1872: John Blondel of Thomaston, Maine, patented the Doughnut
Cutter.
1932:
King Gillette died. In 1901 he invented the safety razor and founded the
Gillette Company.
1955:
Bill Haley and His Comets hit #1 with "Rock Around the Clock," the first
#1 rock 'n' roll song.
1956:
Dick Clark debuted on Philadelphia TV with an afternoon show called
Bandstand. He was told about the show that same
morning.
1974:
19-year-old Dimmie Johnson of Houston became the youngest person ever
elected Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. He said he owed it all to a Dale
Carnegie personality improvement course.
1985: Runningback Herschel Walker of the New Jersey Generals was named Most
Valuable Player in the U.S. Football League.
1992:
Star #1,959 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame went to actress Kim
Basinger.
1995:
Electrician Terry Benson won $32-million in a British lottery by picking
the serial number on a crane where he worked. The 61-year-old London
resident said it was only the second time he'd ever
played.
1997: Mike Tyson was banned from the boxing ring and
fined $3 million for biting the ear of opponent Evander
Holyfield.
1999:
A Los Angeles jury ordered
General Motors Corporation to pay $4.9 billion to six people severely
burned when their Chevrolet Malibu exploded in a rear-end collision. A
judge later reduced the punitive damages to $1.9 billion, while letting
stand $107 million in compensatory damages. G.M. settled the lawsuit in
2003 for an undisclosed amount.
2002:
To the boos of disappointed fans, the All-Star game in
Milwaukee finished in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings when both teams ran out
of pitchers.
2002: President Bush called for
doubling prison terms and aggressive policing to combat fraud and
corruption in corporate America.
2004: A report by
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence accused the CIA and other
intelligence agencies of producing false and misleading pre-war
information about Iraq`s weapons program.
2005:
Daredevil
skateboarder Danny Way sued a large ramp to jump across the Great Wall of
China, the first person to clear the wall without motorized
aid.
Birthdays:
 | actor Tom Hanks is 54;
|
| actress Kelly McGillis 53;
|
| actor Jimmy Smits 55;
|
| singer-actress Courtney Love 46;
|
| actor Richard Roundtree 68;
|
| actor Brian Dennehy 72;
|
| actor Scott Grimes 39;
|
| actor Fred Savage 34;
|
| actress Megan Parlen
30;
|
| singer Debbie Sledge 56;
|
| singer David Ball
57
|
| pianist John Tesh 58;
|
|
football's O.J. Simpson 62.
|
Q: Does
actor Tom Hanks collect 1940s: (a) telephones; (b) typewriters; or (c)
radios?
A:
Typewriters.
Q: On the
sitcom "Family Ties," did actor Tom Hanks play Michael J. Fox’s: (a) inept
boss; (b) alcoholic uncle; or (c) crooked investment
counselor?
A: He was Alex’s alcoholic
uncle.
Q:
Are people who talk on a cell phone while driving just as dangerous as:
(a) drunk drivers; (b) teenage drivers; or (c) elderly
drivers?
A:
A driving cell phone user has a four-times greater risk of having an
accident than the average driver, the same increased risk as a drunk
driver (Vitality magazine).
Wisdom: "Any intelligent fool can make
things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius
-- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - E. F.
Schumacher
