Today in History: March 7, 1981 18 year-old Mel Yorba entered Disneyworld with several friends on March 7, 1981. By some accounts, the teenager and his friends were pretty tanked. Drunk or not, Yorba pinched the butt of a passing girl, who immediately alerted her boyfriend, 28 year-old James O’Driscoll. He wasn’t having that, and began chasing Yorba through the […]

Today in History: March 6, 1951 On this day in 1951, the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg began in New York Southern District Federal Court. The couple was accused of conspiracy to commit espionage by providing information about the atomic bomb to the USSR during WWII. A co-defendant, Morton Sedell, also faced the same charges. Julius Rosenberg, a member […]

Today in History: March 5, 1963 The oft-told story behind the origin of the Hulu-Hoop is the tale of two childhood buddies named Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin, the founders of Wham-O, who first heard of kids gyrating hoops around theirs waists for fun when a visiting Australian mentioned its popularity back home. Knerr and Melin began making their […]

Today in History: March 4, 303 Back in the 4th century, the story goes that there was a 28 year-old high ranking Herculean guard working for the Roman emperor Galerius Maximian named Adrian of Nicomedia. While at work one day presiding over the torture of a bunch of Christians, Adrian asked them what they expected to receive in an afterlife […]

Today in History: March 3, 1875 The music from Carmen is recognizable even to people who are more familiar with Alan Jackson or AC/DC than arias, but when Georges Bizet composed Carmen, it was no sure bet it would ever make it to the stage. The reason for this rested solely with the opera’s plot, which is based on the […]

Today in History: February 28, 1704 When you visit the Old Burying Ground in Deerfield, MA, tucked away in the back corner there is a grassy mound with a weathered gravestone atop it. The only inscription it bears is the date “1704.” It is in memory of the 50 inhabitants of the tiny village killed in the overnight hours on […]

Today in History: February 27, 1827 “No party is any fun unless seasoned with folly.” – Desiderius Erasmus Mimicking what they had seen done in Paris, a group of boisterous masked students decked out in colorful costumes took to the streets of New Orleans on February 27, 1827, in what would be the first of the city’s many world famous […]

Today in History: February 26, 1954 Rock and roll had barely shot off the launching pad when “concerned” citizens and politicians began rallying to nip this scourge on decent society in the bud. One of the first to (apparently) suffer from a wooden object lodged up their backside over music you couldn’t waltz to was a Republican Congresswoman from Michigan […]

Today in History: February 25, 1972 Paul McCartney had always been careful to remain fairly apolitical and uncontroversial when writing his songs. He felt his job was to entertain, not preach, and had made several not-so-veiled jabs at John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s almost constant use of their fame as a soapbox to promote political causes they believed in. So […]

Today in History: February 24, 1208 St. Francis of Assisi didn’t always live what one would consider a saintly life. His dad was a wealthy merchant, and Francis was very fond of wearing expensive duds, getting into street fights and hanging out with other privileged kids. Even so, he showed a concern for the poor and sick that was highly […]

Today in History: February 21, 1431 It would seem highly improbable that a simple peasant girl from a small village in France would have better name recognition 600 hundred years later than the reigning kings of the time. But Joan of Arc, who only lived to be 19 years old, already had the stature of a mythological figure while she […]

Today in History: February 20, 2003 The evening of February 20, 2003 was crisp, clear and cold in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Winters in New England tend to be long and monotonous, and what better way to stave off cabin fever than by checking out a band at a local club? The 80’s band Great White was in town playing […]

Today in History: February 19, 1934 In what would become one of Hollywood’s longest lasting unions, Bob Hope and Dolores Reade wed on this day in 1934, just a year after Hope had divorced his first wife, Grace Troxell. Hope and Reade’s marriage endured almost 70 years until Hope’s death in 2003 at the age of 100. Dolores passed away […]

Today in History: February 18, 1478 The antics of the feuding Plantagenet family wrangling for the English crown during the War of the Roses set the standard for all dysfunctional families to follow. Family loyalty meant very little to this bunch when it came to winning the throne of England. George Plantagenet, born in 1449 to the Duke of York […]

Today in History: February 17, 1993 It is estimated that as many as 900 people may have lost their lives when the Neptune, a dangerously overloaded passenger ferry, overturned near the coast of Haiti on this day in 1993. Some estimates claim as many as 2,000 people were on board at the time, though this may be an exaggeration.  Whatever […]

Today in History: February 14, 1988 22-year-old speed skater Dan Jansen was widely favored to take the gold in both the 500- and 1,000 meter events at the Calgary Winter Games in 1988. If he hadn’t suffered a tragic personal loss just hours before the first competition, events may have played out quite differently for the young Olympian. The day […]

Today in History: February 12, 1967 When Rolling Stones Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were arrested on drug charges at Richards’ home, Redlands, on February 12, 1967, there were many who believed that the two rock stars were victims of a set-up. Turns out they were right… I mean, they were indeed doing drugs at the time they were caught, […]

Today in History: February 11, 1916 Emma Goldman, a tireless crusader for women’s causes, was among the first to recognize the link between free speech and reproductive rights. So it comes as no surprise that her arrest on this day in history, 1916, was for violating the Comstock Act, which deemed it a federal offense to transport “obscene, lewd and/or […]