Position Wanted---Risk Management
  Seeking New Opportunities

Each Week Leasing News is pleased, as a service to its readership, to offer completely free ads placed by candidates for jobs in the industry. These ads also can be accessed directly on the website at: 
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

Each ad is limited to (100) words and ads repeat for up to 6 months unless the candidate tells us to stop. Your submissions should be received here by the end of each week.
Please encourage friends and colleagues to take advantage of this service, including recent graduates and others interested in leasing and related careers.

Risk Management
(Chicago Based) Highly knowledgeable and analytical Equipment Leasing Executive; leveraging 25 years in Portfolio Management, Operations, Credit, and Collections within Banking environment and Commercial Equipment Leasing Industry; proven track record, developing/implementing strategies, sound operational excellence and process improvement, while maximizing revenues and positioning organizations for greater success. wgriffith61@yahoo.com
Resume:
http://leasingnews.org/items/BGriffithResume2015.pdf 

 

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Top Stories January 25 – January 29
(Opened Most by Readers)

 

(1) An Update of Leasing Companies Out of Business
         No Longer Taking Broker/Discounting Business
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_27.htm#update

(2) OnDeck Crashes as Online Lending Sector Struggles
             Seeking Alpha Report
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3779546-ondeck-crashes-as-online-lending-sector-struggles

(3) Archives---January 25, 2006
   Outside Sales “Broker" Maximum Commission
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_25.htm#archives

(4) Memorial for Alister McNeil, Friday
          Podium Financial Group, Inc.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_27.htm#memorial

(5) Funders Looking for New Broker Business
           Qualified by Leasing News
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_29.htm#funders_looking

(6) DLL Leasing Sale/Could be Concluded After 6/16
 Rabobank Said to Hold Talks for $4.9 Billion
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-25/rabobank-said-to-hold-talks-for-4-9-billion-leasing-unit-sale

(7) New Hires---Promotions in the Leasing Business
              and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_29.htm#hires

(8) New Study Identifies Companies Most Impacted
           by New FASB and IFRS Lease Accounting Rules
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_27.htm#study

(9) Myth of the Sales Personality
             Sales Make it Happen by Steve Chriest
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_27.htm#myth

(10) Leasing News Advisor
             Steve Crane, CLP
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2016/01_25.htm#crane 

 

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Is DLL Leasing Really Up for Sale?"
by Christopher Menkin

Perhaps it is just a rumor that Rabobank Group is making plans to sell its leasing unit, De Lag Landen International, BV, for a price tag of $4.9 billion. It is very difficult to believe as Rabobank is among the best capitalized, best run, and most profitable banks in the world.

It is accurate that Europe is toughening its capital rules; however, are alternate financing, mobile and internet banking services going to cut into banking competition as much as it is being hyped, forcing Rabobank to sell off a golden goose? Is Europe embracing Bitcoin and Blockchain, the public ledger of transactions for Bitcoin. Is it the European Union or the new International Lease Accounting rules?

To me, it doesn’t make any sense for Rabobank to sell off its leasing division, as it is very profitable. You don't get rid of good income property. Whether changes in European accounting regarding leasing are a factor does not seem accurate, as other banks would suffer the same impact to their balance sheets regarding operating leases. Most securitizations are disclosed on the balance sheet in the footnotes of regulatory filings. 

Making an analogy to GE may not be fully correct, as GE is divesting
itself from the financial end to concentrate on its industrial products,
and GE has chosen not to face the toughening banking regulations, which may effect their entire operation. A European Central Bank audit recently resulted in capital requirements that may have impacted the decision because penalties resulted from the findings. It may be similar to GE conclusion, although GE has products to manufacture and sell. It may very well be the capital ratios the European Central Bank is imposing may be similar to what GE is trying to avoid.

The other side of the question that may be of interest is who has an appetite that big?  Not the US banks...the EU banks are under the same restraints... who has the capacity and the desire to bite off a chunk that big? Will it be broken up into units as GE did? Perhaps even further divided by countries.  Will it then move executives and staff around to other companies, or other job opportunities?

The alleged deadline for the transaction is in the second half of 2016, so a sale have to happen soon to meet the legal requirements for an actual the end of the year conclusion.

In May, 2012, it was rumored that De Lage Landen’s parent, Rabobank, was putting its car leasing division up for sale. It was stated at the time by several sources that De Lage Landen’s car leasing business was under review along with the fund management arm Robeco. At the time, it was noted, "The De Lage Landen business, which includes Athlon Car Lease, reported a 51% growth in profit for 2011 – the largest profit gain within the Rabobank portfolio." Again, a golden goose you don’t get rid of.

The car leasing company became a part of DLL in 2006 and remains with Rabobank Group, who has 330 offices in 42 countries outside the Netherlands.

Are recent “criminal” activities part of the decision?

According to stories in the media, Rabobank is today under investigations regarding money laundering by clients at its branches in California near the Mexican border. The bank reportedly has more than 120 locations in California with $14.3 billion in assets, which is less than 2% of the parent company's total assets as stated in their SEC filings. The bank is reportedly fully cooperating with the investigation.

In 2013, Rabobank was caught along with others rigging the London interbank offered rate, referred to as Libor. They were fined $1.1 billion and six of their former traders were criminally charge, and then-Chairman Piet Moerland resigned.

Certainly DLL, and perhaps many other European banks, have seen
better times. Will the new investors then be from the United States?
China? India?

 

Year-End Leasing and Finance Association Membership
by Christopher Menkin

622		Equipment Leasing and Finance Association
447		National Association of Equipment and Leasing Brokers
289		Certified Leasing Professional Foundation
279		Commercial Finance Association
262		Association of Government Leasing and Finance
246		Canadian Finance & Leasing Association
230		National Equipment Finance Association

This report will include the “Alternate Finance” Small Business Finance Association, new to "honorable mentions." In the chart below, the same format utilized, illustrating members as of the beginning of the year. In some charts, associations use 2015, meaning the date is the end of December 31, 2015. Some use 2016, meaning as of January 1, 2016. All numbers have been supplied by the respective associations and kept in their format as sent to Leasing News.

	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2003	2002	2001	2000
ELFA	622	576	574	583	565	582	604	700	741	768	817	780	732	862	873	850
NAELB	447	469	546	557	617	696	847	1021	1089	950	731	648	480	433	415	475
AGLFA	262	249	315	285	274	250	238	265	277	255	255	255	203	263	343	250
NEFA	230	205	207	193	191	210	274
EAEL		*	*	*	*	*	*	183	181	196	198	180	191	216	227	240
UAEL		*	*	*	*	*	*	289	314	314	314	297	248	378	379	589

 

It definitely seems President and CEO Woody Sutton has left the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association in very good order. He retired at the end of the year, having given the association a full year’s notice.

