ON THIS DAY

It was on this date in 1782 that Britain officially recognized the United States and won $10,000 on the old "What's My Line" show.

On this day in 1839, the first Opium War between China and Britain erupted. That's where the phrase was coined, "Don't shoot until you see the reds of their eyes!"

In 1868, Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election over Democrat Horatio Seymour. Imagine that -- we were that close to have a President Horatio Seymour.

On this date in 1896, Idaho became the first U.S. state to grant voting rights for women so they could share the blame.

In 1900, the very first auto show is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Being the first year, it was understandable why four guys named Otto showed up. The biggest problem in previous years was simply that there were no autos to show.

On this date in 1917, first class postage went up to three `cents. Boy, just think if you had bought some forever stamps back then. These days, that doesn't even cover the tip.

In 1952, Charles Birdseye introduced frozen peas.

• Finally, a vegetable that could double as an ice pack! 
• By giving each of the peas men's names, he was able to sing, "Freeze a jolly good fellow." 
• The fact that no one had ever thought of just sticking peas in a freezer before then is simply amazing. 
• Hard to believe it took that long to develop frozen food, especially in places like Russia. 

The very first coast-to-coast color TV broadcast took place on this date in 1953. Unfortunately, NBC chose to show a documentary on zebras and penguins in the Antarctic.

On this date in 1956, 'The Wizard of Oz' was shown on TV for the very first time.

• Millions were amazed, as the movie started in black and white... and just stayed there. 
• To be honest, people weren't as impressed when it went from black and white to color. 

TODAY IS

Kendall Jenner turns 22 today, going on 40.

Colin Kaepernick turns the big 3-0, although it's not as big as if he were still playing.

The movie monster Godzilla turns 63 today. Once again, they'll bake him a giant cake in the shape of Tokyo and he'll destroy it.

• He's now eligible to breathe fire on Social Security. 
• He's the one creature over 60 not bothered with AARP junk mail. 
• His birthdays are always tough. The last time he tried to blow out the candles on his cake, three cities went up in flames. 
• As a special treat, he plans to go downtown and terrorize the local AARP office. 

Kathy Kinney from "The Drew Carey Show" turns 63 today. She was Mimi... where every day was Halloween. You know, you never see Mimi and Dennis Miller together at the same time... hmmmm.

The only conservative comedian to come out of "Saturday Night Live," Dennis Miller, celebrates his 64th birthday today. All of the candles will be on the right side of his birthday cake.

Roseanne Barr turns 65 today.

• She's known by just her first name and drinks a lot at her last name. 
• She started out as rather a whining comedian... but she's now got that refined to just complaining a lot. 
• To think she was once married to Tom Arnold. What were either of them thinking? 

Old-time TV star Ken Berry -- "F-Troop," "Mayberry, R.F.D.," "Mama's Family" -- turns 84 today. The amount of gray in your hair increases by how many of those shows you know. The good news about his career -- he doesn't have any Emmy's to dust.