Quiz. Where there ever Liberal Republicans, or lefty Republicans?

Yesterday’s Question answered below: What is the origin of the term- A White Elephant?
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History for 12/8/2007
Birthdays: Horace 65BC,Mary Queen of Scots, King Gustavus Adolphus, Queen Christina Vasa of Sweden 1623, Jean Sibelius, George Melies the father of Motion Picture Special Effects, James Thurber, Eli Whitney, Jim Morrison, Diego Rivera, Emile Reynaud, Sammy Davis Jr, Maximillian Schell, Flip Wilson, Tim Foli, Sam Kinison, Teri Hatcher is 43, Sinead O’Connor is 41, Kim Basinger is 54

1660- Margaret Hughes played Desdemona in Shakespeares’ Othello in London. She was the first woman to appear on an English stage. All during the Elizabethan era boys substituted for women on stage.

1793- MADAME DUBARRY GUILLOTINED. During the French Revolution this day the old kings mistress Madame DuBarry was guillotined. She was originally of humble birth but lived in grand style and was very arrogant. She once dumped the contents of a chamber pot out of a palace window onto Princess Marie Antoinette for a laugh. "Garde du Lou!" Now on her way to the blade she screamed and wept aloud:" Save me good people, for I am one of you!" It didn't help, the executioner hurried his task to shut her up to the laughter of the crowd. Her last words were "Just one more minute, executioner!" Her husband the Comte’ du Barry had not seen her since the day they were married in 1769 for the convenience of the King. Now upon learning the news of his wife’s death he immediately married his mistress.

1813- Ludwig Van Meets Pop Culture. The most well received of all the musical pieces of Ludwig Van Beethoven was not his 5th Symphony or Moonlight Sonata, but a silly piece called the Overture to Wellington’s Victory which premiered this day in Vienna. A calliope designer named Wilhelm Deitzel commissioned the piece to show off his music machines that could recreate orchestra sounds. The music celebrated Wellington’s great victory in Spain over Napoleon’s forces by writing cannon shots and musket volleys into the music score. The overture made Beethoven much more money and popularity than his Seventh Symphony which debuted at the same concert.

1868- According to Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, tonight is the night Captain Nemo’s fantastic submarine the Nautilus attacked and sank a US warship and captured Professor Aronax and harpooner Ned Land.

1881- RINGSTRASSE THEATER FIRE IN VIENNA Two hundred people were killed when fire broke out during a performance of Offenbach's "Duchess du Gerolstein". Composer Richard Wagner commenting on the tragedy said;"When I hear of a coal mine explosion I'm sickened that men must burrow and die in the bowels of the earth just so we can have lights; but when I hear that people died because they were listening to an Offenbach operetta, I can't help think they got what they deserved !"

1886-The American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed. The first president was former cigar maker Samuel Gompers.

1913- ground broken for the construction of San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts.

1891- George O'Brien invented the electric tattooing needle, making modern tattooing possible.

1940- Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo remarry. The two great Mexican artists had been married for ten years but divorced for a year because of their mutual infidelities. Diego also wanted to protect Frida from fallout from his political activities. But after a year apart that decided they couldn’t live without one another and remarried.

1941-DAY OF INFAMY Aftermath- On the day after the Pearl Harbor sneak attack, President Roosevelt did his famous "Day of Infamy" speech. Congress voted almost unanimously to declare war on Japan. Interestingly enough the U.S. did not declare war on Germany along with Japan. Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. four days later. The only vote against the war was Montana Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, who had voted against the First World War also in 1917. With the American Fleet sunk or scattered the US Pacific Coast braced for Japanese attack. In California Fourth interceptor Command reported two formations of enemy planes flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles. They turned out to be seagulls. Another panicky report of an approaching Japanese task force turned out to be Monterrey tuna boats. Blackouts began, as did mass arrests of Japanese-Americans. In Hollywood the Paramount Studio baseball team was allowed to finish it's game with the L.A. Nippons 6-3, after which the FBI arrested the entire team. The civil defense command placed anti-aircraft guns on the Walt Disney Studio lot because of it's proximity to the aircraft plant of Lockheed. Walt Disney himself was turned away at the gate for not wearing his identity badge.

1941- Russian immigrant inventor Igor Sikorsky invented the first practical Helicopter.
They were developed too late for World War Two but the "egg-beaters" or "flying windmills" played an important role in the Korean conflict and Vietnam.

1953- The Atoms for Peace Speech. President Eisenhower proposed to the United Nations that nuclear power be developed for peaceful purposes, and not just for bombs. The world builds civilian nuclear power plants, then makes bombs with them.

1958- THIS IS JAZZ- Landmark live CBS television broadcast of jazz greats Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Lester Young , Coleman Hawkins and Thelonius Monk .

1961-"Surfin’" the first record by the Beach Boys started to climb the local LA pop charts.

1963- Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped in Lake Tahoe. After four tense days he was released unharmed, partly because he was part of the plot. Dad was not amused.

1980- The Bravo Channel began. Remember when it played only classical concerts, operas and ballets ?

1980- JOHN LENNON SHOT. . As he went in to his apartment building the Dakota in New York City Beatle-Composer John Lennon was stopped by a fan named Mark David Chapman for an autograph. A few hours later Lennon emerged from the building on another errand. Chapman was still there, except this time he pulled out a gun and shot Lennon dead. John Lennon was 40. The area of Central Park across from the apartment was dedicated to him as Strawberry Fields. The National Enquirer tabloid demonstrated it’s sensitivity by publishing on the front page the only photo taken of Lennon in his coffin. The photo was taken by a cousin of Lennon who wanted to make a few extra bucks.
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Yesterdays’ Question: What is the origin of the term- A White Elephant?

Answer: In the nations of Siam, Burma and Cambodia the White elephant was considered sacred because of their association with the birth of the Buddha. But when the King gave a white elephant to a courtier, it proved both a blessing and a curse. It was extremely expensive to take care of and house, but because it was sacred it could do no work. So today a white elephant denotes something that is very big and expensive but useless.