The World Almanac E-Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 2 - February 2001
February Events
February is Black History
Month
February 4 - NHL All-Star
Game; NFL Pro Bowl
February 11 - NBA All-Star
Game
February 12-13 - Westminster
Kennel Club Dog Show
February 18 - Daytona 500
February 21 - Grammy Awards
February 26 - March 26 -
America's Cup Yacht Race, Auckland, New Zealand
February 27 - Mardi Gras
U.S. Holidays
February 2 - Groundhog Day
February 12 - Lincoln's
Birthday
February 14 - Valentine's
Day
February 19 - Washington's
Birthday (observed)/Presidents' Day
February 27 - Shrove Tuesday
February 28 - Ash Wednesday;
Lent begins
International Holidays
February 5 - Constitution
Day, Mexico
February 24-27 - Carnival,
Brazil
IT'S A FACT - Vice President
John Tyler ascended to the U.S. presidency after the death of William
Henry Harrison in 1841. Since he was the first person to occupy the
presidency without having been elected to that office, he was referred to as
"His Accidency."
February Birthdays
01 Boris
Yeltsin, former Russian president, 1931
02 Liz
Smith, gossip columnist, 1923
03 Frank
Tarkenton, football quarterback, 1940
04 Rosa
Parks, civil rights activist, 1913
05 Jane
Bryant Quinn, financial writer, 1941
06 Zsa Zsa
Gabor, actress, 1917
07 Garth
Brooks, country singer, 1962
08 John
Williams, composer/conductor/pianist, 1932
09 Alice
Walker, author, 1944
10 Mark
Spitz, Olympic champion swimmer, 1950
11 Brandy
(Norwood), singer and actress, 1979
12 Arsenio
Hall, TV personality and actor, 1955
13 Kim
Novak, actress, 1933
14 Carl
Bernstein, journalist/author, 1944
15 Matt
Groening, cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons, 1954
16 John
McEnroe, tennis champion, 1959
17 Michael
Jordan, basketball player, 1963
18 Toni
Morrison, novelist, 1931
19 Prince
Andrew, Duke of York, 1960
20 Cindy
Crawford, model, 1966
21 Mary
Chapin Carpenter, singer, 1958
22 Sparky
Anderson, baseball player and manager, 1934
23 Sylvia
Chase, TV journalist, 1938
24 Abe
Vigoda, actor, 1921
25 George
Harrison, singer/songwriter, 1943
26 Fats
Domino, singer/songwriter, 1928
27 Chelsea
Clinton, daughter of former Pres. Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1980
28 Eric
Lindros, hockey player, 1973
This Day in History
01
1865 Pres. Abraham Lincoln approves the 13th Amendment,
abolishing slavery.
02
1848 A treaty is signed ending the U.S. war with Mexico;
Mexico cedes claims to Texas, California, and other territory.
03
1959 Rock and Roll singers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and
"The Big Bopper" die in a plane crash, in an Iowa cornfield.
04
1945 The Yalta Conference in the Crimea begins with Pres.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill.
05
1974 Heiress Patty Hearst is kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by
members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
06
1778 Britain declares war on France, and France signs a
treaty of alliance with the United States.
07
1973 The Senate establishes the Select Committee on
Presidential Campaign Activities to investigate the Watergate scandal.
08
1587 Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, is beheaded in England on
the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.
09
1825 After no candidate wins a majority of Electoral College
votes, John Quincy Adams is elected president by the U.S. House of
Representatives.
10
1967 The 25th Amendment, providing for presidential
succession in the event of disability or illness, is ratified.
11
1990 South African leader Nelson Mandela is released after
more than 27 years in prison.
12
1909 The NAACP is founded by W. E. B. DuBois and others to
fight against lynching and other types of racial oppression.
13
1945 Allied bombing of Dresden, Germany, causes a fire that
kills 135,000 and destroys the city.
