Today in History

[604flames]

Dec. 26, 1988: (still the 26th in PST so I can still get this in)...

Joe Nieuwendyk scores twice, including the OT winner, in a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Vancouver at the Pacific Coliseum. Hakan Loob also scores for Calgary, while former Flames Brian Bradley and Steve Bozek reply for Vancouver. Mike Vernon picks up the win to move to 15-4-3 for the year, while Troy Gamble is tagged with the loss for the home side.

[TimSJ]

Dec 27 1831
Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the voyage helped him form the basis of his theories on evolution.

Dec 27 1937
Mae West performs an "Adam & Eve" skit that gets her banned from NBC radio.

Dec 27 1985
Abu Nidal gunmen open fire at Rome and Vienna airports in coordinated attacks, killing 18 holiday travelers.

Dec 27 1992
Harry Connick, Jr., was arrested at Kennedy Airport in New York City after telling authorities he had an unloaded 9mm pistol in his luggage, which he said he had forgotten that his sister had given to him.

Dec 27 2000
Quality Assurance Engineer Michael "Mucko" McDermott shot and killed seven of his coworkers (four men, three women) at Edgewater Technology, an Internet consulting company in Boston. Mucko, a quiet three-hundred-pound loner, fired off 37 rounds with his rifle and several with the shotgun, shooting his victims repeatedly in the head and back.

[604flames]

Dec. 27, 1995: Trevor Kidd makes 27 saves, and the Flames get 4 goals from 4 different players (Cory Stillman, Sheldon Kennedy, Theo Fleury and Michael Nylander) to shutout Toronto 4-0 at the 'Dome.

[TimSJ]

Dec 28 1908
An earthquake in Messina, Sicily kills 160,000. Nearly all of the city is destroyed. Countless art treasures are destroyed, as well as the Cathedral Annunziata dei Catalani.

Dec 28 1983
Dennis Wilson, original drummer of the Beach Boys, drowned while diving from a boat near Marquesas Pier. He was rather drunk at the time.

Dec 28 1987
R. Gene Simmons kills two coworkers and injures four others in Russellville Arkansas, and then surrenders. The busy man had killed 14 of his relatives over the Christmas holidays.

Dec 28 1991
Jack Ruby's pistol, used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, sells at auction at Christie's for $220,000.

[604flames]

Dec. 28, 1986: Joe Mullen's 19th goal of the season proves to be the game-winner as the Flames win in Buffalo, 4-1. John Tonelli, Gary Suter and Jim Peplinski also score for Calgary, while Shawn Anderson's first NHL goal served as the lone reply for the Sabres.

[Looger]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Dec 28 1991
Jack Ruby's pistol, used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, sells at auction at Christie's for $220,000.

jeez, i wonder how much GHWB's poision-ice-shard pistol will go for! it's way out of date, time to clear out the safe old man!

sad, sad, sad - to have such intricate james bond style assassination methods be replaced in the last few decades by a variation on the common household microwave.

zap!

towing-the-line media: "_____________ died of a sudden heart attack while jogging. let's see what's new in sports!"

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by Looger

jeez, i wonder how much GHWB's poision-ice-shard pistol will go for! it's way out of date, time to clear out the safe old man!

sad, sad, sad - to have such intricate james bond style assassination methods be replaced in the last few decades by a variation on the common household microwave.

zap!

towing-the-line media: "_____________ died of a sudden heart attack while jogging. let's see what's new in sports!"

You sir are either a comedic genious or a raving lunatic... I actually chuckled while reading this because I think you believe everything that you write?

People die of heart attacks? Where is the conspiracy behind that? That a government microwave weapon is behind the attack?

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

You sir are either a comedic genious or a raving lunatic... I actually chuckled while reading this because I think you believe everything that you write?

People die of heart attacks? Where is the conspiracy behind that? That a government microwave weapon is behind the attack?

Lets get ready to RUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!!

[Looger]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

You sir are either a comedic genious or a raving lunatic... I actually chuckled while reading this because I think you believe everything that you write?

People die of heart attacks? Where is the conspiracy behind that? That a government microwave weapon is behind the attack?

well, i'm making light of some things that are kinda real, if that helps.

so i'm both!

