D. B. Cooper, we hardly knew ye

On this day in 1971, the mysterious hijacker D.B. Cooper took the money and ran — well, jumped — into history. Cooper received $200,000 in ransom after hijacking a Northwest Airlines 727, and then parachuted with his money somewhere in the wilderness of Washington state.

Although tempting tidbits occasionally surface — like over $5,000 in bills from the ransom that were found decaying on the bank of a Washington river — the case remains unsolved. In 2007, the FBI released more information and photos, requesting the public’s help to solve this 35+ year old crime.

It was Miss Kristin in the bedroom with a gun!

On this day in 1980, millions — and I do mean millions — of people tuned into the evening soap opera Dalla to answer the fateful question that gnawed at them for months: “Who shot J.R.?”

But they would have to wait through quite a lot to get the answer…

Lots of birthdays

It’s the day of cool birthdays!

On this day in history, we welcomed the birth of:

• In 1620, Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower as it sat in Massachusetts Bay. Little Peregrine was the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.
• In 1866, Kenesaw Mountain Landis (what a great name!) was born. He went on to become a federal judge and the baseball commissioner.
• In 1889, astronomer Edwin Hubble, namesake of the Hubble space telescope, was born.
• In 1900, cartoonist Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy, was born in Oklahoma.
• In 1925, Robert F. Kennedy (U. S. Attorney General and brother of John F. Kennedy) was born into money.

Of course, may live people were born today as well, including:

• actress Estelle Parsons (81)
• actor and game show host Richard Dawson (76)
• comedian Dick Smothers (70)
• Vice President-elect Joe Biden (66)
• Joe Walsh of the Eagles (61)
• model, actress, and the original “10” Bo Derek (52 — yikes!)
• Pianist Jim Brickman (47)

The birth of a general and the end of a war

Quite an interesting combination of events today! Today is, of course, Veteran’s Day here in the United States, so please take a moment to thank a vet in your life, as well as those on both active and reserve duty. Without them, our lives would be much, much different in ways that make me shudder to even consider.

Turning to history, two very interesting things happened today: A famous general was born, and a great conflict ended.

Today is brought to you by the letter S

Happy birthday today to Sesame Street, which first appeared on this day in 1969. The brainchild of Joan Ganz Cooney, a former producer of documentaries for public television, the show has aired in more than 120 countries over the years. Cooney designed the show to reach underprivileged 3 to 5 year-olds and help them prepare for kindergarten. To make it relevant, she set the show in a fictional New York neighborhood populated with an ethnically diverse group of characters.

The show launched the career of puppeteer Jim Henson, who created a number of Sesame Street institutions including Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird.

Congratulations, Joan — you created something amazing!!

Quite the day for Nixon

November 7 was quite an interesting day for former president Richard M. Nixon. On this day in 1962, after a failed bid to become the governor of California, Nixon held what he described as his last press conference, somewhat bitterly telling the reporters, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”

Fast-forward to 1972, a mere 10 years later, and we find that same Nixon winning the presidency in a landslide vote over George McGovern.

And, of course, we all know where that led.

Sweet birthday music

It’s a great day for musical birthdays!

Happy birthday today to John Philip Sousa, legendary king of American march music. He was born in Washington, D. C. (very appropriate, don’t you think?) on this day in 1854.

Also, happy birthday to Glenn Fry of the Eagles. He turns — brace yourself, Eagles fans — the big 60 today. And to think he always sounds so young on my Eagles albums…