On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower's designer, and attended by French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries, and 200 construction workers.
In 1889, to honor of the centenary of the French Revolution, the French government planned an international exposition and announced a design competition for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars in central Paris. Out of more than 100 designs submitted, the Centennial Committee chose Eiffel's plan of an open-lattice wrought-iron tower that would reach almost 1,000 feet above Paris and be the world's tallest man-made structure. Eiffel, a noted bridge builder, was a master of metal construction and designed the framework of the Statue of Liberty that had recently been erected in New York Harbor.
Eiffel's tower was greeted with skepticism from critics who argued that it would be structurally unsound, and indignation from others who thought it would be an eyesore in the heart of Paris. Unperturbed, Eiffel completed his great tower under budget in just two years. Only one worker lost his life during construction, which at the time was a remarkably low casualty number for a project of that magnitude. The light, airy structure was by all accounts a technological wonder and within a few decades came to be regarded as an architectural masterpiece.
The Eiffel Tower is 984 feet tall and consists of an iron framework supported on four masonry piers, from which rise four columns that unite to form a single vertical tower. Platforms, each with an observation deck, are at three levels. Elevators ascend the piers on a curve, and Eiffel contracted the Otis Elevator Company of the United States to design the tower's famous glass-cage elevators.
The elevators were not completed by March 31, 1889, however, so Gustave Eiffel ascended the tower's stairs with a few hardy companions and raised an enormous French tricolor on the structure's flagpole. Fireworks were then set off from the second platform. Eiffel and his party descended, and the architect addressed the guests and about 200 workers. In early May, the Paris International Exposition opened, and the tower served as the entrance gateway to the giant fair.
The Eiffel Tower remained the world's tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition's 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world's premier tourist attractions.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
100th Anniversary Of Capitol Building Fire In Albany, New York
ALBANY -- The fire started in the Assembly Library and quickly spread down
the hall to the nearby New York State Library, finding plenty of fuel among
towering shelves jammed with books and cabinets filled with hundreds of
thousands of documents, many of them centuries old. It would be several days
before firefighters finally doused the last embers of the state Capitol fire
that started in the early morning hours of March 29, 1911. Meanwhile, one
man was dead and an untold wealth of New York's history and heritage -- from
Dutch colonial records to priceless Iroquois artifacts -- had gone up in
flames. The disaster, according to the man who served as the State Library's
director before and after the fire, was unequaled in the history of modern
libraries. The fire is estimated to have destroyed about 500,000 books and
300,000 manuscripts; only 7,000 books and 80,000 manuscripts were saved. The
blaze also destroyed 8,500 artifacts in the New York State Museum, including
irreplaceable Seneca Indian craftworks. The Capitol blaze, coming just four
days after the horrific fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in
Manhattan, was the second blow in a pair of pyrotechnic disasters that led
to legislation in Albany strengthening building codes and factory safety
laws statewide, and eventually, nationwide. New York is marking this week's
100th anniversary of the Capitol fire with an exhibit, a new documentary
film, a newly published book and public lectures by state librarians and
historians. Few realize the extent of the disaster of 1911," James I. Wyer,
director of the State Library from 1908-1938, told the New York Post three
years after the blaze engulfed the entire western portion of the Capitol,
built in the French Renaissance style over a 32-year period and completed
just a dozen years before the fire. Joseph Gavit, the "Superintendent of the
Stacks" whose 50-year career at the State Library started in 1896, staunchly
believed the fire was started by careless smoking during a boozy party held
in a room near the Assembly chamber, according to state librarians Paul
Mercer and Vicki Weiss, co-authors of "The New York State Capitol and The
Great Fire of 1911. Officially, the blame was laid on faulty wiring. What
isn't disputed is that the blaze ignited around 2 a.m. in what was then the
Assembly's third-floor library, just down the hall from the speaker's
office. During a recent tour of the third and fourth floors, Capitol
Architect James Jamieson described how the fire spread through the chamber's
library, where it intensified and blew out the tall windows overlooking one
of the roofless interior courtyards designed to provide natural light and
ventilation. That courtyard, along with another nearby and some elevator
shafts, wound up acting as conduits for flames that jumped over ceiling
spaces and engulfed the State Library, he said. Since it's all intertwined,
the fire would just find all these places to go," Jamieson explained. Once
the flames reached the library, there was no hope of stopping them. More
than half a million books were stacked floor to ceiling on pine shelves.
Catalogues, newspapers, old manuscripts, journals, wooden desks and
tables -- all served as fuel. The heat was so intense it melted some of the
building's red sandstone columns that were quarried in Scotland, Jamieson
said. Wind currents created by the fires spewed charred pieces of paper
through blown-out windows, littering surrounding streets as if a parade had
been held. The first alarm didn't arrive at the Albany Fire Department until
2:40 a.m. About 150 firefighters battled for hours before getting the
conflagration under control, although debris would smolder for days. Gavit
and others risked their lives running among the still-burning corridors to
save books and documents. Among some of the important documents saved: the
original manuscript of George Washington's farewell address and an original
Emancipation Proclamation, written in Abraham Lincoln's own hand. Arthur
Parker, the first archaeologist hired by New York state, dashed among the
State Museum's display cases arrayed on the fourth floor, wielding a
tomahawk passed down from a Seneca ancestor and using it as a fire ax as he
rescued priceless Iroquois artifacts. He managed to save only about 50 out
of about 500 Iroquois relics, said Betty Duggan, a State Museum curator. He
was just heart-sickened by the fire," Duggan said. News of the fire soon
reached many of the far-flung graduates of the New York State Library
School, founded by Melvil Dewey and located in the Capitol's northwest
tower. For some, the destruction of so much written knowledge was like a
death in the family, and the letters and telegrams they sent to Albany bore
condolences from around the globe. The chief librarian at the Imperial
University of Tokyo wrote: "I beg to express my deepest sympathy for the
loss of the New York State Library by the recent fire. It took a year to
rebuild and repair the damaged sections of the Capitol. Workers removed much
of the soot from the scorched, blackened sandstone walls, but it wasn't
until a two-year, $2.4 million restoration project completed in 2006 that
the Capitol's Great Western Staircase was returned to its pre-fire
condition. The Capitol fire is still haunting us," said Nancy Kelley,
exhibit planner for the State Museum, where a three-month exhibit on the
fire runs through June 18. One-hundred years later, we're still dealing with
the fire. There's also some real haunting, according to Capitol lore. The
ghost of Samuel Abbott, the disaster's sole human casualty, is said to haunt
the Capitol's fourth floor, where the body of the 78-year-old night watchman
was found. While some say Abbott's spirit still makes his nightly rounds,
researchers and librarians often come across more tangible remnants of the
fire among the files and volumes at the State Library and State Archives:
documents charred around the edges or shriveled from being doused. Experts
at the State Archives still work to conserve 20,000 documents rescued from
the fire. They range from such historic items as the Flushing Remonstrance,
a 350-year-old Dutch document demanding religious freedom, to a
Revolutionary War soldier's appeal to be allowed to remarry, written after
he had returned home to find his wife had joined the Shaker religious sect
and no longer wanted a husband. There are lots of small stories to tell from
these documents," said Sue Bove, a conservation expert at the State
Archives. They may not be glamorous, but they're a source of information on
what our forefathers had to endure. Another item saved from the blaze is a
page, circa 1675, from a wealthy Dutch woman's account with an Albany baker.
The entry shows a purchase of "Sinterklaas" goodies. Mercer and Weiss
believe it could be the earliest record of the celebration of the feast of
Saint Nicholas -- aka Santa Claus -- in the New World.
the hall to the nearby New York State Library, finding plenty of fuel among
towering shelves jammed with books and cabinets filled with hundreds of
thousands of documents, many of them centuries old. It would be several days
before firefighters finally doused the last embers of the state Capitol fire
that started in the early morning hours of March 29, 1911. Meanwhile, one
man was dead and an untold wealth of New York's history and heritage -- from
Dutch colonial records to priceless Iroquois artifacts -- had gone up in
flames. The disaster, according to the man who served as the State Library's
director before and after the fire, was unequaled in the history of modern
libraries. The fire is estimated to have destroyed about 500,000 books and
300,000 manuscripts; only 7,000 books and 80,000 manuscripts were saved. The
blaze also destroyed 8,500 artifacts in the New York State Museum, including
irreplaceable Seneca Indian craftworks. The Capitol blaze, coming just four
days after the horrific fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in
Manhattan, was the second blow in a pair of pyrotechnic disasters that led
to legislation in Albany strengthening building codes and factory safety
laws statewide, and eventually, nationwide. New York is marking this week's
100th anniversary of the Capitol fire with an exhibit, a new documentary
film, a newly published book and public lectures by state librarians and
historians. Few realize the extent of the disaster of 1911," James I. Wyer,
director of the State Library from 1908-1938, told the New York Post three
years after the blaze engulfed the entire western portion of the Capitol,
built in the French Renaissance style over a 32-year period and completed
just a dozen years before the fire. Joseph Gavit, the "Superintendent of the
Stacks" whose 50-year career at the State Library started in 1896, staunchly
believed the fire was started by careless smoking during a boozy party held
in a room near the Assembly chamber, according to state librarians Paul
Mercer and Vicki Weiss, co-authors of "The New York State Capitol and The
Great Fire of 1911. Officially, the blame was laid on faulty wiring. What
isn't disputed is that the blaze ignited around 2 a.m. in what was then the
Assembly's third-floor library, just down the hall from the speaker's
office. During a recent tour of the third and fourth floors, Capitol
Architect James Jamieson described how the fire spread through the chamber's
library, where it intensified and blew out the tall windows overlooking one
of the roofless interior courtyards designed to provide natural light and
ventilation. That courtyard, along with another nearby and some elevator
shafts, wound up acting as conduits for flames that jumped over ceiling
spaces and engulfed the State Library, he said. Since it's all intertwined,
the fire would just find all these places to go," Jamieson explained. Once
the flames reached the library, there was no hope of stopping them. More
than half a million books were stacked floor to ceiling on pine shelves.
Catalogues, newspapers, old manuscripts, journals, wooden desks and
tables -- all served as fuel. The heat was so intense it melted some of the
building's red sandstone columns that were quarried in Scotland, Jamieson
said. Wind currents created by the fires spewed charred pieces of paper
through blown-out windows, littering surrounding streets as if a parade had
been held. The first alarm didn't arrive at the Albany Fire Department until
2:40 a.m. About 150 firefighters battled for hours before getting the
conflagration under control, although debris would smolder for days. Gavit
and others risked their lives running among the still-burning corridors to
save books and documents. Among some of the important documents saved: the
original manuscript of George Washington's farewell address and an original
Emancipation Proclamation, written in Abraham Lincoln's own hand. Arthur
Parker, the first archaeologist hired by New York state, dashed among the
State Museum's display cases arrayed on the fourth floor, wielding a
tomahawk passed down from a Seneca ancestor and using it as a fire ax as he
rescued priceless Iroquois artifacts. He managed to save only about 50 out
of about 500 Iroquois relics, said Betty Duggan, a State Museum curator. He
was just heart-sickened by the fire," Duggan said. News of the fire soon
reached many of the far-flung graduates of the New York State Library
School, founded by Melvil Dewey and located in the Capitol's northwest
tower. For some, the destruction of so much written knowledge was like a
death in the family, and the letters and telegrams they sent to Albany bore
condolences from around the globe. The chief librarian at the Imperial
University of Tokyo wrote: "I beg to express my deepest sympathy for the
loss of the New York State Library by the recent fire. It took a year to
rebuild and repair the damaged sections of the Capitol. Workers removed much
of the soot from the scorched, blackened sandstone walls, but it wasn't
until a two-year, $2.4 million restoration project completed in 2006 that
the Capitol's Great Western Staircase was returned to its pre-fire
condition. The Capitol fire is still haunting us," said Nancy Kelley,
exhibit planner for the State Museum, where a three-month exhibit on the
fire runs through June 18. One-hundred years later, we're still dealing with
the fire. There's also some real haunting, according to Capitol lore. The
ghost of Samuel Abbott, the disaster's sole human casualty, is said to haunt
the Capitol's fourth floor, where the body of the 78-year-old night watchman
was found. While some say Abbott's spirit still makes his nightly rounds,
researchers and librarians often come across more tangible remnants of the
fire among the files and volumes at the State Library and State Archives:
documents charred around the edges or shriveled from being doused. Experts
at the State Archives still work to conserve 20,000 documents rescued from
the fire. They range from such historic items as the Flushing Remonstrance,
a 350-year-old Dutch document demanding religious freedom, to a
Revolutionary War soldier's appeal to be allowed to remarry, written after
he had returned home to find his wife had joined the Shaker religious sect
and no longer wanted a husband. There are lots of small stories to tell from
these documents," said Sue Bove, a conservation expert at the State
Archives. They may not be glamorous, but they're a source of information on
what our forefathers had to endure. Another item saved from the blaze is a
page, circa 1675, from a wealthy Dutch woman's account with an Albany baker.
The entry shows a purchase of "Sinterklaas" goodies. Mercer and Weiss
believe it could be the earliest record of the celebration of the feast of
Saint Nicholas -- aka Santa Claus -- in the New World.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
In the emergency room
In the hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where a family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber.
'I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news,' he said as he surveyed the worried faces. 'The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure, very risky, but it is the only hope. Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the BRAIN.'
The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a time, someone asked, 'How much will a brain cost?'
The doctor quickly responded, '$5,000 for a Democrat's brain; $200 for a Republican's brain.'
