Any way you slice it.

It's not just Pi Day this year.  It's the once-every-hundred-years Pi Day, where the date written US style, 3/14/15, matches not just the first three numerals of pi, but the first five, 3.1415.

Everywhere i've gone, someone is doing something with pies.  Yesterday, blueberry and lemon icebox pies were brought to Bible study.  Yes, the 6:30 in the morning Bible study, where the pies were enjoyed with morning coffee.  (No, i don't eat sugar, i'm the weirdo, remember?)

At schools yesterday, there were pie/pi celebrations, and they are continuing today with restaurants offering big slices of pie for $3.14, or making special pizza pies, or offering discounts.

The Museum of Mathematics in NYC is even serving pie and hot chocolate in celebration.

My favorite celebration of the symbol for pi, though, will always be Little Girl's Halloween pumpkin from two years ago.

Pumpkin Pi!

Enjoy Pi Day, everyone!  


Today is:

Constitution Day -- Andorra

Dita e Veres -- Albania (Summer Day)

Festival of Veturius Mamurius -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival of armor makers)

Genius Day -- for Einstein, of course

Girl Scout Sabbath -- US (encouraging Girl Scouts to wear their uniforms to synagogue services and represent their troop to their congregations; the final day of Girl Scout Week in the US)

Highland County Maple Festival -- Highland County, VA, US (this weekend and next)

International Ask A Question Day -- because that's what geniuses do

International Fanny Pack Day -- started by someone who really likes the things (although i do admit they come in handy for keeping your money with you at all times when you have a garage sale)

Learn about Butterflies Day -- if you go looking for who started this holiday, you will find out lots about butterflies and nothing about him/her, which i guess makes it a success

Moth-er Day -- for all individuals and museums that have moth collections; some websites have this listed as the day before Mother's Day

Mother Tongue Day -- Estonia

National Heroes Day -- Saint Vincent and Grenadines

National Potato Chip Day

National Pi Day - Why today? Because today is 3.14, the value of Pi.

Runic Half Month Beorc (Birch) begins

Saint Patrick's Day Parades -- various cities around the English speaking world hold their celebrations on the Saturday nearest the Saint's day

Saint Piran's Day Celebration -- Kansas City, KA, US (celebration of the patron saint of Cornwall and Cornish peoples, as well as the patron of tin miners, sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Cornish Society)***often on the Saturday nearest Mar. 5)

Shopping Cart Day -- patent filed today in 1938 by Sylvan Goldman

St. Matilda, Queen of Germany's Day (Patron of dying children, disappointing children, falsely accused people, large families, people ridiculed for their piety, queens, second marriages, widows)

Ten Most Wanted Day -- the FBI started its list this day in 1950

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign -- Canisteo, NY (San Juan Capistrano has swallows, and Canisteo has living trees planted to spell out the name of the valley where the turkey vultures/buzzards return each year, traditionally on St. Patrick's Day; this weekend and next enjoy living history events, dealers, and demonstrations on Amish farms -- but only on Saturdays on the farms)

White Day -- China; Japan; South Korea; Taiwan (One month after Valentine's Day, which is the day women give gifts to men; today, the men return the favor.)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Bieber, 1994
Colby O'Donis, 1989
Taylor Hanson, 1983
Grace Park, 1974
Kirby Puckett, 1961
Tamara Tunie, 1959
Rick Dees, 1951
Pam Ayres, 1947
Billy Crystal, 1947
Rita Tushingham, 1942
Michael Caine, 1933
Quincy Jones, 1933
Frank Borman, 1928
S. Truet Cathy, 1921
Hank Ketcham, 1920
Horton Foote, 1916
Les Brown, 1912
Albert Einstein, 1879
Casey Jones, 1864
Lucy Hobbs Taylor, 1833
Johann Strauss, Sr., 1804


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"10 Most Wanted"(FBI list), 1950
"The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu"(Comic Opera), 1885
"MacBeth"(Opera), 1847


Today in History:

The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice, 1489
England grants a patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island), 1644
Scotland dismisses Willem III & Mary Stuart as king & queen, 1689
Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin, 1794
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded in New York, 1821
Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado premiers in London, 1885
During the Great Blizzard of 1888, New York receives its second largest snowfall on record, 21", 1888
The United States goes on the gold standard, 1900
Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of genetics, 1900
The first theater for rear movie projection is built, in NYC, 1931
A jury in Dallas, Texas, finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, 1964
Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released, 1994
Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle, 1995
The Chinese city of Chongqing (formerly Chunking) is upgraded to a centrally administered municipality, 1997
Over a million Lebanese people take to the streets of Beirut to protest against Syrian military presence, in what comes to be called the Cedar Revolution, 2005
After measuring its spin and parity, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider announce they firmly believe the particle discovered in July 2012 is a Higgs boson, 2013

Feline Friday: Problem Solved.

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

It's easy to participate.  Just post a picture of a cat -- one of your cats, a LOLcat, or even draw a picture -- and link up!

Kida keeps telling me about a recurring problem.

We have a problem.  You let my bowl get empty!

Problem solved -- temporarily!

Today is:

Africa Scout Day -- Africa (celebration of all Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Africa)

Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis

Ear Muff Day -- invented by Chester Greenwood in 1873, when he was only 15; if you need them today, keep a good thought for Chester

Good Samaritan Involvement Day -- emphasizing the importance of unselfish aid to others

Kasuga Matsuri -- Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan (Monkey Festival)

K-9 Veterans Day -- US (on the day in 1942 the US Army K-9 Corps was established)

National Coconut Tort Day

National Jewel Day -- for no other reason than that someone who liked jewels wanted a holiday for them

National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day -- an experiment in whether or not bad luck ensues

National Skipping Day -- UK (a fun and healthy way to exercise)

Red Nose Day -- Comic Relief "Fun Raiser", for famine relief 

Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo -- Mercedes, TX, US (through the 22nd)

Saint Ansovinus of Camerino (Patron protector of crops)

Shabbat Across America/Canada -- sponsored by the National Jewish Out-reach Program, encouraging Conservative, Orthodox, Reform, and Reconstructionist Jews to observe the Sabbath from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow

Sherlock Holmes Weekend -- Cape May, NJ, US (a weekend of mystery for amateur sleuths and fans of A.C. Doyle)

South by Southwest/SXSW -- Austin, TX, US (internationally recognized music, new media, and film conference; through the 21st)

Sticking Very Close Together for Fairies of the Fourth and Fifth Flights -- Fairy Calendar

The European Fine Art Fair:  Maastricht 2015 -- Maastricht, Netherlands (The Fine Arts Fair; through the 22nd)

Uranus Day -- the planet was discovered this day in 1781

World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup -- Sweetwater, TX, US (begins with a parade and "Miss Snake Charmer" pageant tonight, and continues with lots of fun through Sunday)

World Sleep Day -- sponsored by the World Association of Sleep Medicine, aiming to lessen the burdens of sleep problems on society; this year's theme is When Sleep is Sound, Health and Happiness Abound.



Birthdays Today:

Emile Hirsch, 1985
Rachael Bella, 1984
Will Clark, 1964
Adam Clayton, 1960
Glenne Headly, 1957
Dana Delany, 1956
Deborah Raffin, 1953
Charo, 1951
William H. Macy, 1950
Neil Sedaka, 1939
Helen "Callaghan" Candaele Saint Aubin, 1929
William Casey, 1913
L. Ron Hubbard. 1911
Sammy Kaye, 1910
Walter Annenberg, 1908
Percival Lowell, 1855
Lorenzo Delmonico, 1813
Joseph Priestly, 1733


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Larry King Show"(TV), 1983
"Same Time, Next Year"(Play), 1975
"Brigadoon"(Musical), 1947
"Three Musketeers"(Musical), 1928
"The Pink Lady"(Musical), 1911
"Marie Magdalena"(Opera), 1846
"Médée"(Opera), 1797


Today in History:

Twelfth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 607
Spanish explorer Cortez lands in Mexico, 1519
The Spanish fleet occupies Djerba, at Tripoli, 1560
Cambridge College is renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard, 1639
Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam, 1656
Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000, 1677
The twenty-seventh recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 1759
William Herschel discovers Uranus, 1781
The Uncle Sam cartoon figure makes its debut in the NY Lantern weekly, 1852
The US Senate begins Pres Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial, 1868
Oxford defeats Cambridge in their first golf match, 1878
The Siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins, Madhist Sudanese against the Egyptian, British, and loyalist Sudanese forces, 1884
In France the length of the workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law, 1900
Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) declares independence from China, 1921
A law is passed in the US state of Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of evolution, 1925
Clyde Tombaugh announces the discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory, 1930
Rotaract begins as a youth program of Rotary International, 1968
Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module, 1969
The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan, 1988
India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader, 1997
Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $1,000 per ounce for the first time, 2008
A Harvard Medical School study claims that red meat increases the risk of death and has additional negative health implications, 2012
In Greenland, the Siumut party wins the parliamentary election, setting up Aleqa Hammond to become the country's first female Prime Minister, 2013

Where Men Have Gone Before

Listening to the radio yesterday, i heard a news report that had me shaking my head.

It seems that Ashton Kutcher, an actor and new dad, is asking for more baby changing tables in men's restrooms.  He promises to promote the first business in which he finds one.

My first thought was, where have you been, sir?  Or have i only been dreaming that men's rooms have had changing tables for a while?  Did i only imagine it when everyone laughed over the sign above a changing table in the men's room near the fishing dock in Florida that told men they couldn't clean fish there?

A caller to the radio station to which i was listening confirmed my feelings.  He said that his oldest is 20, and he was finding changing tables in men's restrooms all those years ago.

Then the caller began mentioning names of places that have them, and i realized the problem.

He mentioned places like Wal-Mart, Target, Albertson's, McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, and other such places.

Mr. Kutcher's problem may be that he only dines in high end restaurants and shops where you can't buy a sock for less than $100.  Those places just may not have changing tables in the men's rooms.  People who own such places may assume that anyone coming in there has a nanny to do the changing anyway.  Who knows?

But i think it's the places he goes, not that no place has baby changing stations in the men's rooms.  Maybe he needs to expand the places he goes.

"Hey, mom!  Do you have any of the needles you use to give the kittens shots?" #2 Son came into the kitchen to ask.

Sure, i said, and handed him one.  What's up?

"Friend Becky's dad killed a copperhead, and I'm going over there to fill its body with alcohol to pickle it!  I'm going to keep it in a jar in my room!"

Mr. Kutcher probably doesn't live anywhere that he would hear something like that.

Today is:

Alfred Hitchcock Day -- some internet sources say March 8, and no one knows who picked either day, but he is worth celebrating

Arbor Day -- China; Taiwan

Donkey Appreciation Day -- formerly celebrated, but the lowly donkey is no longer as indispensable as he was; if you share my fondness for beasts of burden, celebrate it anyway

Girl Scouts Birthday -- US

Huddling of Fairies of the Third Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Kronprinsessans Namnsdag -- Sweden (Name Day of HRH Crown Princess Victoria, the Heir Apparent; an official flag day)

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day festival, dates approximate; celebrates the marriage of Kore and Dionysos)

Louisiana Sportmen's Show and Festival -- Gonzales, LA, US (boat show for NOLA, BR, and the Gulf Coast, and includes a jambalaya cook off; through Sunday)

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria -- in 415, she was murdered for the three crimes of being intelligent, female, and pagan

National Baked Scallops Day

National Day -- Mauritius (anniversary of independence in 1968)

Plant a Flower Day -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation; now's a good time to give wildlife friendly perrenials a head start, starting them indoors if you have to

Quebec City Hunting, Fishing, and Boat Show -- Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (through Sunday)

Rockhound Round Up Gem and Mineral Show -- Deming, NM, US (through Sunday)

St. Gregory the Great's Day (Patron of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, popes, schoolchildren, singers, stonemasons, stone cutters, students, and teachers; England; Kercem, Malta; Legazpi, Philippines; Montone, Italy; San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Italy; West Indies; against gout and plague)
     note that Pope St. Gregory is also celebrated on Sept. 3, the date he was elected pope
     Graekarismessa (Mass of St. Gregory) -- Torshavn, Faroe Islands (traditional day on which the oystercatcher, their symbolic national bird, returns)
     Gregoru Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Gregory's Day, similar to groundhog day for weather prediction)

St. Seraphina's Day (Patron of the disabled and handicapped, and of spinners)

World Day Against Cyber Censorship -- sponsored by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International

World Kidney Day -- www.worldkidneyday.org

Youth Day -- Zambia


Anniversaries Today:

Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, 1971
Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman, 1969


Birthdays Today:

Frank Catalano, 1978
Aaron Eckhart, 1968
David Daniels, 1966
Darryl Strawberry, 1962
Marlon Jackson, 1957
Rob Cohen, 1949
James Taylor, 1948
Liza Minnelli, 1946
Al Jarreau, 1940
Barbara Feldon, 1933
Andrew Young, 1932
Edward Albee, 1928
Wally Schirra, 1923
Jack Kerouac, 1922
Gordon MacRae, 1921
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1881
Simon Newcomb, 1835
Charles Cunningham Boycott, 1832
Clement Studebaker, 1821

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moses und Aaron"(Opera), 1954
"Fervaal"(Opera; d'Indy Op. 40), 1897
"Simon Boccanegra"(Opera), 1857


Today in History:

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher, 415
Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius, 538
Orvieto, Italy, rules it will behead and burn Jewish-Christian couples, 1350
Jews are expelled from Syria, 1496
New Jersey becomes an English colony, 1664
The first steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine, 1755
Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain, 1881
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time, 1894
The first main line electric train in UK, from Liverpool to Southport, begins running, 1904
The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States, by Juliette Gordon Lowe, 1912
The foundation stone of the new Australian capital in Canberra is laid, 1913
Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax, 1930
The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism, 1947
The Church of England ordains its first female priests, 1994
Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO, 1999
Financier Bernard Madoff plead guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history, 2009
The U.S. Census Bureau reports the world now has 7 billion people, 2012 

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Enough?

This is Sweetie's idea of a serving size of "extra raisin" raisin bran:

Yes, this is a salad serving bowl.

This came after two slices of well-buttered toast, a very big Italian link sausage, and an omelet with four eggs, onions and mushrooms, and two slices of Swiss cheese cooked in bacon grease.

He hasn't thrown a hay bale in over 30 years, but he still eats like a farm boy!


Today is:

Bunching of Fairies for the Second Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Charter Day -- Pennsylvania, US

Debunking Day -- internet holiday possibly started by someone tired of internet myths

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles -- Ancient Roman and Greek Calendars

Frankenstein's Birthday -- Mary Shelley's famous tale was published today in 1818

Johnny Appleseed Day / Apple Appreciation Day -- death anniversary of John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman; some say March 18

King Moshoeshoe I's Anniversary -- Lesotho

Mi-Careme -- Guadeloupe; Saint Barthelemy; Saint Martin (Mid-Lent)

National Decoration Day -- Liberia

National No Smoking Day -- UK (for help quitting, go here)

National Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day

Reestablishment of Independence -- Lithuania (independence from the USSR)

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day -- US

St. Eulogius of Cordova's Day (Patron of carpenters, coppersmiths)

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film -- International

Worship of Tools Day -- begun by someone who knew we would be nowhere without tools

 
Anniversaries Today:

Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare, 1302
Emperor Napoleon married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise, 1810


Birthdays Today:

Terrance Howard, 1969
Alex Kingston, 1963
Curtis Brown, Jr., 1956
Douglas Adams, 1952
Bobby McFerrin, 1950
Jerry Zucker, 1950
Dominique Sanda, 1948
Charles W. Swan, 1942
Antonin Scalia, 1936
Sam Donaldson, 1934
Rupert Murdoch, 1931
Ralph Abernathy, 1926
Mercer Ellington, 1919
Ezra Jack Keats, 1916
Harold Wilson, 1916
Lawrence Welk, 1903
Robert Treat Paine, 1731
Torquato Tasso, 1544


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Cops"(TV), 1989
"A Raisin in the Sun"(Play), 1959
"Don Carlos"(Opera), 1867
"Rigoletto"(Opera), 1851
"I Capuleti e i Montecchi"(Opera), 1830
The Daily Courant(Newspaper; first British daily paper), 1702


Today in History:

Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty),BC1425
Volcano Etna in Italy erupts killing 15,000, 1669
The first English daily newspaper "Daily Courant," begins publishing, 1702
Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation, 1708
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is published, 1818
Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Maori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand, 1845
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government, 1848
The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield, 1864
The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture,1872
The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins, lasting 4 days, 1888
The first confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918
The Bank of Canada opens, 1935
Reginald Weit became the first African American to play in the US Tennis Open, 1948
Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," the first Broadway play by a black woman, opens, 1959
Mt. Etna in Sicily erupts, 1974
Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon, 1983
Mikhail S Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader, 1985
Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, 1999
Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile, 2006
An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and triggering the second largest nuclear accident in history, 2011

Time for Change

Is anyone else feeling almost hung over from the time change?

(Note:  i've never been drunk or hung over.  Not bragging, i just never found the idea of being out of my mind from a chemical and feeling horrible the next day appealing, so i never bothered.  Besides, half a glass of wine and i go right to bed anyway, so i just don't drink.  Thus when i say i feel a bit hung over, i'm going with what i think it might feel like, not actual experience.)

This problem seems to get worse with every year.  It's more and more difficult to catch up from that missed hour of sleep, and i'm not sure what to do about it.

If anything can be done, aside from staging a full on rebellion and starting a campaign to end the madness.

(Note:  just after writing this, i decided that someone has to have already begun a petition, and i was right.  It's here, if you want to sign it.) 

(Note:  the petitioners spell it incorrectly, adding the last "s" to the word "saving."  Doesn't matter to me, the fact that they have a petition going already means i don't have to start one!)

(Note:  i have a lot of notes today.  Must be because i'm still half asleep!)

We are back to dropping Little Girl off at school in the dark in the morning because the time change also starts earlier and earlier each year.

Maybe a better tack to take on this would be to change the clocks this one time, and never change them back.  After all, it's all rather arbitrary -- noon used to be when the sun was above your head, no need for a clock.

At least, if we just left it alone and made the current Daylight Saving Time the standard, we would have light as late in the evening as possible year round.

Until this happens, though, or we stop it altogether, i'm going to go get another cup of coffee.

Today is:

Cheltenham Hunt Festival -- Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (a four day Festival, with the big race on that final day)

Doctor's Day -- Venezuela

Dream Day -- supposedly begun by an instructor at Columbia University as a day to concentrate on how to make your dreams come true

Farvardigan -- Ancient Persia, Zoroastrians (10 day festival for the dead before Nowruz, the New Year)

Festival of Life in the Cracks Day -- internet holiday declared because this is where most of us are, and we deserve to be celebrated!

Harriet Tubman Day -- anniversary of her death in 1913

International Day of Awesomeness -- Celebrate what is awesome about you - always on Chuck Norris' birth anniversary, because no one is more awesome than Chuck

Mario Day -- for gamers, based on the date Mar 10

National Blueberry Popover Day

National Pack Your Lunch Day -- because it's cheaper and healthier

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day -- US

Organize Your Home Office Day -- Lisa Kanarek wants everyone to organize their home office on the second Tuesday in March; my response is:  in one day!  is she out of her mind!

Shiogama Jinja Hote Festival -- Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (mikoshi parades and Shinto music)

St. Kessog's Day (Patron of Lennox, Scotland; Scotland)

Telephone Day -- Bell sent the first message by phone, to Watson in the next room, this day in 1876

Tibetan Uprising Day -- Tibetan Independence Supporters commemoration of the 1959 uprising

Whoopsical Day -- Fairy Calendar


Birthdays Today:

Emily Osment, 1992
Carrie Underwood, 1983
Shannon Miller, 1977
John Hamm, 1971
Edie Brickell, 1966
Prince Edward, 1964
Jasmine Guy, 1964
Rick Rubin, 1963
Pam Oliver, 1961
Sharon Stone, 1958
Shannon Tweed, 1957
Kim Campbell, 1947
Bob Greene, 1947
Tom Scholz, 1947
Chuck Norris, 1940
Dave Rabe, 1940
James Earl Ray, 1928
Pamela Mason, 1918
Bix Beiderbecke, 1903
Clare Boothe Luce, 1903


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"(TV), 1997
"The Incredible Hulk"(TV), 1978
"Sweet Bird of Youth"(Play), 1959


Today in History:

The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end, BC241
Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire, 418
King Charles I dissolves Parliament; he calls it back 11 years later, 1629
English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania, 1681
French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform, 1762
John Stone, of Concord, Massachusetts, patents a pile driver, 1791
England begins its first modern census, 1801
In St. Louis, Missouri, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States, 1804
The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria, 1831
Abraham Lincoln patents a device to help free ships in rivers from shallow water; he built a small scale model, but no full-size device was ever built, and makes him the only US president to hold a patent, 1849
Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you," 1876
Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers landed at New York to officially begin the work of the Salvation Army in the US, 1880
Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching, 1891
The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in Northern France, 1906
After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," 1896
China ends slavery, 1910
Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation, 1922
In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.; he later retracts his guilty plea, 1969
Astronomers discover rings around Uranus, 1977
In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup, 1990
The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom, 2000
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars, 2006