ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1786, the very first commercial ice cream was sold.

• I believe it was the store owned by those two New England guys, Jebidiah and Jerry.
• The name of the store was Baskin and Robbins' One flavor.
• It was made by Ben Franklin and George Washington's brother, Jerry.
• It was called Jerry & Ben's. So close to a great idea.

In 1869, Chicago inventor Ives McGaffey patented the vacuum cleaner.

• Until that time, door-to-door vacuum salesmen would just ring the doorbell and run.
• He thought of the idea one afternoon during a Cubs game, when they were sucking.
• Until then, vacuums were pretty dirty.
• Most of the early reviews said that it sucked.
• Up until that time, door-to-door salesmen would throw dirt on your rug and just leave.

On this date in 1917, Walt Disney graduated from high school. His exact words were, "I can't wait to get out of this Mickey Mouse place and... hey... "

In 1966, the American Football League and the National Football League agreed to merge in 1970. I remember thinking, "Oh, this will never work." This is why I don't give advice on stocks. Later, someone thought they should have a bowl game, that was called a super idea and, well, the rest is $2 million a minute.

On this date in 1978, a jury in Clark County, Nevada, ruled that a so-called "Mormon will," purportedly written by the late billionaire Howard Hughes, was a forgery. I'll never forgive uncle Howard for that cruel hoax.