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Positions Wanted
Accounts Receivable/Collections

Ray Borgaard

Senior Accounts Receivable and Collections professional with over 30 years of experience. Have successfully and consistently reduced DSO and increased cash flow during my entire career. Have worked with Fortune 500 "C" Suite level to resolve large outstanding balances. This has been done by dealing on a one on one with these individuals after written correspondence has not resolved the delinquency.

Have worked well with marketing, contact administrators, and credit to resolve any contractual issues that are preventing payment. Looking for an opportunity with a company that can utilize my experience to have better control and results for the future.
References furnished upon request. roborgaard@aol.com

Post a Free Ad that You are Looking
Limited to 100 Words
https://leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

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Demand for Credit Returns to 2019 Levels,
Led by Applications for Cards, Limit Increases

Consumer credit demand rebounded sharply in recent months with most credit application rates returning to 2019 levels as of October, according to the latest Federal Reserve Bank report.

The upswing was led by applications for credit card and card limit increases, while mortgage applications also rose past 2019 and 2020 levels. However, respondents on average expected to be less able to cover a $2,000 emergency expense over the next month, while reporting a somewhat higher likelihood of incurring such an expense.

The separate quarterly Household Debt and Credit Report found household debt hit a new series high of $15.24 trillion in the third quarter of 2021.

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November Median Home Sale Price Reaches New High
MR Report

As of November 28, the supply of available homes sat at 538,695 units, down from the previous low of 576,695 seen in February. Redfin says they traditionally see the lowest number of units available for sale in December, so the new low may still decrease in the final month of 2021.

Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather reported, “The number of homes for sale typically declines another 15% in December,” said. “That means that by the end of the year, there will likely be 100,000 fewer homes for sale than there were in February when housing supply last hit rock bottom. I think more new listings will hit the market in the new year, but there will also be a long line of buyers who are queuing up right now.”

The lack of supply is also pushing up prices at a faster clip than last year to current all-time highs. By the end of November, the median home-sale price hit $360,375, up 1.5% from October, and up 14% year-over-year. Looking further back to pre-pandemic times, prices are up 31% from the same period in 2019.

In addition, the report found that 33% of homes that went under contract accepted an offer within a week of doing so. Also, a typical home was on the market for 25 days, down from 31 days last year and 46 days in 2019.

Fairweather also noted that as more becomes known about the omicron variant of the COVID-19 in the coming weeks, the possibility of new restrictions may throw the future market into a tizzy.

“Meanwhile, headlines and new restrictions related to the omicron variant of the coronavirus might fuel some uncertainty and volatility in the economy,” Fairweather concluded. “In the short term, global interest rates, including mortgage rates, could fall. In this extremely tight housing market, we would quickly see a proportional increase in competition and home prices.”

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Help Wanted Ads

Looking Back Over Last Two Years, It/s Amazing
How Much the Industry Has Accomplished
Wheeler Business Consulting

Scott Wheeler, CLFP

The commercial equipment finance and leasing industry continues to turn challenges into new opportunities. Looking back over the past two years it is quite amazing how much has been accomplished by so many in the industry. Uncertainty has been a constant for nearly two years. Small and medium size businesses have persevered and invested in new equipment to gain efficiencies and produce more profitability. The U.S. economy is resilient. Participants in the commercial equipment finance and leasing industry have continued to provide capital to the U.S. economy and have made the necessary changes to best serve the needs of U.S. businesses.

No one could have predicted, in March, April, or May of 2020, that commercial finance and leasing portfolios would have performed so well throughout the pandemic or that the industry would be flush with capital - with investment dollars chasing every type of commercial equipment asset. Liquidity difficulties, for most finance and leasing companies, never developed throughout the pandemic. The industry is doing well despite multiple headwinds (ex: supply chain difficulties, inflation concerns, labor shortages). Many would rightly suggest that the government stimulus money has greatly impacted business activity and helped many businesses meet their financial obligations.

