Quiz: Which US President was never a boy scout? A-Barack Obama, B- George W. Bush, C-John F. Kennedy, D- Franklin D. Roosevelt…?

Answer to Yesterdays Question below: In theater and film, what is meant by “Breaking the Fourth Wall”…?
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History for 2/3/2013
Birthdays- French King Charles VI the Mad –1380, Felix Mendelson-Bartoldy, Horace Greely, Gideon Mantell 1790-pioneer British fossil hunter that named the Iguanadon, Pretty Boy Floyd, Gertrude Stein, Norman Rockwell, James A. Michener, Joey Bishop, Shelley Berman, Bob Griese, Fran Tarkenton, John Fiedler the voice of Piglet, Victor Buono, Blythe Danner is 70, Morgan Fairchild is 63, Nathan Lane is 57

Today is the Feast of St. Blaise, patron saint of sore throats and sick cattle.

1238- The Mongol horde under Genghis’ grandson Batu Khan burned the Russian city of Vladimir-Suzdal.

1547- Czar Ivan the Terrible married Anastasia Romanova. Her young death may have pushed his sanity over the edge.

1690- The first paper money issued in the New World, by the Massachusetts Colony.

1780- EARLY AMERICAN SERIAL KILLERS- For those who think this kind of crime is a symptom of our sick Secular-Humanist modern society: In rural Connecticut Revolutionary War veteran Barnett Davenport was rooming at the farm of Mr. Caleb Mallory. This day for no apparent reason Davenport murdered Mallory, his wife, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, using his musket and farm tools. The incident was widely reported in the young nations press and was quite sensationalized.

1781- After declaring war on Holland over their support for the Revolutionary War, Admiral Rodney with a British fleet captured the Dutch Caribbean island of Saint Eustachius ( now the Virgin Islands ). The island was a major trading center of covert military aid to the Yankee rebels. Rodney looted the city and flew the Dutch flag over the harbor for several more weeks to surprise incoming Dutch and American ships. But while he made neat headlines in the Caribbean he and his fleet would have been more helpful saving Lord Cornwallis who’s army was being trapped at Yorktown Virginia.

1783- The Kingdom of Spain recognized the independence of the United States.

1846- The US Army captured the pueblo town of Taos New Mexico from hostile locals and Indians by battering the town with cannon fire. Lt. Sterling Price then hanged the hostile leaders for treason, even though these Indians hadn’t even seen an American until recently. New Mexico had just been conquered by US forces for a few weeks.

1862- President Lincoln received a message from the King of Siam offering him Siamese war elephants to help him win the Civil War. He politely passed on the offer.

1863- MARK TWAIN- It was a long custom in American newspapers for columnists and critics to publish under pseudonyms. Author, riverboat pilot Samuel Clemens invents for himself the pseudonym for which he would become famous. This day in the Virginia City Territorial Register newspaper was an article authored by someone calling himself - 'Mark Twain'. Mark Twain was the Mississippi River pilot's term for when a steamboat is in two fathoms of water or more, in other words, safely enough away from shallows to proceed at full speed.

1865- The Confederate government made the first overtures to Washington for peace talks to end the Civil War. Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens secretly met with Abe Lincoln on board a riverboat in the James River to discuss terms. However no agreement was reached. One point that became a deal-breaker was the Lincoln’s offer of pardons and amnesties to Rebels who retook the Oath of Allegiance to the US. Stephens angrily replied that the South had a legal right to secede so had committed no crimes needing pardon. So the Civil War continued on for two more bloody months

1889-THE BANDIT QUEEN- Today outlaw Belle Starr was shotgunned out of her saddle by an old boyfriend. She usually shot them first. Originally named Myra Belle Shirley, she pursued a career as an outlaw and had two children, one by Cole Younger, another by a member of the James Gang. Rustler, gunfighter, prostitute, sideshow performer-she said: "Let's just say I'm a woman who's seen a lot of the world."

1912- The rules governing U.S. football are revised. The playing field was shortened to 100 yards; a touchdown counted as six points instead of five; four downs are allowed instead of three and the kickoff point was moved from midfield to the 40 yd. line.

1913- Federal Income Tax Amendment ratified.

1920- The play Beyond the Horizon premiered. The first hit of a young man who tried to drink himself to death, but instead became a playwright- Eugene O’Neill.

1930- Roy Disney signed a deal with M. George Borgfeldt Co. of New York to sell figurines of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Disney merchandising is born!

1943- Four Chaplains Day. This day a German U-Boat torpedoed and sank the troopship USS Dorchester, with the loss of 600 lives. Four army chaplains gave their life jackets to others to be saved, and so drowned in the icy Atlantic. Congress declared Feb 3rd thereafter Four Chaplains Day.

1945- General MacArthur began the battle to liberate Manila. The fighting lasted a month, fierce fighting house to house with some Japanese troops killing Philippine civilians as they withdrew.

1945- Walt Disney’s the Three Caballeros premiered.

1948- The first Cadillac’s with big rear tail fins were produced.

1953- Jacques Cousteau, inventor of the Aqua Lung published the Silent World, and later made a film version of the book with Louis Malle.

1959 "The Day the Music Died" The first Rock & Roll tragedy. Top pop stars Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson died in plane crash. They were on tour and Holly chartered the small plane so they could get to Fargo, North Dakota in time to get his shirts cleaned. Waylon Jennings was supposed to join them but he gave up his seat to Richardson because Richardson was running a fever and didn’t want a long cold bus ride. As they left Richardson teased Jennings:” Hope your bus doesn’t freeze.” And Jennings joked:” Hope your plane doesn’t crash.” The plane was called the American Pie, which inspired a Don McClean’s hit song “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.”

1962- John F. Kennedy signed the trade embargo act against Cuba, banning all trade with Fidel Castro’s regime. White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger recalled how the night before JFK had him go around Washington DC and buy up all the Havana cigars (Monte Cristos) he could for the White House humidor. It’s still in effect today.

1966- Russia soft lands a probe on the Moon- Lunik-7. The Soviets took the first photos of the Dark Side of the Moon with Lunik –2 as part of their Space Race with the US.

1973- Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law.

1986- Steve Jobs bought the George Lucas Film Graphics Division, now under their new name Pixar Inc.

1989- Swiss firm L'Oreal/Nestle bought animation studio Filmation from Westinghouse and shut it down laying off 229 artists the day before a new federal regulation requiring a company give it's employees 60 day notice before closing went into effect.

1998- Near Trento Italy a low flying Marine jet on maneuvers tangled snapped a cable on a ski tram, sending 20 people 300 feet down to their deaths.

1998- Female murderer Karla Faye Tucker executed by lethal injection at Huntsville State Prison, Texas. She had chopped up two people with an axe in 1983.
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Yesterdays Question: In theater and film, what is meant by “Breaking the Fourth Wall”…?

Answer: Breaking the Fourth Wall is when an actor looks out at the audience or into the camera and speaks to them directly.




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