Story Credit Lessors - Lenders List for COVID-19
"C" & "D" Lessees, Business Loans, Working Capital

With the topsy-turvy of funders, as well as the changing of credit and industry requirements, story credit lessors and lenders are now more in need than ever.  Here are funders who also may take "A" and "B" rated applicants and more may be more interested not in "application only." Some may become more comfortable learning more, beyond reviewing financial statements and tax returns, additional collateral, learning more about the story behind the business as qualifiers.

To qualify for this list, the company must be a funder (as qualified by Leasing News and on the “Funder List” and not a "Broker/Lessor, have an acceptable Better Business Bureau Rating and no history of complaints at Leasing News; notify lessees in advance when the lease will end and what the residual will be, do not automatically extend the lease or insist that their discounter follow the same policy. We reserve the right to not list a company who does not meet these qualifications.

Funder List “A”
http://www.leasingnews.org/Funders_Only/Funders.htm
We encourage companies who are listed to contact us for any change or addition they would like to make. Adding further information as an "attachment" or clarification of what they have to offer would be helpful to readers is also very much encouraged."

Alphabetical list - click on company name to view more details

Full Listing:
http://leasingnews.org/Story_Credit/Story_Credit.htm

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Funders Taking "New" Broker Business List
Three Do Not Require that Brokers Be Licensed

BSB Leasing, Inc.
Bankers Capital
C.H. Brown Company
Forum Financial Services
TimePayment Corp.

The following “funders” have informed Leasing News they will consider business from “new” third party originators.  Many companies require a certain length of time in business and other requirements, such as a specific volume of business.  These “funders” will consider submissions from those new in the leasing and finance business:

Funders Looking for Broker Business
During COVID-19 Pandemic

To qualify for this list, the company must be a funder (as qualified by Leasing News) and on the “Funder List,” an acceptable Better Business Bureau Rating and no history of complaints at Leasing News. Also, it is their practice to notify lessees in advance when the lease will end and what the residual will be; do not automatically extend the lease or insist that or that insist their discounter follow the same policy. We reserve the right to not list a company who does not meet these qualifications.

There is no advertising fee or charge for a listing. They are “free.” Leasing News makes no endorsement of any of the companies listed, except they have qualified to be on this specific list.
We encourage companies who are listed to contact us for any change or addition they would like to make. We encourage adding further information as an "attachment" or clarification of what they have to offer would be helpful to readers.

Please send company name, contact/email or telephone number as well as a URL to attach or description to kitmenkin@leasingnews.org

Full List:
http://leasingnews.org/Funders_Only/New_Broker.htm

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Opportunity

The Ultimate Hire by Ken Lubin, ZRG Partners

This is a crazy time; there is no other way to describe it but with adversity comes opportunity.

Fortunately, yes, I said fortunately, I have been an executive search professional through 2 major downturns, 9/11 and the great recession. Now it looks highly likely that I am entering my third (perhaps I am bad luck and you don’t want to hang out with me). With each of these downturns, I have learned that there is tremendous opportunity to be had. It does not happen instantly; a bit of patience, ingenuity, empathy and persistence are involved. in our instant gratification world, this is difficult but bear with me. There are a few things we can and should all be doing.

Communicating with those we care about. Many people are lonely and a quick phone call, face time, or even text can go a long way. It doesn’t just have to be family members or friends, but it can be colleagues, clients, vendors, etc.

Build a blog, create a voice, be an expert. This is an amazing opportunity to get your voice and expertise heard. We are all experts in something. Be the expert, share your ideas and communicate. It has never been easier to do this. You can start with free accounts and templates at weebly.com or wix.com

Get outside your comfort zone. Whether you believe it or not, we are all outside our comfort zones right now. It is not a time to hibernate but a time to expand. This is not a time to say you don’t have time, because all you have is time. Embrace it.

Believe in yourself. For me this is the hardest thing. Believing that I will make it through these tough times, or believing in my ability, or believing that others believe in me. When I really think about it, I have made it this far what is going to stop me from the next part of the journey.

Life is going to throw curve balls and knuckle balls. Sometimes it will
be a hard ball, sometimes it will be balloon, but no one ever said this was going to be easy. Let’s take advantage of the tough times, rather than the tough times taking advantage of us. Go outside, breathe some fresh air, and sweat! We are all in the same boat, be the one who is rowing faster than the others. There is amazing opportunity to be had.

Ken Lubin
Managing Director
ZRG Partners, LLC
Americas I EMEA I Asia Pacific
C: 508-733-4789
https://www.linkedin.com/in/klubin/

Ken Lubin is a Managing Director with ZRG Partners, Founder of Executive Athletes, Founder of the Ultimate Hire, US Olympic Committee Career Advisor, and Death Race Winner. Ken is a master in getting people out of their comfort zone.  He helps people achieve their dreams and companies achieve their goals by helping them realize the high performance life

While he leads the global executive search initiative in several specialty finance niches;  Ken is also the Founder of Executive Athletes LLC, an online community which consists of over 18k+ business professionals www.executiveathletes.com that compete globally in high level athletics and are leaders in the world of business. In addition to being an initial founder of The 431 Project, he is on the board of the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine.

The Ultimate Hire Collection:
http://leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/ultimate.html

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As many countries remain on lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, which killed more than 120,000 people around the world as of April 14, politicians are working closely with scientists and economic advisors to find a safe way to gradually return to normal life. Despite the fact that his country is among those hit hardest by the outbreak, President Trump is particularly keen to lift some of the measures currently in place. “We’re very close to completing a plan to open our country, hopefully even ahead of schedule,” Trump said in his daily press briefing on Monday, adding that his administration’s plan and corresponding guidelines would give Americans the confidence they need to begin returning to normal life.

While Trump hopes that the coronavirus will quickly be forgotten and that economic recovery will be swift once the country opens up again, Americans are still cautious about getting back to normal. According to polling data published by Gallup on Tuesday, only 20 percent of U.S. adults are ready to return to normal activities immediately, while 71 percent are planning to wait to see what happens with the coronavirus before going back to business-as-usual. Interestingly, Republicans are less hesitant of returning to their normal lives, with 31 percent ready to do so immediately versus 11 percent of Democrats. Even among Republicans, however, the vast majority would rather wait to see how the outbreak develops before lifting social distancing measures and returning to normalcy.

