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On This Day In History (January 1st)

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Bill Schenley

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Dec 31, 2003, 11:38:54 PM12/31/03
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The Julian Calendar was introduced (-45).

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

http://www.holy-trinity.org/modern/calen3.html

The last gladiator competition took place in Rome (404).

Telemachus, a Roman monk, was murdered (404).

http://www.airborne.org/forums/air_forum7.htm

Odo, King of the Franks, died (898). Charles "the Simple"
became King.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odo,_Count_of_Paris

Jacques Cartier, French explorer, died (1557).

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03392b.htm

http://www.cartier.com/us/index.html

Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Spanish artist, was born (1617).

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/murillo_bartolome_esteban.html

http://search.barewalls.com/cgi-bin/search.exe?SEARCHSTRING=murillo

Paul Revere, silversmith and American patriot, was born
(1735).

http://eserver.org/poetry/paul-revere.html

http://www.city-net.com/~davekle/revere.htm

"Mad" Anthony Wayne, Revolutionary War Brigadier General,
was born (1745).
General Wayne died in 1796, and, at his request, was buried
in Erie,
Pennsylvania (he died at Fort Presque Isle). Thirteen years
later, his
family wanted his body moved to their burial plot in Radnor,
PA.

Wayne's son, Isaac, drove to Erie in a small wagon; too
small for the
coffin. So General Wayne's body was dissected and boiled.
His bones were
buried in Radnor while the rest of him was reburied in Erie.
He is one of
the few people who is buried in two different places at the
same time.

http://www.vanleerplus.org/wayne.htm

http://www.americanrevolution.org/wayne.html

Betsy Ross, American flag maker, was born (1752).

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/

http://www.usflag.org/about.betsy.ross.html

The first issue of "The London Times" was published (1785).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,2086,00.html

http://www.londonstimes.us/

Albany became the capital of New York State, replacing New
York City (1797).

http://www.mohonasen.org/staffdev/moffitt/jbrousseau.htm

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter written to the Danbury
(Connecticut) Baptist
Association, coined the metaphor, "a wall of separation
between Church and
State" (1802). From 1947, the "wall of separation" concept
gained acceptance
as a constitutional guideline.

http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/misc/danbury.htm

Haitian slaves, led by Jean Jacques Dessalines, declared
their independence
(1804). Haiti became the first free black nation-state in
the world. The
United States refused to recognize Haiti for the next 70+
years.

http://photogallery.newshaiti.com/details.php?image_id=8

Michigan became the first state to abolish capital
punishment (1847).

http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/may/05-07-97/edit/edit2.html

The Emancipation Proclamation, declared the previous
September by Abraham
Lincoln, took effect (1863). It proclaimed freedom for
slaves in all areas
of the Confederacy that were still in rebellion against the
Union.

http://www.nps.gov/ncro/anti/emancipation.html

Alfred Stieglitz, photographer and sometimes considered the
father of modern
photography, was born (1864). Stieglitz was also an art
dealer and the
husband of artist Georgia O'Keefe.

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/stieglitz_alfred.html

http://www.tfaoi.com/newsmu/nmus153b.htm

http://www.tfaoi.com/mn/mib/mib213.jpg

Hobo King/whorehouse doctor/anarchist/author and one-time
lover of Emma
Goldman, Ben Reitman, was born (1879).

http://www.bookslut.com/fiction/2002_11_000416.php

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Curricula/WomensRights/lecture.html

http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/ih020720.html

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Exhibition/eg14b.jpg

J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director and infamous homosexual, was
born (1895).

http://www.crimelibrary.com/hoover/hoovermain.htm

"All my humor is based on destruction and despair.
If the whole world were tranquil, without
disease and violence, I'd be standing in the
breadline - right back of J. Edgar Hoover.
- Lenny Bruce -

Brooklyn merged with New York to form present City of New
York (1897).

The first Rose Bowl game was held in Pasadena, California
(1902). Michigan
beat Stanford 49-0.

http://www.goalproductions.com/catalogue/rose_bowl/games_512_content.html

http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/hestonwillie.shtml

This was the first time a ball, signifying the new year, was
dropped at
Times Square (1905 or 1907 or 1908).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square

http://www.ketupa.net/nytimes2.htm

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/1908

http://www.afterimagegallery.com/nyttimessquare.htm

http://dovercards.com/New%2520York%2520City/Old%2520New%2520York%2520Photos/0486232875_17_Artist%2520Unknown_The%2520Times%2520Building%252c%2520Times%2520Square%252c%25201905%252e.html

http://dovercards.com/New%2520York%2520City/Old%2520New%2520York%2520Photos/Old%2520New%2520York%2520Photos.html

Hank Greenberg, Hall-of-Fame first baseman for the Detroit
Tigers and
Pittsburgh Pirates, was born (1911).

http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/greenha01.shtml

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/greenberg_hank.htm

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/greenberg.html

J. D. Salinger, author ("Catcher in the Rye"), was born
(1919).

http://www.levity.com/corduroy/salinger.htm

http://www.morrill.org/books/salbio.shtml

America's first "Red Scare" began (1920). Overnight 2,700
people were
arrested without being charged with any explicit crime. A.
Mitchell Palmer,
Woodrow Wilson's Attorney General, and a man with
presidential ambitions
of his own, ultimately arrested some 6,000 people on
suspicion of
"communism". Those who were not American citizens were
deported as
"undesirable aliens."