Kudos also to the board of directors, committees, volunteers, and to the staff, now with a "new" President and CEO: Ralph Petta. The quotation marks around “new” because Mr. Petta has been active on ELFA staff since 1987, holding many management positions. He previously served as COO. He also is Leasing News Person of the Year for 2009 (1)

Company Type				2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Accountant				8	7	8	9	7	6	7
Bank				134	118	110	97	81	77	92
Broker/Packager				7	8	8	8	9	11	13
Captive				70	63	60	64	60	65	56
Collection Agency				4	2	3	5	6	11	6
Consultant				30	29	27	27	21	28	34
Equipment Management				37	28	40	48	55	51	48
Executive Recruiter				5	4	3	2	2	3	3
Multi-Line Commercial Finance				50	47	52	54	62	69	72
Investment Bank				10	4	5	7	7	8	6
Insurance Company				7	7	5	6	4	5	7
Independent Finance Company				142	142	140	140	129	126	142
Law Firm				88	87	87	91	93	95	90
Publisher				4	3	2	2	2	1	1
Software Provider				24	25	24	23	24	26	27
				622	576	574	583	565	682	604

Only two numbers are down, Broker/Packager and Software Provider.
All the rest are up, notably bank members, up 16, Equipment Manager, up 9, Captive up 7. An increase of 46 members.

 

			2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Associate			23	22	22	22	31	38	42
Broker			328	355	421	440	499	579	710
Additional Broker			0	0	1	4	5	1	1
Funding Source			96	91	102	91	82	78	93
Additional Funder			0	0	0	0	0	0	1
			447	469	546	557	617	696	847

 

The National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers lost twenty- two members, which is considered very good since there is talk about changing the management company hired to replace the previous management company. In fact, there is a “movement” to bring back Monica Harper with a team to help with the web site, conferences, weekly “meet the funder” and other promotions that made NAELB so popular.

There was an increase in funders, mainly “alternate finance” such as merchant advance, working capital loans, but the main loss was in brokers.  This is also evident in the other association numbers, as it appears more business is being done direct rather than through “third party originators.”

On the plus side, it leaves more business for those professionals with many sources and knowledge to put deals together.

Don’t forget the 2016 Annual Conference, April 28-30, being held at Tropicana in Las Vegas, Nevada. It should be a BALL!. Program, Registration, Conference  Fee, Hotel

Certified Leasing and Finance Professionals (individuals)

0331: 289
2015: 213
2014: 199
2013: 173
2012: 168
2011: 174
2010: 159
2009: 182
2008: 179
2007: 204

By Company with Two or More Members:

42     First American Equipment Finance
21     Financial Pacific Leasing
14     Ascentium Capital
13     Allegiant Partners, Inc.
8       Arvest Bank
8       GreatAmerica Financial Services
8       Orion First Financial
7       ECS Financial Services
5       Banc of California
5       Bank of the West
5       Great American Insurance
4       Celtic Commercial Finance
4       Maxim Commercial Capital LLC
4       Northland Capital
4       Stearns Bank
3       Diversified Capital Credit
3       FSG Leasing Inc.
3       Innovative Lease Services, Inc.
3       LeaseTeam Inc.
3       Pacifica Capital
2       Alliance Funding Group
2       Bravo Capital LLC
2       BSB Leasing
2       Canon Financial Services Inc.
2       Commerce Bank
2       Finance Capital
2       Go Capital
2       Huntington Equipment Finance
2       KLC Financial, Inc.
2       NCMIC Finance Corporation
2       Padco Financial Services Inc.
2       Pinnacle Business Finance Inc.
2       Portfolio Financial Servicing Company
2       Providence Capital Funding, Inc.
2       TEQlease

Reid Raykovich, CLFP, has done an amazing job, bringing many "millenniums," as well as getting companies more involved. Twelve passed the test in January, not counted in the numbers. Unfortunately, as she told Leasing News, 12 members passed away, not including those who retired, as the numbers would be higher.

Why I Became a CLFP
http://www.leasingnews.org/CLP/Index.htm

2016: 262
2015: 280
2014: 280
2013: 275
2012: 265

Brian Cove, as Chief Operations Officer, has left the association.

The members here are more involved in accounts receivable financing, alternate financing, asset financing, business loans, dealer financing, factoring, merchant financing, working capital, and other types of asset loans, plus capital and operating leasing.

The merger with the National Funding Association has brought many new professionals into “chapter meetings.”  The group remains active.

			2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Basic			*	113	106	100	99	9
Industry Leader			*	155	118	126	100	9
Individual/Government			*	20	20	18	22	24
Limited			*	22	35	26	25	22
Emeritus			*	5	5	4	4	4
			262	315	284	274	250	238

There was a loss of 53 members. Leasing News was not given a breakdown of the actual membership changes.

David Powell, President & Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Finance & Leasing Association,  reports “The Association canadienne de financement et de location had 246 corporate members  December 31, 2015 compared to 280 corporate members, December 31, 2014; a loss of 34 members companies.”

			2016	2015	2014	2012	2011	2010
Broker/Lessors			*	118	119	*	119	158
Funding Sources			*	41	41	*	36	51
Service Providers			*	46	47	*	55	62
			230	205	207	191	210	274

Numbers are up by 25 members from the previous year. Categories are no longer counted, according to Executive Director Gerry Egan:

"NEFA Bylaws only describe two types of members: Regular Members and Services Members.

“Participation, our primary measurement, is up significantly in all regards.

 Regular Members            122
 Services Members           108
 Total                              230

"In coming years, member types themselves may likely change significantly and, in fact, could become almost irrelevant.

"Following a year-long strategic assessment and planning process, we’re focusing less and less on the older association marketplace model and will continue to evolve more into a networking community, educational resource and professional development platform for people regardless of what role they play in the business."

The Equipment Financing and Leasing Foundation does not have members. It does have a board of directors as well as contributors but is not “membership organization.” It is under the wing of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association. It is supported by donations.

Arizona Equipment Leasing Association at one time had an estimated 25 members. No official count is available at this time. The group is active. They get together for social and business meetings during the year, even invite speakers.

 The Small Business Finance Association has 16 members, primarily alternate finance. The SBFA may be more of a lobbying group than
follow objectives of a “regular” association.

Members to Date:
http://www.sbfassociation.org/category/our-members/

(1) 2009 Leasing News Person of the Year
           Ralph Petta
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2010/1_05.htm#poy 

 

 

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Leasing Industry Ads---Help Wanted
Ascentium/Financial Pacific Commercial

 

Credit Analyst Your Choice, Locate in Either Office: Anaheim,CA; Federal Way, WA; Tigard, OR  $150K -$500k equipment leases, financing (recourse/non-recourse lines of credit)  Requires five or more years of credit underwriting. Work with third party originators, brokers, as well as clients & vendors of Umpqua Bank  Please click here for more information. www.finpac.com A subsidiary of Umpqua Bank

Cost Logo on top is free, as well as the web address and information about the address at the bottom. Lines are $595 for the first four and $40 for each additional line or space. The ad will appear for 21 days. For returning advertisers during the year, Leasing News offers 30 days and a reduced rate. Note: most ads point to a full job description as well as click to an email address. kitmenkin@leasingnews.org Leasing News puts a "help wanted" on top of the "masthead" so it is the first thing that a reader sees when they open the news edition or go to the website. The ad is changed in each news edition. It is designed to be a "display ad," not a "classified ad." In addition to the masthead position, the "help wanted" ad also appears in the "news briefs" section, the second most-read section, and it is rotated in each news edition. It is not hidden. It is clearly visible. The full section of "help wanted ads” also appears in each news edition, in each edition, as well as appears on the web site. It also is not “hidden.” The idea of the ad is to draw attention, and have the reader interested in what the company offers from the advertisement rather than a "job description." Most ads then direct the reader to their website for a full job description, if interested, or to a separate flyer. The main idea is to get the reader to make an inquiry

 

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“What is Career Branding?”
Career Crossroad---By Emily Fitzpatrick/RII

Career branding is about your professional identity and your career path (how you will be perceived now AND in the future).  It encompasses BOTH offline and online perceptions and is evident in your resume, media posts or profiles, (e.g. LinkedIn, Tweets), speaking engagements, etc.…   If you are interested in putting yourself in the driver’s seat of your career - you have the ability to shape and identify your personal brand.