By Felix Richter, Statista

https://www.statista.com/chart/21392/americanss-readyness-to-return-to-normal-activities/

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Do You Really Want to be a PPP Broker?
The Requirements Needed for Approval

PPP Loans What the Lender Makes/What the Broker Makes

This information comes from
the U.S. Treasury Department guidelines:

How will agents be compensated? Agent fees will be paid out of lender fees. The lender will pay the agent. Agents may not collect any fees from the applicant.
 
 Loans $350,000 and under: 1.00%
 Loans greater than $350,000 to $2 million: 0.50%
 Loans greater than $2 million: 0.25%

 Can these loans be sold in the secondary market? PPP loans can be sold in the secondary market. The SBA will not collect any fee for any guarantee sold into the secondary market. 
 

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM (PPP) INFORMATION SHEET
 
LENDERS  Who is eligible to lend? All existing SBA-certified lenders will be given delegated authority to speedily process PPP loans.

All federally insured depository institutions, federally insured credit unions, and Farm Credit System institutions are eligible to participate in this program.
 
A broad set of additional lenders can begin making loans as soon as they are approved and enrolled in the program. New lenders will need to submit their application to DelegatedAuthority@sba.gov to apply with the SBA.

Are these loans guaranteed by the SBA? Yes, the SBA guarantees 100% of the outstanding balance and that guarantee is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. 

Are there guarantee fees? The SBA waives all SBA guaranty fees, including the upfront and annual servicing fees.
 
What underwriting is required? You will need to verify that a borrower was in operation on February 15, 2020. You will need to verify that a borrower had employees for whom the borrower paid salaries and payroll taxes. You will need to verify the dollar amount of average monthly payroll costs. You will need to follow applicable Bank Secrecy Act requirements. 

How will lenders be compensated? Processing fees will be based on the balance of the financing outstanding at the time of final disbursement:

  Loans $350,000 and under: 5.00%
  Loans greater than $350,000 to $2 million: 3.00%

 Loans greater than $2 million: 1.00%

Lenders may not collect any fees from the applicant.

Who can be an agent? An agent is an authorized representative and can be:
  An attorney;
  An accountant;
  A consultant;
  Someone who prepares an applicant’s application for financial assistance and is employed and compensated by the applicant; 
  Someone who assists a lender with originating, disbursing, servicing, liquidating, or litigating SBA loans;
  A loan broker; or
  Any other individual or entity representing an applicant by conducting business with the SBA.  

This is the list of documents PCL requires to apply for the PPP:

• Borrower application form 2483
• Color copy of driver’s license (pdf file works best)– front and back
• Past 4 quarter IRS 941 forms
• Most recent business tax returns
• If 2019 tax return is not available, then a 2019 P&L statement will be needed
• YTD profit and loss statement
• Detailed payroll report for each employee
• 2019 1099 forms for all workers to be retained
• Payroll reports for 2019 and 2020 year-to-date showing the following by employee and/or officers:
• Gross wages (capped at $100k/employee)
• Paid time off
• Paid vacation
• Pay for family medical leave
• State and local taxes (form 940, 941 or 944)
• 099’s for independent contractors (if applicable)
• For a sole proprietor or independent contractor: wages, commissions, income or net earnings from self-employment, capped at $100,000 on an annualized basis for each employee

Some feedback from the review of applications received so far. These items have caused apps to be kicked out of the cue so thought it would be helpful to address up front:

Review to confirm application is fully completed.

• Confirm the TIN in the top portion of the application is not same as SSN noted for the individual in middle portion of page 1.
• We have seen where the TIN was inadvertently input twice into both fields. One should be for the entity and one should be for the person.
• Any ownership of 20% or more must be noted
• Printed Name at bottom of Application should match Driver’s License.
• Review the following questions to confirm App is not ineligible:
• A YES to the following questions on the application deem the app ineligible: 1, 2, 5, 6 – must have initials online
• A YES to the following questions require additional information / details as noted on application: 3, 4
• A NO to the following questions on the application deem the app ineligible: 7

Within the portal link you will input your clients information and yours as a broker, we will use the information you supply us to track your deal(s) so be sure the information is input correctly.

Pay out:

As you can imagine, processing the PPP application volume will require a significant investment in personal time and sufficient compensation must be offered to incentivize one to spend countless hours typing information into a portal and tracking paper work subsequent to a loan request submission and approval.

Many of them take a long time, get turned down, get modified that the applicant doesn’t like.

*Leasing News would like to thank Paul Bosley, Managing Member, Business Finance Depot, for his assistance in assisting with this article.

Paul@BUSINESSFINANCEDEPOT.COM
Office (800) 788-3884
https://businessfinancedepot.com/

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Study Finds Vaping Related Lung Injuries
Were Few in States with Legal Marijuana

From August to November 2019, the nation was rocked with a crisis. Over 2,200 individuals were affected by e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI), with over 47 individuals dying in 25 states. And with the growing popularity of vaping as a safe alternative to smoking, the crisis left the cannabis industry in quite a precarious position.

A Review Market Research and BDS Analytics reported, “The popularity of vaping is a central pillar of our forecasts of the future growth of cannabis sales, so it’s crucial for cannabis industry professionals to understand the impact the vaping crisis will have on the market and how best to adjust business strategies in its wake.”

While the crisis provided the anti-marijuana movement with ammunition against the nascent industry, marijuana reform advocates claimed that most of the cases were in states where marijuana was illegal. And according to a study published in an American Medical Association Journal, it seems they may have been right.

After analyzing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data (CDC) on EVALI cases, researchers found that people in states where recreational marijuana is legal were significantly less likely to experience vaping related injuries than those in states where recreational marijuana is illegal.

The crisis was traced back to contaminated vaping cartridges and people were more likely to find such defective vapes on the black market, compared to retail stores that sell tested and approved products. Published by the JAMA Network Open, the research letter shows that states with recreational marijuana shops had 1.7 EVALI cases per 1 million people while states without had 8.1 cases per I million people.

“The data suggests that EVALI cases were concentrated in states where consumers do not have legal access to recreational marijuana dispensaries. This association was not driven by state-level differences in e-cigarette use, and EVALI case rates were not associated with state-level prevalence of e-cigarette use. One possible inference is that the presence of legal markets for marijuana has helped mitigate or may be protective against EVALI.”

The researchers surmised that it is “possible that people in recreational states tend to purchase marijuana products at legal dispensaries, which may be less likely to sell the contaminated products that are thought to cause EVALI.”

This proves the theory that many industry stakeholders and observers have put forth: legalization is a great way to set quality control standards and ultimately, safeguard public health.

