This Date in History - January 29

Happy birthday to Katharine Ross.   I've seen her recently and she doesn't look like this picture any more.   But, then again, who does?

757:  AN LUSHAN, LEADER OF A REVOLT AGAINST THE TANG DYNASTY AND EMPEROR OF YAN, IS MURDERED BY HIS OWN SON.

Tang Dynasty?   Do I have a coupon from them?  Or am I confused?

904:  SERGIUS III COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT TO TAKE OVER THE PAPACY FROM THE DEPOSED ANTIPOPE.

Is there such a thing as an Unclepope?

1834:  US PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON ORDERS FIRST USE OF FEDERAL SOLDIERS TO SUPPRESS A LABOR DISPUTE.

And won't be the last.

1845:  "THE RAVEN" BY EDGAR ALLAN POE IS PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Book report due on February 5, 1845.

1861:  KANSAS IS ADMITTED AS THE 34TH US STATE.

Well, Dorothy and Toto have to live someplace.

1880:  ACTOR W.C. FIELDS IS BORN.

Whipsnade, whipsnade.

1886:  KARL BENZ PATENTS THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL GAS-DRIVEN AUTOMOBILE.

Somebody get Mercedes on the horn.

1900:  THE AMERICAN LEAGUE IS ORGANIZED WITH EIGHT FOUNDING TEAMS.

And no designated hitter, I might add.

1913:  ACTOR VICTOR MATURE IS BORN.

He lived for 86 years so he did live up to his last name.

1916:  DURING WORLD WAR I, PARIS IS FIRST BOMBED BY GERMAN ZEPPELINS.

And it won't be the last.

1918:  THE BOLSHEVIK RED ARMY, ON ITS WAY TO BESIEGE KIEV, IS MET BY A SMALL GROUP OF MILITARY STUDENTS.

At what point does the chicken get to Kiev?

1918:  ACTOR JOHN FORSYTHE IS BORN.

Bachelor Father!

1923:  AUTHOR PADDY CHAYEFSKY IS BORN.

I'm mad as hell and I'm going to take it anymore!

1936:  THE FIRST INDUCTEES INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME ARE ANNOUNCED.

And they were Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Matthewson, Honus Wagner, and Babe Ruth.

1942:  SINGER CLAUDINE LONGET IS BORN.

She's a killer on the ski slopes.   Really.

1943:  ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE BATTLE OF RENNELL ISLAND, THE US CRUISER CHICAGO IS TORPEDOED AND HEAVILY DAMAGED BY JAPANESE BOMBERS.

War is hell.  So is doing comedy.

1944:  ACTRESS KATHARINE ROSS IS BORN.

An early fantasy for yours truly.

1963:  THE FIRST INDUCTEES INTO THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME ARE ANNOUNCED.

There were about twenty of them.  I can't be bothered.  Look them up yourself.

1963:  POET ROBERT FROST DIES.

The temperature must have gone over 32 degrees.

1964:  ACTOR ALAN LADD DIES.

Goodbye, Shane.

1967:  THE "ULTIMATE HIGH"  OF THE HIPPIE ERA TAKES PLACE IN SAN FRANCISCO AND FEATURES JANIS JOPLIN, GRATEFUL DEAD, AND ALLEN GINSBERG.

I'll bet.

1977:  ACTOR FREDDIE PRINZE DIES.

Shot himself in the head at a hotel around the corner from my current home.  

1980:  ENTERTAINER JIMMY DURANTE DIES.

Good night from Mrs. Calabash.

1996:  PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC ANNOUNCES A DEFINITIVE END TO FRENCH NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING.

As if anybody is scared of the French.

2002:  IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH DESCRIBES "REGIMES THAT SPONSOR TERROR" AS AN AXIS OF EVIL IN WHICH HE INCLUDES IRAQ, IRAN, AND NORTH KOREA.

Face it, gang.  Was he wrong?

2002:  ACTOR HAROLD RUSSELL DIES.

The guy with the hooks in "Best Years of Our Lives."

2007:  RACE HORSE BARBARO DIES.

Allegedly a suicide.

2008:  SINGER MARGARET TRUMAN DIES.

She still couldn't play that damn piano.

2009:  GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS ROD BLAGOJEVICH IS CONVICTED OF SEVERAL CORRUPTION CHARGES, INCLUDING THE ALLEGED SOLICITATION OF PERSONAL BENEFIT IN EXCHANGE FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO THE US SENATE.

It seems like just yesterday that this was swept under the rug.

Dinner last night:  Leftover beef stew.