Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table For Friday, August 24th, 2007

1995 - Microsoft officially rolled out their Windows 95 operating system. Midnight parties at retailers across the U.S. offered the new system for sale to those who just couldn’t wait any longer. NBC’s Jay Leno hosted the official launch party at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. The company lit up the Empire State Building with the Windows 95 logo colors, and licensed the Rolling Stones song, "Start Me Up", to use in its TV advertisements (for $12 million)





Today In History~

1456 - The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

1853 - The American Pharmaceutical Association held its first convention.







1869 - Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York received a patent for the waffle iron, a “device to bake waffles.” He didn’t waffle about putting his invention to good use. It quickly became a popular appliance. You would heat up the waffle iron on the old coal stove - and later, the gas range - pour the batter on the griddle, close the cover and after a few minutes, flip the griddle in its little groove, and cook the other side of the waffle. Not quite as convenient as our electric waffle irons, but, you can be sure, if it’s Swarthout!

1891 - Thomas Edison applied for a movie camera patent. The most important element in making a movie ... the film ... was patented six years later.







1912 - The U.S. Post Office got heavy -- by abolishing its rule that only parcels up to four pounds could be sent through the system.

1939 - Louis ‘Lepke’ Buchalter, the leader of Murder, Incorporated, gave himself up to columnist Walter Winchell in New York City. Winchell turned the underworld leader over to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.







1950 - The summer replacement radio show for Suspense, titled Somebody Knows, was heard for the final time on radio. The program offered a reward of $5,000 for information that led to the solving of crimes. Somebody Knows began with the introduction, “You out there. You, who think you have committed the perfect crime -- that there are no clues, no witnesses -- listen. Somebody knows.”

1963 - John Pennel became the first pole-vaulter to vault higher than 17 feet. Pennel, using a fiberglass pole, vaulted 17 feet, 3/4 inches during a meet in Miami, FL.







1969 - Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant premiered in both New York and Los Angeles.

1975 - Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers established a major-league baseball record. He successfully stole his 38th consecutive base. Lopes pulled off the steal in the 12th inning of a game against the Montreal Expos. The Dodgers, however, still lost in 14 innings. The Score was 5-3.







1979 - B.B. King celebrated his 30th year in show business at a special celebration held at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

1985 - Huey Lewis and The News reached the top. The Power of Love was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.







1989 - Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, was out - of baseball (banned for life). Rose signed a five-page agreement with A. Bartlett Giamatti, comissioner of baseball, who charged that Rose, as Cincinnati Reds manager, bet on baseball games.

1991 - The day the Soviet Union began to break apart, and Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of the Communist party. (He resigned the presidency of the Soviet Union on Dec 25, 1991).







1992 - One of the worst natural disasters to hit the United States occurred on this day as Hurricane Andrew crashed into southern Florida. Andrew left a trail of destruction that killed at least 20 people, left over 50,000 without homes and caused billions of dollars in property damage.


Quote For The Day~

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.
Niels Bohr





Chuckle For The Day~

Two hillbillies walk into a bar.
While having a shot of whiskey,
they talk about their moonshine operation.

Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table,
who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough.
After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress.

One of the hillbillies looks at her and says,
"Kin ya swallar?"

The woman shakes her head no.

"Kin ya breathe?"

The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head no.

The hillbilly walks over to the woman,
lifts up the back of her dress, yanks down her
drawers and quickly gives her right butt cheek a
lick with his tongue.

The woman is so shocked that she has a violent
spasm and the obstruction flies out of her mouth.

As she begins to breathe again, the hillbilly
walks slowly back to the bar.

His partner says, Ya know,'d heerd of that there
'Hind Lick Maneuver', but I ain't never seed nobody do it!"





Picture For The Day~


[img]http://www.dehn.wustl.edu/~blake/links/images/ozarks-shutins.jpg[/img]
Ozarks, Arkansas



The only rock that floats in water is pumice.


[img]http://www.nmessences.com/healing_images/pink_pumice_b1.jpg[/img]