Marked This Day

On this day in 1937 the Keys sisters graduated from Baylor University. There was Roberta. And Mona. And Leota. And Mary. And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, they were quadruplets. While these days this might not be anything more than a curiosity with modern advances in fertility, natural quadruplets in 1915 (the year they were born) were probably akin to...I dunno, finding an albino midget. Those poor parents. Thought they were having one kid, and then three more popped out. Surprise! The Keys girls were a big deal too. Thousands of people came to visit them after they were born. They even got a telegraph from Teddy Roosevelt. Couple that with the fact that women graduating from college in the 1930’s wasn’t all that frequent to begin with, and you have an occurrence that was about as common as...finding an albino midget. Except this actually happened. Roberta and Mona and Leota and Mary spent four years at Baylor and engaged in multiple goodwill campaigns, even meeting the Dion...

On this day in 1863 the fine folk of Bannack, Montana elected a criminal to public office. I promise I’m not trying to draw to modern-day political parallels (though some could be made for multiple presidential candidates). Back in 1863, Bannack made Henry Plummer their sheriff. Problem was Plummer was kind of a bad guy. Like the killing-other-people kind of bad guy. Not the kind of guy you want as the sheriff of your town. Plummer used the office to start an organized crime ring that terrorized Bannack and nearby Virginia City for over six months, stealing gold and murdering miners. So the citizens of Bannack hadn’t made a good decision. But they didn’t sit back and let the corruption and crime decimate their home either. Plummer done messed with the wrong folk. Instead they organized a vigilante committee of over 2,000 members. So basically they elected the Joker as sheriff and once they realized he was crazy they decided to become a bunch of Batmen. So how did this all wind up? Well...

On this day in 1965, the FBI Lab declared that the lyrics of The Kingsmen’s “Louie, Louie” were unintelligible. Thank Heavens the FBI was there to weigh in on such all-important topics as whether or not The Kingsmen were trying to slip a few naughty words and suggestive images into the lyrics. Forget about the Civil Rights Movement and race relations; they might be singing about sex! Nevermind that nobody can understand what the hell they are saying, and nevermind that kids always find a way to get their hands on naughty stuff. They might be singing about sex! It’s part of being a kid. Kids are inquisitive. They like to test rules. So kids will always get their hands on albums with curse words or suggestive lyrics. And I realize we are a country founded by Puritans, but our lack of openness about sex and sexuality has created a colossal porn industry. Why we have placed so much shame and humiliation on a natural act is beyond me. (Putting my soapbox away now.) But they might be singing...

Have you ever missed a great opportunity? Like all-time great? Getting in on the ground floor of Apple Computers like Forrest Gump did great? Except you didn’t do it. You were all like, “Nah, sounds like scientific mumbo-jumbo.” Well if you ever have, you may want to hope that you are Dick Rowe. Who was Dick Rowe, you ask? He was the A&R head of Decca Records who passed on The Beatles in 1962. Passed on The Beatles as an A&R. "Sorry guys, just your sound just isn’t for me." Bonehead move, right? So why would you want to be Dick Rowe? Because George Harrison told old Dick about this other little British band called The Rolling Stones. And Dick wasn’t about to miss another great opportunity. After seeing the Stones on May 5th, he signed them on this day, May 10th of 1963. That is one hell of a second chance (not to mention incredibly cool of George Harrison to help a group that would eventually become competition). So I hope all you can be Dick Rowe. Sometimes you miss ...

On this day in 1958, Alan Freed, an early rock n’ roll DJ credited with starting the craze and coining the phrase, hosted a rock concert in Boston. Chuck Berry. Jerry Lee Lewis. Sounds like a great show. But by the end of it rock n’ roll was banned in Boston, Freed was suspended from his job at WINS, and he was also charged with inciting a “riot.” All because the po-po wouldn’t let the young audience dance to the music, and Freed made a comment about the cops not wanting the kids to have any fun. A fight broke out and Freed was blamed. So basically he got charged with a crime for being Kevin Bacon’s character from Footloose . It is amazing to me that dancing could be considered to be such a big deal. It’s why I tend to roll my eyes when people wax poetic about how great things were back in the day. Back when police freaked out when kids wanted to dance to music. Those monsters. Every era has issues. But then I guess there has to be a tipping point too. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but i...

On this day in 1933, the reported sighting of the Loch Ness Monster made headlines in the local Inverness Courier and went viral. Or the equivalent of going viral back in 1933. The monster captured the imagination of the United Kingdom. Even more so when a photograph of the beast surfaced a year later. Rewards were offered. More sightings occurred. Theories posited. Some people thought the monster was a Plesiosaurus that had survived somehow. Or some prehistoric whale with a serpentine neck. In 1994 the picture was proven a hoax, but by that time Nessie had been ingrained into cultural history. A mythical creature as sought after as Bigfoot or the Yeti. If there is a creature stalking the depths of Loch Ness, that’s great. But I don’t see the necessity of creating a hoax for a sea creature. I get Bigfoot. Missing link and all that. But sea creatures? Have you seen a giant squid? I don’t mean in real life, I mean have you ever googled images of a giant squid? That thing is prehistoric,...