14
1920 The League of Women Voters is formed in Chicago.
15
1898 The U.S. battleship Maine is blown up in Havana
harbor, killing all 260 aboard and leading to calls to "Remember the
Maine," during the Spanish-American War.
16
1959 Fidel Castro becomes prime minister of Cuba.
17
1998 The U.S. team takes the gold medal in the first-ever
Olympic women's ice hockey competition.
18
1861 Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as president of the Confederacy's
provisional government.
19
1942 Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt issues an executive order
that Japanese-Americans living in the western United States be placed in
internment camps.
20
1962 John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth
- 3 times in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7.
21
1965 Civil rights leader Malcolm X is assassinated during a
rally in New York City.
22
1956 Eighty of the people boycotting buses in Montgomery,
AL--including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.--give themselves up for
arrest, after white city leaders had threatened to begin making arrests.
23
1997 Scottish researchers announce the first cloning of an
adult animal--a sheep named Dolly.
24
1803 In the case of Marbury v. Madison, the
Supreme Court for the first time overturns a U.S. law.
25
1986 In the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos flees the country
as Corazon Aquino is inaugurated president.
26
1993 A bomb explodes in a parking garage beneath New York
City's World Trade Center, killing 6 people and injuring more than 1,000.
27
1973 Members of the American Indian Movement occupy the
reservation of Wounded Knee, SD, demanding an investigation of federal
treatment of Native Americans.
28
1993 Four federal agents and several cult members are killed
during an unsuccessful raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX.
Featured Location of the
Month: New Orleans, LA
Site of:
Mardi Gras, February 27, 2001
Location:
Orleans Parish, SE Louisiana; port on the Mississippi River
Population:
465,538
Name
origin: named for the duc d'Orleans, regent of France
Mayor:
Marc H. Morial
February
Temperatures: Normal high of 65 degrees; Normal low of 46
degrees
Colleges &
Universities: Tulane University; Loyola University New
Orleans; Southern University at New Orleans; Xavier University of Louisiana;
University of New Orleans; Dillard University; New Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary
Museums:
New Orleans Museum of Art; Louisiana State Museum; Confederate Civil War
Museum; Louisiana Children's Museum; Louisiana Nature Center; Musee Conti
Wax Museum
Zoos/Aquariums:
Audubon Zoo; Aquarium of the Americas
Festivals:
Mardi Gras; Jazz Fest; New Orleans Wine and Food Experience
Pro Sports
teams: New Orleans Saints (football)
Places to
visit: The French Quarter, a historic neighborhood and the
site of the city's original settlement; Basin and Bourbon Streets, where
Dixieland Jazz originated in the early 1900's; City Park; the Garden District,
a neighborhood of 19th-century homes; the French Market; The Riverwalk; Jean
Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve; New Orleans Jazz National
Historical Park; Jazzland Theme Park; Lake Pontchartrain
Tallest
Building: One Shell Square (51 stories)
History:
Founded by French in 1718; became a major seaport on Mississippi River;
acquired by U.S. as part of Louisiana Purchase 1803; incorporated as city 1805;
Battle of New Orleans was last battle of War of 1812.
Birthplace
of: Louis Armstrong (1900); Truman Capote (1924); Kitty
Carlisle Hart (1915); Harry Connick Jr. (1967); Fats Domino (1928); Pete
Fountain (1930); Bryant Gumbel (1948); Lillian Hellman (1905); Al Hirt (1922);
Mahalia Jackson (1911); Frances Parkinson Keyes (1885); Dorothy Lamour (1914);
John Larroquette (1947); Elmore Leonard (1925); Branford Marsalis (1960);
Wynton Marsalis (1961); Garrett Morris (1937): "Jelly Roll" Morton
(1885); Mel Ott (1909); Louis Prima (1911); Anne Rice (1941); Cokie Roberts
(1943); Richard Simmons (1948); "Rusty" Staub (1944); Jay Thomas
(1948); John Kennedy Toole (1937); Ray Walston (1922); Andrew Young (1932)
Websites: http://www.new-orleans.la.us
http://www.neworleanscvb.com
Obituaries in January
2001
Agee, Tommie, 58, center fielder whose spectacular catches helped
the "Miracle Mets" win the 1969 World Series; New York, NY, Jan. 22,
2001.
