ON THIS DAY

ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter, expressing unhappiness over the choice of the eagle as the symbol of America, and said a better choice would have been the turkey.

• Makes you realize just how close we came to having eagle every Thanksgiving.
• Ben had wanted the turkey to be our national symbol... and with the way congress has been lately, it probably should have been.

On this date in 1802, Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol. If nothing else, so someone could say to members of congress, "Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Rufus H. Gilbert was born way back in 1832. It was Mr. Gilbert came up with the idea of elevated trains... which suffered a serious set-back when the first one came to a tunnel.

On this date in 1871, income tax in America was repealed by Congress. The following day, the tax was put back into place and a ban on drinking during session was put into place.

On this date in 1875, the very first electric dental drill was patented.

• They were a vast improvement over the loud diesel versions.
• Of course, back then they were really loud. The good news: you couldn't hear the patients scream.
• It sure beat the old very stinky oil-burning variety.
• Those old diesel models use to really stink up the office and leave a coat of smoke residue on the magazines.

Television was first demonstrated by John Logie Baird in London in 1926. He was the Scottish inventor who obtained the world's first real television picture in his laboratory in October, 1925. The image obtained was a small 30-line vertically-scanned red and black image, but it was real television. 

The following were also real television shows. What kind were they?

• "Doc Corkle" (NBC) Comedy ***, Medical drama or Western.
• "Hot Shots" (CBS) Comedy, Drama *** or Game show.
• "Men" (ABC) Drama ***, Comedy or Game show.
• "Otherworld" (CBS) Comedy, Documentary or Science fiction ***.
• "13 East" (NBC) Crime drama, Comedy *** or Medical drama.
• "Paris" (CBS) Travel show, Comedy or Police drama ***.
• "How Did They Get That Way" (ABC) Discussion ***, Comedy or Documentary.
• "Makin' It" (ABC) Comedy, Adventure *** or Craft show.
• "Nakia" (ABC) Comedy, Musical variety or Police drama ***.
• "The Sixth Sense" (ABC) Occult ***, Game show or Comedy.

On this date in 1954, ground was broken on a new construction project. A place called Disneyland. It was the happiest groundbreaking on earth.

Here's some Disney Trivia

1. In Aladdin, what is the name of Jasmine's pet tiger? (Rajah)
2. In Toy Story, what game does the slinky play? (Checkers)
3. What is the name of Donald Duck's sister (Also the mother of Huey Dewey & Louie)? (Dumbella)
4. In Alice in Wonderland, what is the name of Alice's kitten? (Dinah)
5. What nickname does Peter Pan give to Captain Hook? (Codfish)
6. Of the four princesses, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel, which is the only one with brown eyes? (Snow White)
7. What popular comedian/actor used to work at the Magic Shop in Disneyland when he was younger? (Steve Martin)
8. Which catchy Disney tune does Tom Hanks sing to himself in the movie "Splash?" (Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah)
9. In Bambi, what is the name of Flower's girlfriend? (Miss Skunk)
10. In Finding Nemo, what medical problem does the young seahorse claim to have? (H2O Intolerance)

On this date in 1984, the 1-minute ice cream eating record was set when a guy downed 3-pounds 6-ounces of ice cream in just 60 seconds. He still has a headache.

Andrew Ridgely, the less famous half of Wham! celebrates birthday number 53 today. Less notoriety, but fewer arrests.

The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, turns 55 today.

• Back in his day, he was known as "The Great One." Not to be confused with Donald Trump, who is known as "The Biggest One."
• As far as life goes, he's heading into the third period.
• He's not too far away from giving artificial hip checks.
• He must have been a magician because I heard he was really good at hat tricks.

Ellen DeGeneres hits 58 today. No big plans: a little dancing, maybe take her Portia for a spin.

Guitarist Eddie Van Halen turns 61 today. Wish I could remember the name of that group he was with.

Mr. Baseball, Bob Ueker, will celebrate his 81st birthday today... from way up in the cheap seats.

Spouse's Day -- a day to enjoy and appreciate your better half. Spouse's Day is a good reminder to show that special person in your life just how much you care and appreciate him or her.

TOP FIVE SIGNS YOUR CATS ARE CONSPIRING AGAINST YOU

1. New life insurance policy you didn't order made out to them
2. Spelling out words like "Die" and "Beware" in the little box
3. Always whispering to the dog until you walk into the room
4. Kids' roller skates on the stairs again... and you don't even have kids
5. Caught one of them reading "New Owner Magazine"

Early predictions about the Super Bowl -- to no one's surprise Nationwide Insurance is on Peyton Manning's side.

I'm boycotting the Oscars this year, due to their lack of diversity in the nominations and the obvious fact I wasn't invited.

Mila Kunis says she's NOT getting ready to divorce Ashton Kutcher, despite what the tabloids say. In other news, the three-headed man says two of his heads are voting for Trump.

Hope this measures up!

For Desert radio AZ, I'm Crusty Windbreaker