Some sample steps to take:  First, take some time and thought (brainstorm) to determine your accomplishments, previous and future training, projects you have enjoyed, your ideal position and employer, etc.  Secondly, find out what others say about you by requesting references / referrals.  Additional steps can be provided by requesting via email.

Some questions to assist in developing your professional brand            

• What does your current employer praise you for?
• Do you have quotas or goals in your current position; are you able to meet or exceed them?
• What are you most proud of?    
• What would your co-workers say about you?
• How do/did you take initiative in your position?
• What special projects have you worked on?
• Have you saved your employer money?

• What workshops/seminars have you attended?
• Have you achieved any new certifications?
• What are your top achievements?
• What role do you play in helping co-workers and/or clients achieve the results they are seeking?

Sample resources:

• Performance evaluations
• Client appreciation letters
• Recommendations
• Letters of commendation from colleagues and supervisors

If you are concerned about shaping your career path from this point forward, it is feasible.  You may have to deal with some previous negative situations (e.g. a firing), however, you can put a positive spin on your brand. 
For more advice, feel free to contact us at info@riirecruit.com.

Emily Fitzpatrick
Sr. Recruiter
Recruiters International, Inc.
Phone:  954-885-9241
Cell:  954-612-0567
emily@riirecruit.com
Invite me to Connect on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-fitzpatrick/4/671/76
Also follow us on Twitter #RIIINFO

 

Career Crossroads Previous Columns
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/crossroad.html

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Leasing News Advisor
Ken Greene, Attorney


Ken Greene
Law Offices of Kenneth Charles Greene
5743 Corsa Avenue Suite 208
Westlake Village, California 91362
Tel: 818.575.9095
Fax: 805.435.7464
Skype: 424.235.1658
ken@kengreenelaw.com kenlaw100@gmail.com

Ken is an attorney and has his own law firm, the Law Offices of Kenneth Charles Greene. He is also General Counsel to Ancient Films, Inc., a film production company.

Ken was involved in the formation of Leasing News and represented it (pro bono) in the early days. Ken is currently based in Southern California. His equipment finance and litigation practice has been broadened to include entertainment law, based on his love for music as well his past life as a professional musician. He has also moved into production and is working with filmmakers, writers and other artists.

Ken began his leasing career with BankAmerilease in 1981. He has been a partner in several law firms (including Ross & Ivanjack, one of the first law firms in the country devoted exclusively to the equipment finance industry).

He served as corporate counsel to a leasing company and a real estate development company. He was a partner in a major Universal City law firm before opening his own firm in Westlake Village, CA in 2013. The new firm continues representation of equipment finance companies, including lessors and brokers, in litigation, bankruptcy and transactions. He also represents small businesses and individuals in litigation, bankruptcy, transactions, contract, and corporate matters, as well as entities and individuals in the entertainment industry.

Ken has been associated with the American Bankruptcy Institute, California Bankruptcy Forum, Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors (“EAEL”), Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (“ELFA”—formerly the Equipment Leasing Association), and National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) (formerly NAEL, UAEL, and, once upon a time, WAEL).

He has served on the Board of Directors of that association and has been its Legal Committee Chairman, Legal Line Editor, Regional Committee Chair, and Conference Chairman. He is currently a member of the NAELB (“National Association of Equipment Lease Brokers”) and has spoken at conference panels the last two years.

Ken serves on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County and previously served on The Mountain Play Association in Marin County, California. In 2012, he worked with the musical director of the United Nations to produce a concert to save the rain forests. He has been active in musical theater at the school and community levels. He is a member of Provisors and AllCities, both networking groups in Southern California.
Ken received his B. A, at Brandeis University, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, graduating cum laude. He received his J.D. at Santa Clara University in 1980, also graduating cum laude.

Mr. Greene has been a frequent writer and lecturer on matters of leasing law and other related legal issues. He is an acknowledged contributor on bankruptcy issues to Miller & Starr, California Real Estate 2d (Bancroft Whitney). He has lectured on leasing law and documentation, litigation and collection matters, and has produced and presented seminars to leasing companies on enhancing the attorney-client relationship. He has also taught nationally for Euromoney Lease Training. Ken’s passions, besides music, include travel, yoga, cooking, hiking, camping, boxing, surfing, golf, the Yankees, cigars, wine, and more. He lives in Westlake Village with his wife Barbara, their son Alex, who graduated Cal Lutheran last year, and, on occasion, their beautiful daughter Gigi, who graduated UC Irvine last spring. Both Alex and Gigi are aspiring actors. In addition, Alex has a computer repair business (“The PC Whisperer”) and Gigi has a photography business (PhotoGGraphy). Ken is the keyboard player in the LA rock and roll band “The Locksmiths” and also plays and records with other local artists.

Second Circuit Holds that Assignee of National Bank
Does Not Have Protection Against Usury
By Tom McCurnin
Leasing News Legal Editor

Creditor Which Purchased Credit Card Debt From National Bank
Could Not Use Bank’s Exemption.  Case Has Broad Impact for Securitization and the Secondary Markets.  Case is Appealed to the Supreme Court

Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC, 786 F.3d 246 (2d Cir. 2015).

I’ve always thought that usury is determined at the outset of the credit agreement, and subsequent assignments of the obligation do not affect its character. For example, if a National Bank originated a pay day loan, that loan would be exempt. And, if the pay day loan was assigned to a non-exempt lender, § 85 of the National Bank Act would make the loan exempt. In other words, the exemption follows the loan. This has been true in simple assignments and securitizations as long as I can remember. Well, things have changed, at least in New York.

The United States 2nd Court of Appeals has ruled that a credit card debt purchaser could not charge interest in excess of the legal rate, even though Bank of America was the original creditor which assigned the obligation to the creditor. This case has implications for lenders in pay day loans, secondary debt purchasers, and even securitizations. I’m a little flummoxed by the decision. The facts follow. 

In 2005, Saliha Madden signed up for a Bank of America credit card and promptly charged up the credit card limit to $5,000. The applicable interest rate was 27% which is legal for a National Bank to charge in New York.

The Bank sold the debt to Midland Funding which continued to charge Madden the 27% interest rate. Midland is not a national bank. In 2009, Madden filed suit against Midland as a class action for violations of the FDCPA and usury. The usury cap in New York is 25%.

Midland filed a summary judgment, generally arguing that the National Bank Act allows assignees of debts to rely upon the assignor’s exempt status.  Madden argued that the exemption should only follow the loan assignment where the national bank retains some interest in the loan. 

The trial court agreed with Midland, and entered judgment for the Defendants. Defendant appealed.

On appeal, the 2nd Circuit held that in order for the assignee to claim the national bank’s exempt status, the bank must retain a portion of the loan, because the purpose of the National Bank Act is to protect national banks from intrusive regulation by the states. When the entire obligation is purchased the National Bank Act may not be used to shield non-banks.