De La Beckwith,
Byron, 80, White Supremacist
convicted in 1994 of the 1963 killing of civil rights leader Medgar Evers;
Jackson, MS, Jan. 21, 2001.
Hewlett, William, 87, co-founder of global computer and electronics
powerhouse Hewlett-Packard; Portola Valley, CA, Jan. 13, 2001.
Kabila, Laurent, 59, Conglose president who toppled longtime
dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, but soon plunged the country into regional
warfare; Kinshasa, Jan. 16, 2001.
McGuire, Al, 72, Hall of Fame college basketball coach and
broadcaster; Milwaukee, WI, Jan. 26, 2001
Rogers, William P., 87, secretary of state Under President Nixon from
1969 to 1973; Bethesda, MD, Jan. 2, 2001.
Walston, Ray, 86, film, stage, and television actor best known
for his role as the alien on TV's "My Favorite Martian"; Beverly
Hills, CA, Jan. 1, 2001.
IT'S A
FACT: The Sept. 12-20, 1992, flight of the space shuttle Endeavour
marked a number of firsts for shuttle personnel: Mae Carol Jemison became the
first black woman in space, Mark C. Lee and N. Jan Davis became the first
married couple to fly on the same mission, and Mamoru Mohri bacame the first
Japanese astronaut to fly on a shuttle.
Science in the News
On January 12,
2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a joint
warning to pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, nursing
mothers, and small children not to consume four types of large ocean fish:
shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. These fish were found to contain
dangerous deposits of "biomagnified" mercury, a deadly toxin
polluted into waterways and fed up the aquatic food chain.
The secrets of the
ancients are coming out at Emory University. Heidi
Hoffman and other researchers there are using modern medical diagnostic
tools such as computerized tomography (CT) scans to look inside ancient Egyptian
mummies. Their findings could reshape historians'
ideas about both the family relationships between pharaohs and daily life
among ancient Egyptian commoners. Scientists led by Andreas
Nerlich at the Ludwig-Maximillian University in Munich,
Germany, also recently found the first ancient Egyptian prosthesis, of a big
toe, known to have been used during life.
The speed of light
came to a screeching halt in January at the Rowland Institute for
Science at Harvard University. Physicists Lene Hau, Chien Liu, Zachary
Dutton, and Cyrus Behroozi reported in the January 25, 2001,
issue of the journal Nature that they had frozen a pulse of
photons for up to a millisecond and then released it. That same light would
normally travel at up to 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second in a
vacuum. Hau and team, working with laser beams in ultracold gas clouds, hope
their slow-down technique will speed up advances in quantum computing, a revolutionary
technology that may rely on photons for carrying and storing
information.
NASA's Chandra X-Ray
Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope may have witnessed a black hole sucking
stardust out of the known universe. At a January 11, 2001, conference of the American
Astronomical Society, astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics and NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center
reported long-awaited evidence of theorized "event
horizons" that mark the boundary of no return for matter around black
holes. If confirmed, this will be the first direct evidence
for the existence of black holes. An artist's animation of matter
disappearing beyond a black hole's event horizon can be viewed at http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2001/03/index.html.
Upcoming Astronomical Events
February 12, 2001 - NASA plans to land NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft on
Manhattan-sized asteroid Eros.
All
Month February 2001 - Jupiter
and Saturn will
appear very bright together, very high in the south as darkness
falls. They begin separating during February. This will be the last month for
about 20 years that they will fit together in a binocular field.
