On this date in . . .

1881: Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

1934: Comedian Bob Hope and Delores Reade were married in Erie, Pennsylvania. The marriage lasted 69 years until Hope's death at age 100 in 2003. Bob and Delores adopted four children, Kelly, Zachary, Linda, and Tony.

1964: A thousand pounds of Beatles wigs arrived from England in New York City, where they sold out immediately.

1964: Simon & Garfunkel completed the original version of "Sounds of Silence" using only acoustic guitars.

1967: In St. Louis Wilt Chamberlain missed all nine of his free throw attempts while hitting 100% of other shots. In fact, when the field goal streak ended nine days later, Wilt had made 35 in a row.

1974: Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton split up their act.

1977: Betty Tafat of Cuyahoga, Ohio, completed crocheting a wool chain 11 miles long.

1977: President Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino, better known by her nickname "Tokyo Rose."

1984: On the final day of the Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, American brothers Phil and Steve Mahre won the gold and silver medals in the men's slalom.

1985: Coca-Cola introduced bottled Cherry Coke. Soda jerks at drug store fountains had been mixing it since the 1930s.

1996: Two days before her 121st birthday, Jeanne Clement of France became the world's oldest pop star by releasing her first CD entitled Mistress of Time, on which she spoke over funk-rap, techno, and dance music. She said she made the recording to earn money for a minibus for the retirement home where she lived.

1996: At a motel near Johannesburg, South Africa, 55-year-old Maphupu Molatudi was beaten and robbed of his false teeth. Police arrested a suspect but never recovered the teeth.

1998: A piece of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s 60-year-old wedding cake sold for $29,900 at an auction in New York City.

1999: Actor Dennis Franz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2002: A burglar left hanging upside down from a window had to call Austrian police for help on his cell phone. The 42-year-old was trying to break into a nursery in Linz when his foot got caught in a crack as he went through a sloping window. Officers had to take out the window frame to free the man.

2005: Iran was reported to be preparing for a possible U.S. attack or at least appearing to prepare for war to dissuade Washington from such an attack.

Birthdays:

• Prince Andrew is 52 today;
• actress Justine Bateman 46;
• actor Jeff Daniels 57;
• singer-actress Haylie Duff 27;
• singer Seal 49;
• singer Lou Christie 69;
• singer Smokey Robinson 72;
• TV talker Lorianne Crook 55;
• tennis pro Hana Mandlikova 50.

     Q: You have decided to go into the lucrative sheep cheese and yogurt business. Will you want to import dairy sheep from: (a) Argentina; (b) Germany; or (c) Nigeria?
     A: East Friesians are the world’s most productive dairy sheep, just as Holsteins are the most productive dairy cows. Both come from the same region of Germany.

     Q: You are a Kirghiz wife whose husband’s name is Bish. Should you call him: (a) Bishie; (b) Fishie; or (c) Ralph?
     A: Ralph. In Kirghizstan, wives must not utter their husband’s name or anything that sounds like his name.

34 years ago today:

• The #1 song was "Stayin’ Alive" by the Bee Gees.
• The #1 country song was Margo Smith’s "Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You."
• The #1 R&B song was "Too Hot ta Trot" by the Commodores.