Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
Updated July 7, 2012, 2:28 pm
On July 8, 1950, Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.
Go to article »On July 8, 1839, John D. Rockefeller, who founded the Standard Oil Co. and gave more than $500 million to charitable causes, was born. Following his death on May 23, 1937, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1663 King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island. 1776 Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia. 1853 An expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese. 1889 The Wall Street Journal was first published. 1891 Warren G. Harding married Florence K. DeWolfe in Marion, Ohio. 1907 Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first “Follies,” on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City. 1919 President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France. 1950 Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea. 1986 Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes. 1994 Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s communist leader since 1948, died at age 82. 2004 Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay pleaded innocent to charges related to the energy company’s collapse. (He was convicted, but died while the case was on appeal.) 2010 During an ESPN prime-time special, basketball free agent LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. 2011 Former first lady Betty Ford died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Billy Crudup turns 44 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Actress Sophia Bush (“One Tree Hill”) turns 30 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1926 John Dingell, U S. representative, D-Mich., turns 86 1932 Jerry Vale, Singer, turns 80 1935 Steve Lawrence, Singer, turns 77 1942 Phil Gramm, Former U.S. senator, R-Texas, turns 70 1944 Jeffrey Tambor, Actor (“Arrested Development”), turns 68 1947 Kim Darby, Actress, turns 65 1951 Anjelica Huston, Actress, turns 61 1952 Jack Lambert, Football Hall of Famer, turns 60 1952 Anna Quindlen, Writer, turns 60 1958 Kevin Bacon, Actor, turns 54 1961 Toby Keith, Country singer, turns 51 1962 Rob Burnett, Writer, producer, turns 50 1962 Joan Osborne, Rock singer, turns 50 1970 Beck, Rock musician, turns 42 1977 Milo Ventimiglia, Actor (“Heroes”), turns 35 1985 Jamie Cook, Rock musician (Arctic Monkeys), turns 27 1998 Jaden Smith, Actor (“The Pursuit of Happyness”), turns 14
Historic Birthdays
John D. Rockefeller 7/8/1839 – 5/23/1937 American industrialist and philanthropist.Go to obituary »
78 Samuel Gross 7/8/1805 – 5/6/1884
American surgeon, teacher and author54 Alfred Binet 7/8/1857 – 10/18/1911
French psychologist; developed measures of intelligence77 Kathe Kollwitz 7/8/1867 – 4/22/1945
German graphic artist and sculptor78 Percy Grainger 7/8/1882 – 2/28/1961
Australian-born American composer, pianist and conductor92 Ernst Bloch 7/8/1885 – 8/4/1977
German Marxist philosopher83 Alec Waugh 7/8/1898 – 9/3/1981
English novelist and travel writer81 David Lilienthal 7/8/1899 – 1/15/1981
American businessman and government official70 Nelson Rockefeller 7/8/1908 – 1/26/1979
American politician; New York governor (1959-73) and U.S. vice president (1974-7)66 Louis Jordan 7/8/1908 – 2/4/1975
American singer, saxophonist and bandleader78 Billy Eckstine 7/8/1914 – 3/8/1993
American singer and bandleader
A surprise bouquet from two puppies! (As if the card, cake, and presents weren’t enough!)
Updated July 6, 2012, 2:28 pm
On July 7, 1981, President Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the United States Supreme Court.
Go to article »On July 7, 1906, Satchel Paige, the pitching star of Negro League and major-league baseball, was born. Following his death on June 8, 1982, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1846 U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison. 1865 Four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., after being convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. 1898 The United States annexed Hawaii. 1930 Construction began on Boulder Dam on the Colorado River. 1954 Elvis Presley made his radio debut when Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.” 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill. 1987 Lt. Col. Oliver North began his public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing, telling Congress that he had “never carried out a single act, not one” without authorization. 1990 Martina Navratilova won a record ninth women’s singles title at Wimbledon. 2003 A federal judge approved a settlement fining WorldCom $750 million for its $11 billion accounting scandal. 2005 Terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four suicide bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Author David McCullough turns 79 years old today.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Actress Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”) turns 36 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1927 Doc Severinsen, Bandleader, turns 85 1940 Ringo Starr, Rock musician (The Beatles), turns 72 1946 Joe Spano, Actor, turns 66 1947 Linda Williams, Country singer, turns 65 1949 Shelley Duvall, Actress, turns 63 1959 Billy Campbell, Actor, turns 53 1963 Vonda Shepard, Singer, songwriter (“Ally McBeal”), turns 49 1966 Jim Gaffigan, Actor, comedian, turns 46 1968 Jorja Fox, Actress (“C.S.I.”), turns 44 1972 Lisa Leslie, Basketball player, turns 40 1972 Kirsten Vangsness, Actress (“Criminal Minds”), turns 40 1980 Michelle Kwan, Figure skater, turns 32
Historic Birthdays
Satchel Paige 7/7/1906 – 6/8/1982 American professional baseball pitcher.Go to obituary »
82 Joseph-Marie Jacquard 7/7/1752 – 8/7/1834
French inventor of the Jacquard loom91 Abraham Cahan 7/7/1860 – 8/31/1951
Russian-born American editor of the Jewish Daily Forward (1903-51)50 Gustav Mahler 7/7/1860 – 5/18/1911
Austrian composer and conductor97 Marc Chagall 7/7/1887 – 3/28/1985
Belorussian-born French painter, printmaker and designer83 George Cukor 7/7/1899 – 1/24/1983
American motion-picture director73 Vittorio De Sica 7/7/1901 – 11/13/1974
Italian motion-picture director80 Robert Heinlein 7/7/1907 – 5/8/1988
American science-fiction writer73 Lawrence O’Brien 7/7/1917 – 9/28/1990
American politician and N.B.A. commissioner (1975-84)53 Ezzard Charles 7/7/1921 – 5/28/1975
American world heavyweight boxing champion (1950-1)
Has it been five years already since the last one? Maybe so, but hey, so what? Spidey’s back! Sure, the others were action-packed and the Macguire-Dundst duo was dynamic, but I can’t help but cheer on this latest incarnation of a superhero that never ages in the minds of comic-book lovers and movie-goers who thrill to the agile feats of Spiderman setting things right everywhere he goes.
Yes, of course, the previous ones in this movie franchise were compelling in their story, delivery, action, and acting, but I still have to give this one a big thumbs-up, if only because it somehow seems to have a little more heart and a little more believable sci-fi. The edgier Peter Parker is quite refreshing, and Gwen’s big blue eyes and mini skirts, very fetching. Also, Uncle Ben and Aunt May do a fine job.
The ethos and pathos of a persona and an era remain even as some of the landscape and technologies look shinier and brighter. All said, for true fans of Spiderman, every new incarnation and re-telling of the story is as fresh as ever, and the dream lives on.
Updated July 5, 2012, 2:28 pm
On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2.
On July 6, 1907, Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter famous for her surrealist and expressionist work, was born. Following her death on July 13, 1954, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1483 England’s King Richard III was crowned. 1535 Sir Thomas More was executed in England for treason. 1777 British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution. 1854 The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Mich. 1923 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed. 1933 Baseball’s first All-Star game was held at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, with the American League’s best beating the National Leauge squad 4-2. 1944 Fire broke out in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn., killing 169 people. 1957 Althea Gibson became the first African-American tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2. 1974 Garrison Keillor’s radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” debuted in a live broadcast from St. Paul, Minn. 2003 Former ambassador Joseph Wilson, in a New York Times op-ed, disputed President George W. Bush’s statement that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, saying he had found no evidence to support the claim when the CIA asked him to investigate. 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry chose Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina to be his running mate. 2005 Soap opera actress Kelly Monaco won the first season of “Dancing With the Stars.” 2005 New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of an undercover CIA operative’s name. 2010 Queen Elizabeth II addressed the United Nations for the first time since 1957 during her first New York visit in more than 30 years. 2010 Actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 90 days in a residential substance-abuse program for violating her probation stemming from two separate 2007 cases of driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. (She served 14 days behind bars.) . Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Geoffrey Rush (“The King’s Speech”) turns 61 years old today.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Rapper 50 Cent turns 37 years old today.
AP Photo/Matt Sayles
1921 Nancy Reagan, Former first lady, turns 91 1922 William Schallert, Actor (“The Patty Duke Show”), turns 90 1931 Della Reese, Singer, actress (“Touched by an Angel”), turns 81 1937 Ned Beatty, Actor, turns 75 1945 Burt Ward, Actor (“Batman”), turns 67 1946 George W. Bush, Former president of the United States, turns 66 1946 Sylvester Stallone, Actor, turns 66 1951 Allyce Beasley, Actress (“Moonlighting”), turns 61 1952 Grant Goodeve, Actor (“Eight is Enough”), turns 60 1953 Nanci Griffith, Country singer, turns 59 1954 Willie Randolph, Baseball player, manager, turns 58 1982 Brandon Jacobs, Football player, turns 30
Historic Birthdays
Frida Kahlo 7/6/1907 – 7/13/1954 Mexican painter.Go to obituary »
45 John Paul Jones 7/6/1747 – 7/18/1792
American Revolutionary War naval hero80 Sir William Hooker 7/6/1785 – 8/12/1865
English botanist34 Maximilian 7/6/1832 – 6/19/1867
Austrian archduke and emperor of Mexico (1864-7)80 Vernor von Heidenstam 7/6/1859 – 5/20/1940
Swedish author; awarded Nobel Prize (1916)87 Godfrey Malvern 7/6/1883 – 5/8/1971
English-born prime minister of Southern Rhodesia (1933-53)57 Marc Bloch 7/6/1886 – 6/16/1944
French historian and educator; leader in Resistance79 Axel Theorell 7/6/1903 – 8/15/1982
Swedish biochemist; awarded Nobel Prize (1955)82 Dorothy Kirsten 7/6/1910 – 11/18/1992
American opera singer55 Bill Haley 7/6/1925 – 2/9/1981
American singer and songwriter
While the jokes might come easy about how I set the kitchen on fire cooking up a storm on this past Fourth of July, there’s nothing too funny about seeing menacing dark fumes slithering out of your oven door that suddenly turn into hungry flames threatening to leap up and take over the kitchen.
And yet, this is exactly what happened yesterday. On a day set aside to recognize and celebrate our love of freedom, and especially our love of freedom in a country we call home, this small but scary incident served as a reckoning for why I believe I am privileged to call these great United States of America home.
Within three flat minutes of calling 9-1-1, our national emergency number, our local neighborhood fire engine came screeching to our front yard and two strapping young men made us all step outside the house, and went about the business of putting out the fast leaping flames from the oven. Within minutes, they had killed the fire and had taken the stove outside the house to put it out on the driveway!
Where else but in America do I have the freedom and confidence to summon the resources of the fireengine to take care of business in no time at all, and then heave a huge sigh of relief before I go out shopping for a new cooking range/oven in a marketplace driven by the capitalistic fervor of slashed prices for the big holiday, buy a shiny new one that will be delivered and installed the very next day, and also get an 18-month financing offer! Where else, but in the good old USA?!
Just another reason why I love this country and call it home!
