A look ahead and back in time, to the events that shaped our world this week in history. That sounds very portentious. OK, nothing really heavy until we discuss the bombing of Pearl Harbor toward the end of this blog post.

November 29th —  1989 8th Largest wrestling crowd [60,000] gathered to watch a match in the Tokyo Dome.  1965 Dale Cummings does 14,118 consecutive sit-ups (no estimate of the crowd at that event, though we assume the place was packed). In music news, 1963, Beatles release “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and also in 1963, Lyndon Baines Johnson sets up Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The first “Chimp in Outer Space” was Enos, orbiting the Earth aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5. Older readers will remember “Kukla, Fran, and Ollie”, a puppet show that debuted on NBC TV in 1948.

November 30 – 1978 Clay Aiken, American Idol was born.  Ben Stiller, actor, was born in 1975. Rocker Billy Idol, [William Broad], was born in 1955.

December 1 — 1997 Westinghouse  formally changes its name to CBS after buying the network. Westinghouse was an appliance manufacturer. What other appliance manufacturer owns one of the major TV networks? GE. They own NBC. Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere announced they are seperating in 1994. Dentist Barney B Clark received the 1st artificial heart in 1982. That was the same year Michael Jackson released “Thriller”. In 1971,  John and Yoko release “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” in US. The 1st color photograph of Earth was received from outer space in 1959.  Cable television was born on this day in 1936, as Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for TV use.

December 2 — Brittney Spears was born in 1981, Stone Phillips, news host, NBC Dateline (1954).  ”Naked Gun” premiered, in 1988. It was a movie based on TV’s “Police Squad”. Neil Diamond and Barbra Striesand’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” hit #1 in 1978.

Decmber 3 — Ozzy Osbourne, [Black Sabbath-Bark at the Moon] was born in 1948. In 1950, Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast. And, “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” 1st broadcast on TV in 1964.

December 4 – Max Baer, Jr., Jethro Bodine on Beverly Hillbillies was born in 1937.
On this day in 1991, Islamic militants in Lebanon release kidnapped American journalist Terry Anderson after 2,454 days in captivity. As chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, Anderson covered the long-running civil war in Lebanon (1975-1990). On March 16, 1985, he was kidnapped on a west Beirut street while leaving a tennis court. His captors took him to the southern suburbs of the city, where he was held prisoner in an underground dungeon for the next six-and-a-half years.  In 1999, he sued the Iranian government for $100 million, accusing it of sponsoring his kidnappers; he received a multi-million dollar settlement. Imagine that, suing terrorists!

Also on this day, December 4, 1783, future President George Washington, then commanding general of the Continental Army, summons his military officers to Fraunces Tavern in New York City to inform them that he will be resigning his commission and returning to civilian life. In 1789, Washington was elected first  President of the United States.   December 4, 1619 was America’s 1st Thanksgiving Day (held in Virginia)

December 5 1879 — 1st automatic telephone switching system patented. 100 years later, yours truly became a telephone operator at Pacific Northwest Bell. This was prior to the break-up of AT&T. The good ‘ol days! Walt Disney was born on this day in 1901. Disney died December 15, 1966 of complications from lung cancer.

December 6, 1877 1st sound recording was made. Thomas Edison recited a nursery rhyme. Hear it here. http://www.qzvx.com/thedealis/thedealis.rss
Edison is credited with inventing the phonograph, the light bulb, and motion pictures

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory killing more than 2,300 Americans. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed and the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized. The attack sank three other ships and damaged many additional vessels. More than 180 aircraft were destroyed. The following day President Franklin Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, called December 7 “a date which will live in infamy.” Declaring war against Japan, Congress ushered the United States into World War II .

Related posts:

  1. American Idol 2009 I was able to catch American Idol a while bac,,...
  2. New Year’s Eve Double Feature Rather than party with the masses in a horn-blowing, booze...
  3. The Secrets of Affordable Family Vacations In times of economical difficulties like many other large families,...