faithfull, Albert Finney. Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters (organizer of the concert) performed together with his group The Bleeding Heart Band. “Organizing this show was certainly a lot of hard work,” Waters said, “but it was excellent to work with Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper and all the others.”

Birthdays
July 21
1864 - Frances Cleveland (Folsom)
wife of 22nd U.S. President Grover Cleveland; died Oct 29, 1947

1899 - Ernest (Miller) Hemingway
Pulitzer Prize [1953] & Nobel Prize-winning writer [1954]: The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls; died July 2, 1961

1911 - (Herbert) Marshall McLuhan
professor, writer: Understanding Media, The Medium is the Massage; “The medium is the message.”; died Dec 31, 1980

1920 - Isaac Stern
concert violin impresario: soundtrack: Fiddler on the Roof; died Sep 22, 2001

1922 - Kay Starr (Katherine Starks)
singer: Rock and Roll Waltz, My Heart Reminds Me, Wheel of Fortune, Side By Side

1924 - Don Knotts
comedian, Emmy Award-winning actor: The Andy Griffith Show [1960-1961, 1961-1962, 1962-1963, 1965-1966, 1966-1967], Matlock, Three’s Company, The Don Knotts Show, The Steve Allen Show; died Feb 24, 2006

1926 - Paul Burke
actor: Anatomy of Terror, Valley of the Dolls, Francis in the Navy, Twelve O’Clock High, Noah’s Ark, Naked City, Hot Shots, Dynasty; died Sep 13, 2009

1926 - Norman Jewison
director: Moonstruck, Agnes of God, And Justice for All, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof, Rollerball

1930 - Gene Littler
golf champion: U.S. Open [1961]

1931 - Gene Fullmer
International Boxing Hall of Famer: World Middleweight Champion [1957], NBA Middleweight Champion [1959-62]

1938 - Janet Reno
U.S. Attorney General (1993-2001)

1943 - Edward Herrmann
actor: Big Business, Beacon Hill, Reds, The Paper Chase, Mrs. Soffel, The Great Gatsby, Eleanor & Franklin

1943 - Jerry McGee
golf: champ: Pensacola Open [1975], IVB-Philadelphia Classic [1977], Kemper Open [1979], Sammy Davis, Jr.-Greater Hartford Open [1979]

1945 - Leigh Lawson
actor: Battling for Baby, O Pioneers!, Tears in the Rain, Tess, Love Among the Ruins, Brother Sun, Sister Moon

1948 - Cat Stevens (Stephen Demetre Georgiou, Muslim name: Yusuf Islam)
singer: Wild World, Moon Shadow, Peace Train, Oh Very Young

1948 - Garry Trudeau
cartoonist: Doonesbury

1949 - Al (Alan Thomas) Hrabosky
‘The Mad Hungarian’: baseball: pitcher: SL Cardinals, KC Royals, Atlanta Braves

1951 - Robin Williams
Academy Award-winning actor: Good Will Hunting [1997]; comedian and/or actor: Mork and Mindy, Good Morning, Vietnam, Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poet’s Society, Popeye, The Fisher King, Hook, Comic Relief, Patch Adams, What Dreams May Come, Jumanji, Jakob the Liar

1952 - Phil Russell
hockey: NHL: Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres

1957 - Jon Lovitz
comedian, actor: Saturday Night Live, A League of Their Own, City Slickers: The Legend of Curly’s Gold

1958 - Henry Priestman
singer: group: The Christians

1960 - Lance Guest
actor: Lou Grant, Knots Landing, Life Goes On, The Wizard of Loneliness, Jaws: The Revenge, The Last Starfighter, Halloween II: The Nightmare isn’t Over

1960 - Matt Mulhern
actor: Biloxi Blues, Major Dad

1961 - Jim Martin
musician: guitar: group: Faith No More

1978 - Josh Hartnett
actor: Pearl Harbor, Cracker, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, The Virgin Suicides

Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...

http://www.440.com/twtd/today.html

July 21, 2005…

Connor Wyatt is born at 11:24AM.

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He turned 1 before we knew it. 7/21/2006

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7/21/2007

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7/21/2008

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7/21/2009

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7/21/2010

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And…he’s still sleeping as I type this so I haven’t taken his birthday picture yet.

I knew I wanted a son before we had one. I had a few reasons. They are all so silly now. I wanted a son so I could do the “boy” thing. Baseball and football were on my list.

So I am glad I have a son {or two} so that I can do the boy thing. But the list is different.

I’m glad I have a son {or two} because they are wonderful. I am blessed that I am their mom. When Connor cries—which is only when something is really wrong now--and wants me, I know it is short-lived. When he sneaks into my room and then pops his head up so he is right in my face and asks if he can sleep with me and I say yes and he flies up onto the bed before I change my mind, I know it is short-lived.

I cannot believe how lucky I was 6 years ago when I gave birth to my son.

He is all boy with his scary deep voice. His love of tractors. His love of Batman.

Happy Birthday Connor.

Love you bubba. Big as the moon. Far as the stars. And more. Forever.

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