[buddyjh]

61st day of 2010 - 304 remaining

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
LUCKY LADY II DAY


For the first time in history, no enemy country anywhere in the world could attack the U.S. without potentially being in instant danger, itself. The flight of the USAF B-50 bomber, #B-5046010 aptly named Lucky Lady II, proved that an airplane could be refueled in-air and fly around the world, nonstop.

It took 94 hours from takeoff at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas for Lucky Lady II to return to home base on this day in 1949. The crew of 14, commanded by Captain James Gallagher; second pilot 1st Lt. Arthur M. Neal, and copilot Capt. James H. Morris, refueled in mid-air four times, once over the Azores, then over Saudi Arabia, followed the third day in flight over the Philippines and then over Hawaii.

Although they met with extreme adversity –- turbulence, bad weather, mechanical problems, extreme fatigue, and tragedy (a tanker plane returning to Clark Field in the Philippines after the refueling crashed, killing all aboard) –- the mission was deemed a major success.

All members of the crew of Lucky Lady II received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the MacKay Trophy for the most meritorious U.S. Air Force flight of the year.

Today, the flight of Lucky Lady II is all but forgotten. However, it was the start of something bigger, changing the world-view of the power of America’s land-based bombers.

Events
March 2
1866 - The Excelsior Needle Company of Wolcottville, Connecticut began making sewing machine needles.

1903 - The Martha Washington Hotel opened for business in New York City. The hotel featured 416 rooms and was the first hotel exclusively for women.

1925 - State and federal highway officials developed a nationwide route-numbering system and adopted the familiar U.S. shield-shaped numbered marker. For instance, in the east, there is U.S. 1 that runs from New England to Florida and in the west, the corresponding highway, U.S. 101, from Tacoma, WA to San Diego, CA.

1927 - Babe Ruth signed a 3-year contract with the New York Yankees for a guarantee of $70,000 a year, thus becoming baseball’s highest paid player.

1940 - The first televised intercollegiate track meet was seen by TV viewers in New York City as W2XBS presented the action live from Madison Square Garden. New York University won the meet.

1944 - The 16th Academy Awards celebration moved from a banquet hall to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood; hosted by comedian/actor Jack Benny. The Outstanding Motion Picture was Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz, who won an Oscar for his efforts. Best Actor of 1943 was Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine and Best Actor in a Supporting Role was Charles Coburn for The More the Merrier. The Best Actress award was presented to Twenty-four-year-old Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette and Best Actress in a Supporting Role was Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Stephen Dunn of The RKO Radio Studio Sound Department and Sound Director for This Land is Mine, picked up the Oscar for ... what else? ... Sound Recording. Best Music, Song winners were Jule Styne (music), Harold Adamson (lyrics) for the song, Change of Heart, from the movie of the same name. And, did you know that the United States Navy received an Oscar? It was for the Documentary (Short Subject) they produced, December 7th. That was fun. Now, let’ go outside and look at all the hand prints in the cement along the boulevard.

1957 - Teenage heartthrob Tab Hunter’s song Young Love was number one in the U.S.

1958 - British geologist Dr. Vivian Fuchs reached McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea, thus completing the first crossing of Antarctica by land. As a part of the International Geophysical Year, the Commonwealth of Nations organized the expedition, which covered 2,158 miles (3,473 kilometers).

1962 - Wilt ‘The Stilt’ Chamberlain scored 100 points and broke an NBA record as the Philadelphia Warriors beat the New York Knicks 169-147. Chamberlain broke NBA marks for the most field goal attempts (63), most field goals made (36), most free throws made (28), most points in a half (59), most field goal attempts in a half (37), most field goals made in a half (22), and most field goal attempts in one quarter (21). The 316 total points scored tied an NBA record. What’s not known is if Chamberlain set the record for most gallons of sweat pouring off a man’s body during a game.

1974 - Stevie Wonder got five Grammy Awards for his album, Innervisions and his hit songs, You Are The Sunshine of My Life and Superstition.

1974 - U.S. Postage stamps jumped from eight to ten cents this day for first-class mail. This way, your first-class letter came with a first-class price as well! Just wait another 20 years and see what happened...

1984 - The first McDonald’s franchise was closed -- in Des Plaines, IL. After 30 years of selling burgers, Mickey D’s opened a new drive-in restaurant right across the McStreet.

1985 - Country singer Gary Morris hit #1 on the country charts for the first time with Baby Bye Bye, from his album, Faded Blue.

1987 - Government officials reported that the median price for a new home had topped $100,000 for the first time. The new six-figure price: $110,700, actually, was up from $94,600.

1999 - Singer Dusty Springfield (Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Look of Love, Son of a Preacher Man) lost her battle with breast cancer. She was 59 years old.

2001 - These films opened in the U.S.: The Mexican, starring Brad Pitt. Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini and Bob Balaban; and See Spot Run, with David Arquette, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb and Joe Viterelli.

