[buddyjh]

186th day of 2009 - 179 remaining

Sunday, July 5, 2009
GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH DAY

Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey’s circus, the Greatest Show on Earth, was the brainchild of a man who said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” P.T. Barnum was born on this day in 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut.

His first ‘pull the wool over their eyes’ act happened in 1830, when he had people believing that an elderly black woman, Joice Heth, was George Washington’s childhood nurse. The gullible public supported him successfully for over three decades as owner of the P.T. Barnum’s Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome.

The museum housed several improbable attractions including the Fiji Mermaid (a fishtailed doll with a dried monkey head & torso). P.T. did have some legitimacy. He displayed Jumbo, the world’s largest elephant, and General Tom Thumb, the world’s smallest man, the first set of Siamese twins, and the famous soprano Jenny Lind. He even arranged a successful tour for her.

Most of what Barnum had to offer would be considered the side show of today’s circus. But it was he who created the circus as we know it. Merging with Mr. Bailey and later, the Ringling Brothers in 1907, P.T. Barnum left us the lasting legacy of the circus extravaganza, housing true attractions along with the fake.

The most successful and outrageous showman of the times, Phineas Taylor Barnum was still a man of his word. After all, was there ever a greater show than the Greatest Show on Earth?

Bring on the cotton candy, the clowns, the daring young man on the flying trapeze, and the parade of elephants. We’re ready to be suckered.

Events
July 5
1865 - William Booth formed the internationally acclaimed Salvation Army in London, England. The Salvation Army’s officers are ordained ministers who have vowed to serve the Army for life. The Army has units in over 80 countries.

1865 - Make no sudden moves. Those guys with the dark glasses and the earphone in one ear could be watching ... even here on the web! Ever wonder why U.S. Secret Service agents pictured in movies talk into their hands? Is it to stifle a cough? Is it because Mr. Microphone is hidden in the palm of their hand? Is it because they just like talking into their hand? We’ll go with Mr. Microphone. Anyway, it was on this day that the United States Secret Service was created. At first, the agency was only responsible for protecting against the counterfeiting of U.S. currency. In 1901, following the assassination of President William McKinley, the Secret Service began protecting the President of the U.S. The scope of responsibility for the Secret Service has grown enormously over the years. This arm of the U.S. Treasury is now also responsible for guarding the White House, the Executive Office Building, the Treasury building and annex along with all the billions of $$$ stored in its vaults.

1916 - Adeline and Augusta Van Buren started on the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour attempted by two women. The bikers left New York City this day and arrived in San Diego, CA on September 12th.

1934 - Love in Bloom, sung by Bing Crosby with Irving Aaronson’s orchestra, was recorded for Brunswick Records in Los Angeles. The song was fairly popular, but became a much bigger success when comedian Jack Benny made it a popular standard.

1942 - Edsel Ford of Detroit was disappointed to discover that because of strict wartime auto rationing, he was unable to get a car until his application had been approved by the government. Mr. Ford’s family had, incidentally, produced over 30 million automobiles to that day. And, yes, he later had the Edsel named after him.

1943 - The Adventures of Nero Wolfe debuted on the Blue Network. Nero Wolfe was “the detective genius who rated the knife and fork the greatest tools ever invented by man.” The ‘gargantuan gourmet’ continued on the radio until 1951.

1946 - The first two-piece brief swimsuit was shown in public. The bikini was worn by a model at a press party. According to our Bikini Encyclopedia, it wasn’t long before the creation of Louis Réard went from making the rounds of media events to the beaches of the world. Mr. Réard, incidentally, called his bikini creation, “four triangles of nothing.”

1947 - The first black baseball player in the American League joined the lineup of the Cleveland Indians. Larry Doby played his first game against the Chicago White Sox. He played for both the Indians and the White Sox during his 13-year, major-league career.

1948 - My Favorite Husband, with Lucille Ball, became the gifted redhead’s first regular radio program on CBS. Lee Bowman, and later, Richard Denning, co-starred with Lucy as “two people who live together and like it.”

