By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Arleen Sorkin (October 14, 1955 – August 24, 2023) was an American actress, screenwriter, television presenter and comedian. Sorkin is known for portraying Calliope Jones on the NBC daytime serial Days of Our Lives and for serving as the real-life inspiration and voice for DC Comics villain Harley Quinn, […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Robert William Barker (December 12, 1923 – August 26, 2023) was an American television game show host. He hosted CBS‘s The Price Is Right, the longest-running game show in North American television history, from 1972 to 2007. He also hosted Truth or Consequences from […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Edwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819 – November 9, 1880), also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil. HIS CAREER Seneca Oil While petroleum oil was known prior to this, there was no appreciable […]

By Mona Hatfield Women’s Equality Day This day marks the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920), granting women the right to vote. Ratification came in Tennessee, where Tennessee state legislator Harry T. Burn, age 24, cast the deciding vote after reading a letter […]

By Lady Williamson FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film Krush Groove and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series L.A. Law. Underwood has appeared […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Survivor is the American version of the international Survivor reality competition television franchise, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson created by Charlie Parsons which premiered in 1997. The American series premiered on May 31, 2000, on CBS. It is hosted by Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer along with Mark […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Jennifer Beth Thompson, who is 50 today, (born February 26, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist. She is one of the most decorated Olympians in history: twelve medals, including eight gold medals, in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Arthur Rose Eldred (August 16, 1895 – January 4, 1951) was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). As a 16-year-old candidate for the highest rank bestowed by the BSA, […]

By Lady Williamson FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Robert Anthony Plant CBE (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their break up in 1980; since then he has had […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as “Fonzie” or “The Fonz“, is a fictional high school dropout played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lead character when he […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The National Aviation Day (August 19) is a United States national observation that celebrates the development of aviation. The holiday was established in 1939 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who issued a presidential proclamation which designated the anniversary of Orville Wright‘s birthday to be National Aviation Day (Mr. […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship’s captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865, he commanded USS San Jacinto during the Trent Affair in which he stopped a Royal Mail ship […]

By Lady Williamson FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). With around 280 […]

By Mona Hatfield All our thoughts and condolences are with Helen’s family and friends, as well as those in the swimming community who trained, competed and worked with Helen during her time in the sport. Backstroke specialist Helen – who trained at Ashton Central Swimming Club […]

By Mona Hatfield FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of Yukon, in north-western Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896; when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of […]

By Zola Elder Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic churches in the United States mark the feast of the Assumption on August 15 each year to celebrate the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s body into heaven upon her death. Assumption Day is considered […]

By Lady Williamson FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Li’l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared across multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn by Al Capp (1909–1979), the strip ran for 43 years […]

By Mona Hatfield   FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Cathy Kratzert Gerring (born April 28, 1961) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Born Cathy Kratzert, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she played college golf at Ohio State University. Gerring won three times on the LPGA Tour, all in 1990. She played on […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz (English: /ˈælkəˌtræz/, Spanish: [alkaˈtɾas] “the gannet“) or The Rock, was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The site of a fort since the 1850s, the main prison building was […]

By Zola Elder FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Smithsonian Institution (/smɪθˈsoʊniən/ smith-SOH-nee-ən), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge”. Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not […]