ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1215, King John signed the Magna Carta. The document gave barons more liberty. In fact, with the new freedom, that's when the Red Baron began making his pizzas.

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity with a kite and a key. Most were shocked, but not as much as Ben.

• It was shortly after someone told him to go fly a kite! 
• When he ended up locked out of his house, no one was shocked... well, except Ben. 
• It's also the day that the phrase was coined, "What's that nut doing out there?" 
• It was on this date back in 1752 that Ben Franklin discovered electricity with a key, a kite and a half-case of beer. History rarely notes the beer. 
• Of course, the forecast was for sunny with only a slight chance of rain. 
• Not only that, but he had to wait for his key to cool down to get back into his house. 

It was on this date in 1775 that the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. All that was left was to convince Washington that the British really liked cherry trees. (as you know, George didn't)

In 1785, the first man to fly, Jean Pilatre de Rozier died when his balloon crashed during an English Channel crossing. Yeah, flying has never been dangerous. It's the landings that'll kill you.

On this date in 1844, Charles Goodyear received a patent for the vulcanization of rubber. His slogan -- "Drive long and prosper."

• Of course, tires, cars and such things hadn't been invented yet, so we think he had help. 
• He boasted that, with this technique, all of his tires had a "Vulcan death grip" and the rest was history. 
• I'll bet you had no idea that Goodyear was a Vulcan. 
• Now, all he had to do was find a Vulcan willing to do it. 
• This, of course, a century before Mr. Spock and the planet Vulcan were discovered. 
• It helped pave the way for years later, when Mr. Spock invented the vulcanized tire grip. 

John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time ever at a church picnic on this date, back in 1956. The conversation went something like this:

John: "Hey, Jude!"
Paul: "Good day, Sunshine!"
John: "Do you want to know a secret?"
Paul: "Any good Norwegian wood?"
John: "I wanna hold your hand."
Paul: "Get back. You've got to hide your love away!"
John: "When I'm sixty-four!"
Paul: "Hello, goodbye!"




TODAY IS

Billy Martin from the band Good Charlotte celebrates his 36th birthday today. Out of habit, George Steinbrenner fired him.

Neil Patrick Harris turns 44 today. That's 14.6 years per name.

Rapper, record producer and actor Ice Cube turns 48 today.

• He's been pretty successful since coming out of the tray. 
• At what point should he upgrade his name to something like, Shaved Ice. 
• I wonder how he feels about global warming? 
• Wonder how much longer until he changes his name to "Old Ice"? Or "Glacier"? 

Courtney Cox from "Friends" turns 53 today. Friends don't tell Friends how old she is. AARP is among her friends... at least in the mail department. 

Sneak A Kiss Day -- A survey by the American Psychological Society says the first kiss is the most memorable moment in any person's life. Did you know:

• Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes tooth decay. 
• In Hartford, CT, it is illegal to kiss your wife on Sunday. (No wonder everyone is in a bad mood on Mondays) 
• In Logan County, Colorado, it is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep. 
• In Iowa, a kiss lasting more than 5 minutes is against the law. 
• In Wisconsin, it's illegal to kiss on a train.