On this day in 1935 Sir Malcolm Campbell drove the first automobile to exceed 300 miles an hour. Police cars chasing him telegraphed ahead with the message, "Pull over. Stop. Okay, Buddy. Stop. Wheres the fire? Stop."

     Today is Independence Day in Qatar, a small Persian Gulf desert nation of a half-million people. Oil revenues make Qatarians among the world's wealthiest people, but there's nothing to do but play in the sand.
     Of course, on Independence Day they can shoot off all the firecrackers they want. Its pretty hard to start a sand fire.

     The cartoonist who created Beetle Bailey, Mort Walker, was born on this day in 1923. Beetle really wanted to be involved the Iraq war, but by the time he woke up the mission was accomplished.

     Today's exciting Beetle Bailey trivia question: Whatever happened to Beetle Bailey's sister?
     Beetle's sister, Lois Bailey, married Hi Flagstone and settled down to raise a family and sell real estate in the comic strip "Hi and Lois," which also was created by Mort Walker under the pen name Addison.
     Lois' oldest son is the spitting image of Uncle Beetle and is enrolled in vocational training, studying to become an Army private.

      On this date in 1992 the singer once known, then formerly known, now again known as Prince signed a $100-million dollar recording contract with Warner Brothers. I guess there's nothing like signing a $100-million contract to help you remember your name.

     Physicist Carl Anderson was born on this day in 1905. Carl won the Nobel Prize for discovering the positron, the mesotron, and the mumeson. Wow! He probably even passed algebra.

      Basketball coach Dick Motta is 80 today. He popularized the phrase "Its not over till the fat lady sings." But he stopped saying it a couple years back when friends hired a fat lady to sing "Happy Birthday" to him -- and she chug-a-lugged his cake.

     On this day in 1639 Thomas Lechford of Massachusetts Colony became the first lawyer to be disbarred in America. His fellow lawyers punished him for unethical conduct. Lechford bribed a member of a jury instead of doing the ethical thing -- bribing the judge.

    On this day in 1935 at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive a car 300 miles an hour. He must have really been in a hurry to find a rest area.

     The limit of British legal memory dates back to this date in 1189. Gee, British lawmakers remember back a long time. Unlike our lawmakers, who can't remember beyond their last pay raise.

     On this date in 1639 Thomas Lechford of Massachusetts became the first American lawyer to be disbarred. He was convicted of DWWI -- Defending Witches While Intoxicated.

     Nicolo Amaiti was born in Italy on this day in 1596. He became a great violin maker. Amaiti was so great, in fact, cats everywhere donated their guts to him.