[Looger]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Lets get ready to RUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!!

bah - ever since the board has my back, those fights have lost their indefinable allure...

it was better when board moderators came after me for defending myself, they finally got around to cracking some whips around here, taking ALL OF MY FUN away!

[TimSJ]

Dec 29 1170
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is slashed to death by four of King Henry II's knights at the altar of the Virgin Mary. "Is there no one who will rid me from this turbulent priest", cried Henry in frustration earlier that month. It was apparently not a serious demand for Becket's death, but that did not stop his brains from being splattered in Canterbury Cathedral.

Dec 29 1890
The Wounded Knee Massacre took place in Wounded Knee, South Dakota as over 200 Sioux were killed by US troops sent to disarm them.

Dec 29 1972
Members of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes admit at a press conference that they survived by Cannibalism. This spawned a popular theme for bumper stickers, "Rugby Players Eat Their Dead". But best of all is the quote from one of the team, "If we had been soccer players, we would have died."

Dec 29 1975
Bomb explodes at LaGuardia airport in New York, killing 11 people and injuring many others.

Dec 29 1993
Former child star Todd Bridges (who played Willis on "Different Strokes") arrested for transportation of methamphetamine.

Dec 29 1997
Male nurse Orville Lynn Majors is charged with six counts of murder at Vermillion County Hospital in Newport, MD. He is suspected of many other murders, likely over 100. Majors would apparently inject older patients with potassium chloride or other drugs, and frequently he expressed a dislike for elderlies. When off duty, hospital deaths occurred once every 551 hours; but on duty, once every 23 hours.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by Looger

bah - ever since the board has my back, those fights have lost their indefinable allure...

it was better when board moderators came after me for defending myself, they finally got around to cracking some whips around here, taking ALL OF MY FUN away!

Ha! That cracked me up for some reason.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

[B]Dec 29 1997
Male nurse Orville Lynn Majors is charged with six counts of murder at Vermillion County Hospital in Newport, MD. He is suspected of many other murders, likely over 100. Majors would apparently inject older patients with potassium chloride or other drugs, and frequently he expressed a dislike for elderlies. When off duty, hospital deaths occurred once every 551 hours; but on duty, once every 23 hours.

WOW. Once every 23 hours!?! Thats insane. I wonder how long this went on for?

[604flames]

Dec. 29, 2000: Fred Brathwaite makes 26 saves, and the Flames get a pair of goals from both Valeri Bure and Marc Savard as they trounce the Canucks 5-0 at the 'Dome. Dave Lowry also scores a PPG for the Flames who go 2/9 with the man advantage.

[TimSJ]

Dec 30 1903
The worst theater fire in US history occurs at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, killing 602. Most of the exits were locked; no fire drills had ever been conducted; and no water was available for extinguishing the fire. But, a prominent sign displayed above the entrance to the edifice read: "Absolutely Fireproof".

Dec 30 1916
Rasputin, famed Russian court mystic, is beaten, castrated, and his penis flung across the room. He is subsequently shot several times and thrown into a frozen river.

Dec 30 1953
The first color TV sets went on sale for about $1,175.

Dec 30 1977
Ted Bundy escapes from a jail in Aspen, Colorado by using a hacksaw. He moves to Chicago, then Michigan, Atlanta, and finally Florida, where he commits a series of grotesque murders.

Dec 30 1980
"The Wonderful World of Disney" was cancelled by NBC after more than 25 years on television. It was the longest-running series in primetime television history.

Dec 30 1989
Ignoring evidence to the contrary, Drug Enforcement Agency Director John Lawn orders that cannabis remain on the Schedule One narcotics list, reserved for drugs which have no known medical use.

Dec 30 1994
John C. Salvi III took things into his own hands and killed two employees at a Brookline, Mass., abortion clinic and wounded five others. John was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Dec 30 1996
Actor Jack Nance (appeared in the Lynch productions Twin Peaks and Eraserhead) murdered.

[604flames]

12/30/72: The expansion Atlanta Flames win a point from one of the NHL's toughest buildings, the Montreal Forum, in a 1-1 tie against the Canadiens. Montreal, who went 29-4-6 at home in '72-'73, got the tying goal from Yvan Cournoyer (his 22nd) at 15:34 of the first period. Rey Comeau, with his 11th, scored for the Flames.

[TimSJ]

Dec 31 1775
The British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec. Montgomery was killed in the battle.

