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January 12, 2007 Friday
January 12th, 2007

Birthdays: Pilgrim leader John Winthrop, John Hancock, Edmund Burke, John Singer Sargent, Jack London , Charles Perrault (Mother Goose), James Farmer the founder of CORE, Herman Goering, Kirstie Alley is 51, "Smokin'Joe"Frazier, Tex Ritter, Howard Stern is 52, Rush Limbaugh, Oliver Platt, Wayne Wang, Tiffany, PIXAR's John Lasseter is 50

1669- Buccaneer Henry Morgan convened a meeting of the Captains of the Coast, a council of pirates on board his frigate, the Oxford. In their meeting they resolved to attack Cartagena Columbia, a rich Spanish port and staging area for the great treasure fleets. During the drunken celebrations someone fired a gun off in the Oxford’s powder magazine and the ensuing explosion killed 200. Arrrg..Mateys!

1809- A group of Viennese businessmen convince Ludwig Van Beethoven not to move to another city by paying him a yearly allowance. Beethoven continually worried about money and pleaded poverty yet after his death people found thousands of silver coins hidden in little pots and cupboards throughout his home. He used to charge people on the street three marks to come and look at him through his window while he composed.

1928- Police raid the prestigious women’s college, Radcliffe Hall and seize 800 copies of the novel “The Well of Loneliness” because it was considered to promote lesbianism.

1928- Henry Grey and Ruth Snyder are electrocuted in Sing-Sing Prison for the murder of Mrs. Snyder's husband. The love triangle was the inspiration for the films 'Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice' and 'Body Heat". Press photographer Thomas Howard taped a small camera to his ankle and snapped a photo of Mrs Snyder frying in the chair. The New York Daily News published the photo on its front page.

1960- ”The Scent of Mystery”- the first film in Smell-O-Vision.

1962- President John F. Kennedy signed Executive order 10988, mandating federal workers had the right to join unions and bargain collectively. In 2001, in the trauma over 9-11, President George W. Bush insisted his new 50,000 member Department of Homeland Security be forbidden to unionize.

1966- Holy Cult Classic ! The t.v. show "Batman" with Adam West and Burt Ward premiered.

1970- The Boeing 747 makes it’s first flight.

1971- “ALL IN THE FAMILY” ,Norman Lear's t.v. sitcom about racism and the 60's,
debuts. Based on a successful British show, it broke new ground for American sitcoms by frankly discussing prejudice, menopause, rape and other taboo subjects. Its first show featured the sound of a toilet flushing. The networks were so worried about its explosive content ABC rejected the show twice and CBS ran the first episodes with a long apologetic disclaimer. Carrol O’Connor, the actor who played Archie Bunker was so convinced the show would flop he demanded as part of his contract a round-trip plane ticket home. The show ran for 13 years, won a bushel of Emmy Awards and made Archie Bunker a folk hero.

1992-According to Arthur C. Clarke's "2001, a Space Odyssey", the HAL-9000 computer was booted up today.

1987-No mystery, Agatha Christie dies at 88 of natural causes.

1995- Steven Speilberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen announced that the name of their new partnership would be 'Dreamworks SKG'. Someone in Florida immediately bought the domain name “Dreamworks.com” and waited for their buyout offer.I heard it was $5,000


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