Christmas Eve 2010

Today is the 358th day of the year. There are 7 days remaining until the end of the year (1 day till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Capricorn.

Today is Christmas Eve.  May Santa visit your home tonight and treat you well.  Because Christmas falls on a Saturday this year, today is also the Federal holiday for Christmas.

Howard Hughs would have been 105 years old today (born December 24, 1905). Actress Ava Gardner would have been 88 (born December 24, 1922).  Singer Ricky Martin is 39 today, author of the "Twilight" series Stephenie Meyer is 37, and television host Ryan Seacrest is 36.

Today on Television

On this day in 1948, "The Perry Como Show" premiered on TV.

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Feature for December 24, 2010

Festivus 2010

Today is the 357th day of the year. There are 8 days remaining until the end of the year (2 days till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Capricorn.

Introduced into popular culture via the TV show "Seinfeld," Festivus, on December 23rd is a time to celebrate the holiday season without participating in its pressures and commercialism.

In Japan, today is the Emperor's birthday.  Emperor Akihito is 77 years old (born in 1933).  In Mexico, today is the Feast of the Radishes.  As part of the festivities, figurines of people and animals cleverly carved out of radishes are sold.

Thirty-five years ago today, the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 94–168, known as the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 declaring the SI (International System of Units) as this country’s basic system of measurement.

On December 23, 1913, the Federal Reserve System was established, creating the U.S. central bank, with the responsibility for execution of monetary policy

On December 23, 1987, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed the first nonstop flight around the world without refueling.

The founder of the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Joseph Smith, was born on this day in 1805.

On December 23, 1947, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley of Bell Laboratories shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for their invention of the transistor, which revolutionized the electronics industry.

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Feature for December 23, 2010

Less Than Two Years Left in Mayan Calendar

oday is the 356th day of the year. There are 9 days remaining until the end of the year (3 days till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Capricorn.

As the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012, we are now just barely less than two years from that date.

Fifty-four years ago on this date (December 22, 1956), a gorilla named "Colo," weighing in at just 3 1/4 pounds, became the first gorilla born into captivity at the Columbus, Ohio zoo.

Former First Lady Claudia Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson would have been 98 years old today (born December 22, 1912).  She died just about 3 1/2 years ago on July 11, 2007.

The founder of Savannah, Georgia, General James Edward Oglethorpe, was born on December 22, 1696.

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Feature for December 22, 2010

Winter Solstice 2010

Today is the 355th day of the year. There are 10 days remaining until the end of the year (4 days till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Sagittarius.

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest amount of daylight for the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  The moon is full and early this morning a total lunar eclipse will be visible (beginning about 2:41 a.m. EST).  This is the first time an eclipse has coincided with a solstice since December 21, 1638, and the next one won't come around again until 2094.  The December full moon is called the Cold Moon or the Long Nights Moon.

Today is Forefathers' Day commemorating the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock on this day in 1620.  Today is also Humbug Day, National Haiku Poetry Day, and Phileas Fogg Wins a Wager Day (in Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" wins his £20,000 wager

exactly 79 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds after starting his trip on October 2nd).

On December 21, 1864, General Sherman took Savannah, Georgia.  Ninety-seven years ago today (December 21, 1913), the first crossword puzzle was compiled by Arthur Wynne and published in a supplement to the New York World.  On this day in 1968, Apollo 8, the first moon voyage, was launched.  On December 21, 1988, a terrorist bomb caused the explosion of Pan Am World Airways Flight 103 in midair its crash into the heart of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing the 259 passengers and crew members aboard and 11 persons on the ground.

On December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, America’s first full-length animated feature film (and also the first Technicolor feature), premiered on this date at the Carthay Circle Theater, Hollywood, CA.

Today is the 131st anniversary of Russian leader Joseph Stalin's birthday (December 21, 1879).  Rocker Frank Zappa would have been 70 years old today (born December 21, 1940).

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Feature for December 21, 2010

150th Anniversary of South Carolina's Secession

Today is the 354th day of the year. There are 11 days remaining until the end of the year (5 days till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Sagittarius.

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.  By February, 1861, five more states had seceded and The Confederate States of America was created with Jefferson Davis as its president.  By June, 1861, eleven southern states had seceded.

The cathode-ray tube was patented on December 20, 1938.

Today is Mudd Day.  This is the anniversary of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd.  Mudd was sentenced to life in prison for providing medical aid to a disguised but fleeing John Wilkes Booth after his assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  Dr. Mudd was imprisoned for four years but then pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.

On December 20, 1812, Sacagawea, a young Shoshone Indian woman who traveled with the Lewis and Clark expedition as an interpreter and is credited for playing an important role in the success of that mission, died.

Much more recently, on December 20, 1989, U.S. forces invaded Panama in operation “Just Cause” to capture Manuel Noriega and bring him to justice for narcotics trafficking.

On December 20, 1998, President Clinton became only the second U.S. President to undergo impeachment proceedings.

Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, was born on this date in 1868.

Today on Television

Forty-five years ago today (December 12, 1965), the TV game show "The Dating Game" premiered.

The classic Christmas movie "The Wonderful Life" premiered on this day in 1946.

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Feature for December 20, 2010

Anniversary of the First Radio Broadcast from Space 2010

Today is the 353rd day of the year. There are 12 days remaining until the end of the year (6 days till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Sagittarius.

On December 19, 1958, a 58-word recorded Christmas message from then President Dwight D. Eisenhower represented the first ever radio voice broadcast from space. U.S. Earth satellite Atlas relayed the recorded spoken message "to all mankind America’s wish for peace on earth and good will toward men everywhere."

On December 19, 1903, New Yorkers celebrated the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge, the second, and largest, of three steel-frame suspension bridges to eventually span the city’s East River.  The Williamsburg Bridge, with its main span at 1,596 feet, was the world's longest suspension bridge until the 1920s.

Fifty-three years ago on this day (December 19, 1957), Meredith Willson’s hit musical "The Music Man" premiered on Broadway.  It ran until 1961, and received five Tony awards including best musical and best actor (Robert Preston).

Just 13 years ago, December 19, 1997, the movie blockbuster "Titanic" written and directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet was released in theaters.  That film won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture.

Former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev would have been 104 years old today (born December 19, 1906).  Actress Alyssa Milano is 38 today and actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 30.

Today on Television

This is week 15 of the NFL 2010 season, with a slate of Sunday games on the tube.

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Feature for December 19, 2010

International Migrants Day 2010

Today is the 352nd day of the year. There are 13 days remaining until the end of the year (7 days till Christmas). If your birthday is today, you are a Sagittarius.

The United Nations (UN) has declared December 18th International Migrants Day to recognize the contributions that millions of migrant workers make to the global economy and to draw attention to the precarious state of their rights.

On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, which it did unanimously.

On December 18, 1971, Capitol Reef National Park in Utah was established.

Baseball great Ty Cobb was born on this date in 1886.  Today is musician Keith Richards 67th, producer/director Steven Spielberg's 63rd, and actor Brad Pitt's 46th birthday.

Today on Television

On this day in 1956, classic TV game show "To Tell the Truth" premiered.

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Feature for December 18, 2010