The inventor of the machine gun, Richard Gatling, was born on this date in 1816. He got the idea one day when he was making dinner and accidentally spilled gun powder in his pasta maker.

     The Albigenses (Albuh-gen'seez) were defeated at Muret on this date in 1213. The Albigenses were vegetarians in southern France who also were against sex and cheese. No wonder they were defeated -- they had nothing to fight for.

     On this day in 1922 the Episcopal Church deleted the word "obey" from the marriage vows. Church officials reasoned that it simply was not morally proper to force a bride to lie at her wedding.

     On this day in 1941 a ship called the Busko became the first German vessel to be captured by American forces. The captain of the Busko was charged with war crimes. He had committed the ultimate act of environmental pollution by throwing a load of sauerkraut overboard.

     On this day in 1916 a group of Erwin, Tennessee, residents became the first mob in history to lynch an elephant. The elephant, whose name was Mary, had run amok and killed a man at the circus. Obviously, mob justice is an effective crime deterrent, since to this day elephants tend to behave themselves in Tennessee.

     Alice Wells of Los Angeles became America's first female police officer on this date in 1910. At first, nobody believed a woman could enforce the law; but today, thanks to Alice Wells, several people believe it.

     Opera singer Stephen Zucker hit the highest note ever sung by a tenor on this day in 1972 at Carnegie Hall. How high was it? It was three notes higher than the previous record -- a note sung by Tiny Tim in 1969 during a proctology exam.

     The late singer Barry White was born on this date in 1944. If you weren't familiar with Barry's vocal style, just imagine Darth Vader in a cuddly mood.

     On this date in 1922 the Episcopal Church took the word "obey" out of the brides part of the wedding vows. Marriages still don't always work, of course, because they didn't move it over to the groom's part.

     Richard Gatling was born in North Carolina on this day in 1818. He invented the automatic Gatling gun. Hunters loved the Gatling gun because they could shoot 65 rabbits a minute. Rabbits didn't care for it at all.

     In New York on this day in 1866 the first "girlie" show opened, featuring a chorus line of 14 young beauties. If you shelled out 15-cents for a front row seat and tilted your head just right, you could see their knees.
     If those days, 28 knees for 15-cents was a good deal.

     On this date in 1814, while under attack at Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key wrote a song. This brave American, in the midst of battle, 'neath the rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air, for the first time heroically sang "The Star Spangled Banner." And the British shot him in the harpsichord!

     On this date in 1987 four men were arrested for trying to steal a dolphin from a marineland in England. They pleaded "dolphin friendly" and made a TV movie about it called "Free Flipper."

     Alice Wells of Los Angeles became America's first female police officer on this date in 1910. It's tougher for a woman to be a cop. A woman has to fire a police revolver, drive in high-speed chases, and handcuff dangerous criminals -- all without chipping her nails.

     Actor William Boyd died on this date in 1972. Boyd played Hopalong Cassidy in 66 feature movies and scores of TV shows. He's was Hollywood's most successful non-singing cowboy. Which, actually, the cows preferred because he didn't keep them awake at night with all that campfire foolishness.
     Roy Rogers' cows were always yawning.
     Gene Autry's cows were always chewing their Doublemint.