“It appears states that have legal access to marijuana have lower rates of EVALI cases which is consistent with the hypothesis that people have demand for marijuana products, and in states where they don’t have access to them in this regulatory fashion, they end up purchasing them elsewhere,” says study co-author Alex Hollingsworth.

These research findings are likely to vindicate cannabis industry players like The Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) who have always believed that consumers have a chance to consume high-quality products when cannabis is legalized and regulated.

CannabisNewsWire

Shepherd/Anatolian Mix
Austin, Texas   Adopt a Dog

Twister

Male
6 years, 3 months
60 lbs.
Location: TLAC Building 1
Adoption fee: 25

Do not recommend house with a dog or children.

We couldn't think of a more fitting name for Twister because once you befriend him, you'll get caught up in a whirlwind of love! This sweet boy will happily sit quietly by your side and lend a listening ear. It's hard not to fall in love when you look into those soulful brown eyes that say, "Come sit down with me and tell me all about your day."

Want to play? Well, Twister is also a puppy at heart! His joy is contagious when he's chasing after balls or playing tug with his rope toy. Always up for fun and games, he will sweep you up into a spin of laughs for years to come. Just as good as with play, Twister likes to work his brain.

Like a cat, he's curious of his surroundings and loves to be in the middle of things. Pop the trunk and he'll jump right in with a look on his face that says, "That's what you wanted me to do, right?" He loves getting outside and taking long walks - and if there's a water source nearby, he'll dive right in!

Twister also enjoys learning new things and is in the Total Obedience Program. The Total Obedience Program (TOP) is modeled after the AKC's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test. As a TOP dog, Twister has a personalized training plan and works with a volunteer trainer several times a week to help him learn the skills to become the best dog he can be! He knows the commands 'sit', 'down', 'shake', 'come' and 'stay' and is very skilled at walking nicely on leash. Twister sits calmly when approached by strangers, checking in with his person, and staying in a sit or down until told "free," as well as "place" (running to and staying in a designated spot) and coming when called.

Twister is working hard to become a wonderful companion and as part of APA's Total Obedience Program you can work with APA staff to continue to build a training relationship with Twister after adoption.

Twister invites you to come on down and fall for him at first sight!

Follow Twister on Instagram @adopt_twister

Austin Pets Alive
Town Lake Animal Center
1156 West Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, Texas 78703
adopt@austinpetsalive.org
512-961-6519
Contact Us:
https://www.austinpetsalive.org/contact

News Briefs----

Trump's May 1 target too optimistic for U.S.
   coronavirus reopening, adviser Fauci says
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10895924-181/president-trump-claims-he-has

Exclusive: Emails show U.S. officials brushed off
  state concerns on drive-through virus tests
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-exclusive/exclusive-emails-show-u-s-officials-brushed-off-state-concerns-on-drive-through-virus-tests-idUSKCN21W2KP

JPMorgan's profit plummets 69%
    because of coronavirus
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/investing/jpmorgan-earnings-coronavirus/index.htm

Fear of an Impending Car-Price Collapse
   Grips Auto Industry - Major Drop in Auction Sales
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fear-impending-car-price-collapse-110000556.html

Illinois-based Groupon to cut 2,800 employees,
   adopt ‘poison pill’ amid coronavirus economic fallout
https://jg-tc.com/business/illinois-based-groupon-to-cut-2-800-employees-adopt-poison-pill-amid-coronavirus-economic-fallout/article_650e8595-4521-57e4-84c4-fa9f60c225e1.html

Cruise ships crews: Stuck at sea, paydays dwindling
   and searching for a way home
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/cruise-ships-crews-stuck-at-sea-paydays-dwindling-and-searching-for-a-way-home/2020/04/14/c7d9c498-78fb-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html

France Reports Heart Incidents Linked
   to Drug Promoted by Trump
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/texas-elderly-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-treatment-texas-city/287-7383185c-940c-4cb2-82ea-c4a5ffad3ffb

The 10 US states developing ‘reopening’ plans
   account for 38% of the US economy
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/14/the-10-us-states-developing-reopening-plans-account-for-38percent-of-the-us-economy.html

Boeing says dozens more 737 Max orders
    have been canceled
https://nypost.com/2020/04/14/boeing-says-75-more-orders-for-its-737-max-jetliner-have-been-cancelled/

Major airlines to take $25B in aid to meet payroll
  A mix of cash and loans
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Treasury-Major-airlines-will-take-aid-to-meet-15200647.php

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You May Have Missed---

When rent’s due in Wine Country and you’re laid off
    and broke due to coronavirus
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10887007-181/when-rents-due-in-wine

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(Tornado) - Poem by Allen Steble

It whirls and twirls
it twists and curls
as it picks up and hurls
everything in its path
this unpredictable weather phenomenon
who can know
the destructive tornado

It has its classes
one to five
one will rip out a large tree
five will demolish a small city
it teaches us one thing
no one can predict or know
this mighty force of nature
the destructive tornado

Next time you see one of these
turn and run the other way
the tornado only paves one path
'a path of destruction'
with no known course of direction
next time the wind blows
look out your window
there may just be a tornado
coming your way!

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Sports Briefs---

Raiders reportedly have contingency plan in case stadium
  is not completed, with three cities at top of list
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/raiders-reportedly-have-contingency-plan-in-case-stadium-is-not-completed-with-three-cities-at-top-of-list/

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California Nuts Briefs---

California’s coronavirus reopening:
   Gov. Gavin Newsom spells out six criteria
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-s-coronavirus-reopening-Gov-Gavin-15200205.php

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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

Winery buys hospital employees nearly 6,000 meals
    from Sacramento restaurants
https://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/restaurants/article242001726.html?

