16th day of 2012 / 350 Remaining
64 Days Until Spring
Sunrise:7:24
Sunset:5:16
9 Hours 52 Minutes
Moon Rise:12:40am
Moon Set:11:31am
Moon’s Phase: Last Quarter
High Tide:3:58am/5:09pm
Low Tide: 10:52am/10:11pm
Holidays
Martin Luther King Jr Day
Appreciate a Dragon Day
National Nothing Day
Religious Freedom Day
Civil Service Day
National Fig Newton Day
World Religion Day
Haru-No-Yabuiri-Japan
John Chilembwe Day-Malawi
National Day of Peace-El Salvador
Martyr’s Day-Benin
International Hot & Spicy Food Day
On This Day In …
1547 --- Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar of Russia.
1866 --- Mr. Everett Barney patented the all-metal screw clamp skate. Remember those?
They would clamp on to the edges of the soles of shoes and you tightened them with a key.
With the advent of athletic shoes, there was no place to clamp the skates so the clamp
skate disappeared. In its place? Roller blades!
1883 --- The United States Civil Service Commission was established as the Pendleton Act
went into effect.
1919 --- The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale,
or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," is ratified and becomes
the law of the land.The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th
century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming
temperance societies. By the late 19th century, these groups had become a powerful
political force, campaigning on the state level and calling for total national
abstinence. In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, also known as the Prohibition
Amendment, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Prohibition
took effect in January 1919. Nine months later, Congress passed the Volstead Act, or
National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. The Volstead Act provided
for the enforcement of prohibition, including the creation of a special unit of the
Treasury Department. Despite a vigorous effort by law-enforcement agencies, the Volstead
Act failed to prevent the large-scale distribution of alcoholic beverages, and organized
crime flourished in America. In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed
and ratified, repealing prohibition.
1925 -- Leon Trotsky was dismissed as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of the USSR.
1964 --- Hello Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre in New York City. Carol Channing
starred in the role of Mrs. Dolly Levi. The musical was an adaptation of Thornton
Wilder’s play, The Matchmaker. The show, with an unforgettable title song, was hailed by
critics as the “...possible hit of the season.” It was possible, all right. Hello Dolly!
played for 2,844 performances. And, it returned to Broadway in the 1990s, again starring
Carol Channing.
1970 --- Golden Glove-winning center fielder Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals files
suit in a New York federal court against Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the presidents of the
American and National Leagues and all 24 teams in the Major League Baseball (MLB)
organization. After the Cardinals traded Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies in October
1969, Flood wrote a letter to Kuhn in late December, protesting the league’s player
reserve clause, which prevented players from moving to another team unless they were
traded. Kuhn denied Flood’s request to be made a free agent, and Flood decided to sue. In
Flood v. Kuhn, the historic case that followed, Flood argued that the reserve clause
violated antitrust laws and violated the 13th Amendment, which barred slavery and
involuntary servitude.
1980 --- Paul McCartney was jailed in Tokyo for possession of a half pound of marijuana.
He spent ten days behind bars before being kicked-out of the country by Japanese
authorities. The remainder of his tour was canceled.
1987 --- Red M&Ms returned for the first time in 11 years after being banned because the
original red dye used in the candy had caused cancer in laboratory rats.
1996 --- Jimmy Buffett’s sea plane Hemisphere Dancer was shot at by Jamaican police who
mistook him for a drug smuggler. U2’s Bono was in the plane with Buffett at the time.
Jimmy wrote a song about the incident, Jamaica Mistaica, that appears on the album Banana
Wind.
Birthdays
Sade Adu
Debbie Allen
Ronnie Milsap
Jim Stafford
Kate Moss
Marilyn Horne
A J Foyt
John Carpenter
Ethel Merman
Niccolo Puccinni
Dizzy Dean
Andre Michelin
Susan Sontag