FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Thomas Randolph Bell (January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was a Jamaican-born American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, pianist, and composer known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. He found success as a producer and songwriter for the Delfonics, Stylistics, and Spinners. In June […]

FROM OCTAVIA SPENCER’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT It has been confirmed that Eddy had passed away after sustaining an infection following a non-emergent surgery she had on December 9. A veteran actor and California native, the always serious-faced actress started playing her most famous role of Nurse […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense, tasked with air defense for the Continental United States. It comprised Army, Air Force, and Navy components. It included Army Project Nikemissiles (Ajax and Hercules) anti-aircraft defenses and USAF interceptors (manned aircraft […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Richard Glenn Rutan (born July 1, 1938) is a retired United States Air Force officer and fighter pilot, test pilot, and record-breaking aviator who in 1986 piloted the Voyager aircraft on the first non-stop, non-refueled around-the-world flight with co-pilot Jeana Yeager. He was born in Loma Linda, California, where he gained an interest in […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who played running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a key player in one of professional football’s most famous plays, dubbed the “Immaculate Reception” by […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Sir Mackenzie Bowell PC KCMG (/ˈboʊ.əl/; December 27, 1823 – December 10, 1917) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and politician, who served as the fifth prime minister of Canada, in office from 1894 to 1896. Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, England. He and his family moved to Belleville, […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Canadian National Railway Company (French: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) (reporting mark CN) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada’s largest railway, in terms of both revenue and the physical size of its […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS THE EARLY YEARS The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA). Founded in 1909, the NHA began play in 1910 with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec, and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey. However, […]

Hanukkah (also spelled “Chanukah”) is an eight-day Jewish festival which begins this evening at sundown. The festival commemorates events that took place in Judea more than 2,000 years ago, when the Syrian king Antiochus ordered the Jews to abandon the Torah and publicly worship the […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Anti-Saloon League (now known as the American Council on Addiction and Alcohol Problems) is an organization of the temperance movement that lobbied for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. Founded in 1893 in Oberlin, Ohio, it was a key component of the Progressive Era, and was strongest […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Stephen Laurel “tWitch” Boss (September 29, 1982 – December 13, 2022) was an American freestyle hip hop dancer, choreographer, actor, television producer, and television personality. In 2008, he was the runner-up on the American version of So You Think You Can Dance. From 2014 to the show’s conclusion in 2022, […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Tilt-A-Whirl is a flat ride similar to the Waltzer in Europe, designed for commercial use at amusement parks, fairs, and carnivals, in which it is commonly found. The rides are manufactured by Larson International of Plainview, Texas. DESCRIPTION The ride consists of seven freely-spinning cars that hold three or four riders […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Eleazar Wheelock (April 22, 1711 – April 24, 1779) was an American Congregational minister, orator, and educator in Lebanon, Connecticut, for 35 years before founding Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He had tutored Samson Occom, a Mohegan who became a Presbyterian minister and the first Native American to publish […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS George Franklin Grant (September 15, 1846 – August 21, 1910) was the first African-American professor at Harvard. He was also a Boston dentist, and an inventor of a wooden golf tee. BIOGRAPHY Grant was born on September 15, 1846, in Oswego, New York, to Phillis Pitt and Tudor Elandor Grant. […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Joseph Paul DiMaggio[a] (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed “Joltin’ Joe“, “The Yankee Clipper” and “Joe D.“, was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Born to Sicilian immigrants in California, he is widely considered one […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Nobel Prizes (/noʊˈbɛl/ noh-BEL; Swedish: Nobelpriset [nʊˈbɛ̂lːˌpriːsɛt]; Norwegian: Nobelprisen [nʊˈbɛ̀lːˌpriːsn̩]) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel’s will of 1895, are awarded to “those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist most famously known for the invention of dynamite. He died […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Robert Stanton Waterfield (July 26, 1920 – March 25, 1983) was an American professional football player and coach. He played quarterback for the UCLA Bruins and Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. His No. 7 jersey was retired by the Los Angeles Rams in 1952. He […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS 2022 ARREST IN RUSSIA On February 17, 2022, Griner was arrested on smuggling charges in Russia. She was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport after the Federal Customs Service found she was carrying vaporizer cartridges containing less than a gram of hash oil; in Arizona she had been prescribed medicinal […]

Via Teleconference 9:20 A.M. EST MODERATOR:  Good morning, everyone.  Thanks so much for joining us on this background briefing.  We’re going to share some additional information about the United States’ successful efforts to secure the release of Brittney Griner.  Just to start with some ground […]