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApalmerA.htm

Idi Amin, an all-around swell guy, was born (1926).

http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.htm

Roy Riegels recovered a fumble in the Rose Bowl (1929). He
then ran the
ball back sixty-four and a half yards ... the wrong way.

http://www.athlonsports.com/article.php3?story_id=392&section=Home

http://gtalumni.org/StayInformed/magazine/spr98/div04.html

Alcatraz officially became a Federal Prison (1934).

http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/mainpg.htm

http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/

Prohibition ended in the United States (1934). Well, sort
of ...

http://www.injusticeline.com/Prohibit.html

http://www.druglibrary.org/think/~jnr/endprohb.htm

Fred Neil, singer/songwriter ("Everybody's Talkin'," "The
Dolphins,"
"Crying" and "The Other Side of This Life"), was born
(1937)*.
*His birth date is sometimes given as March of 1936.

http://www.harrynilsson.com/misc-1-723.html

"Country" Joe McDonald, singer/songwriter ("Sweet Martha
Loraine"), was
born (1942). He also wrote some other song . but F-U-C-K .
I just can't
remember it. Anyway, Joseph Alan McDonald was named for one
of his parent's
heroes. A man, who during WWII, was called "Country Joe."
Joseph Stalin.

http://www.countryjoe.com/

http://www.well.com/~cjfish/

Joseph Stalin was proclaimed "Time" magazine's "Man of the
Year" (1942).

http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~rlhill/anna/time.html

http://artwork.barewalls.com/product/framer.exe?ArtworkID=143044&thumbs=1&productid=169607

Time magazine's list (1927 - 2002):

http://www.schlaufuchs.at/list/l_tmmoty.htm

Hank Williams, country singer and songwriter, died of a drug
and alcohol
overdose (1953).

http://www.hankwilliams.com/

http://home.online.no/~smpeders/ind-hank.htm

Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory over U.S.
backed dictator
Fulgencio Batista (1959).

http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro.html

http://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/

http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/castro_year1/castro_year1.html

http://abcnews.go.com/reference/bios/castro.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro

Johnny Cash played the first of many free concerts behind
bars (1960).
Among those in the audience at San Quentin Prison ... Merle
Haggard.

http://www.elyrics.net/go/j/Johnny_Cash/San_Quentin/

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/music/johnny-cash/

The Beatles auditioned for Decca records (1962). They were
passed over
because the company felt "groups of guitars were on the way
out." Decca
chose to sign another British band auditioning the same day,
over the
Beatles ... The Tremeloes.

http://www.rarebeatles.com/photopg2/mersey.htm

http://www.jpgr.co.uk/hadcd241.html

Starting on this day, all U.S. cigarette packs had to carry
"Caution
Cigarette Smoking May Be hazardous To Your Health" (1966).

This was the last day of advertising on radio or TV in
America for tobacco
and cigarettes (1971).

NBC Television debuted a new abstract capital 'N' - a
corporate symbol that
replaced the familiar peacock logo after 20 years (1976).
The cost of the
new NBC logo was estimated to be between $750,000 and $1
million. After much
ridicule, it took two more years before they got the really
bad news:
Nebraska Public Television went after NBC for copying its
logo; which it had
broadcast for several years. The cost ... 35 dollars. NBC
paid the costs and
the 'N' stayed around for a short time before being replaced
by... the
peacock. NBC shipped the 'N' to Nebraska Public TV and told
them to put it
to good use.

http://www.kcentv.com/peacock.html

http://www.kingoftheroad.net/KARD_html/kard4.html

Paul Belmondo, French sculptor ("Bathing Woman"), died
(1982).

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into
effect (1994).

http://www-tech.mit.edu/Bulletins/nafta.html

http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/nafta/nafta.html

The last "Far Side" was published by cartoonist Gary Larson
(1995).

http://www.portmann.com/farside/

http://www.bookspring.com/far_side.htm

Retired U.S. Adm. Arleigh Burke, remembered for his World
War II heroics,
died (1996).

http://arleigh.com/pages/burke.html

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/burke/burke4.html

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ddg-51.htm

Betty McBricker Rubble made her long awaited debut, after a
27-year delay,
as a Flintstone vitamin (1996). The rag-topped Flintmobile
vitamin became
history. The reason for no Betty vitamin? Her waist was
too thin. They
were afraid she would break in half.


http://bedrock.deadsquid.com/information/profiles/index.php?profile=betty

http://www.thom.org/gallery/statues/betty/

Warning . X-Rated Wilma & Betty:

http://assm.asstr.org/~eli/notes/sto/lesbian/celebrity/wilma-and-betty.html

Townes Van Zandt, singer, died (1997).

http://ippc2.orst.edu/coopl/tvzmem.html

http://www.insurgentcountry.com/townes.htm

Cuban President Fidel Castro, marking the 40th anniversary
of his rise to
power, portrayed his Socialist nation as a defender of
humanity against
rapacious Capitalism (1999).

Michael Bloomberg succeeded Rudolph Giuliani as New York
City's mayor
(2002).

http://home.nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=nyc_mayor&catID=1194


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