The moment turned awkward. Some of the Democrats actually had to 'try' to not smile, avoiding eye contact with the Republicans. A man unable to control his curiosity, finally blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, 'Why is the Democrats brain so much more than a Republicans brain?'
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, 'It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to price the Republicans brains a lot lower because they've been used.
'I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news,' he said as he surveyed the worried faces. 'The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure, very risky, but it is the only hope. Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the BRAIN.'
The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a time, someone asked, 'How much will a brain cost?'
The doctor quickly responded, '$5,000 for a Democrat's brain; $200 for a Republican's brain.'
The moment turned awkward. Some of the Democrats actually had to 'try' to not smile, avoiding eye contact with the Republicans. A man unable to control his curiosity, finally blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, 'Why is the Democrats brain so much more than a Republicans brain?'
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, 'It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to price the Republicans brains a lot lower because they've been used.
First VP Candidate Geraldine Ferraro Dies At 75
BOSTON – Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman vice presidential candidate on a
major party ticket and a barrier-breaking pioneer for women in politics,
died Saturday.
Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was being treated
for complications of blood cancer. She died just before 10 a.m., said Amanda
Fuchs Miller, a family friend who worked for Ferraro in her 1998 Senate bid
and was acting as a spokeswoman for the family.
In 1984, Ferraro was a relatively obscure Democratic congresswoman from the
New York City borough of Queens when she was tapped by presidential nominee
Walter Mondale to join his ticket against incumbents Ronald Reagan and
George H. W. Bush. Mondale's campaign had struggled to gain traction and his
selection of Ferraro, at least momentarily, revived his momentum and
energized millions of women who were thrilled to see one of their own on a
national ticket.
The blunt, feisty Ferraro charmed audiences initially, and for a time polls
showed the Democratic ticket gaining ground in the presidential contest. But
her candidacy ultimately proved rocky as she fought ethics charges and
traded barbs with Bush, her vice presidential rival, over accusations of
sexism and class warfare.
Ferraro later told an interviewer, "I don't think I'd run again for vice
president," then added "Next time I'd run for president."
Reagan won 49 of 50 states in 1984, the largest landslide since Franklin D.
Roosevelt's first re-election over Alf Landon in 1936. But Ferraro had
forever sealed her place as trailblazer for women in politics, laying the
path for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic presidential bid in 2008
and Republican John McCain's choice of a once-obscure Alaska governor, Sarah
Palin, as his running mate that year.
"At the time it happened it was such a phenomenal breakthrough," said Ruth
Mandel of the Center on the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers
University. "She stepped on the path to higher office before anyone else,
and her footprint is still on that path."
Palin, who often spoke of Ferraro on the campaign trail despite their
political differences, paid tribute to her Saturday.
"She broke one huge barrier and then went on to break many more," Palin
wrote on her Facebook page. "May her example of hard work and dedication to
America continue to inspire all women."
For his part, Mondale remembered his former running mate as "a remarkable
woman and a dear human being."
"She was a pioneer in our country for justice for women and a more open
society. She broke a lot of molds and it's a better country for what she
did," Mondale told The Associated Press.
Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she had gone
earlier in the week for a procedure to relieve back pain caused by a
fracture. Such fractures are common in people with her type of blood cancer
because of the thinning of their bones, said Dr. Noopur Raje, the Mass
General doctor who treated her.
Ferraro, however, developed pneumonia, which made impossible to perform the
procedure, and it soon became clear she didn't have long to live, Raje said.
Since she was too ill to return to New York, her family came to Boston to
see her.
Raje said it seemed Ferraro held out until her husband and three children
arrived. They were all at her bedside when she passed, she said.
"Gerry actually waited for all of them to come, which I think was
incredible," said Raje, director of the myloma program at the hospital's
cancer center. "They were all able to say their goodbyes to Mom."
Ferraro stepped into the national spotlight at the Democratic convention in
1984, giving the world its first look at a co-ed presidential ticket. It
seemed, at times, an awkward arrangement — she and Mondale stood together
and waved at the crowd but did not hug and barely touched.
Delegates erupted in cheers at the first line of her speech accepting the
vice-presidential nomination.
"My name is Geraldine Ferraro," she declared. "I stand before you to
proclaim tonight: America is the land where dreams can come true for all of
us."
Her acceptance speech launched eight minutes of cheers, foot-stamping and
tears.
Ferraro, a mother of three who campaigned wearing pastel-hued dresses and
pumps, sometimes overshadowed Mondale on the campaign trail, often drawing
larger crowds and more media attention than the presidential candidate.
But controversy accompanied her acclaim.
A Roman Catholic, she encountered frequent, vociferous protests of her
favorable view of abortion rights.
She famously tangled with Bush, her vice presidential rival who struggled at
times over how aggressively to attack Ferraro.
In their only nationally televised debate, in October 1984, Bush raised
eyebrows when he said "Let me help you with the difference, Ms. Ferraro,
between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon." Ferraro shot back, saying she
resented Bush's "patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about
foreign policy."
Ferraro would later suggest on the campaign trail that Bush and his family
were wealthy and therefore didn't understand the problems faced by ordinary
voters. That comment irked Bush's wife, Barbara, who said Ferraro had more
money than the Bush family. "I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich,"
Barbara Bush told reporters when asked to describe Ferraro. She later
apologized.
In a statement, Bush praised Ferraro for "the dignified and principled
manner she blazed new trails for women in politics." He said that after the
1984 race, "Gerry and I became friends in time — a friendship marked by
respect and affection."
Ferraro's run also was beset by ethical questions, first about her campaign
finances and tax returns, then about the business dealings of her husband,
real estate developer John Zaccaro. Ferraro attributed much of the
controversy to bias against Italian-Americans.
Zaccaro pleaded guilty in 1985 to a misdemeanor charge of scheming to
defraud in connection with obtaining financing for the purchase of five
apartment buildings. Two years later, he was acquitted of trying to extort a
bribe from a cable television company.
Ferraro's son, John Zaccaro Jr., was convicted in 1988 of selling cocaine to
an undercover Vermont state trooper and served three months under house
arrest.
Some observers said the legal troubles were a drag on Ferraro's later
political ambitions, which included her unsuccessful bids for the Democratic
nomination for U.S. Senate in New York in 1992 and 1998.
Ferraro, a supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, was back in the
news in March 2008 when she stirred up a controversy by appearing to suggest
that Sen. Barack Obama achieved his status in the presidential race only
because he is black.
She later stepped down from an honorary post in the Clinton campaign, but
insisted she meant no slight against Obama.
In a statement, Obama praised Ferraro as a trailblazer who had made the
world better for his daughters.
"Sasha and Malia will grow up in a more equal America because of the life
Geraldine Ferraro chose to live," Obama said.
Ferraro received a law degree from Fordham University in 1960, the same year
she married and became a full-time homemaker and mother. She said she kept
her maiden name to honor her mother, a widow who had worked long hours as a
seamstress.
After years in a private law practice, she took a job as an assistant Queens
district attorney in 1974. She headed the office's special victims' bureau,
which prosecuted sex crimes and the abuse of children and the elderly. In
1978, she won the first of three terms in Congress representing a
blue-collar district of Queens.
After losing in 1984, she became a fellow of the Institute of Politics at
the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University until an
unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate nomination in 1992.
She returned to the law after her 1992 Senate run, acting as an advocate for
women raped during ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Her advocacy work and support of President Bill Clinton won her the position
of ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, where she
served in 1994 and 1995.
She co-hosted CNN's "Crossfire," in 1996 and 1997 but left to take on Chuck
Schumer, then a little-known Brooklyn congressman, in the 1998 Democratic
Senate primary. She placed a distant second, declaring her political career
finished after she took 26 percent of the vote to Schumer's 51 percent.
In June 1999, she announced that she was joining a Washington, D.C., area
public relations firm to head a group advising clients on women's issues.
Ferraro revealed two years later that she had been diagnosed with blood
cancer.
She discussed blood cancer research before a Senate panel that month and
said she hoped to live long enough "to attend the inauguration of the first
woman president of the United States."
major party ticket and a barrier-breaking pioneer for women in politics,
died Saturday.
Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was being treated
for complications of blood cancer. She died just before 10 a.m., said Amanda
Fuchs Miller, a family friend who worked for Ferraro in her 1998 Senate bid
and was acting as a spokeswoman for the family.
In 1984, Ferraro was a relatively obscure Democratic congresswoman from the
New York City borough of Queens when she was tapped by presidential nominee
Walter Mondale to join his ticket against incumbents Ronald Reagan and
George H. W. Bush. Mondale's campaign had struggled to gain traction and his
selection of Ferraro, at least momentarily, revived his momentum and
energized millions of women who were thrilled to see one of their own on a
national ticket.
The blunt, feisty Ferraro charmed audiences initially, and for a time polls
showed the Democratic ticket gaining ground in the presidential contest. But
her candidacy ultimately proved rocky as she fought ethics charges and
traded barbs with Bush, her vice presidential rival, over accusations of
sexism and class warfare.
Ferraro later told an interviewer, "I don't think I'd run again for vice
president," then added "Next time I'd run for president."
Reagan won 49 of 50 states in 1984, the largest landslide since Franklin D.
Roosevelt's first re-election over Alf Landon in 1936. But Ferraro had
forever sealed her place as trailblazer for women in politics, laying the
path for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic presidential bid in 2008
and Republican John McCain's choice of a once-obscure Alaska governor, Sarah
Palin, as his running mate that year.
"At the time it happened it was such a phenomenal breakthrough," said Ruth
Mandel of the Center on the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers
University. "She stepped on the path to higher office before anyone else,
and her footprint is still on that path."
Palin, who often spoke of Ferraro on the campaign trail despite their
political differences, paid tribute to her Saturday.
"She broke one huge barrier and then went on to break many more," Palin
wrote on her Facebook page. "May her example of hard work and dedication to
America continue to inspire all women."
For his part, Mondale remembered his former running mate as "a remarkable
woman and a dear human being."
"She was a pioneer in our country for justice for women and a more open
society. She broke a lot of molds and it's a better country for what she
did," Mondale told The Associated Press.
Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she had gone
earlier in the week for a procedure to relieve back pain caused by a
fracture. Such fractures are common in people with her type of blood cancer
because of the thinning of their bones, said Dr. Noopur Raje, the Mass
General doctor who treated her.
Ferraro, however, developed pneumonia, which made impossible to perform the
procedure, and it soon became clear she didn't have long to live, Raje said.
Since she was too ill to return to New York, her family came to Boston to
see her.
Raje said it seemed Ferraro held out until her husband and three children
arrived. They were all at her bedside when she passed, she said.
"Gerry actually waited for all of them to come, which I think was
incredible," said Raje, director of the myloma program at the hospital's
cancer center. "They were all able to say their goodbyes to Mom."
Ferraro stepped into the national spotlight at the Democratic convention in
1984, giving the world its first look at a co-ed presidential ticket. It
seemed, at times, an awkward arrangement — she and Mondale stood together
and waved at the crowd but did not hug and barely touched.
Delegates erupted in cheers at the first line of her speech accepting the
vice-presidential nomination.
"My name is Geraldine Ferraro," she declared. "I stand before you to
proclaim tonight: America is the land where dreams can come true for all of
us."
Her acceptance speech launched eight minutes of cheers, foot-stamping and
tears.
Ferraro, a mother of three who campaigned wearing pastel-hued dresses and
pumps, sometimes overshadowed Mondale on the campaign trail, often drawing
larger crowds and more media attention than the presidential candidate.
But controversy accompanied her acclaim.
A Roman Catholic, she encountered frequent, vociferous protests of her
favorable view of abortion rights.
She famously tangled with Bush, her vice presidential rival who struggled at
times over how aggressively to attack Ferraro.
In their only nationally televised debate, in October 1984, Bush raised
eyebrows when he said "Let me help you with the difference, Ms. Ferraro,
between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon." Ferraro shot back, saying she
resented Bush's "patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about
foreign policy."
Ferraro would later suggest on the campaign trail that Bush and his family
were wealthy and therefore didn't understand the problems faced by ordinary
voters. That comment irked Bush's wife, Barbara, who said Ferraro had more
money than the Bush family. "I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich,"
Barbara Bush told reporters when asked to describe Ferraro. She later
apologized.
In a statement, Bush praised Ferraro for "the dignified and principled
manner she blazed new trails for women in politics." He said that after the
1984 race, "Gerry and I became friends in time — a friendship marked by
respect and affection."
Ferraro's run also was beset by ethical questions, first about her campaign
finances and tax returns, then about the business dealings of her husband,
real estate developer John Zaccaro. Ferraro attributed much of the
controversy to bias against Italian-Americans.
Zaccaro pleaded guilty in 1985 to a misdemeanor charge of scheming to
defraud in connection with obtaining financing for the purchase of five
apartment buildings. Two years later, he was acquitted of trying to extort a
bribe from a cable television company.
Ferraro's son, John Zaccaro Jr., was convicted in 1988 of selling cocaine to
an undercover Vermont state trooper and served three months under house
arrest.
Some observers said the legal troubles were a drag on Ferraro's later
political ambitions, which included her unsuccessful bids for the Democratic
nomination for U.S. Senate in New York in 1992 and 1998.
Ferraro, a supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, was back in the
news in March 2008 when she stirred up a controversy by appearing to suggest
that Sen. Barack Obama achieved his status in the presidential race only
because he is black.
