ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1770, Captain James Cook first saw Australia.

• He looked up and he saw down under.
• He said, "Wait a minute-isn't Fosters Australian for beer?" The Australians replied, "Isn't Cook's inexpensive for Champagne?" And the drinking began.
• He wasn't sure if he had the right shoes to go with their Perth.

In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. If I remember my American history correctly, we won one of them, but lost the other in double overtime. CNN was there... of course, back then that stood for "Colonial Network News."

On this date in 1782, the Netherlands recognized American independence. Up until then, we had worn a disguise.

In 1897, the very first American marathon race was held in Massachusetts. However, after running all that distance, the guy's income tax returns were still marked as 'late.'

On this date in 1933, the United States abandoned the Gold Standard. Not sure which year we abandoned all the rest of our standards, but it was pretty recent. Or, sort of what we've done politically this year.

On this date in 1934, Shirley Temple's first movie debuted, "Stand Up and Cheer." It was followed with "Sit down, I'm trying to watch a movie here!"

In 1939, Connecticut finally approved the Bill of Rights -- 148 years after the rest of the country... and that inspired the creation of FEMA.

On this date in 1985, a record-setting 22-inch bubblegum bubble was blown. The guy's still finding chunks in his hair.