There is more to the story and credit needs to be given where it is rightfully deserved. Many individuals in the commercial equipment finance and leasing industry have gone the extra mile over the past two years and faced many challenges with professionalism, determination, and pure hard work to get the job done.

The extra mile includes that documentation clerk that stayed late on the 29th of the month to finish a set of documents for month end. The extra mile includes the sales rep (fully masked) that visited a vendor in the depths of the pandemic to resolve a relationship issue.

 The extra mile includes the credit analyst who spent the time to fully understand a customer's needs and strengths.

The extra mile includes the technology professional who developed new ways for all of us to stay connected. The extra mile includes the collection staff that did not overreact in the first few months of the pandemic but were calming voices that helped clients navigate through a rough period and regain currency within just a few short months.

The commercial equipment leasing and finance industry is comprised of thousands of remarkable professionals that continue to turn challenges into opportunities. I am constantly amazed by the extra miles that are accomplished on a regular basis by so many in the industry. Thank you for all that you do every day to make our industry a vital part of the U.S. economy.

‌
Comments, questions and suggestions regarding are welcome.
Phone: 410-877-0428
email: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com

Wheeler Business Consulting works with banks, independents, captives, origination companies, and investors in the equipment leasing and finance arena. We provide training, strategic planning, and acquisition services. Scott Wheeler is available to discuss your long-term strategy, to assist your staff to maximize outcomes, and to better position your organization in the market.

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Top Ten Leasing News Read by Readers
November 29 to December 3

(1) The Top Seven Leasing/Finance Company Websites
in North America
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2021/12_01.htm#7

(2) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2021/12_03.htm#hires

(3)  “As a kid, did you ever knock on people's doors
    and run away before they could answer?”
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2021/12_03.htm#as

(4)  Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams…
Billboard
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2021/11_29.htm#dont

(5) First Foundation Bank Equipment Finance Dept.
  Updates Information Funder List "A"
Funders Looking for Broker Business
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2021/11_29.htm#ffb

(7) David Lee, Chairman/CEO North Mill Equipment Finance
  at 27th ABS East Conference Dec. 13-15, Miami Beach, FL
David Lee, Chairman/CEO North Mill Equipment Finance
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2021/12_03.htm#lee

 (8) Amy Schneider has made 'Jeopardy!' history
- and helped the show find calm after chaos
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Amy-Schneider-has-made-Jeopardy-history-and-16668728.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

(9) Terri McNally Nominated to Leasing News
Advisory Board
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2021/11_29.htm#mcnally

(10) Funders Looking for Broker Business
Updated
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2021/11_29.htm#looking

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How Has Car Safety Improved Over 60 Years?

How Has Car Safety Improved Over 60 Years?

In this infographic, we’ve visualized data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation to show how breakthroughs in car safety have drastically reduced the number of motor vehicle fatalities.

Did you know that in 2019, there were 6.7 million car accidents in the U.S. alone?

This resulted in 36,096 deaths over the year—an awful statistic to say the least—but one that would be much worse if it weren’t for seatbelts, airbags, and other modern safety devices.

Measuring Safety Improvements

.

The data shows the number of fatalities for every 100 million miles driven. From a high of 5.1 in 1960 (the first year data is available), we can see that this metric has fallen by 78% to just 1.1

What makes this even more impressive is the fact that there are more cars on the road today than in 1960. This can be measured by the total number of miles driven each year.

Full Story:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-has-car-safety-improved-over-60-years/

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### Press Release ############################

Chris Walker Education Fund Accepting Grant Requests
Announces Availability of $20K in Grants
to Support Education Initiatives

Chris Walker, CLP
(Photo: GreatAmerica Corporate Directory)

The Chris Walker Education Fund Board of Trustees is continuing its annual mission in honoring late National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) Member and Member of NEFA’s Board of Directors, Chris Walker.

The Chris Walker Education Fund focuses on an issue near and dear to Chris’s heart – education and the idea of a “lifetime of learning.” The Board is now actively raising funds and accepting grant requests to honor Chris’s great service to the industry until the application deadline of February 28, 2022.