She later stepped down from an honorary post in the Clinton campaign, but
insisted she meant no slight against Obama.
In a statement, Obama praised Ferraro as a trailblazer who had made the
world better for his daughters.
"Sasha and Malia will grow up in a more equal America because of the life
Geraldine Ferraro chose to live," Obama said.
Ferraro received a law degree from Fordham University in 1960, the same year
she married and became a full-time homemaker and mother. She said she kept
her maiden name to honor her mother, a widow who had worked long hours as a
seamstress.
After years in a private law practice, she took a job as an assistant Queens
district attorney in 1974. She headed the office's special victims' bureau,
which prosecuted sex crimes and the abuse of children and the elderly. In
1978, she won the first of three terms in Congress representing a
blue-collar district of Queens.
After losing in 1984, she became a fellow of the Institute of Politics at
the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University until an
unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate nomination in 1992.
She returned to the law after her 1992 Senate run, acting as an advocate for
women raped during ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Her advocacy work and support of President Bill Clinton won her the position
of ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, where she
served in 1994 and 1995.
She co-hosted CNN's "Crossfire," in 1996 and 1997 but left to take on Chuck
Schumer, then a little-known Brooklyn congressman, in the 1998 Democratic
Senate primary. She placed a distant second, declaring her political career
finished after she took 26 percent of the vote to Schumer's 51 percent.
In June 1999, she announced that she was joining a Washington, D.C., area
public relations firm to head a group advising clients on women's issues.
Ferraro revealed two years later that she had been diagnosed with blood
cancer.
She discussed blood cancer research before a Senate panel that month and
said she hoped to live long enough "to attend the inauguration of the first
woman president of the United States."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Film Legend Elizabeth Taylor Dies At Age 79 In LA
LOS ANGELES – Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry
screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her
one of the last of the classic movie stars and a template for the modern
celebrity, died Wednesday at age 79.
She was surrounded by her four children when she died of congestive heart
failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for
about six weeks, said publicist Sally Morrison.
"My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with
great passion, humor, and love," her son, Michael Wilding, said in a
statement.
"We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having
lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us,
and her love will live forever in our hearts."
"We have just lost a Hollywood giant," said Elton John, a longtime friend of
Taylor. "More importantly, we have lost an incredible human being."
Taylor was the most blessed and cursed of actresses, the toughest and the
most vulnerable. She had extraordinary grace, wealth and voluptuous beauty,
and won three Academy Awards, including a special one for her humanitarian
work.
One of those Oscars came for a searing performance in "Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?" She played an alcoholic shrew in an emotionally
sadomasochistic marriage opposite real-life husband Richard Burton.
For all the ferocity of her screen roles and the turmoil of her life, Taylor
was remembered by "Virginia Woolf" director Mike Nichols for her gentler,
life-affirming side.
"The shock of Elizabeth was not only her beauty. It was her generosity. Her
giant laugh. Her vitality, whether tackling a complex scene on film or where
we would all have dinner until dawn," Nichols said in a statement. "She is
singular and indelible on film and in our hearts."
Taylor was the most loyal of friends and a defender of gays in Hollywood
when AIDS was new to the industry and beyond. But she was afflicted by ill
health, failed romances (eight marriages, seven husbands) and personal
tragedy.
"I think I'm becoming fatalistic," she said in 1989. "Too much has happened
in my life for me not to be fatalistic."
Her more than 50 movies included unforgettable portraits of innocence and of
decadence, from the children's classic "National Velvet" and the sentimental
family comedy "Father of the Bride" to Oscar-winning transgressions in
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8." The historical epic
"Cleopatra" is among Hollywood's greatest on-screen fiascos and a landmark
of off-screen monkey business, the meeting ground of Taylor and Burton, the
"Brangelina" of their day.
She played enough bawdy women on film for critic Pauline Kael to deem her
"Chaucerian Beverly Hills."
That sauciness was part of her real life, too.
"She had a sense of humor that was so bawdy, even I was saying, `really?
That came out of your mouth?'" Whoopi Goldberg said on ABC's "The View,"
recalling how Taylor gave her advice about her own Hollywood career. "She
was just a magnificent woman. She was a great broad and a good friend."
But her defining role, one that lasted past her moviemaking days, was
"Elizabeth Taylor," ever marrying and divorcing, in and out of hospitals,
gaining and losing weight, standing by Michael Jackson, Rock Hudson and
other troubled friends, acquiring a jewelry collection that seemed to rival
Tiffany's.
She was a child star who grew up and aged before an adoring, appalled and
fascinated public. She arrived in Hollywood when the studio system tightly
controlled an actor's life and image, had more marriages than any publicist
could explain away and carried on until she no longer required explanation.
She was the industry's great survivor, and among the first to reach that
special category of celebrity — famous for being famous, for whom her work
was inseparable from the gossip around it.
The London-born actress was a star at age 12, a bride and a divorcee at 18,
a superstar at 19 and a widow at 26. She was a screen sweetheart and martyr
later reviled for stealing Eddie Fisher from Debbie Reynolds, then for
dumping Fisher to bed Burton, a relationship of epic passion and turbulence,
lasting through two marriages and countless attempted reconciliations.
She was also forgiven. Reynolds would acknowledge voting for Taylor when she
was nominated for "Butterfield 8" and decades later co-starred with her old
rival in "These Old Broads," co-written by Carrie Fisher, the daughter of
Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.
Taylor's ailments wore down the grudges. She underwent at least 20 major
operations and she nearly died from a bout with pneumonia in 1990. In 1994
and 1995, she had both hip joints replaced, and in February 1997, she
underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. In 1983, she acknowledged
a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and pain killers. Taylor was treated
for alcohol and drug abuse problems at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho
Mirage, Calif.
Her troubles bonded her to her peers and the public, and deepened her
compassion. Her advocacy for AIDS research and for other causes earned her a
special Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1993.
As she accepted it, to a long ovation, she declared, "I call upon you to
draw from the depths of your being — to prove that we are a human race, to
prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more
compelling than our need to blame."
The American Foundation for AIDS Research, for which Taylor was a longtime
advocate, noted in a statement that she was "among the first to speak out on
behalf of people living with HIV when others reacted with fear and often
outright hostility."
"She leaves a monumental legacy that has improved and extended millions of
lives and will enrich countless more for generations to come," the group
said.
The dark-haired Taylor made an unforgettable impression in Hollywood with
"National Velvet," the 1945 film in which the 12-year-old belle rode a
steeplechase horse to victory in the Grand National.
Critic James Agee wrote of her: "Ever since I first saw the child ... I have
been choked with the peculiar sort of adoration I might have felt if we were
in the same grade of primary school."
"National Velvet," her fifth film, also marked the beginning of Taylor's
long string of health issues. During production, she fell off a horse. The
resulting back injury continued to haunt her.
Taylor matured into a ravishing beauty in "Father of the Bride," in 1950,
and into a respected performer and femme fatale the following year in "A
Place in the Sun," based on the Theodore Dreiser novel "An American
Tragedy." The movie co-starred her close friend Montgomery Clift as the
ambitious young man who drowns his working-class girlfriend to be with the
socialite Taylor. In real life, too, men all but committed murder in pursuit
of her.
Through the rest of the 1950s and into the 1960s, she and Marilyn Monroe
were Hollywood's great sex symbols, both striving for appreciation beyond
their physical beauty, both caught up in personal dramas filmmakers could
only wish they had imagined. That Taylor lasted, and Monroe died young, was
a matter of luck and strength; Taylor lived as she pleased and allowed no
one to define her but herself.
"I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have
been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me," Taylor said around the time she turned
50.
She had a remarkable and exhausting personal and professional life. Her
marriage to Michael Todd ended tragically when the producer died in a plane
crash in 1958. She took up with Fisher, married him, then left him for
Burton. Meanwhile, she received several Academy Award nominations and two
Oscars.
She was a box-office star cast in numerous "prestige" films, from "Raintree
County" with Clift to "Giant," an epic co-starring her friends Hudson and
James Dean. Nominations came from a pair of movies adapted from work by
Tennessee Williams: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Suddenly, Last Summer." In
"Butterfield 8," released in 1960, she starred with Fisher as a doomed
girl-about-town. Taylor never cared much for the film, but her performance
at the Oscars wowed the world.
Sympathy for Taylor's widowhood had turned to scorn when she took up with
Fisher, who had supposedly been consoling her over the death of Todd. But
before the 1961 ceremony, she was hospitalized from a nearly fatal bout with
pneumonia and Taylor underwent a tracheotomy. The scar was bandaged when she
appeared at the Oscars to accept her best actress trophy for "Butterfield
8."
To a standing ovation, she hobbled to the stage. "I don't really know how to
express my great gratitude," she said in an emotional speech. "I guess I
will just have to thank you with all my heart." It was one of the most
dramatic moments in Academy Awards history.
"Hell, I even voted for her," Reynolds later said.
Greater drama awaited: "Cleopatra." Taylor met Burton while playing the
title role in the 1963 epic, in which the brooding, womanizing Welsh actor
co-starred as Mark Antony. Their chemistry was not immediate. Taylor found
him boorish; Burton mocked her physique. But the love scenes on film
continued away from the set and a scandal for the ages was born. Headlines
shouted and screamed. Paparazzi, then an emerging breed, snapped and
swooned. Their romance created such a sensation that the Vatican denounced
the happenings as the "caprices of adult children."
The film so exceeded its budget that the producers lost money even though
"Cleopatra" was a box-office hit and won four Academy awards. (With its $44
million budget adjusted for inflation, "Cleopatra" remains the most
expensive movie ever made.) Taylor's salary per film topped $1 million. "Liz
and Dick" became the ultimate jet set couple, on a first name basis with
millions who had never met them.
They were a prolific acting team, even if most of the movies aged no better
than their marriages: "The VIPs" (1963), "The Sandpiper" (1965), "Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967), "The
Comedians" (1967), "Dr. Faustus" (1967), "Boom!" (1968), "Under Milk Wood"
(1971) and "Hammersmith Is Out" (1972).
Art most effectively imitated life in the adaptation of Edward Albee's
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" — in which Taylor and Burton played mates
who fought viciously and drank heavily. She took the best actress Oscar for
her performance as the venomous Martha in "Virginia Woolf" and again stole
the awards show, this time by not showing up at the ceremony. She refused to
thank the academy upon learning of her victory and chastised voters for not
honoring Burton.
Taylor and Burton divorced in 1974, married again in 1975 and divorced again
in 1976.
"We fight a great deal," Burton once said, "and we watch the people around
us who don't quite know how to behave during these storms. We don't fight
when we are alone."
In 1982, Taylor and Burton appeared in a touring production of the Noel
Coward play "Private Lives," in which they starred as a divorced couple who
meet on their respective honeymoons. They remained close at the time of
Burton's death, in 1984.
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London on Feb. 27, 1932, the daughter
of Francis Taylor, an art dealer, and the former Sara Sothern, an American
stage actress. At age 3, with extensive ballet training already behind her,
Taylor danced for British princesses Elizabeth (the future queen) and
Margaret Rose at London's Hippodrome. At age 4, she was given a wild field
horse that she learned to ride expertly.
At the onset of World War II, the Taylors came to the United States. Francis
Taylor opened a gallery in Beverly Hills and, in 1942, his daughter made her
screen debut with a bit part in the comedy "There's One Born Every Minute."
Her big break came soon thereafter. While serving as an air-raid warden with
MGM producer Sam Marx, Taylor's father learned that the studio was
struggling to find an English girl to play opposite Roddy McDowall in
"Lassie Come Home." Taylor's screen test for the film won her both the part
and a long-term contract. She grew up quickly after that.
Still in school at 16, she would dash from the classroom to the movie set
where she played passionate love scenes with Robert Taylor in "Conspirator."
"I have the emotions of a child in the body of a woman," she once said. "I
was rushed into womanhood for the movies. It caused me long moments of
unhappiness and doubt."
Soon after her screen presence was established, she began a series of very
public romances. Early loves included socialite Bill Pawley, home run
slugger Ralph Kiner and football star Glenn Davis.
Then, a roll call of husbands:
• She married Conrad Hilton Jr., son of the hotel magnate, in May 1950 at
age 18. The marriage ended in divorce that December.
• When she married British actor Michael Wilding in February 1952, he was 39
to her 19. They had two sons, Michael Jr. and Christopher Edward. That
marriage lasted 4 years.
• She married cigar-chomping movie producer Michael Todd, also 20 years her
senior, in 1957. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Francis. Todd was killed in
a plane crash in 1958.
• The best man at the Taylor-Todd wedding was Fisher. He left his wife
Debbie Reynolds to marry Taylor in 1959. She converted to Judaism before the
wedding.
• Taylor and Fisher moved to London, where she was making "Cleopatra." She
met Burton, who also was married. That union produced her fourth child,
Maria.
• After her second marriage to Burton ended, she married John Warner, a
former secretary of the Navy, in December 1976. Warner was elected a U.S.
senator from Virginia in 1978. They divorced in 1982.
• In October 1991, she married Larry Fortensky, a truck driver and
construction worker she met while both were undergoing treatment at the
Betty Ford Center in 1988. He was 20 years her junior. The wedding, held at
the ranch of Michael Jackson, was a media circus that included the din of
helicopter blades, a journalist who parachuted to a spot near the couple and
a gossip columnist as official scribe.
But in August 1995, she and Fortensky announced a trial separation; she
filed for divorce six months later and the split became final in 1997.
"I was taught by my parents that if you fall in love, if you want to have a
love affair, you get married," she once remarked. "I guess I'm very
old-fashioned."