1951 - The Silver Eagle debuted on ABC radio as a late entry into radio’s action-adventure lineup. Jim Ameche starred as Jim West. The program continued for four years and marked the last of radio’s long list of adventure shows.

1951 - Dr. William Shockley announced that he had invented a working and efficient junction transistor at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ.

1954 - Elvis Presley recorded That’s All Right (Mama) and Blue Moon of Kentucky. It was his first session for Sam Phillips and Sun Records in Memphis, TN.

1962 - Bob Garibaldi got a bonus of $150,000 as he signed with the San Francisco Giants.

1969 - Rod Laver became the first man to win four Wimbledon tennis titles.

1982 - For the first time since 1974, Jimmy Connors won the men’s singles tennis title at Wimbledon. Connors beat John McEnroe 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

1985 - Baseball history was made when the New York Mets finally beat the Atlanta Braves (by a 16-13 score) in Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. A five-run rally for the Mets in the 19th inning sealed the win at 3:55 a.m. The line score of the game: 46 hits, 29 runs, 19 innings, two rain delays and the game length was 6 hours and 10 minutes. A Fourth of July fireworks show followed the game (at 4 a.m.).

1986 - Janet Jackson finally took Control and got all the way to the top of U.S. LP charts. She was the youngest (19 years old) to hit number one with an LP since Little Steve Wonder (The 12 Year Old Genius) in 1963. Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Control was her third album, but her first to hit number one. Tracks from the LP, What Have You Done for Me Lately became Jackson’s first top-five single and Nasty made it to number three.

1987 - Pat Cash, the 22-year-old, #11 seed, captured the Wimbledon singles tennis championship by defeating Ivan Lendl.

1991 - Regulators in seven countries, including the U.S., shut down BCCI (Bank of Commerce and Credit International). The institution and four of its units were indicted for fraud, theft, and money laundering from corrupt activities. In July 1990 five former officials of BCCI were convicted in Tampa, Florida for laundering $32 million in cocaine profits for Colombia’s Medellín drug cartel.

1994 - Hootie and the Blowfish released their first LP, Cracked Rear View But it didn’t zoom to the top of the charts. The group had to get lots of help from a guy named David Letterman before their album made it big. Letterman heard one of the tracks, Hold My Hand, on the radio and invited the band to appear on The Late Show. Cracked Rear View finally hit number one on May 27, 1995. By mid-1996, the album had sold more than 13 million copies in the U.S.


Birthdays
July 5
1801 - David Farragut
Civil War Union Navy Admiral: “**** the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”; died Aug 14, 1870

1810 - P. T. (Phineus Taylor) Barnum
circus showman; died Apr 7, 1891; see Greatest Show on Earth Day [above]

1853 - Cecil John Rhodes
diamond tycoon; founded Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford University; the African country of Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe] was named after him; died Mar 26, 1902

1879 - Dwight (Filley) Davis
Tennis Hall of Famer [inducted in 1956]: founder of Davis Cup [donated first trophy in 1900]; played for winning U.S. team in first two Davis Cup finals [1900, 1902]; champ: U.S./Wimbledon doubles [1901]; politician: St. Louis, MO Parks Commissioner [1911]; U.S. Secretary of War [1925-1929] under President Calvin Coolidge; died Nov 28, 1945

1902 - Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
American diplomat: U.S. Ambassador: U.N., Viet Nam; died in 1985

1904 - Milburn Stone
actor: Gunsmoke, Arrowhead, The Sun Shines Bright, Atomic City, Branded, Heading for Heaven; died June 12, 1980

1923 - John McKay
College Football Hall of Famer: head coach: USC: only coach to take a team to the Rose Bowl 4 years in a row [1967-70]; head coach: Tampa Bay Buccaneers; died June 10, 2001

1924 - Janos Starker
Grammy Award-winning cellist [Instrumental Soloist without Orchestra: 1997]: Bach: Suites for Solo Cello Nos. 1–6; Grand prix du disque [France: 1948]

1928 - Katherine Helmond
actress: Soap, The House of Blue Leaves, Who’s the Boss, Brazil, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