How California North Coast wineries are surviving during
  shelter orders that shutter big sources of sales
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/sonomacounty/10885174-181/wine-marketing-dtc-off-premises-coronavirus

Top wine picks from Pa. producers licensed to ship to your home
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2020/04/top-wine-picks-from-pa-producers-licensed-to-ship-to-your-home.html

Top online wine courses to try while in self-isolation
https://www.decanter.com/learn/online-wine-courses-self-isolation-435867/

Free Wine App
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp/

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

This Day in History

      1721 - John Hanson (d. 1783), first President of the US under the Articles of Confederation, was born in Port Tobacco, MD. He was the heir of one of the greatest family traditions in the colonies and became the patriarch of a long line of American patriots.  His great-grandfather died at Lutzen beside the great King Gustavus Aldophus of Sweden; his grandfather was one of the founders of New Sweden along the Delaware River in Maryland; one of his nephews was the military secretary to George Washington; another was a signer of the Declaration; still another was a signer of the Constitution; yet another was Governor of Maryland during the Revolution; and still another was a member of the first Congress; two sons were killed in action with the Continental Army; a grandson served as a member of Congress under the new Constitution; and another grandson was a Maryland Senator. Thus, even if Hanson had not served as President himself, he would have greatly contributed to the life of the nation through his ancestry and progeny.  The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the Revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress.
He was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederation.  Like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed.  The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one-year term during any three-year period. He remained a confirmed anti-federalist until his untimely death. Six other presidents were elected after him:  Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office. George Washington was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today. And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.
    1787 – “The Contrast,” by Robert Tyler, became the first professional United States play to be presented on the stage.
    1813 - The first federal government mandate of factory standardization was made with a contract specifying interchangeable parts. The contract was with Colonel Simeon North of Berlin, CT. The contract was for 20,000 pistols at $7 each to be produced within five years. It stipulated that the “component parts of the pistols are to correspond so exactly that any limb or part of one pistol may be fitted to any other pistol of the 20,000.” Colonel North established his pistol factory in 1810 in Saddle Hill, a suburb of Middletown. The factory produced about 10,000 pistols a year.
    1818 - The US Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed US-Canada border.
    1849 - A severe freeze from Georgia to Texas killed cotton while snow lay on the ground at Charleston, South Carolina.
    1850 - California Legislature passed the Foreign Miners Tax that required non-American born miners to pay a monthly $20 tax. This was the first anti-Chinese legislation in California. It was a lot of money in its day.
    1851 – Famous lighthouse storm occurred in New England, a massive tidal flooding with storm-force winds. Gigantic waves destroyed Minot Light at Cohasset, Massachusetts with two keepers lost. Great shipping losses and coastal erosion occurred.
    1854 - Birthday of Lucy Craft Laney (d. 1933), Macon, GA.  A free black woman opened what became the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in Augusta, Georgia that grew from five students in a basement to a four-acre campus of almost 1,000 students.
    1860 – The first ride of The Pony Express reached Sacramento, CA.
    1861 - President Abraham Lincoln made a call for volunteers to serve three months, the day after the surrender of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. His call was for 75,000 volunteers. The first regiment to respond to the call was the Ringgold Light Artillery of Reading, PA, known as the "First Defenders," commanded by Dr. John Keys. Their first engagement took place on September 24, 1861, at Hanging Rocks, West Virginia. When men were not volunteering, a draft was called with a fee if you did not join. More than one hundred thousand soldiers were hired to fight for the North. Many of these were immigrants, expressly brought over, says Shelby Foote,” by companies newly formed to supply the demand.”  More than eighty-five thousand Americans who were drafted in the war got out of going by paying a $300 commutation fee. Among these were banker J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., father of President Theodore Roosevelt. So many young men with means remained civilians that northern universities were able to enroll about as many students from the North during the war as they had before when students came also from the South. No doubt the people who stayed home later suffered guilt feelings, but the fact is they did stay home. And more than two hundred thousand Americans who joined the Union Army subsequently deserted. (Shelby Foote, “The Civil War: A Narrative” (1863).
    1863 - Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. One million dollars was appropriated to compensate owners of freed slaves and $100,000 was set aside to pay District slaves who wished to emigrate to Haiti, Liberia or any other country outside the US. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr16.html
    1865 - Birthday of Grace Livingston Hill (d. 1947), Wellsville, NY.  She was an author who published more than 78 novels from 1887 to 1947 that sold more than four million copies. Almost all of the books use a girl protagonist, usually in a rural environment, who faces a series of moral and physical challenges and solves them with great moral fortitude and certainty. They are being reprinted today.
    1867 - Birthday of Wilbur Wright (d. 1912), born at Millville, IN, aviation pioneer.  The Wright brothers are considered the "fathers of modern aviation."  They followed the research of German aviator Otto Lilienthal and when Lilienthal died in a glider crash, the brothers decided to start their own experiments with flight. Determined to develop their own successful design, Wilbur and Orville headed to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, known for its strong winds.  On December 17, 1903, they succeeded in flying the first free, controlled flight of a power-driven airplane. An extraordinary achievement, Wilbur flew the plane for 59 seconds over 852 feet.  The Wright brothers soon found that their success was not appreciated by all. Many in the press, as well as fellow flight experts, were reluctant to believe the brothers' claims. As a result, Wilbur set out for Europe in 1908, where he hoped he would have more success convincing the public and selling airplanes. In France, Wilbur found a much more receptive audience and, in 1909, Orville joined his brother in Europe, as did their younger sister, Katharine. The Wrights became huge celebrities there, hosted by royals and heads of state, and constantly featured in the press. The Wrights began to sell their airplanes in Europe, and then returned to the United States in 1909.  The brothers went on to become wealthy businessmen, filling contracts for airplanes in both Europe and the United States.
    1868 - The Senate voted on one count in the impeachment proceedings of President Andrew Johnson. The vote fell one short of the two-thirds majority needed to take action. On May 26, further charges similarly failed and he was acquitted.
    1869 - The first African-American US Consul was Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, Consul General to Haiti, where he served until November 27, 1877.