Her philanthropic interests included assistance for the Israeli War Victims
Fund and the Variety Clubs International.
She received the Legion of Honor, France's most prestigious award, in 1987,
for her efforts to support AIDS research. In May 2000, Queen Elizabeth II
made Taylor a dame — the female equivalent of a knight — for her services to
the entertainment industry and to charity.
In 1993, she won a lifetime achievement award from the American Film
Institute; in 1999, an institute survey of screen legends ranked her No. 7
among actresses.
During much of her later career, Taylor's waistline, various diets, diet
books and tangled romances were the butt of jokes by Joan Rivers and others.
John Belushi mocked her on "Saturday Night Live," dressing up in drag and
choking on a piece of chicken.
"It's a wonder I didn't explode," Taylor wrote of her 60-pound weight gain —
and successful loss — in the 1988 book "Elizabeth Takes Off on Self-Esteem
and Self-Image."
She was an iconic star, but her screen roles became increasingly rare in the
1980s and beyond. She appeared in several television movies, including
"Poker Alice" and "Sweet Bird of Youth," and entered the Stone Age as Pearl
Slaghoople in the movie version of "The Flintstones." She had a brief role
on the popular soap opera "General Hospital."
Taylor was the subject of numerous unauthorized biographies and herself
worked on a handful of books, including "Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal
Memoir" and "Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair With Jewelry." In tune with
the media to the end, she kept in touch through her Twitter account.
"I like the connection with fans and people who have been supportive of me,"
Taylor told Kim Kardashian in a 2011 interview for Harper's Bazaar. "And I
love the idea of real feedback and a two-way street, which is very, very
modern. But sometimes I think we know too much about our idols and that
spoils the dream."
Survivors include her daughters Maria Burton-Carson and Liza Todd-Tivey,
sons Christopher and Michael Wilding, 10 grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
A private family funeral is planned later this week.
screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her
one of the last of the classic movie stars and a template for the modern
celebrity, died Wednesday at age 79.
She was surrounded by her four children when she died of congestive heart
failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for
about six weeks, said publicist Sally Morrison.
"My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with
great passion, humor, and love," her son, Michael Wilding, said in a
statement.
"We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having
lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us,
and her love will live forever in our hearts."
"We have just lost a Hollywood giant," said Elton John, a longtime friend of
Taylor. "More importantly, we have lost an incredible human being."
Taylor was the most blessed and cursed of actresses, the toughest and the
most vulnerable. She had extraordinary grace, wealth and voluptuous beauty,
and won three Academy Awards, including a special one for her humanitarian
work.
One of those Oscars came for a searing performance in "Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?" She played an alcoholic shrew in an emotionally
sadomasochistic marriage opposite real-life husband Richard Burton.
For all the ferocity of her screen roles and the turmoil of her life, Taylor
was remembered by "Virginia Woolf" director Mike Nichols for her gentler,
life-affirming side.
"The shock of Elizabeth was not only her beauty. It was her generosity. Her
giant laugh. Her vitality, whether tackling a complex scene on film or where
we would all have dinner until dawn," Nichols said in a statement. "She is
singular and indelible on film and in our hearts."
Taylor was the most loyal of friends and a defender of gays in Hollywood
when AIDS was new to the industry and beyond. But she was afflicted by ill
health, failed romances (eight marriages, seven husbands) and personal
tragedy.
"I think I'm becoming fatalistic," she said in 1989. "Too much has happened
in my life for me not to be fatalistic."
Her more than 50 movies included unforgettable portraits of innocence and of
decadence, from the children's classic "National Velvet" and the sentimental
family comedy "Father of the Bride" to Oscar-winning transgressions in
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8." The historical epic
"Cleopatra" is among Hollywood's greatest on-screen fiascos and a landmark
of off-screen monkey business, the meeting ground of Taylor and Burton, the
"Brangelina" of their day.
She played enough bawdy women on film for critic Pauline Kael to deem her
"Chaucerian Beverly Hills."
That sauciness was part of her real life, too.
"She had a sense of humor that was so bawdy, even I was saying, `really?
That came out of your mouth?'" Whoopi Goldberg said on ABC's "The View,"
recalling how Taylor gave her advice about her own Hollywood career. "She
was just a magnificent woman. She was a great broad and a good friend."
But her defining role, one that lasted past her moviemaking days, was
"Elizabeth Taylor," ever marrying and divorcing, in and out of hospitals,
gaining and losing weight, standing by Michael Jackson, Rock Hudson and
other troubled friends, acquiring a jewelry collection that seemed to rival
Tiffany's.
She was a child star who grew up and aged before an adoring, appalled and
fascinated public. She arrived in Hollywood when the studio system tightly
controlled an actor's life and image, had more marriages than any publicist
could explain away and carried on until she no longer required explanation.
She was the industry's great survivor, and among the first to reach that
special category of celebrity — famous for being famous, for whom her work
was inseparable from the gossip around it.
The London-born actress was a star at age 12, a bride and a divorcee at 18,
a superstar at 19 and a widow at 26. She was a screen sweetheart and martyr
later reviled for stealing Eddie Fisher from Debbie Reynolds, then for
dumping Fisher to bed Burton, a relationship of epic passion and turbulence,
lasting through two marriages and countless attempted reconciliations.
She was also forgiven. Reynolds would acknowledge voting for Taylor when she
was nominated for "Butterfield 8" and decades later co-starred with her old
rival in "These Old Broads," co-written by Carrie Fisher, the daughter of
Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.
Taylor's ailments wore down the grudges. She underwent at least 20 major
operations and she nearly died from a bout with pneumonia in 1990. In 1994
and 1995, she had both hip joints replaced, and in February 1997, she
underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. In 1983, she acknowledged
a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and pain killers. Taylor was treated
for alcohol and drug abuse problems at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho
Mirage, Calif.
Her troubles bonded her to her peers and the public, and deepened her
compassion. Her advocacy for AIDS research and for other causes earned her a
special Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1993.
As she accepted it, to a long ovation, she declared, "I call upon you to
draw from the depths of your being — to prove that we are a human race, to
prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more
compelling than our need to blame."
The American Foundation for AIDS Research, for which Taylor was a longtime
advocate, noted in a statement that she was "among the first to speak out on
behalf of people living with HIV when others reacted with fear and often
outright hostility."
"She leaves a monumental legacy that has improved and extended millions of
lives and will enrich countless more for generations to come," the group
said.
The dark-haired Taylor made an unforgettable impression in Hollywood with
"National Velvet," the 1945 film in which the 12-year-old belle rode a
steeplechase horse to victory in the Grand National.
Critic James Agee wrote of her: "Ever since I first saw the child ... I have
been choked with the peculiar sort of adoration I might have felt if we were
in the same grade of primary school."
"National Velvet," her fifth film, also marked the beginning of Taylor's
long string of health issues. During production, she fell off a horse. The
resulting back injury continued to haunt her.
Taylor matured into a ravishing beauty in "Father of the Bride," in 1950,
and into a respected performer and femme fatale the following year in "A
Place in the Sun," based on the Theodore Dreiser novel "An American
Tragedy." The movie co-starred her close friend Montgomery Clift as the
ambitious young man who drowns his working-class girlfriend to be with the
socialite Taylor. In real life, too, men all but committed murder in pursuit
of her.
Through the rest of the 1950s and into the 1960s, she and Marilyn Monroe
were Hollywood's great sex symbols, both striving for appreciation beyond
their physical beauty, both caught up in personal dramas filmmakers could
only wish they had imagined. That Taylor lasted, and Monroe died young, was
a matter of luck and strength; Taylor lived as she pleased and allowed no
one to define her but herself.
"I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have
been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me," Taylor said around the time she turned
50.
She had a remarkable and exhausting personal and professional life. Her
marriage to Michael Todd ended tragically when the producer died in a plane
crash in 1958. She took up with Fisher, married him, then left him for
Burton. Meanwhile, she received several Academy Award nominations and two
Oscars.
She was a box-office star cast in numerous "prestige" films, from "Raintree
County" with Clift to "Giant," an epic co-starring her friends Hudson and
James Dean. Nominations came from a pair of movies adapted from work by
Tennessee Williams: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Suddenly, Last Summer." In
"Butterfield 8," released in 1960, she starred with Fisher as a doomed
girl-about-town. Taylor never cared much for the film, but her performance
at the Oscars wowed the world.
Sympathy for Taylor's widowhood had turned to scorn when she took up with
Fisher, who had supposedly been consoling her over the death of Todd. But
before the 1961 ceremony, she was hospitalized from a nearly fatal bout with
pneumonia and Taylor underwent a tracheotomy. The scar was bandaged when she
appeared at the Oscars to accept her best actress trophy for "Butterfield
8."
To a standing ovation, she hobbled to the stage. "I don't really know how to
express my great gratitude," she said in an emotional speech. "I guess I
will just have to thank you with all my heart." It was one of the most
dramatic moments in Academy Awards history.
"Hell, I even voted for her," Reynolds later said.
Greater drama awaited: "Cleopatra." Taylor met Burton while playing the
title role in the 1963 epic, in which the brooding, womanizing Welsh actor
co-starred as Mark Antony. Their chemistry was not immediate. Taylor found
him boorish; Burton mocked her physique. But the love scenes on film
continued away from the set and a scandal for the ages was born. Headlines
shouted and screamed. Paparazzi, then an emerging breed, snapped and
swooned. Their romance created such a sensation that the Vatican denounced
the happenings as the "caprices of adult children."
The film so exceeded its budget that the producers lost money even though
"Cleopatra" was a box-office hit and won four Academy awards. (With its $44
million budget adjusted for inflation, "Cleopatra" remains the most
expensive movie ever made.) Taylor's salary per film topped $1 million. "Liz
and Dick" became the ultimate jet set couple, on a first name basis with
millions who had never met them.
They were a prolific acting team, even if most of the movies aged no better
than their marriages: "The VIPs" (1963), "The Sandpiper" (1965), "Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967), "The
Comedians" (1967), "Dr. Faustus" (1967), "Boom!" (1968), "Under Milk Wood"
(1971) and "Hammersmith Is Out" (1972).
Art most effectively imitated life in the adaptation of Edward Albee's
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" — in which Taylor and Burton played mates
who fought viciously and drank heavily. She took the best actress Oscar for
her performance as the venomous Martha in "Virginia Woolf" and again stole
the awards show, this time by not showing up at the ceremony. She refused to
thank the academy upon learning of her victory and chastised voters for not
honoring Burton.
Taylor and Burton divorced in 1974, married again in 1975 and divorced again
in 1976.
"We fight a great deal," Burton once said, "and we watch the people around
us who don't quite know how to behave during these storms. We don't fight
when we are alone."
In 1982, Taylor and Burton appeared in a touring production of the Noel
Coward play "Private Lives," in which they starred as a divorced couple who
meet on their respective honeymoons. They remained close at the time of
Burton's death, in 1984.
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London on Feb. 27, 1932, the daughter
of Francis Taylor, an art dealer, and the former Sara Sothern, an American
stage actress. At age 3, with extensive ballet training already behind her,
Taylor danced for British princesses Elizabeth (the future queen) and
Margaret Rose at London's Hippodrome. At age 4, she was given a wild field
horse that she learned to ride expertly.
At the onset of World War II, the Taylors came to the United States. Francis
Taylor opened a gallery in Beverly Hills and, in 1942, his daughter made her
screen debut with a bit part in the comedy "There's One Born Every Minute."
Her big break came soon thereafter. While serving as an air-raid warden with
MGM producer Sam Marx, Taylor's father learned that the studio was
struggling to find an English girl to play opposite Roddy McDowall in
"Lassie Come Home." Taylor's screen test for the film won her both the part
and a long-term contract. She grew up quickly after that.
Still in school at 16, she would dash from the classroom to the movie set
where she played passionate love scenes with Robert Taylor in "Conspirator."
"I have the emotions of a child in the body of a woman," she once said. "I
was rushed into womanhood for the movies. It caused me long moments of
unhappiness and doubt."
Soon after her screen presence was established, she began a series of very
public romances. Early loves included socialite Bill Pawley, home run
slugger Ralph Kiner and football star Glenn Davis.
Then, a roll call of husbands:
• She married Conrad Hilton Jr., son of the hotel magnate, in May 1950 at
age 18. The marriage ended in divorce that December.
• When she married British actor Michael Wilding in February 1952, he was 39
to her 19. They had two sons, Michael Jr. and Christopher Edward. That
marriage lasted 4 years.
• She married cigar-chomping movie producer Michael Todd, also 20 years her
senior, in 1957. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Francis. Todd was killed in
a plane crash in 1958.
• The best man at the Taylor-Todd wedding was Fisher. He left his wife
Debbie Reynolds to marry Taylor in 1959. She converted to Judaism before the
wedding.
• Taylor and Fisher moved to London, where she was making "Cleopatra." She
met Burton, who also was married. That union produced her fourth child,
Maria.
• After her second marriage to Burton ended, she married John Warner, a
former secretary of the Navy, in December 1976. Warner was elected a U.S.
senator from Virginia in 1978. They divorced in 1982.
• In October 1991, she married Larry Fortensky, a truck driver and
construction worker she met while both were undergoing treatment at the
Betty Ford Center in 1988. He was 20 years her junior. The wedding, held at
the ranch of Michael Jackson, was a media circus that included the din of
helicopter blades, a journalist who parachuted to a spot near the couple and
a gossip columnist as official scribe.
