Ant Farmer's Almanac

Today in Yesteryear

1751: First U.S. hospital founded (Pennsylvania Hospital).

1752: First U.S. fire insurance policy issued (Philadelphia).

1927: Louis B. Mayer starts Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; as meeting runs long, Mayer hums loudly at the long-winded speakers, hoping they'll get the hint.

1949: First Polaroid camera sold.

1959: Yankee catcher Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games ends; somewhere a fat lady sings.

1968: Richard Harris releases MacArthur Park; listeners wonder if just maybe psychedelic rock hasn't gone too far.

1969: Monty Python forms.

1972: On the Dick Cavett Show, John Lennon claims that the FBI is tapping his phone; a voice offstage responds, "No we're not... oops."

Today in Yesteryear. . .

1862: To ensure that Bastille Day is never celebrated in the western hemisphere, Mexicans heroically defeat occupying French forces.


1891: Carnegie Hall opens in New York; attendance is low, what with people not yet knowing how to get there. 


1925: John T. Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee.

Today in Yesteryear. . .

1494: Christopher Columbus discovers Jamaica, ganja.


 

 

 

 

1919: America's first passenger flight goes from New York City to Atlantic City; half of the passengers lose their return tickets at the craps tables and have to hitchhike a ride back.


 

 

 

 

1965: The Real Don Steele debuts on KHJ AM (Boss) radio in Los Angeles; Tina Delgado is alive, ALIVE!


Today in Yesteryear

4977 BC: Johannes Kepler's date for creation of universe. You'd think we'd have the day off, or something.

Today in Yesteryear

1886: Nestled between a cigar store and a donut shop, Sigmund Freud opens his first psychiatry office in Vienna, Austria.

1978: Phillie Phanatic makes his phirst appearance.

Today in Yesteryear

1509: Henry VIII ascends to English throne; say what you will about him but he really did seem to enjoy being king.

1793: President George Washington attends the opening performance of Rickett's, the first circus in the U.S.; he notes in his diary that it was, "Almost as amusing as a session of Congress and they accomplished far more in less time."

1900: First known occurrence of word "hillbillie," in the New York Journal.

Today in Yesteryear

1504: Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence.

1966: The first Star Trek series premieres on NBC.

1968: The Beatles perform their last live TV performance on the David Frost show. They perform their new hit Hey Jude.

1974: President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon "may have committed" while in office.

Today in Yesteryear

1921: Contestants from nine U.S. cities compete in the first Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The winner (second from left) is Miss Washington, D.C.

1927: A working television system is created by Philo Farnsworth; he does not ask, "What hath God wrought", but he probably should have.

1978: Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, dies. 

1979: ESPN debuts.

 

Today in Yesteryear

1847: Henry David Thoreau leaves Walden Pond after two years of living alone in a small cabin and moves in with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family in Concord, Massachusetts. Wackiness ensues.

1991:  Saint Petersburg (Russia, not Florida) has its traditional name restored after being called Leningrad since 1924. In other news, Istanbul was Constantinople

Today's Birthdays!

1805 Alexis de Tocqueville

1878 Don Marquis

1883 Benito Mussolini

1892 William Powell

1905 Clara Bow, Dag Hammarskjold, Thelma Todd

1907 Melvin Belli

1914 "Professor" Irwin Corey

1936 Elizabeth Dole

1938 Peter Jennings

Today in Yesteryear

1586: Thomas Harriot introduces the potato to England; "Finally," cries a relieved populace, "Something to go with that bloody fish!"

1900: Hamburger created by Louis Lassing in Connecticut; deluxe platter that includes fries doesn't appear until 1904.

1943: FDR announces end of coffee rationing in U.S.; few can hear him over the snoring.

Today in Yesteryear

1586: Sir Walter Raleigh brings first tobacco to England from America. Despite coming up with a snazzy package design, he loses out to Lord Zig-Zag for the Royal commission to make rolling papers for Queen Elizabeth and her court.

1940: Bugs Bunny debuts in A Wild Hare.

1990: Zsa Zsa Gabor begins her three-day jail sentence for slapping a cop.

Today in Yesteryear

1775: Benjamin Franklin becomes the first Postmaster General of the United States.

1788: New York becomes 11th state to ratify U.S. Constitution; pens in hand, the state's signers pause, glare at other delegates and demand to know, "Whadda you lookin' at?"

1908: The FBI is established.

1947: The Department of Defense is established.

1947: The National Security Act establishes the CIA.

1981: New York City Mayor Ed Koch is (successfully) given the Heimlich maneuver when he begins choking in a Chinese restaurant.

1991: Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) is arrested for exposing himself at an adult movie theater.

 

Today in Yesteryear

1965: "Hey, you got folk music on my rock and roll!"
"Oh, yeah, you got rock and roll on my folk music!"
Bob Dylan plugs in and goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival.

1966: Supremes release You Can't Hurry Love.

1990: Roseanne (Barr) sings the National Anthem at a San Diego Padres game; nobody can unplug her fast enough.

Today in Yesteryear

1796: Cleveland, Ohio is founded by General Moses Cleaveland, a surveyor sent out from Connecticut. During the especially brutal winter of 1804, the "a" in the new city's name freezes and breaks off and is never repaired.

1967: Jimi Hendrix quits as opening act for the Monkees' tour after they don't let him ride in the Monkeemobile like they promised.

Today in Yesteryear

1873: After several years of doing well at bank hold-ups, the James-Younger gang pulls off the first successful train robbery in the American West; Jesse James later leaves the group to pursue a solo career.

1969: Neil Armstrong steps onto the Moon; Buzz Aldrin follows shortly thereafter.

 

Today in Yesteryear

1944: Von Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Hitler is a failure; 65 years later, Tom Cruise's movie of Von Stauffenberg's attempted assassination of Hitler is also a failure.

1968: Iron Butterfly's In-a-gadda-da-vida hits the charts at #117.

1969: Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin land on the moon (they'd told their wives they were going to the circus).

Today in Yesteryear

1880: San Francisco Public Library starts lending books; most are never seen again.

1976: The band Deep Purple disbands.

1990: Richard Nixon Library opens in Yorba Linda, California; despite their efforts, founders couldn't convince Deep Purple to reunite for opening night party.

Today in Yesteryear

1536: Pope's authority declared void in England; stunned Italians say, "You can do that?"

1927: Ty Cobb's 4,000th career hit; granted, it was some guy in the parking lot who got it his way, but still, 4,000 is a lot.

1938: Pioneering aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan arrives in Ireland instead of Los Angeles like his flight plan had stated; as a result, his reserved table at the Brown Derby is given to Don Ameche.

1942: The first legal horse race is held in New Jersey in 50 years when Garden State Park track opens; locals react, "Legal schmegal, gimme $10 on Santa Baby to show in the third race."

Today in Yesteryear

1922: First duck-billed platypus ever publicly exhibited in the U.S. makes an appearance at a New York zoo.

1929: In Oakland, California, the first airport hotel opens. While delighted by the in-room radio, guests note that the minibar's penny candy costs 35¢.

1971: Nixon announces he will visit Red China.