Wednesday, April 18, 2018

This Date in History - April 18

Happy birthday in Heaven to Perry Mason's favorite secretary.  She just passed a little while ago.

1025:  BOLESLAW CHROBRY IS CROWNED IN GNIEZNO, BECOMING THE FIRST KING OF POLAND.

This is the second time the name "Boleslaw" has shown up here in a month and I simply can't resort to the coleslaw gag again.

1506:  THE CORNERSTONE OF THE CURRENT ST. PATER'S BASILICA IS LAID.

I didn't even know the cornerstone was sexually active.

1518:  BONA SFORZA IS CROWNED AS QUEEN CONSORT OF POLAND.

Bona Sforza sounds like a treat for Italian dogs.

1636:  ENGLISH JUDGE JULIUS CAESAR DIES.

Clever name your folks gave you, Julie.

1689: BOSTONIANS RISE UP IN REBELLION AGAINST ST. EDMUND ANDROS.

Andros must have been a Yankee fan.

1775:  DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, PAUL REVERE AND OTHER RIDES WARN THE COUNTRYSIDE OF THE TROOP MOVEMENTS.

One lone voice from a home on the way:  Shaddap!  You woke the baby!

1831:  THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IS FOUNDED.

Where the tusks are looser.

1848:  AMERICAN VICTORY AT THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO OPENS THE WAY FOR INVASION OF MEXICO.

Back when the invasion was going south and not the other way around.

1881:  BILLY THE KID ESCAPES FROM THE LINCOLN COUNTY JAIL IN NEW MEXICO.

Who let the kid out?  Whoop, whoop, whoop.  Who let the kid out?  Whoop, whoop, whoop.

1906:  AN EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE DESTROY MUCH OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

I left my heart...and a whole lot of other body parts....in San Francisco.

1907:  MOVIE COMPOSER MIKLOS ROZSA IS BORN.

He did the fantastic score for "Ben-Hur," among hundreds of others.

1912:  THE CUNARD LINER "CARPATHIA"  BRINGS 705 SURVIVORS FROM THE "TITANIC" TO NEW YORK CITY.

Leonardo DiCaprio was not one of them.

1922:  ACTRESS BARBARA HALE IS BORN.

Made it all the way to 95.   She didn't get cheated.

1923:  YANKEE STADIUM OPENS.

The first one.  Just in case you didn't realize that.

1924:  SIMON AND SCHUSTER PUBLISHES THE FIRST CROSSWORD PUZZLE BOOK.

Finally people have something to do during long hospital stays.

1930:  BBC RADIO ANNOUNCES THAT THERE IS NO NEWS ON THIS DAY.

Well, that's good news.

1934:  ACTOR JAMES DRURY IS BORN.

TV's Virginian!!!!

1942:  DURING WORLD WAR II, JAPAN IS BOMBED DURING THE DOOLITTLE RAID.

That's hardly doing little.

1942:  BASEBALL PITCHER STEVE BLASS IS BORN.

And that's outside.  Ball four.

1945:  JOURNALIST ERNIE PYLE IS KILLED.

Now under one.

1946:  ACTRESS HAYLEY MILLS IS BORN.

I once saw her in the waiting room for an ultrasound.

1953:  ACTOR RICK MORANIS IS BORN.

Mommy, I shrunk your uterus.

1954:  GAMAL ABDAL NASSER SEIZES POWER IN EGYPT.

Several years before he started the United States' space program.

1955:  PHYSICIST ALBERT EINSTEIN DIES.

Well, there goes the Math club.

1958:  A UNITED STATES FEDERAL COURT RULES THAT POET EXRA POUND BE RELEASED FROM AN INSANE ASYLUM.

Having already gotten his pound of flesh.

1961:  ACTRESS JANE LEEVES IS BORN.

Daphne!!

1981:  THE LONGEST PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL GAME IS BEGUN IN PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND.  THE GAME IS COMPLETED ON JUNE 23.

A tip of the cap to all those who stayed and had to go to work the next morning.

2002:  EXPLORER THOR HEYERDAHL DIES.

Kon-No-More-Tiki.

2002:  WRESTLER/PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER WAHOO MCDANIEL DIES.

I know of only one blog reader who will smile when he reads this.

2007:  THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES UPHOLDS THE PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN ACT IN A 5-4 DECISION.

What the hell is a partial birth anyway?  The feet come out and the head stays in for a couple of years?

2012:  TV PERSONALITY DICK CLARK DIES.

Casket.   Flowers.   Mourners.  I got it.  "Things at a Funeral."

Dinner last night:  Leftover steak and tomatoes.

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