But in August 1995, she and Fortensky announced a trial separation; she
filed for divorce six months later and the split became final in 1997.
"I was taught by my parents that if you fall in love, if you want to have a
love affair, you get married," she once remarked. "I guess I'm very
old-fashioned."
Her philanthropic interests included assistance for the Israeli War Victims
Fund and the Variety Clubs International.
She received the Legion of Honor, France's most prestigious award, in 1987,
for her efforts to support AIDS research. In May 2000, Queen Elizabeth II
made Taylor a dame — the female equivalent of a knight — for her services to
the entertainment industry and to charity.
In 1993, she won a lifetime achievement award from the American Film
Institute; in 1999, an institute survey of screen legends ranked her No. 7
among actresses.
During much of her later career, Taylor's waistline, various diets, diet
books and tangled romances were the butt of jokes by Joan Rivers and others.
John Belushi mocked her on "Saturday Night Live," dressing up in drag and
choking on a piece of chicken.
"It's a wonder I didn't explode," Taylor wrote of her 60-pound weight gain —
and successful loss — in the 1988 book "Elizabeth Takes Off on Self-Esteem
and Self-Image."
She was an iconic star, but her screen roles became increasingly rare in the
1980s and beyond. She appeared in several television movies, including
"Poker Alice" and "Sweet Bird of Youth," and entered the Stone Age as Pearl
Slaghoople in the movie version of "The Flintstones." She had a brief role
on the popular soap opera "General Hospital."
Taylor was the subject of numerous unauthorized biographies and herself
worked on a handful of books, including "Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal
Memoir" and "Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair With Jewelry." In tune with
the media to the end, she kept in touch through her Twitter account.
"I like the connection with fans and people who have been supportive of me,"
Taylor told Kim Kardashian in a 2011 interview for Harper's Bazaar. "And I
love the idea of real feedback and a two-way street, which is very, very
modern. But sometimes I think we know too much about our idols and that
spoils the dream."
Survivors include her daughters Maria Burton-Carson and Liza Todd-Tivey,
sons Christopher and Michael Wilding, 10 grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
A private family funeral is planned later this week.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
1839 : OK enters national vernacular
On this day in 1839, the initials "O.K." are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for "oll correct," a popular slang misspelling of "all correct" at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.
During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as "kewl" for "cool" or "DZ" for "these," the "in crowd" of the 1830s had a whole host of slang terms they abbreviated. Popular abbreviations included "KY" for "No use" ("know yuse"), "KG" for "No go" ("Know go"), and "OW" for all right ("oll wright").
Of all the abbreviations used during that time, OK was propelled into the limelight when it was printed in the Boston Morning Post as part of a joke. Its popularity exploded when it was picked up by contemporary politicians. When the incumbent president Martin Van Buren was up for reelection, his Democratic supporters organized a band of thugs to influence voters. This group was formally called the "O.K. Club," which referred both to Van Buren's nickname "Old Kinderhook" (based on his hometown of Kinderhook, New York), and to the term recently made popular in the papers. At the same time, the opposing Whig Party made use of "OK" to denigrate Van Buren's political mentor Andrew Jackson. According to the Whigs, Jackson invented the abbreviation "OK" to cover up his own misspelling of "all correct."
The man responsible for unraveling the mystery behind "OK" was an American linguist named Allen Walker Read. An English professor at Columbia University, Read dispelled a host of erroneous theories on the origins of "OK," ranging from the name of a popular Army biscuit (Orrin Kendall) to the name of a Haitian port famed for its rum (Aux Cayes) to the signature of a Choctaw chief named Old Keokuk. Whatever its origins, "OK" has become one of the most ubiquitous terms in the world, and certainly one of America's greatest lingual exports.
During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as "kewl" for "cool" or "DZ" for "these," the "in crowd" of the 1830s had a whole host of slang terms they abbreviated. Popular abbreviations included "KY" for "No use" ("know yuse"), "KG" for "No go" ("Know go"), and "OW" for all right ("oll wright").
Of all the abbreviations used during that time, OK was propelled into the limelight when it was printed in the Boston Morning Post as part of a joke. Its popularity exploded when it was picked up by contemporary politicians. When the incumbent president Martin Van Buren was up for reelection, his Democratic supporters organized a band of thugs to influence voters. This group was formally called the "O.K. Club," which referred both to Van Buren's nickname "Old Kinderhook" (based on his hometown of Kinderhook, New York), and to the term recently made popular in the papers. At the same time, the opposing Whig Party made use of "OK" to denigrate Van Buren's political mentor Andrew Jackson. According to the Whigs, Jackson invented the abbreviation "OK" to cover up his own misspelling of "all correct."
The man responsible for unraveling the mystery behind "OK" was an American linguist named Allen Walker Read. An English professor at Columbia University, Read dispelled a host of erroneous theories on the origins of "OK," ranging from the name of a popular Army biscuit (Orrin Kendall) to the name of a Haitian port famed for its rum (Aux Cayes) to the signature of a Choctaw chief named Old Keokuk. Whatever its origins, "OK" has become one of the most ubiquitous terms in the world, and certainly one of America's greatest lingual exports.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
SENIORS
Senior citizens are constantly being criticized for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world, real or imaginary. We know we take responsibility for all we have done and do not blame others.
HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was NOT the senior citizens who took:
The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education,
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinement out of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement or
God out of government and school.
And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others!
And, we do understand the meaning of patriotism, and remember those who have fought and died for our country.
Does anyone under the age of 50 know the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner?
What about the last verse of My Country 'tis of Thee?
"Our father's God to thee,Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's Holy light.Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King."
Just look at the Seniors with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts as they stand at attention with their hand over their hearts!
YES, I'M A SENIOR CITIZEN!
I'm the life of the party...... even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
I'm very good at opening childproof caps.... with a hammer.
I'm awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.
I'm smiling all the time because I can't hear a thing you're saying.
I'm sure everything I can't find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.
I'm wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just my left leg.
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the storeroom door.
Yes, I'm a SENIOR CITIZEN and I think I am having the time of my life!
Now if I could only remember who sent this to me, I wouldn't send it back to them, but I would send it to many more too!
Spread the laughter
Share the cheer
Let's be happy
While we're here.
Go Green - Recycle the irresponsible losers we call---
CONGRESS!
HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was NOT the senior citizens who took:
The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education,
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinement out of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement or
God out of government and school.
And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others!
And, we do understand the meaning of patriotism, and remember those who have fought and died for our country.
Does anyone under the age of 50 know the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner?
What about the last verse of My Country 'tis of Thee?
"Our father's God to thee,Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's Holy light.Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King."
Just look at the Seniors with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts as they stand at attention with their hand over their hearts!
YES, I'M A SENIOR CITIZEN!
I'm the life of the party...... even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
I'm very good at opening childproof caps.... with a hammer.
I'm awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.
I'm smiling all the time because I can't hear a thing you're saying.
I'm sure everything I can't find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.
I'm wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just my left leg.
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the storeroom door.
Yes, I'm a SENIOR CITIZEN and I think I am having the time of my life!
Now if I could only remember who sent this to me, I wouldn't send it back to them, but I would send it to many more too!
Spread the laughter
Share the cheer
Let's be happy
While we're here.
Go Green - Recycle the irresponsible losers we call---
CONGRESS!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Psychiatrist vs. Bartender
Psychiatrist vs. Bartender Ever since I was a child I’ve always had a fear of someone under my bed at night, so I went to a psychiatrist and told him: "I've got a problem. Every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under it. I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy." "Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the psychiatrist. "Come talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears." "How much do you charge?", I asked. "Eighty dollars per visit," replied the doctor.
"I'll sleep on it," I said.
"I'll sleep on it," I said.
Six months later the doctor met me on the street. "Why didn't you come to see me about those fears you were having?", he asked.
"Well, eighty dollars per visit, three times a week, for a year is an awful lot of money -- a total of $12,480! A bartender cured me for the $10 price of a couple of drinks. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought myself a new car!"
"Is that so!", with a bit of an attitude he said, "and how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed! -- Ain't nobody under there now!"
FORGET THE SHRINK,
TALK TO A BARTENDER,
AND HAVE A DRINK!
"I'll sleep on it," I said.
"I'll sleep on it," I said.
Six months later the doctor met me on the street. "Why didn't you come to see me about those fears you were having?", he asked.
"Well, eighty dollars per visit, three times a week, for a year is an awful lot of money -- a total of $12,480! A bartender cured me for the $10 price of a couple of drinks. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought myself a new car!"
"Is that so!", with a bit of an attitude he said, "and how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed! -- Ain't nobody under there now!"
FORGET THE SHRINK,
TALK TO A BARTENDER,
AND HAVE A DRINK!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Country Entertainer Ferlin Husky Dies At Age 85
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ferlin Husky, a pioneering country music entertainer in
the 1950s and early '60s known for hits like "Wings of a Dove" and "Gone,"
died Thursday. He was 85.
The 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee died at his home, hall
spokeswoman Tina Wright said. He had a history of heart problems and related
ailments.
With his resonant voice and good looks, Husky was one of the most versatile
entertainers to emerge from country music. He was a singer, songwriter,
guitarist, actor, and even a comedian whose impersonations ranged from Bing
Crosby to Johnny Cash.
He was one of the first country musicians to bring the genre to television
and helped spread its popularity in booming post-World War II California, an
important step in country's quest for a national audience.
He said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press that he was buoyed by
his Hall of Fame induction because he worried he'd been forgotten as his
health failed over the years.
"The main thing I'm proud of, this is for my family and for the many people
who want to see me go in there before I die," he said. "It's a great honor."
Friends seemed more indignant about Husky's long wait than he did. Tracy
Pitcox, president of Heart of Texas Records, remembers telling Husky he
deserved to be in the hall of fame a few years before his induction.
"He said, 'It would be nice, but it isn't going to impress Jesus,'" Pitcox
remembered Thursday. "I just thought, 'Wow, what a nice thing to say.'"
Husky was one of the first country artists to have his name on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame and sold more than 20 million records, mostly in the '50s and
early '60s, according to his web site. He won many of his awards long before
such gala shows were televised and meant so much to careers.
He was born in 1925 near Flat River, Mo. After five years in the Merchant
Marine during World War II, he began his singing career in honky tonks and
nightclubs around St. Louis and later in the Bakersfield, Calif., area.
"I'd walk into a bar and if they didn't have any music there I'd ask the
bartender if I could play. Then I'd pass the hat around," he told the
Chicago Tribune in 1957.
He recalled netting 50 or 75 cents each time.
He recorded some songs early in his career under the name Terry Preston, and
in some early records he spelled his last name Huskey.
He was signed to Capitol records in the early 1950s and had his first big
success when he teamed with 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Jean
Shepard on "Dear John Letter," which ranked No. 4 on Billboard's list of top
country songs of 1953.
Shepard said Thursday that was the start of a friendship that lasted nearly
60 years. She talked with Husky about a week ago before his health took a
turn for the worse.
"We've got to go through the motions now," Shepard said Thursday. "I just
dread that 'cause it seems like my heart's going to bust."
She described Husky as a fun-loving friend who was always quick with a joke
or a prank. He also was one of the most talented artists she worked with in
a long career that brought her in touch with all the legends.
"Ferlin was a great entertainer. He was a great entertainer," Shepard said.
"I can't say nothing bad about him. If every man and woman who worked
together in the music business or whatever had the relationship that me and
Ferlin had, it would be a wonderful thing. It was a loving, loving
friendship."
He was also the headline act for a tour that included a young Elvis Presley.
"He was so eager to learn how to entertain an audience, he'd watch
everything I did," Husky said of Presley.
In 1957, he had a No. 1 hit on the country chart with "Gone," a re-recording
of a song he had done several years earlier. It also broke the top five on
the pop charts.
"Wings of a Dove," a gospel song, became another No. 1 country hit in 1960
and was one of his signature songs. His other hits included "A Fallen Star,"
"My Reason for Living," "The Waltz You Saved for Me" and "Timber I'm
Falling."
"I didn't say it was country, but it was a country boy doing it," he said in
2010.
While still recording under his real name, Husky created a character named
Simon Crum as his comic alter-ego, hitting the charts with such songs as
"Cuzz You're So Sweet" and "Country Music Is Here to Stay."
He also was a regular on TV and appeared in a string of movies with co-stars
like Zsa Zsa Gabor ("Country Music Holiday" in 1958) and Jayne Mansfield
("Las Vegas Hillbillies" in 1966.) He once said that his selection for a
short run as Arthur Godfrey's summer replacement at CBS in the late 1950s
was a particular high point for him.
"It was a great achievement because there were so many actors and artists,
but I got picked even though I didn't have a high school education," he told
The Associated Press in 1981. He dropped out in the eighth grade.
He cut back on his entertaining in 1970 and performed part-time, mostly
concert dates. He was performing once a month in the mid-2000s. But his
imprint on country music remained.
"In the mid-'50s, Ferlin would create the template for the famed Nashville
Sound, a sound that gave rock `n' roll a run for its money and forever put
Music City on the map," Kyle Young, director of the Country Music Hall of
Fame and Museum, said at Husky's induction in May 2010. "The multitalented
and musically versatile Ferlin Husky was always ahead of his time."
the 1950s and early '60s known for hits like "Wings of a Dove" and "Gone,"
died Thursday. He was 85.
The 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee died at his home, hall
spokeswoman Tina Wright said. He had a history of heart problems and related
ailments.
