On this date in . . .

1868: The Jolly Corks organization in New York City changed its name to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

1937: Du Pont research chemist Wallace Carothers received a patent for nylon.

1959: Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista.

1963: The Beatles moved to the top of the British rock charts with "Please, Please Me" one month after the record was released.

1968: The first 911 emergency telephone system in the U.S. was operational in Haleyville, Alabama.

1972: Los Angeles Lakers great Wilt Chamberlain topped the 30,000-point mark in his career during a game against the Phoenix Suns.

1980: At the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, American speed skater Eric Heiden captured the second of five gold medals, while the U.S. hockey team defeated Norway 5-1.

1990: The National Museum of Wales displayed the largest dead leatherback turtle ever washed ashore. Nose to tail, it measured 9 feet 5 inches and weighed 2,016 pounds. Most museums won’t exhibit large dead turtles because they can drip oil for 50 years.

1993: A Norwegian bandit escaped with $5,000 from an Oslo bank, only to be arrested two hours later when he returned and tried to deposit the money in a new account at the same bank. He told police he was afraid of being robbed and wanted to put the money someplace safe.

1994: Reporter Dianne Sawyer signed a contract with ABC News that would pay her $7-million a year.

1994: Police patrolman Douglas Skinner stopped a motorist in Fort Dodge, Iowa, for running a red light. The driver’s registration and insurance documents turned out to be Skinner’s, stolen five months earlier.

1997: A 25-year-old Cuban man was rescued from a well he had fallen down in Las Tunas nine days earlier. Argelio Cabrera suffered a broken leg from the fall. His screams finally were heard by a group of passing fishermen.

1998: A driver ticketed in Great Falls, Montana, for doing 104 miles an hour in a 45 zone told police he had washed his truck and was just trying to dry it off. He was cited for reckless drying.

2002: A Whitewater, Wisconsin, couple told the Associated Press they had to keep their bathroom doors closed or their cats Boots and Bandit, would flush the toilets all night. Russ and Sandy Asbury said they had no idea how the cats learned to flush, but obviously they enjoy it. He said the cats also were proficient at turning the bathroom lights on and off and unrolling the toilet paper.

2004: The Walt Disney Company rejected a takeover bid by Comcast Corporation.

2006: The U.N. Commission on Human Rights called on the U.S. government to "close immediately the detention center in Guantanamo Bay."

Birthdays:

• tennis pro John McEnroe is 51;
• musician Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) 49;
• singer Sam Salter 32;
• singer James Ingram 54;
• actor-rapper Ice-T (Tracy Morrow) 52;
• actor William Katt 59;
• actor LeVar Burton 53;
• actress Lisa Loring 52;
• runningback Jerome Bettis 38.

     Q: When actor LeVar Burton debuted as Kunta Kinte in the TV classic Roots, was he: (a) 19 years old; (b) 21 years old; or (c) 23 years old?
     A: He was a 19-year-old drama student at UCLA.

     Q: Your children’s buttons keep popping off. Should you: (a) put the kids on a diet; (b) stop buying cheap clothes; or (c) sew the buttons on with dental floss, which is much stronger than thread.
     A: #c sounds good.

     Wisdom: People who burn the candle at both ends aren’t as bright as they think.

34 years ago today: