Jan 19, 1977 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snow has fallen. Area retirees are confused and upset.
Jan 20, 1935 - Joan Weston, also known as the Blonde Bomber, Blonde Amazon, Golden Girl, and Roller Derby Queen, is born in Huntington Beach, CA. During the 1960’s and ’70’s, she was the highest-paid female athlete.
Jan 21, 1938 - Robert Smith, better known as Wolfman Jack, was born in Brooklyn. Known for his gravelly voice, goatee, and apparent sense of entitlement (“Who’s this calling on the Wolfman phone?” “Answer the Wolfman door!” “Wolfman Jack can’t find his Wolfman coffee cup!”)
Jan 22, 1984 - The Apple Macintosh computer is introduced during Super Bowl XVII with the famous ‘1984’ commercial. The computer popularized the mouse, as well as a graphical interface. Gone are the days of text-based adventuring.
Jan 23, 1897 - Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband, Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue, is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
Jan 24, 1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II. His famous words when he returned: “It is with much embarrassment that I have returned alive.” (Note: While not technically American history, we were involved in WWII, and this was just too weird not to mention)
Jan 25, 1947 - The most famous American gangster, Al Capone, succumbs to pneumonia, brought on by a stroke that occurred a few days earlier. Al Capone would be considered somewhat of a hero here in Isla Vista for his determination, against all odds, to get the people their alcohol.
Showing posts with label obscure history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obscure history. Show all posts
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Oh so late!
Nonetheless, here's last week's obscure American history:
Jan 12, 1967: Bedford Day. Dr. James Bedford, a University of California becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved, in hopes of someday being resuscitated.
Jan 13, 1968: Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison.
Jan 14, 1954: The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation. They’d go onto to produce cars that even 16 year olds with licenses hot off the laminating machine wouldn’t want to drive - such as the Metropolitan, Rambler, Gremlin, and Pacer
Jan 15, 1919: Boston Molasses Disaster: A large molasses tank in Boston, Massachusetts, bursts and a wave of molasses rushes through the streets, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.
Jan 16, 1847: John C. Fremont is made Governor of the newly established California Territory. And all he has to show for it now is a really boring town named after him.
Jan 17, 1929: Castor Oyl, star of EC Segar’s comic, Thimble Theater (which had been running for 10 years at the time) and brother of Olive Oyl, while looking for a boat for hire, asks a sailor down at the docks: “Are you a sailor?” The sailor’s response: “J’a think I’m a cowboy?” The gruff, pipe-smoking mariner would soon have a name: Popeye. He was meant as a walk one-shot character, but readers flooded newspapers’ mailboxes with demands to see more of the ornery, wild-fisted sailor.
Jan 18, 1952: Jerome Lester Horwitz, better known as Stooge Curly Howard died at the age of 48. Best known for his “nyuk-nyuk-nyuks,” “woo-woo-woos,” getting beaten with domestic and industrial items, and his exaggerated signature walk. The walk, incidentally, was invented by Curly to cover up a limp that he got from accidently shooting himself in the foot while cleaning a rifle at the age of 12.
Jan 12, 1967: Bedford Day. Dr. James Bedford, a University of California becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved, in hopes of someday being resuscitated.
Jan 13, 1968: Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison.
Jan 14, 1954: The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation. They’d go onto to produce cars that even 16 year olds with licenses hot off the laminating machine wouldn’t want to drive - such as the Metropolitan, Rambler, Gremlin, and Pacer
Jan 15, 1919: Boston Molasses Disaster: A large molasses tank in Boston, Massachusetts, bursts and a wave of molasses rushes through the streets, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.
Jan 16, 1847: John C. Fremont is made Governor of the newly established California Territory. And all he has to show for it now is a really boring town named after him.
Jan 17, 1929: Castor Oyl, star of EC Segar’s comic, Thimble Theater (which had been running for 10 years at the time) and brother of Olive Oyl, while looking for a boat for hire, asks a sailor down at the docks: “Are you a sailor?” The sailor’s response: “J’a think I’m a cowboy?” The gruff, pipe-smoking mariner would soon have a name: Popeye. He was meant as a walk one-shot character, but readers flooded newspapers’ mailboxes with demands to see more of the ornery, wild-fisted sailor.
Jan 18, 1952: Jerome Lester Horwitz, better known as Stooge Curly Howard died at the age of 48. Best known for his “nyuk-nyuk-nyuks,” “woo-woo-woos,” getting beaten with domestic and industrial items, and his exaggerated signature walk. The walk, incidentally, was invented by Curly to cover up a limp that he got from accidently shooting himself in the foot while cleaning a rifle at the age of 12.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
