ON THIS DAY

On this date in 41 A.D., Claudius was accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate, barely defeating his rival, Hillary Rodham Brutus.

It was on this date in 1533 that England's King Henry VIII secretly married his second wife, Anne Boleyn (who later gave birth to Elizabeth I). A king getting secretly married? Obviously, before the Internet.

Scottish poet Robert Burns was born way, way back in 1759. He wrote the immortal classic, "There once was a lass named Cass..." and that's as far as we're going.

On this date in 1890, the United Workers of America organized. Amazingly, 40 years before United Airlines was born.

In 1915, Alexander Graham Bell made the country's first transcontinental phone call, when he called someone in San Francisco from New York... and asked, "Do you have Prince Albert in the can?" Or, his only question: "What's a bathhouse?"

On this date in 1925, the world's largest diamond was discovered. Elizabeth Taylor announced that she was going to marry the guy who discovered it, whatever his name was...

In 1940, the very first Social Security checks were mailed. Ought to be arriving any day now... They didn't do as well as regular Wheat Corn Chex.

The very first Emmy Awards were presented on this date in 1949.
The show just wrapped up a half-hour ago.
They didn't mean as much back in the days before people had TVs.
They're almost done with the "thank you" speeches.

On this date in 1961, Walt Disney's animated film "101 Dalmatians" was released. It did much better than the first 100 Dalmatian movies.

In 1961, President Kennedy did something that no previous president had ever done -- no, not Marilyn Monroe -- he held the first-ever live televised press conference. That was back when you'd ask him a tough question and he'd reply, "Ask not... " And that's all you'd get. I think we have tape.

On this date in 1996, Billy Bailey became the last person to be hanged in the U.S. Tough way to get in the history books.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fall Book Discussion and Movie Series

Book discussion group to meet

City Page Survey