Special
Feature: Valentine's Day
David Faris, Editor
Every Feb. 14, Americans
pause to observe Valentine's Day, a holiday honoring lovers, which traces its
roots to the Romans. Although no one knows for sure, its origins are
usually traced to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, which took place annually
on Feb. 15. As the Roman Empire became Christianized, its leaders looked
for a way to give their formerly pagan holidays and festivals a Christian
sheen, and in the third century AD, two Romans (both named Valentine) gave them
the perfect opportunity to phase out Lupercalia. One was a priest who
defied the Emperor to wed couples, and another was a man imprisoned for helping
Christians, who later fell in love with the jailer's daughter before his
execution on Feb. 14, 289 AD. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius decided that
Lupercalia should be merged with a day of martyrdom for St. Valentine into a
Christian holiday dedicated to the celebration of love. To this day, no
one is sure to which of the two Valentines the day is dedicated, and many historians
suspect that Gelasius simply combined the tales for the sake of simplicity.
The holiday developed over
the years; during the Middle Ages it was customary for men to draw the name of
a woman out of a hat on St. Valentine's Eve and then wear it on their sleeves
for the entire year (hence the adage "to wear your heart on your
sleeve"). The couple would exchange gifts and notes during the year,
and often they would form these notes into the shape of a heart, which became
known as "valentines." The heart along with the image of Cupid
(the son of Venus, the goddess of love in Roman mythology) became the primary
symbols of the holiday. Valentine's Day developed as a commercial event
and lost its overtly religious overtones sometime in the 1800's. Today it
is a boon to many a commercial industry, including flower retailers, greeting
card manufacturers, candy producers, and winemakers. The holiday is not
confined to the United States -- it is celebrated in varying degrees (the
Germans reportedly have little use for it) all over Europe, and even outside of
it, by Christians and non-Christians alike. In Japan, only women send
gifts on the actual holiday; men reciprocate a month later, on something called
White Day. Valentine's Day is also observed by some Israelis, who have
adopted the practice of sending gifts and letters to declare their love.
Golden Globe Awards -
Awarded for work in 2000
FILM
Drama:
"Gladiator"
Musical/comedy:
"Almost Famous"
Actress,
drama: Julia Roberts, "Erin Brockovich"
Actor,
drama: Tom Hanks, "Cast Away"
Actress,
musical/comedy: Renee Zellweger, "Nurse Betty"
Actor,
musical/comedy: George Clooney, "O Brother, Where Art
Thou?"
Sup.
actress: Kate Hudson, "Almost Famous"
Sup.
actor: Benicio Del Toro, "Traffic"
Director:
Ang Lee, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,"
Screenplay:
Stephen Gaghan, "Traffic"
Foreign-language
film: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Taiwan
Original
score: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, "Gladiator"
Original
song: "Things Have Changed," from "Wonder
Boys," Bob Dylan
Cecil B. DeMille award for
lifetime achievement: Al Pacino
TELEVISION
Series,
drama: "The West Wing," NBC
Actress,
drama: Sela Ward, "Once and Again," ABC
Actor,
drama: Martin Sheen, "The West Wing," NBC
Series,
musical/comedy: "Sex and the City," HBO
Actress,
musical/comedy: Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the
City," HBO
Actor,
musical/comedy: Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier," NBC
Miniseries, movie made for
TV: "Dirty Pictures," Showtime
Actress,
miniseries/movie: Judi Dench, "Last of the Blonde
Bombshells," HBO
Actor,
miniseries/movie: Brian Dennehy, "Arthur Miller's Death
of a Salesman," Showtime
Sup. actress,
miniseries/movie: Vanessa Redgrave, "If These Walls
Could Talk 2," HBO
Sup. actor,
miniseries/movie: Robert Downey Jr., "Ally McBeal,"
FOX
Chronology - Events of
January 2001
NATIONAL
In a
surprise move designed to bolster the stalling economy, the Federal Reserve
Board, Jan. 3, slashed its benchmark federal funds target rate
on overnight loans between banks to 6% from 6.5%.
The
nomination of Linda Chavez, director of the Civil Rights Commission under
President Reagan, to be secretary of labor was derailed Jan. 9,
when it was revealed she had had an illegal immigrant living and working in her
home in the early 1990s.