1928 - Warren Oates
actor: Dillinger, Wild Bunch, In the Heat of the Night, Stripes, The Blue and the Gray, Prime Time, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Rawhide; stunt tester: Beat the Clock; died Apr 3, 1982

1934 - Gordy (Gordon Calvin) Coleman
baseball: Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds [World Series: 1961]; died Mar 12, 1994

1936 - Shirley Knight
actress: Dark at the Top of the Stairs, The Group, 21 Hours at Munich, Sweet Bird of Youth, Color of Night

1943 - Curt (Curtis Le Roy) Blefary
baseball: Baltimore Orioles [Rookie of the Year: 1965/World Series: 1966], Houston Astros, NY Yankees, Oakland Athletics, SD Padres; died Jan 28, 2001

1943 - (Jamie) Robbie Robertson
composer, musician: guitar: group: The Band: Up on Cripple Creek, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Shape I’m In, River Hymn, Life is a Carnival

1950 - Huey Lewis (Cregg)
musician: harmonica, singer: group: Huey Lewis and the News: Power of Love, Stuck with You, Trouble in Paradise, Heart of Rock and Roll, Heart and Soul, Doin’ It [All for My Baby], Do You Believe in Love, Power of Love, [Too] Hip to Be Square

1950 - Gary (Nathaniel) Matthews
baseball: San Francisco Giants [Rookie of the Year: 1973], Atlanta Braves [all-star: 1979], Philadelphia Phillies [World Series: 1983], Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners

1950 - Michael Monarch
musician: guitar: group: Steppenwolf: Born to Be Wild, The Pusher, Magic Carpet Ride, Rock Me

1951 - Rich (Richard Michael) ‘Goose’ Gossage
baseball: Chicago White Sox [all-star: 1975, 1976], Pittsburgh Pirates [all-star: 1977], NY Yankees {World Series: 1978, 1981/all-star: 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982], SD Padres [World Series: 1984/all-star: 1984, 1985], Chicago Cubs , SF Giants, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners

1952 -Don (Donald John) DeMola
baseball: pitcher: Montreal Expos

1956 - James Lofton
football: wide receiver: NFL Individual Record for career yards gained 14,004 [1978-1995]: Green Bay Packers, LA Raiders, Buffalo Bills, LA Rams, Philadelphia Eagles

1968 - Jillian Armenante
actress: Judging Amy, The Seven Mysteries of Life, Delivered, Girl, Interrupted

1975 - Chris Gratton
hockey: NHL: Tampa-Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche


Chart Toppers
July 5
1946They Say It’s Wonderful - Frank Sinatra
The Gypsy - The Ink Spots
All Through the Day - Perry Como
New Spanish Two Step - Bob Wills

1954Little Things Mean a Lot - Kitty Kallen
Hernando’s Hideaway - Archie Bleyer
Three Coins in the Fountain - The Four Aces
Even Tho - Webb Pierce

1962I Can’t Stop Loving You - Ray Charles
The Stripper - David Rose
Palisades Park - Freddy Cannon
Wolverton Mountain - Claude King

1970The Love You Save - The Jackson 5
Mama Told Me (Not to Come) - Three Dog Night
Ball of Confusion - The Temptations
He Loves Me All the Way - Tammy Wynette

1978Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
It’s a Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
It Only Hurts for a Little While - Margo Smith

1986There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) - Billy Ocean
Holding Back the Years - Simply Red
Who’s Johnny - El DeBarge
Everything that Glitters (Is Not Gold) - Dan Seals

Chart Topper July 5th, 1962...I Can't Stop Loving You-Ray Charles

[Victor Hugo]

I Can't Stop Loving You-Ray Charles, thanks Buddy for the flashback.

[slowboy]

THANKS FOR GREAT INFO !!!!!!!l

[deanluna]

thanks buddy.,.,a good read.

[MOE23]

thanks buddy good info !

[Crystal Dragon]

Great stuff as always Buddy... Thanks!!!
... one day my head gonna go splody...

[ccelectro]

Another fine read, Thanks Buddy.