The fund will award a total of $20,000 in grants to be distributed by the end of February 2022. The grant application process is available to individuals as well as associations, foundations, and institutions. Individual grants may be requested up to $1,500, or an amount equal to the cost of qualified industry-related education.

Funds available through the Chris Walker Education Fund may be used for any project or need that provides industry education opportunities for leasing professionals. This includes grants for industry-related education, certifications (such as the Certified Lease and Finance Professionals (CLFP) designation), educational initiatives of the NEFA, or other educational initiatives related to the equipment finance industry.

Through its founding in 2011, the Chris Walker Education Fund has now funded nearly $99,000 in educational grants. All grant requests must be submitted online through the following link: https://www.nefassociation.org/about-us/chris-walker-education-fund/ .

About the fund
Education was always important to Chris Walker, as a NEFA Member and Member of NEFA's Board of Directors. When Chris passed away in 2011, many NEFA Members and other industry professionals wanted some way they could make a donation to honor Chris and continue his great service to this industry. This resulted in the creation within NEFA of the Chris Walker Education Fund. The Board of Trustees is industry leaders who donate their time and talents to promote the mission of the Chris Walker Education Fund. For more information on the Chris Walker Education Fund, visit https://www.nefassociation.org/page/Chris_Walker_Education_Fund.

Committee Members:

Laura Carini, CLFP
Financial Pacific Leasing
laurac@finpac.com

Blair Dawson
NEFA
bdawson@nefassociation.org

Stephanie Hall, CLFP
BankFinancial Equipment Finance
shall@bankfinancial.com

Randy Haug
LTi Technology Solutions
rhaug@ltisolutions.com

Kim King, CLFP
Navitas Credit Corp
kking@navitascredit.com

Chris Lerma, CLFP
AP Equipment Financing
clearma@apfinancing.com

Kayla Perlinger, CLFP
Oakmont Capital Services, LLC
kperlinger@oakmontfinance.com

#### Press Release #############################

Mixed Breed
Atlanta, Georgia  Adopt-a-Dog

Kim

ID: A875586
Female
2 Years Old
71.8 lbs.
Location: Shelter
Adoption Fee: $85

Hi! My name is Kim!

“I love other dogs and prefer to hang out with teenaged and adult humans. My ideal home would take me on lots of walkies, love, and would have no smaller animal friends.”

Fulton County Animal Services
860 Marietta Blvd NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
(404) 613-0358
https://www.fultonanimalservices.com/

Forms:
https://adopt.adopets.com/login?callback=/ap

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Salesforce Webinar Tuesday, December 14th 11:00PST
“How Dext Capital Accelerated Healthcare Lending Cycle”
with Digital Experience using Salesforce

SPEAKERS

• Steven Carnegie, CTO, Dext Capital
• Parker Brown, Salesforce Developer, Dext Capital
• Zach Hawtof, Product Management Senior Manager, Salesforce
• Katherine Milne, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce

Healthcare providers and hospitals, under compounding pressure, are looking for faster ways to bring leading-edge equipment to patient care. With traditional equipment lending and financing, healthcare providers are hamstrung by spreadsheets, inconsistent communications and limited access to data.

Dext Capital recognized that equipment financing needed to be upended, in a way that would benefit both equipment lenders and healthcare providers. In partnership with Salesforce Experience Cloud, Dext built a robust portal, DART (Dext Access Real Time), where providers can asynchronously access applications, quoting, and account information-- and equipment vendors can manage their portfolios with just a few clicks.

Join us to learn about:

• How Dext rapidly built a complex, visually-engaging website to digitize the healthcare lending ecosystem
• Why Dext chose Salesforce Experience Cloud and the latest Lightning Web Runtime Template technology
• Advice for creating and launching a portal, from organizational change to product build
• This session will be live; join us and ask questions. We’re excited for the conversation!

About Dext Capital:

Dext Capital is a privately-owned and independent equipment finance company financially sponsored by Sightway Capital, a Two Sigma company.

Register for Webinar:
https://www.salesforce.com/form/events/webinars/form-rss/3529700

News Briefs---

As omicron is reported now in at least 15 states,
     officials push again for vaccines, boosters, masks
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/12/05/covid-vaccines-boosters-top-tools-against-delta-omicron-variants/8873405002/

Early reports of omicron variant enocuraging
    indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/fauci-says-early-reports-encouraging-about-omicron-variant

8 infected with COVID, 75 quarantined after Marin County,   
California, parents defy order to keep child home
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/04/california-parents-knowingly-sent-child-to-school-with-covid/

Google delays Jan. 10 mandatory office return
amid omicron fears
https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/Google-delays-Jan-10-mandatory-office-return-16670455.php

Hawaii housing crisis has Maui pushing to
phase out 3,000 short-term rentals
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/maui-to-phase-out-3000-short-term-rentals-16649298.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

 

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You May Have Missed---

Face masks and omicron: Should you upgrade
     from cloth to N95s? Double mask?
https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Face-masks-and-omicron-Should-you-upgrade-from-16676705.php


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Sports Briefs---

The Bills expected a changing of the guard, but
    the AFC East-leading Patriots have flipped the script
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/05/sports/bills-expected-changing-guard-afc-east-leading-patriots-have-flipped-script/

Steelers mount comeback, survive last-minute push
as Ravens' two-point conversion attempt fails
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/steelers/2021/12/05/pittsburgh-steelers-baltimore-ravens-two-point-conversion-score/8883748002/

Opinion: Arizona Cardinals overcome their many errors
to beat Chicago Bears, maintain NFL's best record
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2021/12/05/arizona-cardinals-beat-chicago-bears-maintain-nfl-best-record/8881797002/

Washington rallies for 4th straight win, 17-15 over Raiders
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2021/12/05/washington-rallies-for-4th-straight-win-17-15-over-raiders/49485213/

Alabama, Michigan, Georgia and Cincinnati
Make College Football Playoff
www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/sports/ncaafootball/alabama-michigan-georgia-cincinnati-college-football-playoff.htm

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California Nuts Briefs---

The economy is booming. So why is California’s
unemployment rate so high?
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article256281732.html#storylink=hpdigest_politics

Brutal, brazen crimes shake L.A.
     leaving city at a crossroads
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/brutal-brazen-crimes-shake-la-leaving-city-at-a-crossroads/ar-AARsCHd


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"Gimme that wine"

The best wine books of 2021 take you on
    journeys through Italy, France and California
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/11/24/best-wine-books-2021/

