To hell with luck. I'll bring luck with me.

September 8th
On this day in 1952 Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is published for the first time. One of the most beloved short stories in American history, it solidified Hemingway's image as a great writer. He used his visits to Cuba as inspiration for the story about a man well past his prime attempting to achieve greatness while out fishing for marlin.

On this day in 1974 one of the most infamous pardons in American history occurred when Gerald Ford let Richard Nixon off the hook. Claiming it would help the country heal after the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Nixon, it basically allowed the former president to allude justice. The fact that his former vice president was the one giving him the pardon didn't ease the backlash against Ford either.

On this day in 1998 Mark McGwire passes Roger Maris as the single season home run king when he belts his 62nd home run of the season. The home run race of the summer of 1998 got off to a fast start for McGwire when he had a record setting pace. But Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs had an amazing month of June where he hit more home runs in a months span than anyone in history. It was neck and neck for the next two months when McGwire finally pulled ahead in September. He ended up hitting 70 home runs that season. But he was a doper, and admitted 10 years after the fact that he was indeed on steroids. It was fun while it lasted.

On this day in 1986 the Oprah Winfrey show is shown nationally for the first time. It would end up being one of the most beloved talk shows of all time and created an empire for the hard working Winfrey. At the urging of her long time friend Roger Ebert, Winfrey decided to syndicate her popular Chicago talk show. It soon was a ratings smash and enjoyed nearly 25 year run.

On this day in 1935 senator Huey Long is shot on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol. Known as the "Kingfish", Long was extremely popular amongst the people struggling to get through the Great Depression. He called for a redistribution of wealth that would create a minimum income of $2,500 per household during a time when many people were out of work completely. He gained many enemies after becoming the youngest governor in the history of the State of Louisiana at the age of 35 in 1928. Franklin Roosevelt knew that he might lose the election of 1936 against Long. He was "lucky" that Long was killed before the election.

Going down like a lead balloon

September 7th
On this day in 1996 Tupac Shakur was shot several times after he attended a boxing match in Las Vegas, Nevada. He would eventually die from his wounds a few days later. His killer was never found, but the shooting was attributed to rival gang members. Several witnesses and suspects ended up dead in the following months which leads some to think there was more to this murder than meets the eye. Violent men meet violent ends.

On this day in 1979 the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network goes on the air for the first time. Affectionately known as ESPN, the channel devoted entirely to sports gained popularity throughout the 1980's and has lowered productivity in households across America. It has changed the way people watch sports forever. Sports news would usually have to wait for the 11 o'clock news or the morning paper the next day, but ESPN allowed for instant analysis of all the important sporting events across the country.

On this day in 1936 the last surviving thylacine, Benjamin, dies alone in her cage in Tasmania. This amazing creature was also known as the Tasmanian Tiger because of the stripes on its back. It was the largest known predatory marsupial. It's habitat was destroyed on the island by humans who grazed sheep. As an apex predator it became a nuisance to farmers and had bounties placed on it. It's safe to say the Brits really fucked up in Australia and it's surrounding islands.

On this day in 1978 drummer Keith Moon died of an overdose of prescribed pills. Ironically they were given to Moon to help with his battle with alcoholism. Known as "Moon the Loon", he was famous for his over the top, rock star image. Blowing up his drum kit on live television, emptying the contents of his hotel room onto the street below, and showing up to recording sessions blacked out drunk were some of the hijinx he was famous for. But it was his aggressive drumming that garnered him positive attention. He was recorded drumming faster than a machine gun could fire bullets.

On this day the band known as Led Zeppelin performed live for the first time under the name Yardbirds, or New Yardbirds. Jimmy Page was a member of the "old" Yardbirds when they split up. He took it upon himself to form a new band with accomplished session bass player John Paul Jones, and new to the scene Robert Plant and John Bonham. Ironically enough it was Keith Moon who named the band. He borrowed a quote from his bass player and said the project would "go down like a lead balloon".

We're going streaking!

September 6th
On this day in 1995 Cal Ripken Jr. broke the Major League Baseball record for most consecutive games played. Lou Gehrig had held the record for almost 50 years at 2,130 games. His streak ended when he retired because of the disease that bears his name. Ripken's streak is remarkable in that he played shortstop, a position that requires more athleticism than any position on the field, thus subject him to a higher likelihood of injury.

On this day in 1901 President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York. He would die eight days later. McKinley was still conscious on the ground when the gunman was wrestled to the ground. He was heard telling his guards not to hurt his assailant. The anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, thought McKinley was at the head of a corrupt government and wanted him dead. He hid his gun under a cloth and made the president believe he wanted to shake hands, but shot him in the chest twice. Czolgosz was executed by electric chair on October 29th, of that year. In office as vice president for less than a year, Theodore Roosevelt became one of the countries youngest presidents.

On this day in 1522 one of the five ships in Ferdinand Magellan's expedition to find a new western route to the far east arrived in Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the world. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in April of that year and Basque navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano guided the Vittoria back to Spain with 17 other crew members. The voyage had departed nearly 3 years prior with 270 men.

Gerald Ford died today at the senseless age of 83.

Septembert 5th
On this day in 1975 an attempted assassination attempt on Gerald Ford was made by a disciple of Charles Manson. Lynette Fromme pointed a pistol at the president while he was visiting Sacramento, California. Lucky for Ford one of his secret service agents saw the gun and wrestled it away from the would-be assassin. She was arrested and convicted in short order and sentenced to life in prison.

