Trevor WholohanThis Day in History, December 4th
December 4th 2007 00:33
This Day in History
1674 - Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).
1783 - Gen. George Washington said farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.
1881 - The Los Angeles Times is first published.
1918 - President Wilson set sail in USS George Washington for France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference. He was the 1st chief executive to travel outside US while in office.
1921 - Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1933 - FDR creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration
1941 - The Chicago Tribune and the Washington Herald published FDR's top secret plan to invade Europe in 1943.
1942 - US bombers struck Italian mainland for 1st time in WWII
1944 - USS Flasher sinks Japanese destroyer Kishinami and damages a merchant ship in South China Sea. Flasher is only sub to sink over 100,000 tons of enemy shipping in WW II.
1945 - By a vote of 65 to 7, the US Senate approves United States participation in the UN
1950 - Marines rescued over 300 soldiers of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division, survivors of a communist ambush on the shores of the Chosin/Changjin Reservoir.
1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
1959 - A monkey returns to Earth safely, after being launched 55 miles into outer space by US
1967 - US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
1969 - Black Panther members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1969 - Surfer Greg Noll rides a 65-foot high wave off the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ocean surfing ever recorded.
1971 - The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
1976 - Liz Taylor's 7th marriage (John Warner)
1980 - 2 months after death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin breaks up
1980 - The bodies of four American nuns slain in El Salvador two days earlier were unearthed. Five national guardsmen were later convicted of the murders.
1983 - U.S. jet fighters struck Syrian anti-aircraft positions in retaliation for attacks on American reconnaissance planes. Navy Lt. Goodman Jr. was shot down and captured by Syria.
1990 - Iraq promised to release 3,300 Soviet citizens it was holding.
1991 - Terry Anderson was released after nearly seven years in captivity in Lebanon.
1992 - Somali Civil War: George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia, east Africa.
2000 - In Florida Judge Sauls denied Al Gore’s request for a vote recount.
2001 - O.J. Simpson's home in Florida was raided by the FBI in an ongoing 2 year international investigation into drug trafficking, satellite service pilfering and money launering.
2006 - Adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands by Tokyo
Famous Birthday’s
1934 - Victor French, actor (Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven)Died 1989(Cancer)
1934 - Wink Martindale Jackson TN, TV host (Tic-Tac-Dough, Can You Top This)
1937 - Max Baer Jr Oakland CA, actor (Jethro-Beverly Hillbillies)
1942 - Chris Hillman San Diego CA, singer (Byrds-Turn Turn Turn, Mr Tambourine Man)
1944 - Dennis Wilson, drummer/vocalist (Beach Boys-In My Room, California Dreaming, 409)
1949 - Jeff Bridges, actor (King Kong, Starman, K-Pax, The Big Lebowski, Seabiscuit)
1969 - Jay-Z, rapper/Co-Owner of the New Jersey Nets and he’s worth estimate of $547 million
1973 - Tyra Banks model/actress (Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Coyote Ugly, The Tyra Banks Show)
Joke of the Day
Ernesto the Caretaker
At dawn the telephone rings. "Hello, Senor? This is Ernesto the caretaker at your country house." "Ah yes, Ernesto. What can I do for you? Is there a problem?" "Um, I am just calling to advise you, sir, that your parrot died."
"My parrot? Dead? The one that won the International competition?" "Si, that's the one." "Damn! That's a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird.
What did he die from?" "From eating rotten meat." "Rotten meat? Who the hell fed him rotten meat?" "Nobody, Senor. He ate the meat of one of the dead horse."
"Dead horse? What dead horse?" "The thoroughbred, Mr. Lucky. He died from all that work pulling the water cart." "Are you insane? What water cart?" "The one we used to put out the fire."
"Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, man?" "The one at your house! A candle fell and the curtains caught on fire." "What the.....!!! But there's electricity at the house!!! What was the candle for?"
"For the funeral." "WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL?!" "Your wife's... She showed up one night out of the blue and I thought she was a thief, so I hit her with your new Tiger Woods Nike Driver."
SILENCE...
"Ernesto! If you broke that driver YOU'RE FIRED!"
A Dog at the Movies
Following a woman with a dog out of the movie theater, a man stopped her and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was amazed that your dog seemed to get into the movie so much. He cried at the right spots, moved nervously at the boring spots, and laughed like crazy at the funny parts. Don't you find that unusual?"
"Yes," she replied. "I find it very unusual. Especially considering that he hated the book!"
World Records
Fastest speed on a skateboard
Gary Hardwick of Carlsbad, California, USA, set a skateboard speed record (maintaining a standing position) of 62.55 mph(100 kph) at Fountain .
Speed Skydiving
The highest speed ever reached in a speed skydiving competition is 325.67 mph (524.13 kmph) by France's Michael Brooke at the Millennium Speed.
Oldest Skydiver
Estrid Geertsen (Denmark, b. August 1, 1904) made a tandem parachute jump at the age of 99 years 61 days over Roskilde Airport, denmark
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