WEDNESDAY ALMANAC – June 25
NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES
July 4, Friday – U.S. Independence Day
Sept. 1, Monday – Labor Day
Sept. 11, Thursday – Patriot Day
Sept. 22, Monday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 2:19 p.m. EDT)
BIRTHDAYS
Busy Philipps (actress, “Girls5eva,” “Cougar Town”) … 46
Mike Kroeger (bassist with Nickelback) … 53
Angela Kinsey (actress, “The Office”) … 54
Ricky Gervais (comedy writer, performer, producer) … 64
David Paich (Keyboardist with Toto) … 71
Jimmy Walker (U.S. comedian, “Dy-no-mite!”) … 78
Carly Simon (U.S. singer, songwriter) … 82
June Lockhart (actress, “General Hospital,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Lost in Space,” “Lassie”) … 100
Today’s Birthdays grade: Will Robinson’s mom turns 100, we’ve got the creator of “The Office” (which made him a millionaire) and an alum of the U.S. version, a huge 70s and 80s singer-songwriter and more. A big, solid lineup – Grade: B.
[Want to try something different with the daily birthdays? Try grading them! Some days have “good” celebs, some have “great” celebs, some have “lousy” celebs. For fun, give the group an arbitrary grade: A-plus through F-minus. Sidekick will give you our take on it; you can to take the concept and run with it.]
BIRTHDAY QUOTE QUIZ – Ask your listeners “Who said it?” HINT: Today’s their birthday!
“If I just cut out the food, I’d have a six-pack. I’d look like Matthew McConaughey.”
(A) Drew Carey
(B) Alec Baldwin
(C) Ricky Gervais
ANSWER: (C) Ricky Gervais
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
2014 – The US Supreme Court ruled that police cannot examine the digital contents of a cell phone without a court order.
* This does not apply to Apple, Google, or Facebook.
1997 – An unmanned cargo ship crashed into Russia’s Mir space station, knocking out half of the station’s power and rupturing a pressurized laboratory.
* Man, did THEIR insurance rates go up after that!
1974 – Texas Instruments patented the hand-held calculator. It cost over $100 and could only add, subtract, multiply and divide.
* You could buy one and calculate how much you would have saved by waiting for the price to plummet.
1970 – The FCC ruled that radio stations couldn’t put phone calls on the air without the caller’s permission.
* Really? Uh-oh! Uhm … gee … eh … let me write this down …
1947 – The tennis shoe was introduced.
* It became one of the longest running shoe styles ever.
1930 – Jimmy Dewar invented the Twinkie.
* Followed shortly thereafter by the invention of stretch pants.
1910 – The U.S. passed the Mann Act, making it illegal for women to be transported across state lines for immoral purposes.
* So how come Madonna is able to tour?
1876 – General George Custer and his 266 troops were wiped out by the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana.
* I’ve always wanted to know why they couldn’t settle on whether it was a little horn or a big horn.
1867 – Barbed wire was patented.
* It was so popular, early dealers had to protect their stocks of barbed wire with barbed wire.
1798 – The U.S. passed the Alien Act, allowing the president to deport dangerous aliens.
* And you thought it all started with Roswell.
1630 – The fork was introduced to American dining by Massachusetts governor John Winthrop.
* Finally, the colonists could cut their hideously long but useful fingernails.
THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY
2016 – The Yellow Cloud guitar owned by Prince, said to be one of his favorites, was bought at auction for $137,500. A lock of David Bowie’s hair also sold for $18,750 at the same auction.
2014 – Amnesty International apologized to Iggy Pop for using an image of the singer in its latest anti-torture campaign without the singer’s permission. The Belgian advert featured Iggy’s face bloodied and beaten, quoting him as saying Justin Bieber was “the future of rock and roll” and the slogan: “Torture a man and he will tell you anything.”
2009 – Michael Jackson died at age 50 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in November 2011, and was released in 2013 after serving two years of his four-year prison sentence with time off for good behavior.
2009 – A Sgt. Pepper souvenir poster bearing the signatures of all four Beatles sold for $52,500 at a pop memorabilia auction in New York City.
2006 – Nicole Kidman married her singer boyfriend Keith Urban at ceremony in Sydney, Australia.
1995 – Pearl Jam canceled their current tour, citing their ongoing war with Ticketmaster as the reason.