Dec 31 1898
Joseph Vacher, known as "Jack the Ripper of France", guillotined. He had a hideous appearance and suffered from Bell's Palsy, a partial paralysis of the face. Vacher killed and mutilated at least 14 victims, young men and women, and committed necrophilia on many of their corpses.

Dec 31 1916
Forty-five ######ed girls die in a fire at the St. Ferdinand de Halifax convent asylum in Canada.

Dec 31 1929
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played "Auld Lang Syne" as a New Year's Eve song for the first time.

Dec 31 1970
The Beatles break up, as Paul McCartney files suit to dissolve their partnership.

Dec 31 1973
Carlos the Jackal tries to assassinate Teddy Zeiff, Jewish owner of a major English department store chain. His gun jams. But we all learn his name when he takes the OPEC ministers hostage two years later.

Dec 31 1980
Author and media pundit Marshall McLuhan dead at age 69.

Dec 31 1982
A coordinated series of four bombs planted by the Puerto Rican nationalist group FALN explode in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan inside of 90 minutes, injuring three police.

Dec 31 1984
The drummer from Def Leppard, Rick Allen, has his arm torn off in a car accident. He continues with the band single-handedly.

Dec 31 1985
Rock musician Ricky Nelson dies in an airplane crash in De Kalb, TX at age 45.

Dec 31 1999
Paris intends the Eiffel Tower to lay "a gigantic egg" at midnight to honor the coming millennium. What do they smoke in Paris?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Dec 31 1898
Joseph Vacher, known as "Jack the Ripper of France", guillotined. He had a hideous appearance and suffered from Bell's Palsy, a partial paralysis of the face. Vacher killed and mutilated at least 14 victims, young men and women, and committed necrophilia on many of their corpses.

Interesting story from the turn of the century Iowa free press on Vacher and his history

http://www.casebook.org/press_report...ss/990130.html

[TimSJ]

Jan 1
Annual Catholic Feast of the Circumcision, to celebrate the removal of the Holy Foreskin.

Jan 1 1801
Italian astronomer, Giuseppe Piazzi, became the first person to discover an asteroid. He named it Ceres.

Jan 1 1863
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in the rebel states were free.

Jan 1 1943
Josef Stalin appears as Time's 1942 "Man of the Year".

Jan 1 1946
Emperor Hirohito descends from being a divine being to mere mortal man. General MacArthur insisted on it.

Jan 1 1959
Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba from Fulgencio Batista. "Don't worry, Castro's regime can't last."

Jan 1 1966
The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 goes into effect. Cigarette companies are forced to label their product like so: "Caution: Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health"

Jan 1 1968
Evel Knievel, stunt performing daredevil, lost control of his motorcycle midway through a jump of 141 feet over the ornamental fountains in front of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Jan 1 1976
Potheads alter the "HOLLYWOOD" sign to read "HOLLYWEED". Way to go!

Jan 1 1993
During Hong Kong's new year's festivities, a stampede kills 20 and injures many more.

Jan 1 1995
Fred West, accused of committing England's "House of Horrors" killings, suicides by hanging himself in his prison cell.

Jan 1 1998
Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, dies in Aspen of traumatic neck and head wounds resulting from an accident while playing "ski football".

[TimSJ]

Jan 2 1611
Elizabeth Bathory is charged with the murder of 610 people, which she apparently committed as Countess of Csejthe Castle. Bathory had the theory that the blood of youth would give her everlasting youth. An eviscerated victim would have blood drained into a vat for her bathing.

Jan 2 1878
While hunting, farmer John Martin spies a rapidly moving flying disk high in the sky near Denison, Texas. He is the first to use the word "saucer" to describe a UFO phenomenon.

Jan 2 1935
Bruno Richard Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the infant son of aviator Charles A. and Anne Lindbergh. (He would later be found guilty and executed for that crime.).

Jan 2 1939
Time magazine named chancellor Adolf Hitler its "Man of the Year."

Jan 2 1971
Sixty-six soccer fans are trampled or fall to their deaths during a panic in Ibrox Park Stadium, Glasgow.

Jan 2 1995
Marion Barry inaugurated as mayor of Washington, D.C., four years after leaving the office in disgrace to serve a six-month sentence for smoking crack.