ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1842, Congress approved the U.S. Naval Observatory. Why they needed an observatory to study someone's naval... well, that's congress for you.

In 1881, the very first U.S. tennis championships were played at Newport, RI. They tried playing them on clay, but after a while, Clay said it was hurting his back.

On this day in 1887, Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, a device which produced moving pictures.
  • Since the phone had been invented 11 years before, they were ready to ring the second the movie started. 
  • Ironically, Alexander Graham Bell was sitting behind him when his invention, the telephone, went off. 
  • The Kinetoscope, which I'm pretty sure was some kind of mouthwash, was actually a device that allowed you to enjoy moving pictures. 
  • If only he had been stopped, there might never have been a single Pauley Shore movie. 

In 1895, the very first professional football game was played in Latrobe, PA.
  • And that was the end of getting home projects done on Sundays from September through January. 
  • The game wasn't televised, mostly because TV hadn't been invented yet. 
  • The game announcer was a guy named Jebadiah Madden. 

In 1903, a Packard completed America's first transcontinental car trip, driving from San Francisco to New York in 52 days. It was also on that historic trip that the phrase "Are we there yet?" was coined.

On this date in 1954, the U.S. Census Bureau was established. Their motto: "We'll count on you!"

In 1955, KTRE, Channel 9 in Lufkin, Texas, becomes the first microwave operated television station. It was great -- you could watch a show and pop popcorn at the same time.

Also on this date in 1955, the very first solar-powered automobile was demonstrated in Chicago, IL. Unfortunately, they decided to demonstrate it at night and, well, the rest is history.

On this date in 1971, astronaut Dave Scott became the first person to drive on the moon... and pulled into a nearby Starbucks. Naturally, the potholes were terrible.



TODAY IS

Final day of August with a 3-day weekend so close.

Chris Tucker turns 46 today. C'mon, Chris -- grab Jackie and let's do one more "Rush Hour" movie!
  • He has to be careful. Sometimes his voice gets so high, only dogs can hear it. 
  • When he gets going, his voice gets so high, he can open garage doors with it. 
  • I always thought he sounded like Eddie Murphy, if Eddie had a cold and sucked helium. 
  • My guess is that he has at least a couple of Rush Hour movies left in him. 
  • He's the fast-talking guy with the squeaky voice. No, you're thinking of Paul Ryan. The other guy. 

Former 90's teen star Debbie Gibson is 47 today. For whatever reason, she's had stalker issues over her career.
  • That explains why throwing a surprise birthday party would be a very bad idea. 
  • Nice to go ahead and get your career over with early in life. 
  • She sang "Out of the Blue" and is getting closer to hair that color. 

Marcia Clark, the prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial, turns 64 today. She's appealing, although not in a very appealing way.

Actor and Buddhist Richard Gere turns 68 today, although his hair hit it years ago.

National Trail Mix Day -- Mixing cereal in with other healthy snack foods, like sunflower seeds, nuts, and dried fruit, makes for a great trail mix that means you don't have to sacrifice your cereal for oat bran.

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