With his resonant voice and good looks, Husky was one of the most versatile
entertainers to emerge from country music. He was a singer, songwriter,
guitarist, actor, and even a comedian whose impersonations ranged from Bing
Crosby to Johnny Cash.
He was one of the first country musicians to bring the genre to television
and helped spread its popularity in booming post-World War II California, an
important step in country's quest for a national audience.
He said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press that he was buoyed by
his Hall of Fame induction because he worried he'd been forgotten as his
health failed over the years.
"The main thing I'm proud of, this is for my family and for the many people
who want to see me go in there before I die," he said. "It's a great honor."
Friends seemed more indignant about Husky's long wait than he did. Tracy
Pitcox, president of Heart of Texas Records, remembers telling Husky he
deserved to be in the hall of fame a few years before his induction.
"He said, 'It would be nice, but it isn't going to impress Jesus,'" Pitcox
remembered Thursday. "I just thought, 'Wow, what a nice thing to say.'"
Husky was one of the first country artists to have his name on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame and sold more than 20 million records, mostly in the '50s and
early '60s, according to his web site. He won many of his awards long before
such gala shows were televised and meant so much to careers.
He was born in 1925 near Flat River, Mo. After five years in the Merchant
Marine during World War II, he began his singing career in honky tonks and
nightclubs around St. Louis and later in the Bakersfield, Calif., area.
"I'd walk into a bar and if they didn't have any music there I'd ask the
bartender if I could play. Then I'd pass the hat around," he told the
Chicago Tribune in 1957.
He recalled netting 50 or 75 cents each time.
He recorded some songs early in his career under the name Terry Preston, and
in some early records he spelled his last name Huskey.
He was signed to Capitol records in the early 1950s and had his first big
success when he teamed with 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Jean
Shepard on "Dear John Letter," which ranked No. 4 on Billboard's list of top
country songs of 1953.
Shepard said Thursday that was the start of a friendship that lasted nearly
60 years. She talked with Husky about a week ago before his health took a
turn for the worse.
"We've got to go through the motions now," Shepard said Thursday. "I just
dread that 'cause it seems like my heart's going to bust."
She described Husky as a fun-loving friend who was always quick with a joke
or a prank. He also was one of the most talented artists she worked with in
a long career that brought her in touch with all the legends.
"Ferlin was a great entertainer. He was a great entertainer," Shepard said.
"I can't say nothing bad about him. If every man and woman who worked
together in the music business or whatever had the relationship that me and
Ferlin had, it would be a wonderful thing. It was a loving, loving
friendship."
He was also the headline act for a tour that included a young Elvis Presley.
"He was so eager to learn how to entertain an audience, he'd watch
everything I did," Husky said of Presley.
In 1957, he had a No. 1 hit on the country chart with "Gone," a re-recording
of a song he had done several years earlier. It also broke the top five on
the pop charts.
"Wings of a Dove," a gospel song, became another No. 1 country hit in 1960
and was one of his signature songs. His other hits included "A Fallen Star,"
"My Reason for Living," "The Waltz You Saved for Me" and "Timber I'm
Falling."
"I didn't say it was country, but it was a country boy doing it," he said in
2010.
While still recording under his real name, Husky created a character named
Simon Crum as his comic alter-ego, hitting the charts with such songs as
"Cuzz You're So Sweet" and "Country Music Is Here to Stay."
He also was a regular on TV and appeared in a string of movies with co-stars
like Zsa Zsa Gabor ("Country Music Holiday" in 1958) and Jayne Mansfield
("Las Vegas Hillbillies" in 1966.) He once said that his selection for a
short run as Arthur Godfrey's summer replacement at CBS in the late 1950s
was a particular high point for him.
"It was a great achievement because there were so many actors and artists,
but I got picked even though I didn't have a high school education," he told
The Associated Press in 1981. He dropped out in the eighth grade.
He cut back on his entertaining in 1970 and performed part-time, mostly
concert dates. He was performing once a month in the mid-2000s. But his
imprint on country music remained.
"In the mid-'50s, Ferlin would create the template for the famed Nashville
Sound, a sound that gave rock `n' roll a run for its money and forever put
Music City on the map," Kyle Young, director of the Country Music Hall of
Fame and Museum, said at Husky's induction in May 2010. "The multitalented
and musically versatile Ferlin Husky was always ahead of his time."
Thursday, March 17, 2011
461 : Saint Patrick dies
On this day in 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.
Much of what is known about Patrick's legendary life comes from the Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.
According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled "The Voice of the Irish." As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.
Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover--the famous shamrock--to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For thousands of years, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick's death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick's Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762. As the years went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for persecuted Irish-American immigrants, and then a popular celebration of Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick's Day as a way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland's many charms to the rest of the world. Today, March 17 is a day of international celebration, as millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish.
Much of what is known about Patrick's legendary life comes from the Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.
According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled "The Voice of the Irish." As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.
Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover--the famous shamrock--to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For thousands of years, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick's death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick's Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762. As the years went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for persecuted Irish-American immigrants, and then a popular celebration of Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick's Day as a way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland's many charms to the rest of the world. Today, March 17 is a day of international celebration, as millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
An underwear to protect passengers' modesty when they walk through airport full-body scanners could soon become a reality.
Steve Bradshaw, 54, has invented underwear and vests - for men and women - that are covered with a special paint made from a mixture of metals and glass.
The T-shirt printer claims the coating masks body parts but still allows operators to see dangerous objects such as guns, knives and explosives.
He was inspired after being questioned by armed police and missing a flight when he refused to enter a 'naked scanner' at Manchester airport earlier this year, the Daily Mail reports.
'The machines operate at different wavelengths and the pants contain materials which react to radiation at different wavelengths,' Bradshaw said.
'I have been for 35 years in screen printing and I know about inks and what they are made from. I ended up making a coating which is a printable plastic ink. It reflects back and scatters the X-rays and is printed in a pattern,' he said.
'Small cut-outs in the design allow a large metal object or gun to show up the operator's screen. I believe it is a compromise because it diffuses the image, allowing dangerous items to be seen without showing graphic detail.'
Passengers are randomly selected to go through the X-ray scanners at several British airports. Under government legislation, anyone who refuses is turned away.
Bradshaw, from Poynton near Stockport, is yet to test his underwear with a scanner but has written to the Department of Transport to seek approval.
An official replied that the government would not endorse his underwear but 'this would not stop' him from developing his design.
Nick Bowring, a scanner expert at Manchester Metropolitan University, believes Bradshaw's technology could work.
The T-shirt printer claims the coating masks body parts but still allows operators to see dangerous objects such as guns, knives and explosives.
He was inspired after being questioned by armed police and missing a flight when he refused to enter a 'naked scanner' at Manchester airport earlier this year, the Daily Mail reports.
'The machines operate at different wavelengths and the pants contain materials which react to radiation at different wavelengths,' Bradshaw said.
'I have been for 35 years in screen printing and I know about inks and what they are made from. I ended up making a coating which is a printable plastic ink. It reflects back and scatters the X-rays and is printed in a pattern,' he said.
'Small cut-outs in the design allow a large metal object or gun to show up the operator's screen. I believe it is a compromise because it diffuses the image, allowing dangerous items to be seen without showing graphic detail.'
Passengers are randomly selected to go through the X-ray scanners at several British airports. Under government legislation, anyone who refuses is turned away.
Bradshaw, from Poynton near Stockport, is yet to test his underwear with a scanner but has written to the Department of Transport to seek approval.
An official replied that the government would not endorse his underwear but 'this would not stop' him from developing his design.
Nick Bowring, a scanner expert at Manchester Metropolitan University, believes Bradshaw's technology could work.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Neil Sedaka
Musician, singer, songwriter. Born March 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York. By the age of 8, young Sedaka was already a piano prodigy. He was awarded a scholarship to Julliard in 1956 where he continued to divide his time between pop music and classical studies. In 1952, while playing at a resort in the Catskill Mountains, he was introduced to 16-year-old Howie Greenfield, a young poetry writer. The two began a songwriting career that lasted into the 1980s.
In 1956, Sedaka formed a high school group called The Tokens. They were discovered by record producer, Morty Craft who issued two Tokens singles that became regional hits. Shortly after, Sedaka went solo, releasing his first single on the Decca label, Snowtime. In 1958, Sedaka penned his first international hit, Stupid Cupid recorded by Connie Francis.
In 1958, Sedaka and Greenfield joined the talent at 1650 Broadway, which included Neil Diamond, Carole King and Paul Simon. Record producer Steve Sholes contracted Sedaka for RCA, where he created such hits as Oh! Carol (written for former girlfriend Carole King), Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Calendar Girl.
By 1963, after selling some 25 million records, Sedaka was riding the wave of international success. However, Beatlemania had taken hold and record sales progressively dwindled. From 1963 to 1965, he spent his time traveling the world to record his hits in Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Hebrew. When Sedaka's contract with RCA ended, he and Greenfield continued as songsmiths for Don Kirshner's Screen Gems Columbia.
In 1970, inspired by Carole King's Tapestry album, Sedaka staged a comeback in London. After producing a few albums with limited commercial success, he released his breakthrough hit Laughter In The Rain. The title track was a huge success in the UK, prompting Elton John to re-launch Sedaka's records in the U.S. on his Rocket label. The result was the hit album Sedaka's Back. The record's success was followed by Sedaka's first Grammy for Love Will Keep Us Together performed by The Captain & Tennille. In the late 1980s, Sedaka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Throughout the 1990s, Sedaka continued to reinvent himself. In 1991, he recorded Laughter In The Rain, Stupid Cupid and I Go Ape as duets with daughter Dara, the latter as a rap song. He has since shifted his focus to touring, and continues to sell out music halls worldwide.
Sedaka married Leba Strassberg in 1962. They have two childen, Dara and Marc.
In 1956, Sedaka formed a high school group called The Tokens. They were discovered by record producer, Morty Craft who issued two Tokens singles that became regional hits. Shortly after, Sedaka went solo, releasing his first single on the Decca label, Snowtime. In 1958, Sedaka penned his first international hit, Stupid Cupid recorded by Connie Francis.
In 1958, Sedaka and Greenfield joined the talent at 1650 Broadway, which included Neil Diamond, Carole King and Paul Simon. Record producer Steve Sholes contracted Sedaka for RCA, where he created such hits as Oh! Carol (written for former girlfriend Carole King), Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Calendar Girl.
By 1963, after selling some 25 million records, Sedaka was riding the wave of international success. However, Beatlemania had taken hold and record sales progressively dwindled. From 1963 to 1965, he spent his time traveling the world to record his hits in Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Hebrew. When Sedaka's contract with RCA ended, he and Greenfield continued as songsmiths for Don Kirshner's Screen Gems Columbia.
In 1970, inspired by Carole King's Tapestry album, Sedaka staged a comeback in London. After producing a few albums with limited commercial success, he released his breakthrough hit Laughter In The Rain. The title track was a huge success in the UK, prompting Elton John to re-launch Sedaka's records in the U.S. on his Rocket label. The result was the hit album Sedaka's Back. The record's success was followed by Sedaka's first Grammy for Love Will Keep Us Together performed by The Captain & Tennille. In the late 1980s, Sedaka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Throughout the 1990s, Sedaka continued to reinvent himself. In 1991, he recorded Laughter In The Rain, Stupid Cupid and I Go Ape as duets with daughter Dara, the latter as a rap song. He has since shifted his focus to touring, and continues to sell out music halls worldwide.
Sedaka married Leba Strassberg in 1962. They have two childen, Dara and Marc.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
1903 : New York Highlanders join American League
On March 12, 1903, the New York Highlanders are given the go-ahead by team owners to join baseball's American League. The Highlanders had recently moved from Baltimore, where they were called the Orioles and had a winning tradition dating back to the 1890s. Called the "Yankees" by fans, the team officially changed its name to the New York Yankees in 1913, and went on to become the most dominant franchise in American sports.
It wasn't until 1921, however, that the Yankees won their first American League pennant, behind the prodigious power of right fielder Babe Ruth, who the Yankees had purchased from the Boston franchise, much to the disappointment of Boston fans, in 1920. The team went on to dominate the American League throughout the 1920s, and in 1927, with the "Murderer's Row" lineup of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazerri and Bob Meusel, the Yankees won 110 games and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series, 4 games to 0. This 1927 team is still considered the standard by which other teams are measured.
During Ruth's 14-year tenure (1920-1934), the Bronx Bombers won four World Series and lost two. The other major star of Ruth's era was first baseman Lou Gehrig, whose time with the team spanned two generations of Yankee dominance, first under Ruth and later with star center fielder Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951). With DiMaggio, known as the "Yankee Clipper," in center field, New York won nine titles and 10 American League pennants, including four World Series in a row between 1936 and 1939. Gehrig's 2,130 consecutive game streak held for 44 years. He was finally forced to retire in 1939, when he contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has since come to be known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."
The 1950s featured a balanced team led by "the Ol' Perfesser," manager Casey Stengel. Under Stengel, the talent-packed Yankees won the World Series each year from 1949 to 1953. By this time, Yankee dominance had begun to inspire resentment among fans of less fortunate teams. In 1955, this antipathy inspired the musical "Damn Yankees," in which a Washington Senators fan sells his soul to the devil so he can slug the Senators to victory over the Yankees and win the pennant. Though the Yankees lost the 1960 World Series, which prompted the firing of Stengel, players continued to turn in all-star performances. In 1961, Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a single season with 61 of his own, after a year-long race with friend Mickey Mantle, who ended his season early because of injuries with 54 homers.