    1870 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC was chartered.   "for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said City a Museum and Library of Art, of encouraging and developing the Study of the Fine Arts, and the application of Art to manufacture and natural life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and to that end of furnishing popular instruction and recreations."[88] This legislation was supplemented later by the 1893 Act, Chapter 476, which required that its collections "shall be kept open and accessible to the public free of all charge throughout the year."[89] The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day, who wanted to open a museum to bring art and art education to the American people.
    1873 - In the Colfax Massacre in Grant Parish, Louisiana, 60 blacks were killed. The dispute over the government of Louisiana continued to escalate. Republican officers of Grants Parrish were holed up in the city of Colfax. Blacks from the surrounding area feared an attack, so they entrenched themselves in front of the courthouse. A huge white mob attacked. The day was a massacre, as somewhere between 60 and 100 local blacks were killed even as they tried to surrender. The white mob suffered only 3 casualties. The battle for the courthouse of Colfax, Louisiana has been renamed the Colfax Massacre. All of the blacks in the area and Governor Kellogg were spared only because the President ordered the federal troops to intercede and stop the white mob before they moved to another area, killing all the blacks and their white sympathizers. The New Orleans Times' headline the next day read, "War at Last!!" They also warned other white sympathizers to beware. The majority of the white people in Louisiana supported the "Colfax Massacre," and the systematic annihilation of blacks and the white sympathizer governments.
    1880 - A tornado near Marshall, MO, carried the heavy timbers of an entire home a distance of twelve miles.
    1889 - Birthday of Charles Spencer Chaplin (d. 1977), better known as “Charlie Chaplin,” famed film comedian, who portrayed “The Little Tramp,” born in London, England. Film debuted in 1914. Knighted in 1975. In his autobiography Chaplin wrote: “There are more valid facts and details in works for art than there are in history books.”
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~pringle/silent/chaplin/filmography.html
    1900 - The first book of postage stamps was issued, selling two-cent stamps in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
    1905 - An endowment for a college teachers’ pension fund was established by Andrew Carnegie, who donated $10,000,000 of personal money to create the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
    1900 - Birthday of Polly Adler was born Pearl Adler (d. 1962) in Russia.  She was the operator of the most famous New York house of prostitution. After having been raped while working as mill girl in a Brooklyn factory, she had an illegal abortion from the resulting pregnancy. She then abandoned her orthodox Jewish life and sought the bright lights of show business. Almost accidentally she began procuring women for gangster friends to avoid poverty. She vowed "to be the best goddamn madam in America." With a combination of panache, publicity, and bribery she did so, hosting the sensual pleasures of government officials, actors, business tycoons, and gangsters for several decades. Arrested a number of times, she served only 24 days in jail (her male clients none) from 1924 to 1943 when she retired and moved to Los Angeles. Even "reformer" Thomas Dewey, the New York city district attorney who parlayed crime into a bid for the presidency, was unable to close her down. Her autobiography “A House is Not a Home” (1952) was an international best seller translated into most languages and it was made into a movie.
    1908 - The first Oakland car is sold to a private owner. The Oakland Car Company was the creation of Edward Murphy, the founder of the Pontiac Buggy Company. Murphy was one of the most respected designers in the carriage industry. He decided to enter the car business, and invited Alanson Brush, the designer of the Brush Runabout, to join him. Brush had been a chief engineer at Cadillac; his contract with Cadillac included a no-competition clause that had just ended when he met Murphy. Anxious to get back into the design race, Brush built a car for Murphy that was ready in 1908. Oakland ran independently for less than a year before it was purchased by William C. Durant and absorbed into Durant's holding company, General Motors. Durant's purchase of Oakland is often regarded as mysterious, considering the company had enjoyed little success and had produced less than a thousand cars at the time Durant purchased it. Often accused on "intuitive" business practices, Durant claimed that his purchase of Oakland, while exhausting his cash flow, provided GM with a more impressive portfolio on which to base their stock interest. Nevertheless his decision to purchase Oakland, later called Pontiac, forced Durant out of control of GM.
    1908 - Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah was established.
 http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/natural_bridges/national_monument.html
    1909 - Birthday of Eudora Welty (d. 2001), Jackson, MS.  Short story writer and novelist, her stories focus on small town Mississippi. She won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for “The Optimist's Daughter.”
    1914 – The Baltimore Terrapins hosted the very first game in Federal League history, defeating Buffalo, 3 - 2, behind the strong pitching of Jack Quinn. A crowd estimated at 27,000 stands 15 rows deep in the outfield to witness the return of big league baseball to Baltimore whose Orioles were taken over by the American league after the 1901 season, then moved to New York as the Highlanders.  The Federal League began play in 1913 as a six-team minor league. The league expanded to eight clubs for the 1914 season and declared war on the other two major leagues. Federal League clubs lured away stars from the established leagues.  In January, 1915, the Federal League filed an antitrust suit against organized baseball.  After the season, a peace treaty was signed between the Federal League and Major League baseball. The Federals' lawsuit, which had been stalled by Judge Kenesaw Landis in the hopes of provoking a settlement, was dropped. In exchange, owner Charles Weeghman of the Whales was allowed to purchase the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Terriers owner Phil Ball was permitted to buy the St. Louis Browns. The other owners were offered a cash settlement. The players from the other six clubs were sold to the highest bidders.  The only holdouts in the settlement were the owners of the Baltimore Terrapins, who desperately wanted to return Major League baseball to their city. They launched a separate anti-trust lawsuit against the established major leagues and the other Federal League owners who had accepted the settlement. This resulted in the famous Federal League ruling, in which the Supreme Court ruled that baseball did not constitute interstate trade and consequently wasn't subject to federal anti-trust law.
    1919 - Birthday of American composer Arthur St Germaine (d. 2010), Worcester, MA.
    1919 - Singer and actor Howard Keel (d. 2004) was born in Gillespie, Illinois. Keel's strong baritone was featured in such 1950's movie musicals as "Annie Get Your Gun," "Show Boat, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Kismet." His career was revived in the 1980's with a featured role on the television series "Dallas."
     1924 - Birthday of Henry Mancini (d. 1994), born Enrico Nicola Mancini at Cleveland, OH. Mancini made his mark in Hollywood composing film scores and songs. Newly discharged from World War II service, Mancini entered the music industry in 1946, becoming a pianist and arranger for the newly re-formed Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by 'Everyman' Tex Beneke. After World War II, Mancini broadened his skills in composition, counterpoint, harmony and orchestration during studies opening with the composers Krenek and Tedesco.  In 1952, Mancini joined the Universal Pictures music department. He was a perennial winner at the Oscar and Grammy award ceremonies.
    1929 - The New York Yankees become first Major League team to wear numbers on uniforms.