The Structured Finance Industry filed an amicus curiae brief vigorously arguing that this decision spells doom for the secondary markets. Every assignee would have to have its own exemption, either by license or otherwise. The 2nd Circuit refused to re-hear the matter, so this decision, is at least for now, final. Midland has a filed an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. 

What are the takeaways here?

•  First, The National Bank Exemption is No Longer Applicable for Non-Banks Within New York, Vermont and Connecticut. If readers purchase paper or other loans from national banks, they can no longer rely upon the exempt status of the national bank assignor. This is may impact the purchase of obligations on the secondary market, such as student loans, credit card debt and pay day loans. 

•  Second, For Banks, This Makes Selling Bad Loans Less Attractive. Because secondary purchasers of bank assets may not rely upon the “valid when made” doctrine, the value of those assets on the open market is now severely diminished. 

•  Third, There is a Conflict Amongst the Circuits. I was surprised that the court did not discuss long standing authority from other circuits that the character of a loan is measured upon creation, not assignment. Quite frankly, I think the court missed the mark on this issue. 

•  Fourth,  Creditors Need to Be Licensed. I know I am a big proponent of being licensed by the applicable State (in my case, California), but many such licensed provide lenders a clear exemption for any interest rate. Each purchaser of bank assets will have to have its own stand-alone exemption

The bottom line is that this decision is a disaster for lenders, banks, and purchasers of bank assets in the secondary market. The creditor has appealed to the United States Supreme Court in a well drafted Petition. We probably won’t hear from the Supreme Court whether it will actually hear the case until its next session in February. 

Post script: The usury law in most states voids interest not the underlying principal of the loan. The creditor is always entitled to its principal back.  The borrower may, under certain circumstances, obtain a claw-back of some of the interestthe borrower paid.

Madden Case
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/Madden2016.pdf

Madden Petition
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/MaddenPetition2016.pdf

Tom McCurnin is a partner at Barton, Klugman & Oetting
in Los Angeles, California.

Tom McCurnin
Barton, Klugman & Oetting
350 South Grand Ave.
Suite 2200
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Direct Phone: (213) 617-6129
Cell (213) 268-8291
Email: tmccurnin@bkolaw.com
Visit our web site at www.bkolaw.com
Previous Tom McCurnin Articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org

Previous Tom McCurnin Articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/leasing_cases.html

 

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News Briefs---

Big U.S. banks rolling out ATMs that take smartphones, not cards
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cutting-edge-cardless-atms-20160130-story.html

The State Of P2P Lending
 Will Trend Continue in 2015 or bust?
http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/30/the-state-of-p2p-lending/

The Top 10 (or 11) Bitcoin Friendly Cities
  San Francisco/San Jose Number One
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/top-10-11-bitcoin-friendly-cities/

List of FinTech Conferences 2016
https://www.fintechweekly.com/fintech-conferences

Making Peer-to-Peer Lending More Attractive
  Using ISA Savings Account
https://magazine.fintechweekly.com/articles/innovative-finance-ISA-2016-an-overview

India needs $1 trillion for new roads, ports, airports: Nitin Gadkari
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/india-needs-1-trillion-for-new-roads-ports-airports-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/50793065.cms

 

 

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Report identity theft and get a personal recovery plan
at IdentityTheft.gov
http://www.onguardonline.gov/blog/report-identity-theft-and-get-personal-recovery-plan-identitytheftgov?utm_source=govdelivery

[headlines]
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SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

Controlling Your Weight Just Got Easier with
SparkPeople Mobile's Newest Update!
http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?
post=controlling

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

Football Poem

Some time...when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys - tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then...but I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.”

spoken by Pat O'Brien about George Gipp, played by Ronald Reagan 
                                                 Knute Rockne--All American (1940)

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

Sports Briefs----

Free events to pop up all around the Bay Area during Super Bowl week
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/free-events-super-bowl-week-San-Francisco-6785405.php

In California, a Super Bowl kickoff with Cabernet
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/super-bowl-50-wine-panthers-broncos-california-levis-stadium-charles-woodson/

Raiders in Las Vegas? NFL says don't bet on it
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_29454409/nfl-would-look-at-possible-raiders-move-las

Chip Kelly assembles feeble cast of 49ers assistants
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/5154093-181/grant-cohn-chip-kelly-assembles

 

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for appraisals and equipment valuations provided by Ed Castagna

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

California Nuts Briefs---

15 surprising SF Bay Area facts that sound like urban legends
http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/northern-california-bay-area-urban-legend-myth-6565261.php

 

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for investigative
reporting provided by John Kenny) 

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

“Gimme that Wine”

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

Millennials Drink More Wine Than Any Generation, Study Confirms
http://www.details.com/story/millennials-drink-more-wine-than-any-other-generation-study

How to pair wine with your favorite Girl Scout cookies
http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-wine-girl-scout-cookies-20160128-story.html

Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

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

    1788 – The Georgia legislature awarded Augusta inventor William Longstreet and his associate Isaac Briggs a patent for a steam engine, the first U.S. steamboat patent.
    1790 - The Supreme Court of the United States met for the first time in New York City with Chief Justice John Jay presiding.
    1859 - Considered one of America's greatest composers, Victor Herbert, was born in Dublin, Ireland.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb01.html
    1860 - The first Rabbi to open the House of Representatives with prayer was Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall, rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jeshurn, New York City, who delivered the invocation at the first session of the 36th Congress.
    1860 - Decree from Norton I, Emperor of the United States & Protector of Mexico, orders representatives of the different states to assemble at Platt's Music Hall in San Francisco to change laws to ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring.
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html
http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nort.html
    1861 - Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America.
    1862 – “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written by Julia Ward Howe, was first published in the Atlantic Monthly. The song's music was inspired by the song "John Brown's Body." Howe just wrote new words for the existing music.
    1865 - President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolishing slavery: "1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." The amendment had been proposed by the Congress Jan 31, 1865; ratification was completed Dec 6, 1865.
    1865 - The first African-American lawyer admitted to practice before the Supreme Court was John S. Rock.  His admittance was moved by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. Chief Justice Salmon Portland Chase presided. It would be the last triumphant act in a life overflowing with achievement, for Rock died suddenly on December 3, 1866. He was interred at the Twelfth Baptist Church and buried with full Masonic honors at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, MA.
http://www.nps.gov/boaf/johnsrock.htm
http://www.state.nj.us/state/history/rock.html
    1878 - Hattie Wyatt Caraway (d. 1950) was born at Bakersville, TN.  She became a US senator from Arkansas when her husband died in 1931 and she was appointed to fill out his term. The following year, she ran for the seat herself and became the first woman elected to the US Senate. She served 14 years there, becoming an adept and tireless legislator (once introducing 43 bills on the same day) who worked for women's rights (once co-sponsoring an equal rights amendment), supported New Deal policies as well as Prohibition and opposed the increasing influence of lobbyists.
    1887 - Harvey Wilcox subdivided 120 acres he owned in Southern California and started selling it off as a real estate development.  He and his wife owned a ranch west of LA that they founded together.  It was in an agricultural area of fig and apricot orchards. Harvey tried his hand at raising fruit, but failed and decided to subdivide the land, selling lots for $1,000 each. His wife named the tract "Hollywood." On February 1, 1887, Harvey filed a plat of the subdivision with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office. He would also develop residential property, "The University Tract," surrounding the newly built University of Southern California in 1887.
    1893 - The first moving picture studio was built at Thomas Edison's laboratory compound at West Orange, NJ, at a cost of less than $700. The wooden structure of irregular oblong shape was covered with black tar paper. It had a sharply sloping roof hinged at one edge so that half of it could be raised to admit sunlight. Fifty feet in length, it was mounted on a pivot enabling it to be swung around to follow the changing position of the sun. There was a stage draped in black at one end of the room. Though the structure was officially called a Kinetographic Theater, it was nicknamed the "Black Maria" because it resembled an old-fashioned police wagon.
    1894 - Birthday of rag time pianist/composer James P. Johnson (d. 1955), New Brunswick, NJ.
http://blackhistory.eb.com/micro/727/42.html
http://www.jazzradio.org/jpjohnsn.htm
http://www.jass.com/jamesp.html
    1895 - Film director John Ford (d. 1973) was born at Cape Elizabeth, ME, as Sean Aloysius O'Feeney.  He changed his name after moving to Hollywood. Ford won his first Academy Award in 1935 for “The Informer.” Among his many other films: “Stagecoach,” “Young Mr. Lincoln,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “How Green Was My Valley,” “Rio Grande,” “What Price Glory?” and “Mister Roberts.” During World War II, he served as chief of the Field Photographic Branch of the OSS. Two documentaries made during the war earned him Academy Awards.
    1898 - Travelers Insurance Company issued the first car insurance against accidents with horses.
    1901 - Actor Clark Gable (d. 1960) was born at Cadiz, OH. His first film was “The Painted Desert” in 1931, when talking films were replacing silent films. He won an Academy Award for his role in the comedy “It Happened One Night,” which established him as a romantic screen idol. Other films included “China Seas,” “Mutiny on the Bounty,” “Saratoga,” “Run Silent Run Deep” and “Gone with the Wind,” for which his casting as Rhett Butler seemed a foregone conclusion due to his popularity as the acknowledged "King of Movies." Gable died Nov 16, 1960, at Hollywood, CA, shortly after completing his last film, Arthur Miller's “The Misfits,” in which he starred with Marilyn Monroe.
    1902 - Birthday of Langston Hughes (d. 1967) at Joplin, MO.  African American poet and author.  Among his works are the poetry collection “Montage of a Dream Deferred,” plays, a novel and short stories.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load
Or does it just explode?
— Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred"
(lower part of http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb01.html )
    1906 - First federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth KS. The penitentiary is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, housing more than 2,200 inmates.  Famous inmates over the years included Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and Robert Stroud – the famous “Birdman of Alcatraz.”  Actually, Stroud's bird work began at Leavenworth, where he served 28 years before being transferred to Alcatraz. The Immanuel Church, located on the grounds, was made famous in Ripley's Believe it or Not as the only church in which Protestant and Catholic services were conducted simultaneously.
http://www.lvarea.com/data/usp_info.htm
http://www.lvarea.com/data/usp_info.htm#USP%2
0Background%20Information
http://www.leavenworthdirectory.com/leavenworth.htm
    1911 - Thomas Jennings was found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder of Clarence B. Hiller. He was convicted because of his fingerprints and is the first to be found guilty on the basis of fingerprint evidence. The Illinois Supreme Court rule that fingerprints were admissible evidence.  Hiller was hanged for his crime.
    1913 – Jim Thorpe signed with the New York Giants in the National League.  Thorpe was a steadily improving ballplayer over six major league seasons, hitting .327 in his last year.  He disagreed with Manager John McGraw's assessment of him and was sold to the Cincinnati Reds in 1917. He was later that year returned to the Giants and appeared briefly in the 1917 World Series.  Thorpe's most famous baseball feat was driving in the only run in the famous Hippo Vaughn and Fred Toney double no-hitter in 1917.
    1914 - New York Giants and Chicago White Sox played an exhibition baseball game in Egypt, a 3-3 tie.
    1916 - The Battle of Verdun ends with the French and Germans each having suffered more than 330,000 killed and wounded in 10 months. It was the longest engagement of World War I. 
    1919 - The first Miss America was crowned in New York City. The winner, Edith Hyde, was found by a New York Times reporter not to be a Miss. She was a "Mrs." named Mrs. Tod Robbins, a divorced mother of two children.
http://www.greatreporter.com/content/first-real-miss-america
    1920 - The North West Mounted Police ("The Mounties") became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
    1922 - Birthday of Renata Tebaldi (d. 2004) in Pesaro, Italy.  Operatic soprano whose rich, sumptuous voice made her the operatic star at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and LaScala in the 1950s and 60s. She was also known for her acting ability. In 1946, along with Arturo Toscanini, she performed at the reopening concert of La Scala, which had been closed during World War II.    Her great roles included Giacomo Puccini's Mimi (“La Boh è me”) and “Tosca,” Giuseppe Verdi's Desdemona (“Otello”) and “Aida,” and Umberto Giordano's Madeleine (“Andrea Ch é nier”).
    1926 – The Yankees sold 1B Wally Pipp to the Cincinnati Reds.  In 1925, Pipp sat out of the Yankees lineup in June, resulting in his permanent replacement by Lou Gehrig.
    1934 - Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio was born Robert Castle Schoen in Hilo, Hawaii. The trio was credited with starting the folk craze of the late 1950's and early '60s with their hit recording of "Tom Dooley" in 1958. The Kingston Trio had a clean-cut collegiate image which helped them win acceptance among the trendy college crowd. The trio broke up in 1968.  Shane is the sole survivor of the group.
    1935 - James T. Farrell finishes his Studs Lonigan trilogy, “Judgment Day.”
    1937 - Phil Everly was born in Brownie, Kentucky. Together with his brother Don, the Everly Brothers made some of the most exciting pop records of the late 1950’s. The brothers came from a country music family and their parents took them to Nashville in 1956 to meet Chet Atkins. A year later, the Everly Brothers had their first hit, “Bye Bye Love”.  They were rarely absent from the charts for the next five years. “Wake Up Little Susie”, “Bird Dog” and “Cathy’s Clown” were among their hits. The relationship between the two brothers began to deteriorate about 1963, although they continued to perform together for another decade. The Everly Brothers got together again in the 1980’s. They began touring with Simon and Garfunkle, who originally wanted to sound exactly like them.  They were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
    1938 – Sherman Hemsley (d. 2012), TV’s George Jefferson in “The Jeffersons,” was born in Philadelphia.  The show ran 11 seasons through 1985 and one of Norman Lear’s most successful.
    1939 - On Victor Records, Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded "And the Angels Sing". The vocalist for that song went on to find fame at Capitol Records, Martha Tilton.
    1939 - Birthday of jazz pianist Joe Sample (d. 2014), Houston, TX.  Co-founder of the Crusaders. 
    1940 - For his first recording session, held in Chicago, Illinois, with the Tommy Dorsey Band, Frank Sinatra sang "Too Romantic" and "The Sky Fell Down". Sinatra replaced Jack Leonard as the band's lead singer.
    1941 - "Downbeat" magazine reported Glenn Miller had signed a new three-year contract with RCA Victor Records, guaranteeing him $750 a side, the largest record contract signed to that date.
    1941 - Defended by 610 fighting men, the American-held island of Guam falls to more than 5,000 Japanese invaders in a three-hour battle. 
    1942 – Not quite two months after Pearl Harbor, the Navy conducted Marshall-Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific.  The raids were carried out by two separate U.S. carrier task forces, Yorktown and Enterprise. The Yorktown aircraft inflicted moderate damage to the Japanese naval installations on the islands and destroyed three aircraft. Seven Yorktown aircraft were lost, as well as a floatplane.  Aircraft from the carrier Enterprise inflicted light to moderate damage on the three islands' naval garrisons, sank three small warships and damaged several others, including a cruiser and destroyed 15 Japanese aircraft.  The raids had little long-term strategic impact. But did however, did help lift the morale of the U.S. Navy and American public. The raids also provided valuable experience in carrier air operations, which hardened the U.S. carrier groups for future combat against Japanese forces.
    1942 – Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the US, began broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers.
    1944 - Top Hits
My Heart Tells Me - The Glen Gray Orchestra (vocal: Eugenie Baird)
Shoo, Shoo, Baby - The Andrews Sisters
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen
Pistol Packin' Mama - Al Dexter
    1945 - US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie, a major defense of the Nazi regime.
http://mohaa.com/forum/viewtopic.ph http://copernicus.subdomain.de/Siegfried_Line p?p=117338&sid=d4b2df326cdcad65d492d560b41a5cc6
    1949 - Louis B. Mayer, of Metro Goldwin Mayer (MGM), became a millionaire all over again when he sold his racehorse breeding farm for one-million dollars.
    1949 - RCA Victor introduced the 45 rpm record. It was designed as a rival to Columbia's 33 1/3 rpm long-playing disc, introduced the previous year. The two systems directly competed with each other to replace 78 rpm records, bewildering consumers and causing a drop in record sales.
By the end of 1949, all the major companies, except RCA, had committed themselves to the LP record, seemingly putting an end to the 45. Even RCA itself announced it would issue its classical library on 33 1/3 rpm discs. But RCA was not ready to admit the demise of the 45 rpm record. The company spent $5-million publicizing 45 rpm as the preferred speed for popular music. The campaign worked. Buyers of non-classical records turned increasingly to the 45 rpm record, so that by 1954, more than 200-million of them had been sold. And all the major companies now were producing both 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records.
    1951 - New Mexico state record low temperature, -50ºF (-46ºC), Gavilan.
    1951 - The greatest ice storm of record in the U.S. produced glaze up to four inches thick from Texas to Pennsylvania causing twenty-five deaths, 500 serious injuries, and 100 million dollars damage. Tennessee was hardest hit by the storm. Communications and utilities were interrupted for a week to ten days.
   1951 - The temperature at Taylor Park Dam plunged to 60 degrees below zero, a record for the state of Colorado.
    1952 - Top Hits
Slowpoke - Pee Wee King
Cry - Johnnie Ray
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Give Me More, More, More (Of Your Kisses) - Lefty Frizzell
    1953 - "Private Secretary" debuted on CBS-TV starring Ann Sothern as Susie McNamara, the private secretary to New York talent agent, Peter Sands played by Don Porter. With its last show airing on September 10, 1957, the show ran on CBS during the regular television seasons and ran on NBC-TV in the summers of 1953 and 1954.
    1953 - "You Are There" premiered on Television. The program began as an inventive radio show in 1947. News correspondents would comb the annals of history and "interview" the movers and shakers of times past. Walter Cronkite hosted the series on CBS for four seasons. The show's concept was revived for a season in 1971 with Cronkite gearing the program toward children.
    1953 – “General Electric Theater” premiered on TV. CBS's half-hour dramatic anthology series was hosted by Ronald Reagan (in between his movie and political careers). Making their television debuts were Joseph Cotten (1954); Fred MacMurray, James Stewart and Myrna Loy (1955); Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Tony Curtis and Fred Astaire (1957); Sammy Davis, Jr (1958); and Gene Tierney (1960). Other memorable stars who appeared on the series include: Joan Crawford, Harry Belafonte, Rosalind Russell, Ernie Kovacs, the Marx Brothers and Nancy Davis Reagan, who starred with her husband in the premonitory episode titled "A Turkey for the President" (1958).
    1954 - On CBS-TV, "The Secret Storm," TV’s first soap opera, was shown for the first day of a 20-year run.
    1954 - Backed by his Jazz ensemble, Big Joe Turner records the original version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll". The tune will top the Billboard R&B chart next June, but did not cross over to the Pop chart. Some of the original lyrics, that would have been considered highly sexual at the time, were changed when Bill Haley recorded the song five months later. 
    1955 - Elvis Presley records, "Baby, Let's Play House"
    1956 - Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Montgomery Improvement Association files suit in federal court against Alabama for segregation of buses.
    1957 - Birthday of Donna Adamek, known as "Mighty Mite", Duarte, CA.  She dominated women's professional bowling from 1978 through 1981.
She was Woman Bowler of the Year each year and, in that four-year period, she won the Women's Open in 1978 and 1981, the WIBC Queens in 1979 and 1980, and the WPBA National Championship in 1980. Adamek led the WPBA tour in winnings for three consecutive years, 1978 through 1980.
During the 1981-82 season, she rolled three perfect 300 games.  The compiler of WOAH whose highest average was 194 (287 game) remembers when ONE 300 GAME was memorable before the change in bowling ball construction and the way bowling lanes are dressed.
    1957 - 20-year-old Don Everly and his 2-year-younger brother Phil sign a recording contract with Cadence Records. During their career, The Everly Brothers will have 35 Billboard Hot 100 singles. 
    1958 - Elvis Presley records: "My Wish Came True," "Doncha' Think It's Time," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck."
    1960 - Greensboro Sit-In. Commercial discrimination against blacks and other minorities provoked a nonviolent protest. At Greensboro, NC, four students from the Agricultural and Technical College (Ezell Blair, Jr, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeill and David Richmond) sat down at a Woolworth's store lunch counter and ordered coffee. Refused service, they remained all day. Over the following days, similar sit-ins took place at the Woolworth's' lunch counter. Before the week was over, they were joined by a few white students. The protest spread rapidly, especially in southern states. More than 1,600 people were arrested before the year was over for participating in sit-ins. Civil rights for all became a cause for thousands of students and activists. In response, equal accommodation regardless of race, became the rule at lunch counters, hotels and business establishments in thousands of places.
http://www.greensboro.com/sitins/media_headlines.htm
    1960 - Top Hits
“Running Bear” - Johnny Preston
“Teen Angel” - Mark Dinning
“Where or When” - Dion & The Belmonts
“El Paso” - Marty Robbins
    1962 - Ken Kesey's “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” is published.
http://wild-bohemian.com/kesey.htm
    1963 - Paul Simon graduates from New York City's Queens College.
    1964 - "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It stayed there for seven weeks.
    1964 - The Beatles' "Please Please Me" enters the pop charts
    1964 - The governor of Indiana declared "Louie, Louie" pornographic. The song was about seven years old when the Kingsmen recorded their version in 1963, and the fantastic legend that grew up in its wake--a legend that even an FCC investigation couldn't kill--seems to have sprung solely from their extraordinary lack of elocution. Richard Berry, its composer, who spoke on the subject a while back to a Los Angeles interviewer named Bill Reed, explains the song as the lament of a seafaring man, spoken to a sympathetic bartender named Louie. Here, without further ado, are the "official" published lyrics:
"Louie Louie, me gotta go. Louie Louie, me gotta go. A fine little girl, she wait for me. Me catch the ship across the sea. I sailed the ship all alone. I never think I'll make it home. Louie Louie, me gotta go . Three nights and days we sailed the sea. Me think of girl constantly. On the ship, I dream she there. I smell the rose in her hair. Louie Louie, me gotta go. Me see Jamaican moon above. It won't be long me see me love. Me take her in my arms and then I tell her I never leave again. Louie Louie, me gotta go." (By Richard Berry. Copyright 1957-1963 by Limax Music Inc.)
    1965 - At the Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina, James Brown records "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", which will reach #8 on the Billboard Pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart the following August and later win a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. 
    1966 - The first African-American Navy captain was Thomas David Parham, Jr., of Newport News, VA, a Presbyterian chaplain, whose rank was raised from commander to captain.
    1966 - Bill Graham resigns as business manager of the San Francisco Mime Troupe in order to devote himself full-time to the business of acid rock concert promotion, initially at the Fillmore Auditorium.
    1966 - Birthday of soccer great Michelle Akers, Santa Clara, CA.
    1967 - The American Basketball Association (ABA) was born with 11 teams and George Mikan as commissioner in its first season. The original teams:  Anaheim Amigos, Dallas Chaparrals, Houston Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Kansas City which quickly became the Denver Larks, Kentucky Colonels, Minnesota Muskies, New Orleans Buccaneers, New York Americans, Pittsburgh Pipers, San Diego Conquistadors, Oakland Oaks.  The ABA distinguished itself from its older counterpart with a more wide-open, flashy style of offensive play, as well as differences in rules—a 30-second shot clock (as opposed to the NBA's 24-second clock, though the ABA did switch to the 24 second shot clock for the 1975–76 season) and use of a 3-point field goal arc. Also, the ABA used a colorful red, white and blue ball, instead of the NBA's traditional orange ball. The ABA lasted nine years before four teams, the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, the New York Nets and the San Antonio Spurs, were absorbed into the NBA.
    1967 - The Beatles record "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
    1968 - DIX, DREW DENNIS, Medal of Honor
Rank and Organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, U.S. Senior Advisor Group, IV Corps, Military Assistance Command. Place and date: Chau Doc Province, Republic of Vietnam, 31 January and 1 February 1968. Entered service at: Denver, Colo. Born: 14 December 1944, West Point, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Dix distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while serving as a unit adviser. Two heavily armed Viet Cong battalions attacked the Province capital city of Chau Phu resulting in the complete breakdown and fragmentation of the defenses of the city. S/Sgt. Dix, with a patrol of Vietnamese soldiers, was recalled to assist in the defense of Chau Phu. Learning that a nurse was trapped in a house near the center of the city, S/Sgt. Dix organized a relief force, successfully rescued the nurse, and returned her to the safety of the Tactical Operations Center. Being informed of other trapped civilians within the city, S/Sgt. Dix voluntarily led another force to rescue 8 civilian employees located in a building which was under heavy mortar and small-arms fire. S/Sgt. Dix then returned to the center of the city. Upon approaching a building, he was subjected to intense automatic rifle and machine gun fire from an unknown number of Viet Cong. He personally assaulted the building, killing 6 Viet Cong, and rescuing 2 Filipinos. The following day S/Sgt. Dix, still on his own volition, assembled a 20-man force and though under intense enemy fire cleared the Viet Cong out of the hotel, theater, and other adjacent buildings within the city. During this portion of the attack, Army Republic of Vietnam soldiers inspired by the heroism and success of S/Sgt. Dix, rallied and commenced firing upon the Viet Cong. S/Sgt. Dix captured 20 prisoners, including a high ranking Viet Cong official. He then attacked enemy troops who had entered the residence of the Deputy Province Chief and was successful in rescuing the official's wife and children. S/Sgt. Dix's personal heroic actions resulted in 14 confirmed Viet Cong killed in action and possibly 25 more, the capture of 20 prisoners, 15 weapons, and the rescue of the 14 United States and free world civilians. The heroism of S/Sgt. Dix was in the highest tradition and reflects great credit upon the U.S. Army. 
    1968 - Top Hits
“Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” - John Fred & His Playboy Band
“Chain of Fools” - Aretha Franklin
“Green Tambourine” - The Lemon Pipers
“Sing Me Back Home” - Merle Haggard
    1968 - Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi resigned after nine seasons, five NFL titles and victories in the first two Super Bowls. Oddly enough, Green Bay's founding coach, Curly Lambeau, resigned on the same day in 1950 after 29 years on the job.
    1968 - Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, was born in Memphis. Elvis and his wife, Priscilla, were married in Las Vegas the previous May. They were divorced in 1973.
    1968 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, at the Fillmore Auditorium.
    1968 – The New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads merged to form Penn Central Transportation.  In 1970, bankruptcy forced Penn Central into the hands of the federal government which formed Conrail as a result.
    1969 - Tommy Roe's "Dizzy" enters the pop charts
    1969 - Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" hits #1.
    1970 - Timothy Leary sentenced to 10 years for Texas/Mex marijuana bust.
    1971 - The “Love Story” soundtrack album is certified gold.
    1974 - “Good Times” premiered on TV. A CBS spin-off from "Maude," which was a spin-off of "All in the Family." "Good Times" featured an African American family living in the housing projects of Chicago. The series portrayed the Evans family's struggles to improve their lot. The cast featured Esther Rolle and John Amos as Florida and James Evans, Jimmie Walker as son J.J., Bernadette Stannis as daughter Thelma, Ralph Carter as son Michael, Johnny Brown as janitor Mr. Bookman, Ja'Net DuBois as neighbor Willona Woods, Janet Jackson as Willona's adopted daughter Penny and Ben Powers as Thelma's husband, Keith Anderson.
    1975 - Neil Sedaka's "Laughter in the Rain" hits #1.
    1976 - Top Hits
“Love Rollercoaster” - Ohio Players
“Love to Love You Baby” - Donna Summer
“You Sexy Thing” - Hot Chocolate
“This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me” - Conway Twitty
    1978 - The first postage stamp depicting an African-American woman was issued. It showed the likeness of Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave and abolitionist who led more than 300 slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.
    1978 - Bob Dylan's film "Renaldo and Clara," a documentary of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour mixed with surrealistic fantasy sequences, premieres in Los Angeles.
    1979 - Patty Hearst released from jail.
    1979 - Blondie's "Heart of Glass" is certified Platinum in the UK, where it tops the Pop chart. The song will also rise to number one in the US the following April.
    1982 - "Late Night with David Letterman” premiered.  This is when it all began: the stupid pet tricks, stupid human tricks and the legendary top ten lists. "Late Night" premiered on NBC as a talk/variety show appearing after "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Host David Letterman was known for his irreverent sense of humor and daffy antics. The offbeat show attained cult status among college crowds and insomniacs, as many tuned in to see a Velcro-suited Letterman throw himself against a wall. The show also featured bandleader-sidekick Paul Shaffer, writer Chris Elliott and Calvert DeForest as geezer Larry "Bud" Melman. In 1993, Letterman made a highly publicized exit from NBC and began hosting "The Late Show" on CBS.
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800122204&cf=biog&intl=us
http://199.173.162.18/lateshow/topten/archive/
    1983 - Air Supply's third album, "Now and Forever" is certified Platinum. 
    1984 - Top Hits
“Owner of a Lonely Heart” - Yes
“Karma Chameleon” - Culture Club
“Talking in Your Sleep” - The Romantics
“The Sound of Goodbye” - Crystal Gayle
    1985 - Utah state record low temperature, -69ºF (-56ºC), Peter's Sink.
    1985 - Snow, sleet and ice glazed southern Tennessee and northern sections of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The winter storm produced up to eleven inches of sleet and ice in Lauderdale County, AL, one of the worst storms of record for the state. All streets in Florence, AL were closed for the first time of record
    1987 - Terry Williams from Los Gatos, California, won the largest slot machine payoff, to that time, pocketing $4.9 million after getting four lucky 7s on a machine in Reno, Nevada.
    1988 - Thirty cities in the eastern U.S. reported new record high temperatures for the date, including Richmond, VA with a reading of 73 degrees. Thunderstorms in southern Louisiana deluged Basile with 12.34 inches of rain. Arctic cold gripped the north central U.S. Wolf Point, MT reported a low of 32 degrees below zero
    1988 - The Cars, who had placed 15 songs on the Hot 100 between 1978 and 1987, announce their break up. 
    1989 - While arctic cold continued to invade the central U.S., fifty- four cities in the south central and eastern U.S. reported new record high temperatures for the date. Russell, KS, the hot spot in the nation with a high of 84 degrees the previous day, reported a morning low of 12 above. Tioga, ND reported a wind chill reading of 90 degrees below zero
    1989 - A Spokane, Washington, funeral director revealed that jazz saxophonist and pianist Billy Tipton, who had lived his life as a man, was a woman. Tipton played for years in the US northwest after a career with several big bands. He appeared to have a wife and adopted three sons.
    1990 - Top Hits
How Am I Supposed To Live Without You - Michael Bolton
Opposites Attract - Paula Abdul (Duet With The Wild Pair)
Downtown Train - Rod Stewart
Two To Make It Right - Seduction
    1992 - United States President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the Camp David declaration which states that their two countries no longer regard each other as adversaries
    1992 - Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract ($4.7 million)
    1992 - Elton John and George Michael teamed up to score a US number one with a song recorded live at Wembley Stadium the previous March, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". Elton had originally released the song on his "Caribou" album in 1974. 
    1993 - On Lisa Marie's 25th birthday, it was announced that she wouldn't be taking over her father's estate as provided in his will. Lisa Marie left management of Graceland and other parts of Elvis's multimillion-dollar estate to Jack Soden, head of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
    1993 - First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is given an office in the West Wing of the White House and named January 25 to head a commission charged with creating a health plan for the nation. It is the most influential position a president's wife has ever had.  She bans smoking in the White House February 1. Will she return in the next presidential election?
    1995 - Top Hits
“Creep” - TLC
“On Bended Knee” - Boyz II Men
“Another Night” - Real McCoy
“Take A Bow” - Madonna
    1998 - Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne became the first female African American to be promoted to that rank.
    2000 - Top Hits
“I Knew I Loved You” - Savage Garden
“What A Girl Wants” - Christina Aguilera
“Smooth” - Santana Featuring Rob Thomas
“Back At One” - Brian McKnight
    2002 – Daniel Pearl, journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, kidnapped January 23, 2002 by Pakistani militants, was beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
    2003 - After a successful 16 day mission, the space shuttle Columbia, with a crew of seven, perished during entry. Kalpana Chawla, 41, who emigrated to United States from India in 1980s and became an astronaut in 1994, was one of seven astronauts who died in an explosion that streaked across the Texas sky on a clear, beautiful morning.  Laurel Clark, 41, a Navy diving medical officer aboard submarines, then flight surgeon who became an astronaut in 1996, was on board Columbia to help with science experiments. She had 8-year-old son. Her home was in Racine, Wis. Commander Rick Husband, 45, Air Force colonel; Pilot William McCool, 41;  Payload commander Michael Anderson, 43; David Brown, 46, a Navy captain, pilot and doctor; Ilan Ramon, 48, a colonel in Israel's air force and the first Israeli in space.
    2004 - While New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29, it was singer Janet Jackson exposing her breast at half time with Justin Timberlake that made the big news.  With just over one minute to play, Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal to give New England the lead, 32-29.  New England quarterback Tom Brady was named Most Valuable Player for the second time in three years. He set a Super Bowl record for the most pass completions (32). Brady also recorded a 66.7 completion percentage (48 pass attempts), 354 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and 12 rushing yards. This was the fourth Super Bowl to be decided on a field goal in the final seconds. Super Bowl V was won on a last second kick by Jim O'Brien of the Baltimore Colts, Super Bowl XXV as Buffalo’s Scott Norwood missed his field goal chance, and Super Bowl XXXVI as Adam Vinatieri made his for the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win.
    2005 - A web site claimed Yogi Berra filed a $10 million lawsuit against TBS due to a “Sex and the City” promotion which used Berra's name as a possible answer concerning the definition of yogasm. The choices included (a) a type of yo-yo trick, (b) sex with Yogi Berra and (c) what Samantha has with a guy from yoga class.
    2008 - A news report revealed that Spain was the European leader in illegal music downloads. Spanish computer users illegally downloaded more than 1.2 billion tracks in 2007, according to authors and publishers society, SGAE. 
    2009 - The Cardinals entered the game seeking their first NFL title since 1947, the longest championship drought in the league. The club became an unexpected winner during the season and the playoffs with the aid of head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator during Super Bowl XL, and the re-emergence of quarterback Kurt Warner, who was the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXXIV with the St. Louis Rams. Trailing 20–7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Arizona scored 16 unanswered points, including wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's 64-yard touchdown reception, to take the lead with 2:37 remaining in the game. But then the Steelers marched 78-yards to score on wide receiver Santonio Holmes's 6-yard game-winning touchdown catch with 35 seconds left, tip-toeing at the deep corner of the end zone. Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, including four receptions for 71 yards on that final game-winning drive.
    2010 - President Barack Obama proposed a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 which projected a record-high budget deficit of $1.6 trillion in fiscal 2010.
    2013 - Hillary Clinton stepped down from her post as Secretary of State; she is succeeded by Senator John Kerry.
    2013 - In the wake of earlier reports of Alex Rodriguez being a client of a clinic in Boca Raton, FL under investigation for supplying PEDs, ESPN reported that he has been receiving weekly injections at home from the director of the suspect clinic, Anthony Bosch.
    2014 - A long-delayed review of the Keystone XL Pipeline was completed by the U.S. State Department.  It concluded the pipeline would not significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.
    2015 - The New England Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl title, beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.  Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was named MVP and is now one of only three quarterbacks to have won four Super Bowls (Bradshaw and Montana).  With Seattle driving for a winning TD with seconds left and the ball on the Patriots 1-yard line, Patriots rookie corner Malcolm Butler made a game-saving interception to seal the game for the Pats.

 

Super Bowl Champions:
    2004 - New England Patriots-32, Carolina Panthers-29 
    2009 - Pittsburgh Steelers-27, Arizona Cardinals-23
    2015 – New England Patriots-28, Seattle Seahawks-24