In 1977, "Mr. October" Reggie Jackson hit three home runs on three swings in Game 6 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to give the Yankees their first World Series since 1962. They repeated in 1978, again beating the Dodgers behind Jackson and pitchers Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry. By then, the team was owned by George Steinbrenner, whose meddlesome ways, doomed free-agent signings and rivalry with on-again, off-again manager Billy Martin led to a 17-season drought between World Series titles from 1979 to 1996. In 1996, Steinbrenner hired manager Joe Torre and his steady hand, along with the leadership of shortstop and future captain Derek Jeter, guided the Yankees to four World Series championships and six American League pennants between 1996 and 2003, with three World Series wins in a row from 1998 to 2000.
Through the 2010 season, the Yankees had won a record 27 World Series and 40 American League pennants. The record for second-most championships belonged to the St. Louis Cardinals, who had 10.
It wasn't until 1921, however, that the Yankees won their first American League pennant, behind the prodigious power of right fielder Babe Ruth, who the Yankees had purchased from the Boston franchise, much to the disappointment of Boston fans, in 1920. The team went on to dominate the American League throughout the 1920s, and in 1927, with the "Murderer's Row" lineup of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazerri and Bob Meusel, the Yankees won 110 games and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series, 4 games to 0. This 1927 team is still considered the standard by which other teams are measured.
During Ruth's 14-year tenure (1920-1934), the Bronx Bombers won four World Series and lost two. The other major star of Ruth's era was first baseman Lou Gehrig, whose time with the team spanned two generations of Yankee dominance, first under Ruth and later with star center fielder Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951). With DiMaggio, known as the "Yankee Clipper," in center field, New York won nine titles and 10 American League pennants, including four World Series in a row between 1936 and 1939. Gehrig's 2,130 consecutive game streak held for 44 years. He was finally forced to retire in 1939, when he contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has since come to be known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."
The 1950s featured a balanced team led by "the Ol' Perfesser," manager Casey Stengel. Under Stengel, the talent-packed Yankees won the World Series each year from 1949 to 1953. By this time, Yankee dominance had begun to inspire resentment among fans of less fortunate teams. In 1955, this antipathy inspired the musical "Damn Yankees," in which a Washington Senators fan sells his soul to the devil so he can slug the Senators to victory over the Yankees and win the pennant. Though the Yankees lost the 1960 World Series, which prompted the firing of Stengel, players continued to turn in all-star performances. In 1961, Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a single season with 61 of his own, after a year-long race with friend Mickey Mantle, who ended his season early because of injuries with 54 homers.
In 1977, "Mr. October" Reggie Jackson hit three home runs on three swings in Game 6 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to give the Yankees their first World Series since 1962. They repeated in 1978, again beating the Dodgers behind Jackson and pitchers Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry. By then, the team was owned by George Steinbrenner, whose meddlesome ways, doomed free-agent signings and rivalry with on-again, off-again manager Billy Martin led to a 17-season drought between World Series titles from 1979 to 1996. In 1996, Steinbrenner hired manager Joe Torre and his steady hand, along with the leadership of shortstop and future captain Derek Jeter, guided the Yankees to four World Series championships and six American League pennants between 1996 and 2003, with three World Series wins in a row from 1998 to 2000.
Through the 2010 season, the Yankees had won a record 27 World Series and 40 American League pennants. The record for second-most championships belonged to the St. Louis Cardinals, who had 10.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The new SmartView Synergy SI — three times sharper than conventional CCTVs
HumanWare introduces the SmartView Synergy SI —
a full-color view of the world that’s three times sharper than
conventional CCTVs
At HumanWare, Synergy SI means a sharper, clearer, better view of the world for people dealing with macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other low-vision eye conditions. The SmartView Synergy SI is the ultimate solution for regaining and maintaining true independence.
Superior image quality
The SmartView Synergy SI magnifies and enlarges text, objects and actions, delivering superior image quality with true, vivid colors. Its powerful camera reproduces 300% more pixels than conventional CCTVs to provide a visual experience that is three times clearer. In addition, regardless of the material being viewed, the Synergy SI offers a wider field of view to easily display a document’s full width.
Extraordinary, easy-to-use tool
For students, office workers, homemakers and seniors, the SmartView Synergy SI offers renewed independence with its easy-to-use, conveniently located, intuitive controls.
“What makes the SmartView Synergy SI so superior is the quality image it displays no matter what is being viewed. Whether you’re reading a magazine, looking at photos, checking a product’s ingredients or applying nail varnish, everyday tasks just got a lot easier,” says Gilles Pepin, HumanWare CEO.
Complete control, total independence
Smooth, quiet movement in any direction makes it easy to follow text
Simple, easy-to-use brake locks the table in any position
Control for fine-tuned movement
Superior image quality even at low magnification
Magnification can be adjusted in precise steps to match needs
True reproduction of colors
Quickly switches from full-color image to text in 16 enhanced contrast modes
High-brightness, distortion-free 22" LCD monitor easily adjusts up and down, left and right, forward and back
Orders for the new SmartView Synergy SI are being taken now through the sales locations listed below and shipping will begin in April.
For additional information, visit: www.humanware.com/si
a full-color view of the world that’s three times sharper than
conventional CCTVs
At HumanWare, Synergy SI means a sharper, clearer, better view of the world for people dealing with macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other low-vision eye conditions. The SmartView Synergy SI is the ultimate solution for regaining and maintaining true independence.
Superior image quality
The SmartView Synergy SI magnifies and enlarges text, objects and actions, delivering superior image quality with true, vivid colors. Its powerful camera reproduces 300% more pixels than conventional CCTVs to provide a visual experience that is three times clearer. In addition, regardless of the material being viewed, the Synergy SI offers a wider field of view to easily display a document’s full width.
Extraordinary, easy-to-use tool
For students, office workers, homemakers and seniors, the SmartView Synergy SI offers renewed independence with its easy-to-use, conveniently located, intuitive controls.
“What makes the SmartView Synergy SI so superior is the quality image it displays no matter what is being viewed. Whether you’re reading a magazine, looking at photos, checking a product’s ingredients or applying nail varnish, everyday tasks just got a lot easier,” says Gilles Pepin, HumanWare CEO.
Complete control, total independence
Smooth, quiet movement in any direction makes it easy to follow text
Simple, easy-to-use brake locks the table in any position
Control for fine-tuned movement
Superior image quality even at low magnification
Magnification can be adjusted in precise steps to match needs
True reproduction of colors
Quickly switches from full-color image to text in 16 enhanced contrast modes
High-brightness, distortion-free 22" LCD monitor easily adjusts up and down, left and right, forward and back
Orders for the new SmartView Synergy SI are being taken now through the sales locations listed below and shipping will begin in April.
For additional information, visit: www.humanware.com/si
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
1802 : Barbie makes her debut
On this day in 1959, the first Barbie doll goes on display at the American Toy Fair in New York City.
Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler, who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband in 1945. After seeing her young daughter ignore her baby dolls to play make-believe with paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there was an important niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls to imagine the future.
Barbie's appearance was modeled on a doll named Lilli, based on a German comic strip character. Originally marketed as a racy gag gift to adult men in tobacco shops, the Lilli doll later became extremely popular with children. Mattel bought the rights to Lilli and made its own version, which Handler named after her daughter, Barbara. With its sponsorship of the "Mickey Mouse Club" TV program in 1955, Mattel became the first toy company to broadcast commercials to children. They used this medium to promote their new toy, and by 1961, the enormous consumer demand for the doll led Mattel to release a boyfriend for Barbie. Handler named him Ken, after her son. Barbie's best friend, Midge, came out in 1963; her little sister, Skipper, debuted the following year.
Over the years, Barbie generated huge sales--and a lot of controversy. On the positive side, many women saw Barbie as providing an alternative to traditional 1950s gender roles. She has had a series of different jobs, from airline stewardess, doctor, pilot and astronaut to Olympic athlete and even U.S. presidential candidate. Others thought Barbie's never-ending supply of designer outfits, cars and "Dream Houses" encouraged kids to be materialistic. It was Barbie's appearance that caused the most controversy, however. Her tiny waist and enormous breasts--it was estimated that if she were a real woman, her measurements would be 36-18-38--led many to claim that Barbie provided little girls with an unrealistic and harmful example and fostered negative body image.
Despite the criticism, sales of Barbie-related merchandise continued to soar, topping 1 billion dollars annually by 1993. Since 1959, more than 800 million dolls in the Barbie family have been sold around the world and Barbie is now a bona fide global icon.
Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler, who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband in 1945. After seeing her young daughter ignore her baby dolls to play make-believe with paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there was an important niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls to imagine the future.
Barbie's appearance was modeled on a doll named Lilli, based on a German comic strip character. Originally marketed as a racy gag gift to adult men in tobacco shops, the Lilli doll later became extremely popular with children. Mattel bought the rights to Lilli and made its own version, which Handler named after her daughter, Barbara. With its sponsorship of the "Mickey Mouse Club" TV program in 1955, Mattel became the first toy company to broadcast commercials to children. They used this medium to promote their new toy, and by 1961, the enormous consumer demand for the doll led Mattel to release a boyfriend for Barbie. Handler named him Ken, after her son. Barbie's best friend, Midge, came out in 1963; her little sister, Skipper, debuted the following year.
Over the years, Barbie generated huge sales--and a lot of controversy. On the positive side, many women saw Barbie as providing an alternative to traditional 1950s gender roles. She has had a series of different jobs, from airline stewardess, doctor, pilot and astronaut to Olympic athlete and even U.S. presidential candidate. Others thought Barbie's never-ending supply of designer outfits, cars and "Dream Houses" encouraged kids to be materialistic. It was Barbie's appearance that caused the most controversy, however. Her tiny waist and enormous breasts--it was estimated that if she were a real woman, her measurements would be 36-18-38--led many to claim that Barbie provided little girls with an unrealistic and harmful example and fostered negative body image.
Despite the criticism, sales of Barbie-related merchandise continued to soar, topping 1 billion dollars annually by 1993. Since 1959, more than 800 million dolls in the Barbie family have been sold around the world and Barbie is now a bona fide global icon.
Monday, March 7, 2011
1876 : Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
On this day in 1876, 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention--the telephone.
The Scottish-born Bell worked in London with his father, Melville Bell, who developed Visible Speech, a written system used to teach speaking to the deaf. In the 1870s, the Bells moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where the younger Bell found work as a teacher at the Pemberton Avenue School for the Deaf. He later married one of his students, Mabel Hubbard.
While in Boston, Bell became very interested in the possibility of transmitting speech over wires. Samuel F.B. Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1843 had made nearly instantaneous communication possible between two distant points. The drawback of the telegraph, however, was that it still required hand-delivery of messages between telegraph stations and recipients, and only one message could be transmitted at a time. Bell wanted to improve on this by creating a "harmonic telegraph," a device that combined aspects of the telegraph and record player to allow individuals to speak to each other from a distance.
With the help of Thomas A. Watson, a Boston machine shop employee, Bell developed a prototype. In this first telephone, sound waves caused an electric current to vary in intensity and frequency, causing a thin, soft iron plate--called the diaphragm--to vibrate. These vibrations were transferred magnetically to another wire connected to a diaphragm in another, distant instrument. When that diaphragm vibrated, the original sound would be replicated in the ear of the receiving instrument. Three days after filing the patent, the telephone carried its first intelligible message--the famous "Mr. Watson, come here, I need you"--from Bell to his assistant.
Bell's patent filing beat a similar claim by Elisha Gray by only two hours. Not wanting to be shut out of the communications market, Western Union Telegraph Company employed Gray and fellow inventor Thomas A. Edison to develop their own telephone technology. Bell sued, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld Bell's patent rights. In the years to come, the Bell Company withstood repeated legal challenges to emerge as the massive American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) and form the foundation of the modern telecommunications industry.
The Scottish-born Bell worked in London with his father, Melville Bell, who developed Visible Speech, a written system used to teach speaking to the deaf. In the 1870s, the Bells moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where the younger Bell found work as a teacher at the Pemberton Avenue School for the Deaf. He later married one of his students, Mabel Hubbard.
While in Boston, Bell became very interested in the possibility of transmitting speech over wires. Samuel F.B. Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1843 had made nearly instantaneous communication possible between two distant points. The drawback of the telegraph, however, was that it still required hand-delivery of messages between telegraph stations and recipients, and only one message could be transmitted at a time. Bell wanted to improve on this by creating a "harmonic telegraph," a device that combined aspects of the telegraph and record player to allow individuals to speak to each other from a distance.
With the help of Thomas A. Watson, a Boston machine shop employee, Bell developed a prototype. In this first telephone, sound waves caused an electric current to vary in intensity and frequency, causing a thin, soft iron plate--called the diaphragm--to vibrate. These vibrations were transferred magnetically to another wire connected to a diaphragm in another, distant instrument. When that diaphragm vibrated, the original sound would be replicated in the ear of the receiving instrument. Three days after filing the patent, the telephone carried its first intelligible message--the famous "Mr. Watson, come here, I need you"--from Bell to his assistant.
Bell's patent filing beat a similar claim by Elisha Gray by only two hours. Not wanting to be shut out of the communications market, Western Union Telegraph Company employed Gray and fellow inventor Thomas A. Edison to develop their own telephone technology. Bell sued, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld Bell's patent rights. In the years to come, the Bell Company withstood repeated legal challenges to emerge as the massive American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) and form the foundation of the modern telecommunications industry.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
1899 : Bayer patents aspirin
On this day in 1899, the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co.
Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.
In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix "in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one drug worldwide.
Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a prescription in 1915. Two years later, when Bayer's patent expired during the First World War, the company lost the trademark rights to aspirin in various countries. After the United States entered the war against Germany in April 1917, the Alien Property Custodian, a government agency that administers foreign property, seized Bayer's U.S. assets. Two years later, the Bayer company name and trademarks for the United States and Canada were auctioned off and purchased by Sterling Products Company, later Sterling Winthrop, for $5.3 million.
Bayer became part of IG Farben, the conglomerate of German chemical industries that formed the financial heart of the Nazi regime. After World War II, the Allies split apart IG Farben, and Bayer again emerged as an individual company. Its purchase of Miles Laboratories in 1978 gave it a product line including Alka-Seltzer and Flintstones and One-A-Day Vitamins. In 1994, Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter business, gaining back rights to the Bayer name and logo and allowing the company once again to profit from American sales of its most famous product.
Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.
In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix "in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one drug worldwide.
Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a prescription in 1915. Two years later, when Bayer's patent expired during the First World War, the company lost the trademark rights to aspirin in various countries. After the United States entered the war against Germany in April 1917, the Alien Property Custodian, a government agency that administers foreign property, seized Bayer's U.S. assets. Two years later, the Bayer company name and trademarks for the United States and Canada were auctioned off and purchased by Sterling Products Company, later Sterling Winthrop, for $5.3 million.
Bayer became part of IG Farben, the conglomerate of German chemical industries that formed the financial heart of the Nazi regime. After World War II, the Allies split apart IG Farben, and Bayer again emerged as an individual company. Its purchase of Miles Laboratories in 1978 gave it a product line including Alka-Seltzer and Flintstones and One-A-Day Vitamins. In 1994, Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter business, gaining back rights to the Bayer name and logo and allowing the company once again to profit from American sales of its most famous product.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
1963 : Hula-Hoop patented
On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company's co-founder, Arthur "Spud" Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.
In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company's name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America's fascination with UFOs.
Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed "Hula" after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.
The enormous popularity of the Hula-Hoop was short-lived and within a matter of months, the masses were on to the next big thing. However, the Hula-Hoop never faded away completely and still has its fans today. According to Ripley's Believe It or Not, in April 2004, a performer at the Big Apple Circus in Boston simultaneously spun 100 hoops around her body. Earlier that same year, in January, according to the Guinness World Records, two people in Tokyo, Japan, managed to spin the world's largest hoop--at 13 feet, 4 inches--around their waists at least three times each.
Following the Hula-Hoop, Wham-O continued to produce a steady stream of wacky and beloved novelty items, including the Superball, Water Wiggle, Silly String, Slip 'n' Slide and the Hacky Sack.
In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company's name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America's fascination with UFOs.
Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed "Hula" after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.
The enormous popularity of the Hula-Hoop was short-lived and within a matter of months, the masses were on to the next big thing. However, the Hula-Hoop never faded away completely and still has its fans today. According to Ripley's Believe It or Not, in April 2004, a performer at the Big Apple Circus in Boston simultaneously spun 100 hoops around her body. Earlier that same year, in January, according to the Guinness World Records, two people in Tokyo, Japan, managed to spin the world's largest hoop--at 13 feet, 4 inches--around their waists at least three times each.
Following the Hula-Hoop, Wham-O continued to produce a steady stream of wacky and beloved novelty items, including the Superball, Water Wiggle, Silly String, Slip 'n' Slide and the Hacky Sack.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Lou Costello
Actor, comedian. Born Louis Francis Cristillo on March 6, 1906, in Paterson, New Jersey. Working with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello was part of one of most popular comedy duos of the twentieth century. He had to struggle for a number of years before making it big, however. A mediocre student, Costello dropped out of high school. He worked a series of jobs, including a stint as a boxer, before heading to Hollywood in the late 1920s.
Unfortunately, Costello's dreams of becoming a film star didn't quite pan out. He worked at some of the movie studios as a laborer and later spent some time as a stuntman. Disappointed, Costello turned to comedy and began touring on the vaudeville circuit. He eventually paired up with Bud Abbott.
Tall and lean, Abbott played the straight man in the act. The stout Costello was the less astute clown. Abbott and Costello made one of their first radio appearances on The Kate Smith Show in 1938. Soon they built up a following with their humorous verbal volleys back and forth. One of their most famous skits was the baseball bit known as "Who's on First?"
In 1939, Costello finally had a taste of Hollywood success as he and Abbott signed a contract with Universal Pictures that year. Their first film, One Night in the Tropics (1940), featured several of their famous skits, including "Who's on First?" and "Two Tens for a Five." Starring with the Andrews Sisters, Abbott and Costello played accidental army recruits in Buck Privates (1941). By this time, the comedic duo had become hugely successful with audiences who enjoyed their broad humor and slapstick physicality.
Abbott and Costello remained popular box office stars throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In the early 1950s, the pair took their act to the emerging medium of television where such comedians as Phil Silvers, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Jack Benny were enjoying some success. They filmed more than 50 episodes of The Abbott and Costello Show, which were shown in syndication for decades.
In 1956, the final Abbott and Costello film, Dance with Me Henry, premiered, and the comedic duo decided to ended their partnership the following year. They had made about 36 films together. Over the years, Costello struggled with the limitations of being perceived as the funny fatman in the oversized suits and with the lack of critical recognition for his work. He wanted to take on more dramatic roles and did so in an episode of the western adventure series Wagon Train in 1958.
His final role, however, was the comedic lead in The Thirty-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959). He died of a heart attack on March 3, 1959, in Los Angeles, California.
Costello had been married to wife Anne since 1934 and together they had four children. He had been predeceased by his only son, Lou Jr., who had drowned in 1943. In his honor, Costello had established the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation. One of his three daughters, Chris, wrote a biography of her father entitled Lou's on First (1982).
Unfortunately, Costello's dreams of becoming a film star didn't quite pan out. He worked at some of the movie studios as a laborer and later spent some time as a stuntman. Disappointed, Costello turned to comedy and began touring on the vaudeville circuit. He eventually paired up with Bud Abbott.
Tall and lean, Abbott played the straight man in the act. The stout Costello was the less astute clown. Abbott and Costello made one of their first radio appearances on The Kate Smith Show in 1938. Soon they built up a following with their humorous verbal volleys back and forth. One of their most famous skits was the baseball bit known as "Who's on First?"
In 1939, Costello finally had a taste of Hollywood success as he and Abbott signed a contract with Universal Pictures that year. Their first film, One Night in the Tropics (1940), featured several of their famous skits, including "Who's on First?" and "Two Tens for a Five." Starring with the Andrews Sisters, Abbott and Costello played accidental army recruits in Buck Privates (1941). By this time, the comedic duo had become hugely successful with audiences who enjoyed their broad humor and slapstick physicality.
Abbott and Costello remained popular box office stars throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In the early 1950s, the pair took their act to the emerging medium of television where such comedians as Phil Silvers, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Jack Benny were enjoying some success. They filmed more than 50 episodes of The Abbott and Costello Show, which were shown in syndication for decades.
In 1956, the final Abbott and Costello film, Dance with Me Henry, premiered, and the comedic duo decided to ended their partnership the following year. They had made about 36 films together. Over the years, Costello struggled with the limitations of being perceived as the funny fatman in the oversized suits and with the lack of critical recognition for his work. He wanted to take on more dramatic roles and did so in an episode of the western adventure series Wagon Train in 1958.
His final role, however, was the comedic lead in The Thirty-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959). He died of a heart attack on March 3, 1959, in Los Angeles, California.
Costello had been married to wife Anne since 1934 and together they had four children. He had been predeceased by his only son, Lou Jr., who had drowned in 1943. In his honor, Costello had established the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation. One of his three daughters, Chris, wrote a biography of her father entitled Lou's on First (1982).
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
1931 : 1969 : Mickey Mantle retires
On March 1, 1969, New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball. Mantle was an idol to millions, known for his remarkable power and speed and his everyman personality. While "The Mick" patrolled center field and batted clean-up between 1951 and 1968, the Yankees won 12 American League pennants and seven World Series.
Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, on October 20, 1931. He grew up in nearby Commerce, and played baseball and football as a youth. With the help of his father, Mutt, and grandfather, Charlie, Mantle developed into a switch-hitter. Mutt pitched to Mantle right-handed and Charlie pitched to him left-handed every day after school. With the family’s tin barn as a backstop, Mantle perfected his swing, which his father helped model so it would be identical from either side of the plate. Mantle had natural speed and athleticism and gained strength working summers with his father in Oklahoma’s lead mines. "The Commerce Comet" eventually won a scholarship to play football for the University of Oklahoma. However, baseball was Mantle’s first love, so when the New York Yankees came calling, Mantle moved to the big city.
Mantle made his debut for the Yankees in 1951 at age 19, playing right field alongside aging center fielder Joe DiMaggio. That year, in Game 2 of the World Series, Willie Mays of the New York Giants hit a pop fly to short center, and Mantle sprinted toward the ball. DiMaggio called him off, and while slowing down, Mantle’s right shoe caught the rubber cover of a sprinkler head. "There was a sound like a tire blowing out, and my right knee collapsed," Mantle remembered in his memoir, All My Octobers. Mantle returned the next season, but by then his blazing speed had begun to deteriorate, and he ran the bases with a limp for the rest of his career.
Still, Mantle dominated the American League for more than a decade. In 1956, he won the Triple Crown, leading his league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. His output was so great that he led both leagues in 1956, hitting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 runs batted in. He was also voted American League MVP that year, and again in 1957 and 1962. After years of brilliance, Mantle’s career began to decline by 1967, and he was forced to move to first base. The next season would be his last.
Mantle’s penchant for drink led to debilitating alcoholism as he grew older, and he died of liver cancer on August 13, 1995, at age 63. At the time of his death he held many of the records for World Series play, including most home runs (18), most RBIs (40) and most runs (42). Mantle was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 in his first year of eligibility.
Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, on October 20, 1931. He grew up in nearby Commerce, and played baseball and football as a youth. With the help of his father, Mutt, and grandfather, Charlie, Mantle developed into a switch-hitter. Mutt pitched to Mantle right-handed and Charlie pitched to him left-handed every day after school. With the family’s tin barn as a backstop, Mantle perfected his swing, which his father helped model so it would be identical from either side of the plate. Mantle had natural speed and athleticism and gained strength working summers with his father in Oklahoma’s lead mines. "The Commerce Comet" eventually won a scholarship to play football for the University of Oklahoma. However, baseball was Mantle’s first love, so when the New York Yankees came calling, Mantle moved to the big city.
Mantle made his debut for the Yankees in 1951 at age 19, playing right field alongside aging center fielder Joe DiMaggio. That year, in Game 2 of the World Series, Willie Mays of the New York Giants hit a pop fly to short center, and Mantle sprinted toward the ball. DiMaggio called him off, and while slowing down, Mantle’s right shoe caught the rubber cover of a sprinkler head. "There was a sound like a tire blowing out, and my right knee collapsed," Mantle remembered in his memoir, All My Octobers. Mantle returned the next season, but by then his blazing speed had begun to deteriorate, and he ran the bases with a limp for the rest of his career.
Still, Mantle dominated the American League for more than a decade. In 1956, he won the Triple Crown, leading his league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. His output was so great that he led both leagues in 1956, hitting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 runs batted in. He was also voted American League MVP that year, and again in 1957 and 1962. After years of brilliance, Mantle’s career began to decline by 1967, and he was forced to move to first base. The next season would be his last.
Mantle’s penchant for drink led to debilitating alcoholism as he grew older, and he died of liver cancer on August 13, 1995, at age 63. At the time of his death he held many of the records for World Series play, including most home runs (18), most RBIs (40) and most runs (42). Mantle was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 in his first year of eligibility.
Un BORRACHO
SUBE UN BORRACHO AL AUTOBÚS Y GRITA:
"LOS DE ATRÁS SOIS UNA PANDILLA DE CABRONES, LOS QUE ESTÁIS EN MEDIO UNOS MARICONES Y LOS DE ADELANTE SOIS TODOS UNOS HIJOS DE PUTA !!! "
EL CONDUCTOR DA UN FRENAZO Y AGARRA AL BORRACHO POR LAS SOLAPAS DICIÉNDOLE:
" A VER, REPÍTEME SI TIENES HUEVOS QUIENES SON LOS HIJOS DE PUTA, LOS CABRONES Y LOS MARICONES..."
EL BORRACHO SERIO LE RESPONDE:
" QUE COÑO VOY A SABER,...CON EL FRENAZO QUE HAS DADO ME LOS HAS MEZCLADO A TODOS !!!!
"LOS DE ATRÁS SOIS UNA PANDILLA DE CABRONES, LOS QUE ESTÁIS EN MEDIO UNOS MARICONES Y LOS DE ADELANTE SOIS TODOS UNOS HIJOS DE PUTA !!! "
EL CONDUCTOR DA UN FRENAZO Y AGARRA AL BORRACHO POR LAS SOLAPAS DICIÉNDOLE:
" A VER, REPÍTEME SI TIENES HUEVOS QUIENES SON LOS HIJOS DE PUTA, LOS CABRONES Y LOS MARICONES..."
EL BORRACHO SERIO LE RESPONDE:
" QUE COÑO VOY A SABER,...CON EL FRENAZO QUE HAS DADO ME LOS HAS MEZCLADO A TODOS !!!!
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