“Gimme that Wine”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

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

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

This Day in History

     1492 - Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Santo Domingo in search of gold.  He finds a lot of natives that he makes slaves and brings back to Spain, reporting that he has found a route to India. Later he is to bring tobacco back to Europe, which becomes a big rage to chew and smoke.
    1628 - Thomas Beard began manufacturing shoes. He came over on the Mayflower. Prior to that date, shoes were imported from England. The colonists also learned from the Native Americans how to make moccasins, which were so well liked that as early as 1650, they were exported to Eng­land.
    1732 – The first play in the American colonies acted by professional players occurred in New York.
1776 - Phi Beta Kappa, the first scholastic fraternity, is founded at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
    1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the federal Constitution by unanimous vote. It was signed on December 7 by all 30 members of the Constitutional Convention. Thomas Collins, who was president of Delaware at that time, automatically became the first state governor.
    1790 - Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia. 
    1820 - James Monroe was re-elected president of the United Sates. Daniel D. Tompkins was re-elected vice-president. The electoral vote was Monroe, 231; John Quincy Adams, a Federalist and Monroe’s secretary of state, 1 electoral vote. The panic of 1819 had wrought great changes in people’s economic status. A period of wild speculation had ended with wholesale foreclosures by banks, and much property in the South and West reverted to the national bank. To add to this, at the end of 1818, the Union consisted of 11 free and 11 slave states. Ready to be a state, Maine would be a free state, but it would be offset by creating the state of Missouri from Louisiana, otherwise known as the Missouri Compromise. The fourth U.S. Census recorded a population of 9,638,453. The center of population was 16 miles east of Moorefield, W.Va.
    1849 – Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland for the second and final time.   Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives with her out of the state and eventually guided dozens of other enslaved people to freedom. Traveling by night and in extreme secrecy, Tubman "never lost a passenger."   After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, she helped guide fugitives farther north into British North America (Canada) and helped newly freed enslaved people find work. Tubman met John Brown in 1858 and helped him plan and recruit supporters for his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people. After the war, she retired to the family home on property she had purchased in 1859 in Auburn, NY, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her, and she had to be admitted to a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped to establish years earlier.
1862 - President Lincoln ordered the hanging of 39 of the 303 convicted Indians who participated in the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota. They were to be hanged on Dec. 26. The Dakota Indians were going hungry when food and money from the federal government was not distributed as promised. They led a massacre that left over 400 white people dead. The uprising was put down and 300 Indians were sentenced to death. Pres. Lincoln reduced the number to 39, who were hanged. The government then nullified the 1851 treaty. 
    1864 - Abraham Lincoln appointed Ohio Senator Salmon P. Chase to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, a strong advocate of African-American rights.
( lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec06.htm
http://www.abbess.demon.co.uk/brubeck/discog/ )
    1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery in the US. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save 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." In 1860, the US Census recorded a population of 31,443,321. There were 448,070 free blacks and 3,953,760 slaves in the country, the overwhelming majority were black.
    1884 - Washington Monument is “topped.”
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec06.html
    1865 - Eight months after the end of the Civil War, Georgia became the last state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery in the United States. With it, the single greatest change wrought by the Civil War was officially noted in the U.S. Constitution.
    1876 – The presidential election held on November 7 had given Governor of New York Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate, a popular vote plurality of 250,000, but Republicans refused to concede on the grounds that returns from Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon were in dispute and thus their 19 electoral votes. Rutherford B. Hayes needed the electoral votes of those states to win. On December 6, two different sets of electoral returns were reported from the four states. The electoral vote ultimately was to be determined by a special 15-members electoral commission with five members from each house of Congress and five members from the Supreme Court, made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats. On March 2, Congress adopted the commission’s decision, Rutherford B. Hayes received 185 electoral votes and Tilden 184. The Republicans were accused of offering southern Democrats economic favors for their region if they supported Hayes’s claim. In any event, the new president showed a conciliatory attitude toward the South: the last federal troops were withdrawn and there was no further effort to protect the rights of blacks. All government programs for equality were ended. Reconstruction was over.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rh19.html
