Trivia Today

July 10, 2011

• Today is Don't Step On A Bee Day (wellcat.com).

• Today is Pavement Day, marking completion of the first concrete-paved street on this date in 1892 in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

• Today is International Drive Your Studebaker Day, motorized or horse-drawn.

• Today is Wyoming Day. Wyoming became the 44th U.S. state on this day in 1890.

• Today is Disney Animation Appreciation Day, a time to remember all your favorite Disney movies, like possibly "The Fox and The Hound," released on this date in 1981. Four years in the making, this Disney production required 360,000 drawings.

• Today is Independence Day in the Bahamas.

• National Farrier's Week and Sports Cliché Week begin today.

On this date in . . .

1880: U.S. patent #254,828 was issued for the tuxedo life jacket, an inflatable formal jacket for dining out at sea.

1960: 16-year-old Brian Hyland=s "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" entered the Billboard Hot 100 music chart. Composer Paul Vance wrote the song after watching his 2-year-old daughter Paula at the beach in her new bikini.

1964: The Beatles released the single "A Hard Day=s Night" in England. Flipside: "Things We Said Today."

1967: Bobbie Gentry recorded "Ode to Billie Joe" (Capitol #5950). It was #1 for four weeks in August and September.

1989: The British pop group The Monkees received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1991: Millie Bush, America's First Dog, became a millionaire as royalties from her book about a dog's life in the White House reached $1.1-million. Millie gave the money to First Lady Barbara Bush's family literacy foundation. Millie died in May, 1997.

1993: A 37-year-old San Antonio man ran over himself when he tried to jump from his moving car while fleeing from police. The suspect survived to face charges of stealing 13 bags of potting soil from a builder's supply store.

1996: A former employee of Orlando's Gatorland theme park was sentenced to six months in jail for selling two of the park's 2,400 alligators to an Indiana tourist for $75.00 each. The 3-foot gators were discovered in the tourists motel room after he called the state game commission for suggestions on how to transport them to Indiana.

1996: Tipper the cat, choking on his flea collar in Tampa, was rescued after he called 9-1-1. Fortunately, Tipper's owner had programmed the speed-dial button on the phone to dial 9-1-1, so the cat only had to push one button.

1998: The Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who said they had been molested by a priest.

2002: Peter Paul Rubens' painting "The Massacre of the Innocents" sold at auction for $76.2 million.

2003: A 32-year-old Israeli woman was recovering well from surgery after she tried to retrieve a cockroach that had jumped into her mouth with a fork. She swallowed the fork.

2004: In his weekly radio address, President Bush said legalizing gay marriage would redefine the most fundamental institution of civilization, and that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect traditional marriage.

Birthdays:

	actor Ron Glass 65;
	actor Adrian Grenier is 33;
	actress Jessica Simpson 31;
	singer Ken Mellons 42;
	singer Cheryl Wheeler 56;
	Pet Shop Boy Nat Tennant 53;
	banjoist Bela Fleck 49;
	son Elijah Blue Allman 31.

Q: Emily Dickinson wrote more than 900 poems. How many were published during her lifetime? (a) Four; (b) 40; or (c) 400?
A: Four.

Q: You are suffering from insomnia. Should you: (a) lay there and try harder to go to sleep; (b) count clones; or (c) get up, go to another room, and do something really dull?
A: In another room, do something totally mindless, like watching an infomercial (Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis).

Q: What does People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals do with the thousands of fur coats they receive each year from converts? Do they: (a) donate them for transplants to animals with skin problems; (b) sell them and donate the money to the SPCA; or (c) give them to homeless people?
A: Winter gifts to the homeless.