Happy 40th To Me!

Today is my birthday. I am turning 40, though no history book will ever mention my name, the date I was born, or any event caused/created by me during my life here on this earth. Does that depress me? NO WAY! I would rather not be noticed!

I was searching around, found a few things that happened on this date:

1819 - Thomas Blanchard of Springfield, MA patented a machine called the lathe. Blanchard said it was invented for the manufacturing of gun stocks. His lathe did the work of 13 operators.
1920 - The first prizefight broadcast on radio featured Jack Dempsey knocking out Billy Miske in the third round of a bout in Benton Harbor, MI. Radio station WWJ in Detroit was the station that fight fans were tuned to.
1930 - Gallant Fox won the Lawrence Realization at Belmont Park in New York and became the leading moneymaker in thoroughbred racing.
1937 - Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded Sugar Foot Stomp on Victor Records. The tune was a Fletcher Henderson arrangement.
1943 - The youngest player to appear in an American League game was pitcher Carl Scheib of the Philadelphia Athletics. On this day, Scheib was 16 years, eight months and five days old.
1958 - Actor Steve McQueen starred on the CBS-TV series, Wanted: Dead or Alive. McQueen played bounty hunter Josh Randall. Randall was a man of few words but sure knew how to use his .30-.40 sawed-off carbine on the bad guys.
1959 - The first Barbie Doll was sold by Mattel Toy Corporation. The original Barbie, along with her pals, Ken and Skipper, are now collectors items, although new versions are continually being produced.
1969 - Singer, songwriter David Bowie debuted on U.K. charts with Space Oddity. You remember, “Ground Control to Major Tom, Ground Control to Major Tom ... Check igition and may God’s love be with you, Three, Two, One, Liftoff...” Space Oddity peaked at #5 in the U.K. The song’s release was timed for the U.S. moon landing, but didn’t make the U.S. charts until its rerelease in 1973 (it reached #15).
1972 - Rick DeMont lost the gold medal he received in a 400-meter swimming event because a banned drug was found in his system during routine drug testing.
1973 - Avenging the loss of his gold medal one year earlier, swimmer Rick DeMont captured the 400-meter freestyle event with a world record time of 3:58.18.
1975 - Glen Campbell hit #1 on the Billboard pop music chart with Rhinestone Cowboy. It had reached the top position on the country chart on August 23rd.
1976 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were reunited by Frank Sinatra -- after 20 years of going their separate ways. The former comedy team warmly met each other again during a surprise visit by Martin to Lewis’s annual Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy.
1980 - Miss Oklahoma, Susan Powell, was crowned Miss America in Atlantic City, NJ. It was the first time in 25 years that Bert Parks had not served as master of ceremonies for the show. He had been dismissed because the pageant committee considered him to be too old. Former TV Tarzan, Ron Ely, was chosen to host the festivities.
1982 - Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates saw his uniform, number 8, retired by the Bucs. It was the fourth Pirate player’s uniform to be so honored. The other three belonged to Roberto Clemente (#21), Honus Wagner (#33) and Pie Traynor (#20).
1984 - Country-music star Ernest Tubb died this day, at the age of 70. Tubb was from Crisp, Texas and was known as the ‘Texas Troubadour’. He patterned his unique style after Jimmie Rodgers. Tubb recorded I’m Walking the Floor Over You and sold more than three million copies of the tune. Blue Christmas, I Love You Because, Missing In Action and Thanks a Lot were also classics made famous by Tubb. Other recording artists as diverse as The Andrews Sisters, Loretta Lynn and Red Foley recorded with Tubb. His 1979 album, The Legend and the Legacy, was a top-ten hit. Tubb was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1943 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1965.
1986 - Bananarama hit the top spot on the pop music charts with Venus. The tune had also been a number one hit for the Dutch group, The Shocking Blue (2/07/70).
1996 - Three movies opened in U.S. theatres: Bogus, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Gerard Depardieu and Haley Joel Osment; Bulletproof, with Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Farentino and James Caan; and Sweet Nothing, starring Michael Imperioli, Mira Sorvino, Paul Calderon.
1997 - The Westminster Abbey funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, was an extraordinary event, marked by numerous poignant moments: The people sobbing and throwing flowers at the funeral cortege winding through the streets of London. Her sons, walking behind her casket with their heads bowed. And Diana’s brother, who during his funeral oration took aim at the media, who he said made the princess “the most hunted person of the modern age.” Elton John sang a rewritten version of Candle in the Wind to “England’s rose”. The song was originally a tribute to film legend Marilyn Monroe, whose own tragic life, like Diana’s, ended at the age of just 36.

Overall, sounds like a pretty boring day...which suits me fine. Wouldn't want to share the day with some thing like Halloween, or Valentine's Day. Crap like that is just unthinkable.

Well, not much to elaborate on, just me turning 40. Having lunch with the parents. Maybe go out for a couple free beers with friends tonight.

PeacE