http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/rbhayes.html
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/tilden.html
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/elecollg.html
    1876 - Jack McCall is convicted for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok and sentenced to hang. He was acquitted at an “illegal” trial but held again for trial in South Dakota, where he was convicted, then became the first person hanged in South Dakota. Wild Bill Hickok’s card hand held an ace of spades, ace of clubs, two black eights - clubs and spades - and the jack of diamonds. This became known as aces and eights - the dead man's hand.
http://www.adamsmuseumandhouse.org/answers/jackmccall.html
    1877 - Washington Post publishes first edition 
    1877 - First sound recording made (Thomas Edison)
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/
Edison did not build the first sound recording machine, but made his first phonograph design and gave a sketch of the machine to his mechanic, former Swiss clock maker John Kruesi, to build. Thirty hours later the machine was finished, but Kruesi bet the inventor $2 that it would not work. Edison immediately tested the machine by speaking a nursery rhyme into the mouthpiece, "Mary had a little lamb." To his amazement, the machine played his words back to him. Kruesi would go on be involved in many of Edison's key inventions, including the quadruplex telegraph, the carbon microphone, the phonograph, and the incandescent light bulb and system of electric lighting. 
    1886 - Birthday of Alfred Joyce Kilmer (d. 1918), at New Brunswick, NJ.  American poet most famous for his poem “Trees,” which was published in 1913.  Killed in action near Ourcy, France, in World War I, July 30, 1918. Camp Kilmer was named for him. 
    1886 - A great snowstorm hit the southern Appalachian Mountains. The three-day storm produced 25 inches at Rome, GA, 33 inches at Asheville, NC, and 42 inches in the mountains. Montgomery, AL received a record eleven inches of snow. Columbia, SC received one to two inches of sleet. (4th-6th)
    1892 - Birthday of Theodore Lawless (d. 1971), African-American medicine pioneer, born Thibodeaux, Louisiana. He was a dermatologist who became a millionaire form his studies, practice and development of medicines. He also contributed to the better understanding of syphilis, a venereal disease; and leprosy, a disease which wastes away the muscles of the body. Setting up his offices in the heart of Chicago's Black community, he established one of the largest and best-known skin clinics in the city. For many years, men and women and children, both black and white, crowded his waiting room from morning until night. But he still found time to teach at Northwestern University, work with the staff of Chicago's Provident Hospital, and share his knowledge with other doctors. In 1954, he was awarded the NAACP's Springarn Medal. In 1970 at his seventy-eighth birthday celebration on Dillard University's campus, Lawless shared the philosophy that directed his life: 
“I sought my soul,
But my soul I could not see,
I sought my God, but my God eluded me,
I sought my neighbor, and I found all there.”
http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/1057LawlessT.asp?pic=none
    1896 - Birthday of Ira Gershwin, born Israel Gershowitz (d. 1983), NYC.  Pulitzer Prize-winning American lyricist and author who collab­orated with his brother, George, and with many other composers.
Among his Broadway successes: “Lady Be Good,” “Funny Face,” “Strike
Up the Band,” and such songs as “The Man I Love,” “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
    1898 - Birthday of American photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt (d. 1995), Dirschau, Prussia. One of the greatest photojournalists in US history, he is best known for his 86 photos that were used on covers of Life magazine, including the photo of the sailor kissing a nurse in New York’s Times Square at the end of World War II.
    1920 - Pianist/composer Dave Brubeck (d. 2012) birthday, Concord, CA.
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/brubeck_bio.html
http://www.brubeckmusic.com/dave.html
http://www.downbeat.com/artists/window.asp?aid=143&aname=Dave+Brubeck
    1921 - Otto Graham (d. 2003) was born in Waukegan, IL.  The Hall of Fame quarterback ran and passed the Cleveland Browns to seven league championships in 10 seasons (1946-55).  With Graham at quarterback, the Browns posted a record of 57 wins, 13 losses, and one tie, including a 9–3 record in the playoffs. He holds the NFL record for career average yards gained per pass attempt, with 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage (.810) for an NFL starting quarterback. 
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/1206.jpg
