NATIONAL Sunglasses Day
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NATIONAL Helen Keller Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1778 The Liberty Bell came home to Philadelphia after the British left
1829 In Genoa, Italy, English scientist James Smithson dies after a long illness, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs [which is what happened], Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to “the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
1922 The Newbery Medal for children’s literature was first awarded
1927 The US Marines adopt the English bulldog as their mascot
1929 Scientists at Bell Laboratories in New York revealed a system for transmitting television pictures
1945 The FCC allocates airwaves for 13 TV stations
1950 President Harry S. Truman ordered the Air Force and Navy into the Korean War
1980 President Carter signed legislation reviving draft registration
1985 The legendary Route 66, running from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, was decertified, the victim of the Interstate Highway System
2003 The national Do-Not-Call Registry, formed to combat unwanted telemarketing calls and administered by the Federal Trade Commission, enrolled almost three-quarters of a million phone numbers on its first day
I informed a caller that I was on the DNC registry and she should not be calling me and she told me that the DNC registry was made up and didn't exist. And, I did not know Smithson was Italian. I've driven Route 66 in the old days. Quite the trip.
ReplyDeleteMy previous firm was located on Route 66 which in the city where we were located was called Foothill Blvd. It's an interesting drive, at least in SoCal.
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