    1933 - Franklin Falls, New Hampshire was buried under 35 inches of snow.
    1935 - The radio comedy program, “Fibber McGee and Molly,” starring Jim and Marian Jordan, premiered on the NBC Blue Network.
    1937 - One of Stan Laurel's and Oliver Hardy's best features, “Way Out West,” opened in theaters. Critics liked it, saying the film moved well, and the comic duo performed a charming soft-shoe dance. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Film Score.
    1935 - On snowy day and near freezing day as the band plays Jingle Bells at Boston's Braves Field, Babe Ruth makes his National league debut as he homers and singles off Giants' legend Carl Hubbell. Although the Braves beat New York, 4-2, the team will go on to win only 37 more games this season.
    1938 - Gene Krupa’s first big band debuts at Steel Pier, Atlantic City.
    1939 - Dusty Springfield, Britain's leading female vocalist in the mid-1960's, was born Mary Isobel Catherine O'Brien (d. 1999) in London. She took her stage name from a folk group called the Springfields, which she formed with her brother Tom. After the Springfields broke up in 1963, Dusty had a successful solo career, with such hits as "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "Wishin' and Hopin'." She also sang the original theme song for "The Six-Million-Dollar Man," but the song was later dropped from the television series.  In 1987, Springfield combined with the Pet Shop Boys for a top-ten hit, "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" The Pet Shop Boys later co-wrote and produced tracks for her 1990 album 'Reputation' - which included the PSB penned hits “In Private” and “Nothing Has Been Proved,” the latter included in the Bridget Fonda film, “Scandal.”
    1940 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “In the Mood,'' Glenn Miller Orchestra. It topped the charts for 13 straight weeks in 1940 in the U.S. and one year later was featured in the movie, “Sun Valley Serenade.” The recording receives a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1938.  In 1983, the Glenn Miller recording from 1939 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  In 1999, NPR included the 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird on the NPR 100, the list of "The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century".  In 2004, the 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Victor was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry which consists of recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
    1940 - The first Major League no-hitter on Opening Day.  Bob Feller of the American League Cleveland Indians retired 15 men in a row from the fourth inning to the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox, winning 1-0.  This remains the only Opening Day no-hitter ever thrown.
    1940 - On Opening Day, Franklin D. Roosevelt's errant ceremonial first pitch smashes a Washington Post camera. The Chief Executive is not charged with a wild pitch as Red Sox hurler Lefty Grove blanks the Senators, 1-0.
    1941 - German troops entered Sarajevo and the city's main synagogue was destroyed.
    1943 - Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered in Basel, Switzerland, Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory, accidentally consumed LSD-25, a synthetic drug he had created in 1938 as part of his research into the medicinal value of lysergic acid compounds. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations.  Widespread use of the so-called "mind-expanding" drug did not begin until the 1960s, when counter-culture figures such as Albert M. Hubbard, Timothy Leary, and Ken Kesey publicly expounded on the benefits of using LSD as a recreational drug. The manufacture, sale, possession, and use of LSD, known to cause negative reactions in many of those who take it, was eventually made illegal across the United States.
    1944 - The destroyer USS Laffey survives horrific damage from attacks by 22 Kamikaze Japanese aircraft off Okinawa.
    1944 - An F4 tornado tracked 40 miles through Franklin, Hart, and Elbert counties in Georgia and through Anderson and Abbeville counties in South Carolina. 25 were killed and 120 were injured. Damage totaled $1 million.
    1944 - Jack Casady, bass player with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, was born in Washington, DC. The Airplane was one of the most important groups to emerge from the San Francisco area during the 1960's. "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" were their big hits. Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen from the Airplane formed the group Hot Tuna in 1970.
    1945 - Troops of the United States 7th Army entered the German city of Nuremberg.
    1945 - The Nazi concentration camps at Belsen and Buchenwald are liberated by British and American forces respectively. Jena is captured by US 3rd Army units. To the south, US 7th Army forces take Bamberg.
    1946 - Singer Al Green was born in Forrest City, Arkansas. Such hits as "Let's Stay Together," "I'm Still In Love With You" and "You Ought To Be With Me" made him one of the leading soul music stars of the 1970's. Many of his later recordings were gospel records, and he became a minister in a Memphis Pentecostal church.
    1946 - The musical, “Annie Get Your Gun,” featuring songs by Irving Berlin and starring Ethel Merman, debuted on Broadway.
    1947 - Considered the worst industrial disaster in US history, the French-owned Grandcamp, docked at the oil and port town of Texas City, TX, and carrying a load of ammonium nitrate, was discovered to have a smoldering fire in her hold. At 9:12am, as onlookers gathered and a small firefighting team attempted to extinguish the blaze, the ship exploded with tremendous force, immediately killing everyone at the dock area. The resulting fires destroyed the nearby Monsanto Chemical Company and spread through oil pipelines into the city. At 1:00am, another ship, the High Flyer, exploded. The city was left defenseless due to the deaths of almost the entire fire department. There were 576 known casualties, but the most estimate that at least 100 more died in the conflagrations. Thousands were injured. The fires burned for a week. The disaster prompted new regulations on handling chemicals. With thousands of lawsuits, the US Congress passed a special act to settle claims in 1956.
    1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War." Multimillionaire and financier Bernard Baruch, in a speech given during the unveiling of his portrait in the South Carolina House of Representatives, describing relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, says: "Let us not be deceived — we are today in the midst of a cold war."  He called for longer workweeks, no-strike pledges from unions, and no-layoff pledges from management. It was imperative that US business and industry pull itself together, Baruch warned. His complete statement:  "Let us not be deceived-we are today in the midst of a cold war. Our enemies are to be found abroad and at home. Let us never forget this: Our unrest is the heart of their success. The peace of the world is the hope and the goal of our political system; it is the despair and defeat of those who stand against us. We can depend only on ourselves."  The phrase stuck, and for over 40 years, it was a mainstay in the language of American diplomacy. Baruch had served as an advisor to presidents on economic and foreign policy issues since the days of Woodrow Wilson. In 1919, he was one of the US advisers at the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I. During the 1930s, he frequently advised Franklin D. Roosevelt and members of Congress on international finance and issues of neutrality. After World War II, he remained a trusted adviser to the new administration of Harry S. Truman.
    1947 – Zoomar, a device that create close-up and long-distance camera shots from a stationary camera lens, was demonstrated by NBC-TV in New York City. The lens would later be scaled down to be used by regular photographers and not just for television. Today there are many kinds of close-up/long distance lenses, including the zoom lens which was named after the original Zoomar.
    1949 - Birthday of American composer Robert E. Cucinotta, Brooklyn.
    1951 - Peabo Bryson is born Robert Peabo Bryson in Greenville, S.C. He scores several top 10 hits on Billboard's R&B and Soul charts, the biggest of which is the No. 2 song “I'm So into You,'' a 1978 release by Michael Zager's Moon Band featuring Peabo Bryson. Bryson's biggest pop hit is the top 10 song “If Ever You're in My Arms Again'' in 1984.
    1953 - Bill Haley and His Comets made it to the "Billboard" music charts for the first time with "Crazy Man Crazy." It is notable as the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national American musical charts, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Juke Box chart for the week ending June 20, 1953, and #11 for two weeks on the Cash Box chart beginning for the week of June 13. It is also believed to be the first rock and roll recording to be played on national television in the US.    
    1953 – “Titanic,” starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, and Thelma Ritter, opened in United States theaters. Filmed in black and white, this gripping film about the sinking of the mighty ship Titanic won an Oscar for Best Script for producer Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard Breen.
    1954 – Rookie Henry Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves went 0-for-5 in his Major League debut.
    1956 - CBS unveiled the first national rock & roll show, ABC airs its own: "Rhythm on Parade," which is broadcast live from the Flam Show Bar in Detroit.
    1957 - Polly Bergen starred in "The Helen Morgan Story" in CBS television's presentation of "Playhouse 90."
    1957 - For the first time, television showed an annual stockholders’ meeting. Shareholders of the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF) watched TV screens in New York City and Chicago, Illinois.
    1957 - Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" went to #1 on the Cash Box best seller list and The Billboard Pop chart, where it would stay for the next eight weeks.
    1958 - Van Cliburn became the first American to win the Tchaikovsky International Piano Contest in Moscow. As a result of his success, Van Cliburn's debut album, a recording of Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto Number One," became the first classical LP to sell a million copies.
    1959 - Five weeks after it entered the Billboard Hot 100, "Pink Shoelaces" by 13-year-old Dodie Stevens tops out at #3. She would go on to sing with Sergio Mendes and Brazil '77 as well as Mac Davis, but never had another Top 40 hit.
    1960 - A research study reported that TV commercials “in living color” were over three times more effective than black and white commercials.
    1962 - Top Hits
“Johnny Angel” - Shelley Fabares
“Good Luck Charm” - Elvis Presley
“Slow Twistin’” - Chubby Checker
“She’s Got You” - Patsy Cline
    1963 - "Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys was released in the US, where it will become the group's second Billboard chart-maker, reaching #3. The song was a note-for-note copy of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" with new lyrics. After Berry sued, he was granted royalties and all further issues of the song gave him writing credit.
    1964 - The Mets new home, Shea Stadium, is christened with Dodgers' Holy Water from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and Giants' Holy Water from the Harlem River at the location where it flowed past the Polo Grounds.
    1965 - The Hollies began their first US tour at the Brooklyn Paramount in New York. It wasn't until the following year that the group cracked the US top ten with "Bus Stop." The English group has had only one very minor hit in America, their Hot 100 cover of Doris Troy's "Just One Look."
    1965 - "Dang Me!" Roger Miller wins in five categories at the seventh annual Grammy Awards.
    1965 - Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is released.
    1967 - Random House published Ira Levin's controversial novel “Rosemary's Baby.” The best-selling novel was about satanic worshippers and how they involved an innocent woman to bear the child of Satan. The novel was later adapted into a successful film, with ingenue actress Mia Farrow cast in the role of Rosemary. The Catholic Church condemned the film, which contained a disturbing rape scene with the Devil. During its filming, her husband, Frank Sinatra, filed for divorce.
    1968 - Although he had written many of his earlier hits, Bobby Goldsboro enjoys his only US number one record with "Honey," a song composed by Bobby Russell.
    1968 - Baseball’s longest night game came to a close after 24 innings. The game, won by the Houston Astros, took six hours, six minutes to play.
    1970 - Top Hits
“Let It Be” - The Beatles
“ABC” - The Jackson 5
“Spirit in the Sky” - Norman Greenbaum
“Tennessee Bird Walk” - Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
    1971 - Birthday of famed Tejana singer, Selena, born Selena Quintanilla at Lake Jackson, TX. Died March 31, 1995 at Corpus Christi, TX, murdered by the president of her fan club.
    1972 - Apollo 16: Astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke, Jr and Thomas K. Mattingly II (command module pilot) began an 11-day mission that included 71-hour exploration of moon (Apr 20-23). Landing module (LM) named Orion. Splashdown in Pacific Ocean within a mile of target, Apr 27.
    1972 - US resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong after 4 years. In an effort to help blunt the ongoing North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong after a four-year lull. In the first use of B-52s against both Hanoi and Haiphong, and the first attacks against both cities since November 1968, 18 B-52s and about 100 US Navy and Air Force fighter-bombers struck supply dumps near Haiphong's harbor. Sixty fighter-bombers hit petroleum storage facilities near Hanoi, with another wave of planes striking later in the afternoon.
    1972 - The orchestral rock ensemble known as the Electric Light Orchestra played its first live show at the Reading Festival in England. Their debut album, released in 1971, featured guest soloists from the London Symphony Orchestra.
    1973 - Ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney, with the group, Wings, starred in his first television special, "James Paul McCartney." The show featured the new group, which included Paul’s wife, Linda on keyboards and backing vocals.
    1974 - Paul McCartney's LP "Band On The Run" topped the Billboard album chart. It went on to sell over 6 million copies world-wide.
    1975 - A single storm brought 119 inches of snow to Crater Lake, Oregon, establishing a state record.
    1976 - The ban on women attending West Point is lifted with the admission of 119 female cadets.
    1977 - Stevie Wonder enters the soul chart with what will be another of his many Number One hits. "Sir Duke" is a tribute to Duke Ellington which will top the charts next month.
    1977 - Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" is released
    1978 - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Forsch tossed a no-hitter, downing the Phillies 5-0. A year later, his brother, Ken, would repeat the feat with the Houston Astros, making them the first brothers to pitch Major League no-hitters. Bob tossed a second no-hitter in September, 1983, setting a record for Cardinal pitchers.
    1978 - Top Hits
“Night Fever” - Bee Gees
“Stayin’ Alive” - Bee Gees
“Lay Down Sally” - Eric Clapton
“Someone Loves You Honey” - Charley Pride
    1978 - At the first US power-lifting championships held in Nashua, NH, Jan Todd, a teacher from Nova Scotia, broke her own world record with a dead lift of 453 ¼ pounds. Cindy Reinhoudt won the award for best lifter after squatting 385 pounds, bench pressing 205 pounds and dead-lifting 385 pounds for a 975-pound total.
    1979 - The first female Coast Guard ship commander was Lieutenant (j.g.) Beverly Gwin Kelley, who was appointed to command the 95-foot cutter Cape Newhagen, with a crew of 14, based in Maalaea, Maui, HI. Her assignment included search missions, boating safety, antipollution patrols, and law enforcement.
    1979 - Gloria Gaynor earns a platinum 45 for her hits "I Will Survive." It's the biggest hit of her career and a Number One record for three weeks in March.
    1981 – “Bette Davis Eyes,” by Kim Carnes, rocketed to the Number 1 spot on Billboard's record charts on this date, and remained there for 9 weeks. Carnes received a personal thank-you letter for the song from actress Bette Davis, saying that it had impressed her young grandson.
    1980 - US boycotted the Summer Olympics in Moscow.  The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December, 1979 spurred President Jimmy Carter to issue an ultimatum on January 20, 1980: If Soviet troops did not withdraw from Afghanistan within one month, the United States would boycott the Moscow Olympics in summer, 1980.
    1980 - The 1950s musical “Grease” finally closes its Broadway show after 3,883 performances and earning over $8 million. To this day, it is twelfth on the all-time appearance list.
    1982 - Queen Elizabeth proclaimed Canada's new constitution, severing the last colonial links with Britain.
    1985 - Mickey Mantle, banned for several years from baseball for taking a job as a greeter for an Atlantic City casino, was reinstated. His first act was to throw the first pitch at a home game in New York between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. Mantle was given a standing ovation.
    1985 - "We Are The World," the Quincy Jones produced effort that raised millions to help feed starving people in Africa, topped the Billboard singles chart. The 45 artists that recorded the effort on January 28th were asked to "check their egos at the door."
    1986 - Jack Nicklaus won his sixth Masters Tournament with a 9 under par 279.  At the age of 46, Nicklaus claimed his 18th and final major championship, becoming the championship's oldest winner.
    1986 - Top Hits
“Rock Me Amadeus” - Falco
“Kiss” - Prince & The Revolution
“Manic Monday” - Bangles
“She and I” – Alabama
    1987 - A slow moving storm system produced heavy rain over North Carolina and the Middle Atlantic Coast States. More than six inches of rain drenched parts of Virginia, and flooding in Virginia claimed three lives. Floodwaters along the James River inundated parts of Richmond, VA.
    1987 - It was a grand day in New York Harbor. "Bobro 400," a huge barge, set sail within eyesight of the Statue of Liberty with 3,200 tons of garbage that nobody wanted. The floating trash heap soon became America’s most well-traveled garbage can as it began an eight-week, 6,000 mile odyssey in search of a willing dumping site. "Bobro 400" returned to New York Harbor after the lengthy journey - and brought all that garbage back with it!
    1987 - Twist king Chubby Checker, jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and conductor Leopold Stokowski were among the first ten inductees of the Philadelphia Music Foundation Hall of Fame. The others honored for making their mark on music in Philadelphia were singers Pearl Bailey, Mario Lanza and Bobby Rydell, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, rock 'n' roll pioneer Bill Haley and blues singer Bessie Smith.
    1990 - Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds across Oklahoma, with 99 reports of large hail and damaging winds during the evening and early nighttime hours. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail south of Carney, and wind gusts to 100 mph in the Oklahoma City area which swept away many Federal tax returns being transported from a mail cart to a waiting truck about the time of the midnight deadline. Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City reported a record wind gust of 92 mph.
    1991 - Queen Elizabeth, on a tour of the United States, became the first monarch to address Congress.
    1993 - The quirky film “Benny and Joon,” starring Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn, and Julianne Moore, opened across the country. Depp received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
    1995 - The European Union and Canada ended a bitter dispute over fishing rights in the north Atlantic with a deal both sides said would protect threatened fish stocks.
    1996 - The Chicago Bulls became the first NBA team to win 70 games in the regular season by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 86-90. After this game, Chicago’s record stood at 70-9. The Bulls finished the year at 72-10 and won their fourth NBA title in six years.
    1989 - Madonna's hit single “Like a Prayer” was certified platinum.
    1996 - France Telecom starts Web service. France Telecom unveils a new consumer Internet service, Wanadoo, designed to bring the Internet to a mass audience. Some fourteen million French customers already used the Minitel, a national online system introduced in 1984, which allowed customers to view train schedules, book tickets, and perform other transactions. The company said it would work with Microsoft to develop the network but would distribute both Netscape and Microsoft Internet browsers. France Telecom hoped to avoid cannibalizing its Minitel online service by building Minitel access into Wanadoo. Contrary to popular belief, over 20 countries have a better internet system with a higher percentage of users, including a very high percentage of users with high speed capabilities.
    1997 - Extending their losing streak to 12 with a 4-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies, Cubs set the record for worst start in league history surpassing the overall NL record of 0-11 established by the Detroit Wolverines 1884.
    1998 - Pentagon computers found vulnerable to hackers. The Pentagon announces that a team of ethical hackers discovered security flaws in Defense Department computers. After two weeks of hacking, the security team accessed a US electric power grid that would let the hackers shut down power across the country. The previous February, the Pentagon's unclassified computers had been hit with an organized hack attack targeting personnel records. The Pentagon said it planned to spend about $1 billion a year for several years to improve its computer security.
    1998 - Apple outpaces profit expectations. Apple bounced back from two years of losses: Quarterly reports, released on 16 April 1998, showed that Apple exceeded analysts' profit expectations for the second straight quarter. For the first time in two years, Macintosh shipments began to increase. Apple's recovery would continue with the introduction of the popular iMac the following May.
    1999 - VH1 debuts an Internet radio station, VH1 atWork, with the exclusive live webcast of the "Divas Live" concert. The 24-hour service at www.vh1.com and America Online (keyword: VH1) is the first major branded audio service from MTV Networks.
    2001 - First Union Corp., the 6th largest US bank, announces that it is buying competitor Wachovia Corp. for $13.4 billion in stock, to make under the Wachovia name the 4th biggest US banking company, with $324 billion in assets, trailing only Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America. In 2010, it was merged into Wells Fargo.
    2005 - Switchfoot, the Crabb Family and Casting Crowns are the big winners at the 36th annual Gospel Music Assn. Dove Awards, held at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Switchfoot is named artist of the year and wins honors for rock contemporary song and shortform video for "Dare You to Move."
    2011 - After four days of deliberation, the jury in the trial of Barry Bonds returned a guilty verdict on the charge of obstruction of justice, while failing to reach a decision on the three charges of perjury the slugger was also facing. Bonds faced up to 10 years in jail for the felony conviction, although probation is a more likely.  Bonds admitted to using the ‘cream’ and the ‘clear’ but said he did not know they were banned substances.
    2012 - Owner of the New Orleans Saints, Tom Benson, purchased the New Orleans Hornets from the National Basketball Association for an estimated $338 million.  They would change their name to the New Orleans Pelicans beginning with the 2013–14 season.
    2013 - China and the U.S. agree to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula…how’s that working out?
    2014 - Bubba Watson won the Masters Tournament for the second year in a row.

Stanley Cup Champions:
1939 - Boston Bruins
1949 - Toronto Maple Leafs
1953 - Montreal Canadiens
1954 - Detroit Red Wings
1957 - Montreal Canadiens
1961 - Chicago Blackhawks