On this date in . . .
60 AD: The Apostle Paul was shipwrecked near the
island of Malta.
1897:
The phrase "All the news that's fit to print" first appeared on the
front page of the New York Times. It had first appeared on the
editorial page on October 25, 1896.
1933: The Postal Telegraph Company of New York City
delivered historys first "singing" telegram.
1940: "In the Mood" by the Glenn Miller
Orchestra hit #1 on Billboards pop music chart.
1942: History's first gold record was awarded to
the Glenn Miller Orchestra for "Chattanooga Choo Choo." RCA presented a
gold-sprayed master disc to Miller during a radio broadcast.
1949:
"Jumping Joe" Fulks
of the Philadelphia Warriors introduced the jump shot, scoring a then-NBA record 63 points
against the Indianapolis Jets. The record stood for a decade until Elgin Baylor scored 64
on November 8, 1959.
1957: The Styrofoam cooler was invented.
1987: At the Maritime Aquarium in Gothenburg,
Sweden, 65-year-old Smiley became the oldest alligator ever to freeze to death when
someone apparently turned off the electricity heating her pool.
1993: With 90-million Americans watching,
Michael Jackson told Oprah Winfrey his light skin was caused by a disorder called Vitiligo. He
admitted he had had "minor" plastic surgery on his nose.
1998: A study at Detroits Henry Ford Hospital
revealed evidence that mens brains shrink faster with age than womens brains.
The study concluded that, between the ages of 65 and 95, mens brains shrink faster
in areas that control thinking, planning, and memory.
1999:
Ruperta Hernandez of San Antonio became the
oldest person ever to take the oath of U.S. citizenship. The 107-year-old Mexican-born
mother of 11 had lived in Texas since 1915.
2002:
A student with just 50 hours of
flying lessons landed a ten-seat plane in the dark with no landing gear. A passenger
aboard the Cape Air flight from Martha's Vinyard to Hyannis, Massachusetts,
24-year-old Melanie Oswalt took the controls after the pilot passed out. She could not
contact ground staff over the radio and her mobile phone was dead. Ms. Oswalt landed the
plane safely on Provincetown airport's 3,000 foot runway. She had never flown
anything as complicated as the Cessna 402 and had never flown alone.
2004:
Democrat John Kerry won the
Virginia and Tennessee presidential primaries.
2005:
Prince Charles announced he would marry his divorced lover,
Camilla Parker Bowles, in April.
2007:
In Fairfax, Virginia, 60,000 eggs were smashed on a highway when an 18-wheedelr overturned. Freezing
weather prevented a rancid smell on the beltway encircling the nation's capital. The unidentified driver fled the scene rather than explain
the mess.
Birthdays: