Sophie Tucker – Last of the Red Hot Mommas
Sophie Tucker, billed later in her career as the Last of the Red Hot Mommas, was born Sophie Kalish in Russia as her parents were immigrating to the United States on January 13, 1884. Her father decided to adopt the name Abuza in America. One could say she was destined to become an entertainer. While [...]
The Silent Cowboy
Tom Mix became film’s first Western Movie star. He wasn’t born in the west, but in the east. He was born on January 6, 1880 in Mix Run, Pennsylvania. His birth name was Thomas Hezekiah Mix, but when he enlisted in the army during the Spanish-American War he entered as Thomas E. Mix. The E [...]
Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur was born on January 5, 1779 in Berlin, Maryland and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19 he joined the newly formed U.S. Navy, and rose rapidly in rank. He was the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the United States Navy. He also was the first [...]
Remembering Topsy the Elephant
At the turn of the 20th Century all kinds of attractions were to be found at Coney Island in New York. One of those attractions were elephants and Topsy was a three-ton tusker who was one of those attractions. She also had been use to build some of the attractions due to her great strength. [...]
The Year of the Hobbit
Other than the possible end of the world, the Mayan Calendar 12th (and last) long count ends on December 20th, one of the highly anticipated events is the December release of the first of two movies made from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey). Beginning with January 3rd, which was the date [...]
Jerry Lieber
Lyricist Jerry Lieber along with composer Mike Stoller wrote the soundtrack of the 50′s generation. Some of their songs were Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley and Charlie Brown, Poison Ivy and Yakety Yak for the Coasters. Jerry Lieber died in 2011 on August 22nd. Jerry Lieber, born on April 25, 1933, and was [...]
John Barry
For the past couple of years between the week of Christmas and New Year I have written about a couple of those that we lost during the past year. Usually it’s about someone who is familiar but didn’t realize they had passed away. This year I will be doing three with this being the first. [...]
The Death of Washington
George Washington lied dying in his bed at his Mount Vernon home on December 14, 1799 and at 10 PM he breathed his last breaths. The man who had lead the United States first through War as the Commanding General and later as the first President of the United States was dead at the age [...]
Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout was born on December 1, 1886, the sixth of nine children of John and Lucetta Stout. He was raised in Kansas and as a youth was considered a child prodigy in arithmetic. In 1916 he invented a school banking system, a system for keeping track of the money school children saved in [...]
Cristoforo Colombo
Christopher Columbus is thought to have been born between August and October 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Little is known about his youth, although it is thought that he had a brother, Bartolomeo who may have worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon. He did claim that he began his life at sea at the age [...]
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