On this day in 1972 Palestinian militants took 9 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage at the Olympic games in Munich. The terrorist group they belonged to was called Black September. Killing two Israelis when they burst into the dormitories, the terrorists demanded the release of political prisoners or all hostages would be killed. A compromise was reached and the German government agreed to take the prisoners and the hostages to the airport by helicopter to an awaiting plane. There an ambush took place with the goal of freeing the hostages, but it backfired and the terrorists killed the remaining Israelis. Three terrorists survived and were imprisoned, but were later freed when an airliner was hijacked and their release was demanded.

On this day in 1957 Jack Kerouac's On the Road was published. Written in three weeks the story chronicles the journey of two men across the country in a journey filled with drugs, free love, and the counterculture. Based loosely on his own journey, Kerouac used his friends in the story under different names. While a good story, it all seems a bit self important, pompous, and had a boys club mentality. The subtle name dropping and the credo "don't trust anyone over 30" was hypocritical. Kerouac was 35 when he wrote it.

On this day in 1964 "The House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals hit #1 on the charts. It was a cover of a tradition blues song of unknown origin, but with a flavor of its own. Bob Dylan recorded a version two years prior, but "jumped" out of his seat upon hearing this version. Driven by an electric organ and lyrics of a boy aware of his coming demise from a house of ill-repute, the song was a stark contrast to the pop songs of the era. It received a revival of sorts when it was featured in the movie "Casino" in a scene where Sharon Stone's character stumbles in a hallway before she died. One of my favorite songs of all time, this video, although cheesy at times, is pretty darn cool.

 And finally, Freddie Mercury would have been 65 today. Long live Freddie!

What happens when you google google? Part Deux

September 4th
On this day in 1998 Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford students. It has become the preferred search engine of the masses, and now has its own web browser. Back in my day we had Lycos, Webcrawler, and Yahoo on my Netscape web browser.

On this day in 476 the Western Roman empire falls when Romulus Augustus is deposed as the last emperor of the empire. The 500 year dominance of the Romans had ended. Most of the territory was gobbled up by the Byzantine empire.

On this day in 1781 Los Angeles, California is founded by 44 Spanish settlers. The official name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Porcinuncula. Whew! Translation, the village of our lady, the queen of the angels of Porzinucola. So the Angels baseball team is the E.P.N.S.L.R.L.A.P Angels of Anaheim.

On this day in 1950 the first Beetle Bailey comic strip appeared. Not the longest continuous comic, but it holds a place in the hearts of millions as the comic of the American Army. Mort Walker has been the artist for 61 years, his sons Neal, Brian, and Greg help him with the scripts though. I still like it, the humor of a slacking military private getting yelled at by  snaggle-toothed Sarge never gets old.

Unofficial Independence Day!

September 3rd
On this day in 1783 the Treaty of Paris is signed by representatives of the United States and Great Britain officially ending the Revolutionary war and acknowledging the existence of the new nation. After 9 long years of war and several setbacks, the British had enough of their upstart colonies. Their main army had surrendered 2 years prior, yet several skirmishes continued throughout the colonies. Benjamin Franklin was on hand and was able to secure enough new territory from the British to double the size of the country.

On this day in 1777 the "Stars and Stripes" flag flew for the first time in battle at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware. Before this there was great debate over which flag would represent the United States during the revolution. 3 months prior the Continental Congress adopted the design as the official flag, but it took a while for it to be brought to a battle field.

On this day in 1977 Sadaharu Oh hits his 756th home run breaking Hank Aaron's professional record. Oh played in the Japanese pro league, and with the stigma hanging over Barry Bonds is widely regarded as the home run king. He ended his career with 868 home runs, still a professional record.

VJ day is WAY different than VD day.

September 2nd
On this day in 1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt gave his famous "speak softly and carry a big stick" speech while attending the Minnesota state fair. This was to be his policy on European expansion in the western hemisphere, a silent threat to stay out of our back yard or else you won't like us when we're angry. Twelve days later President McKinley was shot and Roosevelt was in charge of the country.

On this day in 1945 Japan formally surrenders aboard the USS Missouri ending WWII. The defeat of Japan was a forgone conclusion by the middle of the year, but at what cost to the allies was the question. With the dropping of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and Russia declaring war on Japan a few days later, it was enough for the leaders of Japan to surrender to the Americans. If defeat was coming, it might as well be to capitalism and baseball.

On this day in 1789 Congress founds the U.S. Treasury, thus getting our country on its way to becoming the economic super power that it is today. Where there was money, there was power, and that's where Alexander Hamilton stepped in. A financial genius, Hamilton founded every monetary institution in the United States government at the time. He came up with a brilliant plan to eliminate the national debt created by the loans taken out to fund the Revolutionary war. George Washington might have been the face of the nation, but it was Hamilton who was actually running it for the first few years.

On this day (or night as it were) in 1666 the great London fire erupts and engulfs most of the city, displacing some 100,000 people. The fire started when the King's baker didn't properly extinguish his oven, and during the night an ember ignited and soon burnt his home down. Strong summer winds did the rest by spreading the fire throughout the mostly wooden buildings of the city. A blessing in disguise, the fire allowed London to be rebuilt, this time with stone, and become the beautiful city that it is today. A 202 foot column was erected as a memorial to those affected by the fire.

Taken from my trip to London in 2009.