ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln designated the last Thursday in November as "Thanksgiving."
  • So blame Lincoln. 
  • A day of national thanks, where families could spend the day together drawing names for the Christmas gifts and watching the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys play. 
  • Americans appreciated it, but Lincoln said, "Hold that gratitude until the last Thursday in November." 
  • Today, the last Thursday in November is better known these days as the midway point of the Christmas shopping season. 
In 1913, the Federal Income Tax was signed into law. Back then, it was only 1%. Yep, the 1% were paying just 1%. May we point out that our country survived for over 100 years before implanting the first income tax. Thank you.

It was on this date in 1922 that Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia became the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate. Many people felt, at that time, that a woman's place was in the house... instead of the senate...

On this date in 1929, the country of Yugoslavia was created with the goal of some day, being as famous and dependable as the Yugo.

In 1945, a 10-year-old Elvis Presley appeared in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show and won a five dollar second prize for singing a song called, "Old Sheep." He probably would have won the whole contest if had just sung, "You ain't nothin' but a sheep dog."

On this date in 1952, the very first magnetic tape video recording was made. It was pretty boring, but the tape was the only thing he had to record.

In 1960, San Francisco's White House department store is first to accept the BankAmericard (now Visa) in lieu of cash... and the credit card was born. I'm actually supporting several of its cousins.

On this date in 1972, George Carlin was arrested in Milwaukee for the "seven dirty words you can't say on TV" routine. Today, the charge would have been "impersonating a rap artist."

It was on this date in 1974 that Frank Robinson became Major League Baseball's first black manager. Can you believe baseball was that racist as recently as 42 years ago? He was put in charge of the Cleveland Indians. Oh, wait... even more recently.

In 1995, the Space Shuttle Atlantis took its maiden flight. The tough part was finding the maidens who knew how to fly one of those things.


TODAY IS

Ashlee Simpson turns 33 today. She's the smarter of the Simpson sisters, which really isn't saying much.
She's most famous for not being Jessica.
Friends will gather around and lip sync "Happy Birthday to You."
She's the smart sister... uh, I think. She's the sister that went to school... unfortunately, on a Saturday.

India.Arie still spells her name that way and turns 42 today.

Neve Campbell turns 44 today. She was on that show "Party of Five" until it was canceled, when the name of the show was the number of people watching.

Gwen Stefani turns 48 today, no doubt. Yep, 48 and she's still got "The Voice."

Tommy Lee turns 55. He was married to both Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson. He's pretty much caught whatever's available.

Golfer Fred Couples hits 58 today. That's with a 10 handicap.

Jack Wagner used to be on "General Hospital." He used to be a singer. He used to be on "Melrose Place." He used to be 57. Today, he's 58.

Chubby Checker's 76th birthday -- "C'mon baby! Let's do The Twist!" Checker's classic tune "The Twist" was named the most popular hit single of the last 50 years. The song had the distinction of being #1 in both 1960 and 1962.

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