Birthdays
March 2
1793 - Sam Houston
fought for Texas’ independence from Mexico; President of Republic of Texas; U.S. Senator; Texas governor; died July 26, 1863

1810 - Pope Leo XIII
Gioc***** Vincenzo Pecci) (256th pope of the Roman Catholic Church [1878-1903]; died July 20, 1903

1904 - Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author [1984]: The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Green Eggs and Ham; died Sep 24, 1991

1909 - Mel (Melvin Thomas) Ott
‘Master Melvin’: baseball: NY Giants [World Series: 1933, 1936, 1937/all-star: 1934-1945/consecutive batting record: walks in a row (7) June 16-18, 1943]; died Nov 21, 1958

1914 - Martin Ritt
director: Norma Rae, The Front, Sounder, Hud; died Dec 8, 1990

1917 - Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Alberto Arnez y De Acha III)
bandleader, singer: Babalu; actor: I Love Lucy; married to Lucille Ball; co-owner of Desilu Productions; introduced 3-camera sitcom technique; died Dec 2, 1986

1919 - Jennifer Jones (Phyllis Isley)
Academy Award-winning actress: The Song of Bernadette [1943], Carrie, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Towering Inferno; died Dec 17, 2009

1923 - (Arthel Lane) Doc Watson
Grammy Award-winning singer, musician: flat-picking guitarist: LPs: Then and Now [1973], Two Days in November [1974]

1930 - John Cullum
Tony Award-winning actor: Shenandoah [1975], On the Twentieth Century [1978]; Marie, Sweet Country, Northern Exposure, Secret Life of Algernon

1931 - Mikhail Gorbachev
President of the Soviet Union [1990-1991]

1931 - Tom Wolfe
author: The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Right Stuff

1932 - Chico (Humberto Perez) Fernandez
baseball: shortstop: Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, NY Mets

1934 - Howard Cassady
football: Heisman Trophy winner: Ohio State [1955]

1934 - Doug Watkins
jazz musician: bass: Pepper-Knepper Quintet, Hank Mobley Quartet, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers; killed in car crash Feb 5, 1962

1935 - Al Waxman (Albert Samuel Waxman)
actor: Cagney & Lacey, The Victors, Wild Horse Hank, Meatballs III, Iron Eagle IV, The Hurricane; died Jan 18, 2001

1942 - John Irving
author: Cider House Rules, The World According to Garp

1942 - Lou Reed (Lewis Alan Reed)
singer, songwriter, guitarist: group: Velvet Underground; solo: Walk on the Wild Side, Charley’s Girl; I Love You Suzanne; appeared in Paul Simon film: One Trick Pony

1949 - Eddie Money (Mahoney)
musician, singer: Baby Hold On, I Wanna Go Back, Peace in Our Time, Take Me Home Tonight, I Think I’m in Love, Walk on Water

1950 - Karen Carpenter
drummer, singer: Grammy Award-winning group: The Carpenters: Best New Artist, Group w/Vocal: Close to You [1970]; We’ve Only Just Begun, Top of the World, Please Mr. Postman; died Feb 4, 1983

1952 - Laraine Newman
comedienne, actress: Saturday Night Live

1955 - Jay Osmond
singer: group: The Osmond Brothers

1956 - John Cowsill
singer: group: The Cowsills: The Rain, The Park and Other Things, We Can Fly, Hair, Indian Lake

1956 - Mark Evans
musician: bass: group: AC/DC: LP: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, For Those About to Rock

1962 - Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi)
singer, musician, songwriter: You Give Love a Bad Name, Living on a Prayer, Blaze of Glory, LPs: Bon Jovi, 7800 Fahrenheit

ABA Birthdays Today

abfnavajo38 (71) , Marie Leblanc (67) , jolarry (65) , gatofelix (61) , gorang (60) , eusebio (48) , Mas (48) , sapeca (46) , Reno05 (45) , benoy (45) , tridung (44) , algaan99 (42) , binebutch (40) , 55x (40) , year2005 (40) , freeairtoall (39) , cojones (38) , zvezdas (36) , below_ten (36) , luis12 (34) , moopy (33) , araouaraou (32) , johanna9112 (30) , ekiny3k (30) , carlosd81 (29) , bigvedo (26)

Chart Toppers
March 2
1949Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
Powder Your Face with Sunshine - Evelyn Knight
Galway Bay - Bing Crosby
Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle - Eddy Arnold

1957Young Love - Tab Hunter
Teen-Age Crush - Tommy Sands
Butterfly - Charlie Gracie
There You Go - Johnny Cash

1965This Diamond Ring - Gary Lewis & The Playboys
My Girl - The Temptations
The Jolly Green Giant - The Kingsmen
I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail - Buck Owens

1973Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack
Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell
Could It Be I’m Falling in Love - Spinners
Rated "X" - Loretta Lynn

1981I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt
Woman - John Lennon
Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
Southern Rains - Mel Tillis

1989Straight Up - Paula Abdul
Lost in Your Eyes - Debbie Gibson
The Lover in Me - Sheena Easton
I Sang Dixie - Dwight Yoakam

Chart Topper March 2nd, 1965...This Diamond Ring - Gary Lewis & The Playboys

[peggy13]

Thank you Buddy!! Have a great Tuesday!

[steven charles]

thanks for another great piece of history buddy, and thanks for sharing it my friend...

[Victor Hugo]

Thanks Buddy, for the Excellent Job.

[slowboy]

thanks FOR THE GREAT INFO

[snakebite]

thanks again buddy ,very interesting post.

[yipitsme]

Thank you Buddy for all the information, Have yourself a good day my friend.

[brewboy]

Thanks for the history lesson. great job.

[dt8350]

Always a great morning read!
Thanks Buddy!

[Crystal Dragon]

I do not like
green eggs
and ham!

I do not like them,
Buddy-I-am.


Thanks for the great post!!
As always, awesome stuff!!

[marty napier]

buddy thank you have a good day!

[just4ufolks]

MY
FRIEND

for all you do and for your untiring
effort
to bring this thread on daily basis
keep going

UR
appreciated & admired

Thx again

[unclepaul]

Thanks buddy.have a great day