Edwin W.
Edwards, former four-term governor of Louisiana, was sentenced, Jan. 9,
to ten years in federal prison for extortion.
American Airlines announced,
Jan. 10, it will pay $500 million to take over most of the
assets of Trans World Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection.
President
Bill Clinton accepted an immunity deal Jan. 19, his last full
day in office, protecting him from further prosecution stemming from the Monica
Lewinsky scandal. As part of the deal, he was fined $25,000, barred from
practicing law in Arkansas for the next five years, and cannot sue to seek
reimbursement for legal fees.
George W.
Bush was sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States, Jan. 20.
Also on that day, the Senate approved seven nominations to serve in the new
president's cabinet. Among those confirmed were Secretary of State Colin
Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Secretary of Treasury Paul
O'Neill.
On Jan.
22, the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President
George W. Bush, during his first full day as president, barred any federal aid
to overseas groups that provide abortion counseling and/or help women obtain
abortions.
President
George W. Bush made education reform his first proposal to Congress, Jan.
23, offering a multibillion dollar plan linking federal aid to school
performance.
INTERNATIONAL
President
Bill Clinton met with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, Jan. 2,
in continued hopes of brokering peace in the Middle East.
Cambodian
lawmakers, Jan. 2, agreed to set up a tribunal to try former
Khmer Rouge leaders, a key step forward in U.N.-led efforts to bring to justice
those behind the Maoist regime that killed more than one million people in the
1970s.
Three
Taiwanese ships made the first direct legal voyages to mainland China in 51
years, Jan. 2, carrying government officials and religious
pilgrims, and raising hopes for better relations.
Biljana
Plavsic, former Bosnian Serb president from 1996 to 1998, accused of a major
role in Europe's worst atrocities since World War II, surrendered to the U.N.
war crimes tribunal, Jan. 10.
An
earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit El Salvador, Jan. 13,
triggering deadly landslides. Officials estimate the final number of dead
will exceed 1,000.
Congolese
officials confirmed, Jan. 18, the death of President Laurent
Kabila, after two days of conflicting statements. The government said he
had died of wounds sustained in a gun battle at the presidential palace Jan.
16.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada quit, Jan. 20, in the
midst of an on going corruption scandal. The vice president, Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, was sworn in as president.
An earthquake
measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck western India during the country's
Republic Day celebrations, Jan. 26. It is estimated as
many as 20,000 people may have died in the disaster.
A
Scottish court, Jan. 31, unanimously convicted Abdel Basset
Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, of murder in the 1998 bombing of
Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20
years. Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, the second defendent, was acquitted.
GENERAL
Astronomers announced, Jan. 9, they had discovered two
planetary systems in the universe that bore little resemblance to each other or
to the solar system. In one of the systems, a massive planet and an even
larger object 17 times as massive as Jupiter accompany a sun-like star.
Scientists in Portland, OR, reported, Jan. 11, they had
inserted a new gene into a monkey egg, fertilized the egg, and produced a baby
monkey with the added gene in its cells.
The FCC
approved, Jan. 11, the AOL/Time Warner merger, thereby
creating the world's biggest media business.
SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
The
Associated press, Dec. 31, named linebacker Brian Urlacher of
the Chicago Bears as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. On Jan.
1, Denver Bronco running back Mike Anderson was named the NFL
Offensive Rookie of the Year. Ray Lewis, linebacker for the Baltimore
Ravens, was the AP's choice for Defensive Player of the Year on Jan. 2.
The AP picked St. Louis running back Marshall Faulk, who scored a record
26 touchdowns in 2000, as the MVP (Dec. 27), Offensive Player
of the Year (Jan. 4), and Player of the Year (Jan. 24).
On Jan.
1, the Washington Huskies beat the Purdue Boilermakers, 34-24, in the
Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. At the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, AZ, the same day,
the Oregon State Beavers defeated the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, 41-9.
The Miami
(FL) Hurricanes beat the Florida Gators, 37-20, in the Sugar Bowl in New
Orleans on Jan. 2.
The
top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma Sooners beat the defending champion Florida
State Seminoles, 13-2, in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Jan. 3, to
take the national title. It was the 7th national championship for
Oklahoma, who last won it in 1985.
The New
York Giants shut out the Minnesota Vikings 41-0 in the NFC Championship game at
Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, on Jan. 14. Later
the same day, in the AFC Championship at Network Associates Coliseum in
Oakland, CA, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Oakland Raiders, 16-3.
Outfielders Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett, in their first year of
eligibility, were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers'
Association of America on Jan. 16.
On Jan.
20, at the New Balance Games in New York, senior Alan Webb, of Reston,
VA, became the 4th U.S. high school runner to break 4 minutes for the mile and
the first since 1967. Webb, timed in 3 min., 59.86 sec., is the first to
accomplish the feat indoors. Jim Ryun, of Wichita, KS, set the U.S. high
school record of 3 mins., 55.3 sec. in 1965.
The
National Board of Selectors announced, Jan. 27, that
linebacker Nick Buoniconti, coach Marv Levy, guard Mike Munchak, tackle Jackie
Slater, wide receiver Lynn Swann, tackle Ron Yark, and defensive end Jack
Youngblood had been chosen for the NFL's Hall of Fames class of 2001.
Led by a
record-setting defense, the AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens defeated the NFC
Champion New York Giants, 34-7, in Super Bowl XXXV, Jan. 28,
at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was
named MVP.
In the
women's final of the Australian Open, Jan. 27, American
Jennifer Capriati upset top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-3, to
win her first Grand Slam title. On Jan. 28, Andre Agassi
defeated Frenchman Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, in the men's final. It
was Agassi's 3d win at the Australian Open and 7th career Grand Slam title.
With
birdies on 32 of 72 holes, Mark Calcavecchia won the Phoenix Open, Jan.
28, with a PGA record 28-under-par 256. The previous record of
257 was set by Mike Souchak at the Texas Open in 1955.
Super Bowl Facts
Estimated worldwide
broadcast audience: 800 million (201 countries, 26 languages)
Estimated U.S. TV
audience: 131.2 million (60% of televisions in use; lowest
previous rating was 61% in 1992 and 1999)
Attendance at Raymond James
Stadium: 71,921
Cost of airing a 30-second
TV commercial during the game: $2.3 million
Prize money per player on
the winning team: $58,000
Prize money per player on
the losing team: $34,500
Number of $5,000 rings that
the NFL will buy for the winning team: 125
Offbeat News Stories
President
Bush's much-publicized middle initial seemed to be in short supply during his
first 'eek at the 'hite House. Call it vandalism or call it political
high jinks, but as they moved into their offices, Jan. 22, Bush aides
discovered that the "W" key on dozens of computer keyboards in the
Old Executive Office Building in the White House complex were missing, broken,
or blacked out by outgoing Clinton administration staff members.
Though
the Bush White House imposed a strict moratorium on implementing last-minute
rules issued by the Clinton administration, the USDA was able to put through
its new cheese standard. Calling it a "notice" instead of a new
regulation (the standards are technically voluntary), government officials
announced that beginning Feb. 22, 2001, most of the holes, or "eyes,"
in Grade A Swiss cheese can be as small as 3/8 inch in diameter. The
smaller eyes will help keep the cheese from getting tangled in high-speed
slicing machines. (Bacteria that emit carbon dioxide are responsible for
the bubbles that form the holes in Swiss cheese.)
For an
entire year, the man legally known as DotComGuy participated in his own brand
of "reality" programming. DCG, as he is known to his friends,
entered a house in Dallas, TX, with nothing but a computer and an Internet
connection. For the next 12 months he documented his entire life via
webcams (except in the restroom). He furnished the house, shopped, ate,
slept, and gave hundreds of interviews, including one to Ed McMahon, without
leaving the house. Though he had sponsors and an estimated 300,000 to
400,000 Internet visitors a month, the DotComGuy project only managed to break
even. "I'm not the most entertaining guy," he admitted.
However, DCG's efforts were not wholly without reward. When he emerged
from his Internet exile at 12:01 a.m. CT, Jan. 1, 2001, he had something he
didn't have when he started: a fiancée.
Masiakasaurus knopfleri is one of the newest, and by far the most culturally
hip dinosaur, to be discovered. A team of scientists, led by Dr. Scott
Sampson of the University of Utah, decided to name the 6-foot-long, meat-eating
dinosaur after Mark Knopfler, singer/songwriter for the rock band Dire Straits,
because the team listened to his music as they dug in 100-degree heat on the
island of Madagascar and felt that it brought them luck in discovering the
creature. For the record, the name translates roughly as "vicious
lizard knopfler."
100 Years Ago in the
WORLD ALMANAC
Review of Scientific
Progress in 1901 - Aeronautics
An immense advance was made
in aeronautics during the first year of the new century, and aerial navigation
would now appear to be an accomplished fact. M. Santos-Dumont, a
Brazilian scientist, has invented a dirigible airship, or balloon, which, after
several successful trials in Paris, has been pronounced by the highest authorities
on this subject as "an unqualified success." Guided by its
inventor, it made the circuit of the Longchamps race-course, a distance of two
and a quarter miles, six times in succession. It answered its rudder most
perfectly, and was brought to a stop repeatedly at the exact spot designated
beforehand. Subsequently it circled the Eiffel Tower, returned and again
stopped at the precise place named by the judges. A balloon or airship,
which can be controlled and steered, is destined to work a revolution in
traveling facilities. Further confirmation of its wonderful performance
will be looked for with great eagerness by all scientists and others interested
in aerial navigation.
Links of the Month
You remember that it was the
7th season of "The Simpsons," and that in that episode Bart and
Milhouse were both up for the role of "Fallout Boy" in the new
"Radioactive Man" movie. But who was the guest star of that
episode? If you visit http://www.snpp.com
you will have the opportunity to learn everything you'd ever want to know about
the show. (The guest star was Mickey Rooney.)
Ever thought about visiting
the graves of all the deceased Presidents of the United States? When you visit http://www.findagrave.com you will be able
to find the gravesites of all the Presidents, as well as thousands of other
famous people. This site can also help genealogists locate the graves of
2.5 million non-famous graves.
You've purchased eight of
the nine "Star Wars" Pez dispensers in your local drug store,
but somehow the Princess Leia dispenser continues to allude you. By
visiting http://www.pez.com/ you can not
only order the missing dispenser, but learn about the company, the current
dispensers available and the history of the company.
Whether you are trying to
find out the families that sailed on the Mayflower, or who Ravi Shankar is, try
the search engine http://www.google.com.
It's quick and provides easy access to websites.
Oops, it's your
mother-in-law's birthday, and you forgot to send a card. Visit http://www.bluemountain.com and select
from hundreds of birthday greetings to send an on-line greeting.
Want to see some of your
favorite TV moms from the past --- Florence Henderson (Carol Brady from
"The Brady Bunch"), Marion Ross (Marion Cunningham from "Happy
Days") and Shirley Jones (Shirley Partridge from "The Partridge
Family") in a fun ad promoting the drinking of milk? See their
images plus many more at http://www.whymilk.com
Lou Gehrig, who played for
the New York Yankees, is considered by some to be the greatest first baseman
ever. He retired from baseball after being diagnosed with amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (now known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). On July 4, 1939,
Lou Gehrig Day at Yankee Stadium, the stoical slugger told a packed house,
"I may have been given a bad break, but with all this I have a lot to live
for. I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
To learn more about the "Iron Horse," visit http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/baseball/bol/ballplayers/G/Gehrig_Lou.html
World Almanac Education
Group
World Almanac
E-Newsletter
Edward A. Thomas, Editor in Chief
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