    1922 - William P. McGivern (d. 1982) was born in Chicago. American novelist, screenplay writer, who published over 20 novels covering the wide genre of thrillers — homicide detection, espionage, political corruption, the world of psychopath, & the crooked cop.
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mcgivern.htm
    1922 - The first electric commercial power line was placed in operation by Utica Gas and Electric Company, Utica, NY. The plant was built by the General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY, and consisted of the transmitters, the power lines, and the associated receives. The transmission lines carried both voices and power. A single power line could carry several different carrier frequencies simultaneously, making possible distant supervisory control of various types of electric equipment. This opened the United States, and the world to cheap electrical power, transmission, and changed lifestyles. The first hydrogen-cooled turbine generator for cities was built by GE, who lead the field in innovation and relatively low cost for consumers
    1925 - Tenor sax and flute player Bob Cooper (d. 1993) born, Pittsburgh, PA.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/x.dll?p=amg&sql=B6335
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=1927005436&clink=dmmu.artist&a=b
    1928 - Birthday of drummer Frank Dunlop (d. 2014), Buffalo, NY
http://www.audiophilia.com/software/ac2.htm
    1937 - Birthday of drummer Eddie Gladden (d. 2003), Newark, NJ 
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=1927063655
    1940 - Birthday of bass player Jay Leonhart, Baltimore, MD
    1940 - Nat King Cole Trio cuts first Decca recordings.
    1941 - President Roosevelt, convinced on the basis of intelligence reports that the Japanese fleet is headed for Thailand, not the United States, telegrams Emperor Hirohito with the request that "for the sake of humanity," the emperor intervene "to prevent further death and destruction in the world." The Royal Australian Air Force had sighted Japanese escorts, cruisers, and destroyers on patrol near the Malayan coast, south of Cape Cambodia. An Aussie pilot managed to radio that it looked as if the Japanese warships were headed for Thailand just before he was shot down by the Japanese. Back in England, Prime Minister Churchill called a meeting of his chiefs of staff to discuss the crisis. While reports were coming in describing Thailand as the Japanese destination, they began to question whether it could have been a diversion. British intelligence had intercepted the Japanese code "Raffles," a warning to the Japanese fleet to be on alert-but for what? Britain was already preparing Operation Matador, the launching of their 11th Indian Division into Thailand to meet the presumed Japanese invasion force. But at the last minute, Air Marshall Brooke-Popham received word not to cross the Thai border for fear that it would provoke a Japanese attack if, in fact, the warship movement was merely a bluff. Meanwhile, 600 miles northwest of Hawaii, Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese fleet, announced to his men: "The rise or fall of the empire depends upon this battle. Everyone will do his duty with utmost efforts." Thailand was, in fact, a bluff. Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii was confirmed for Yamamoto as the Japanese target after the Japanese consul in Hawaii had reported to Tokyo that a significant portion of the U.S. Pacific fleet would be anchored in the harbor. 
    1944 - The Count Basie Orchestra records "Red Bank Boogie." 
    1947 - Stan Kenton cuts “Peanut Vendor.” 
http://www.mamajazz.org/pages/biokenton.html
http://business.baylor.edu/Phil_VanAuken/kenton.html
http://music.bizrate.com/marketplace/product_info/overview/index__cat_id--5209,
prod_id--1007232,name--The%20Best%20Of%20Stan%20Kenton%20%28
Blue%20Note%29.html
    1947 - Everglades National Park was established.  Part of vast marshland area on southern Florida peninsula, originally authorized May 30,1934.
    1950 - Duluth, MN had their greatest 24 hour snowfall when 25.4 inches fell
    1951 - Top Hits
“Sin (It’s No)” - Eddy Howard
“Because of You” - Tony Bennett
“Down Yonder” - Del Wood
“Slow Poke” - Pee Wee King
    1952 - The Mills Brothers' "The Glow-Worm" hits #1 
    1954 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "Mr. Sandman," The Chordettes.
    1957 - Mercury Records releases the Diamonds' cover of the Chuck Willis dance tune "The Stroll." It peaks at #8 on the pop chart and sparks a fad for the dance of the same name.
    1957 - Elvis visits radio station WDIA in Memphis and meets two of his idols, Little Junior Parker and Bobby Bland. 
    1959 - Top Hits
“Mack the Knife” - Bobby Darin
“Don’t You Know” - Della Reese
“In the Mood” - Ernie Field’s Orch.
“Country Girl” - Faron Young
    1960 - Gene Autry was attending the 1960 baseball winter meetings hoping to secure a broadcasting contract for KMPC, his Los Angeles radio station. The ‘Singing Cowboy’ wound up as the owner of the expansion Los Angeles Angels (when no one came forward to bid for the team, Autry made a bid of his own). The team became the showpiece for KMPC. The Angels played their first season in Wrigley Field (capacity 22,000) in Los Angeles, then rented Dodger Stadium and later moved to Anaheim. 
In 2002, they won the World Series, beating the San Francisco Giants.
    1960 - 500 store owners in Tucson, Arizona sign pledges of non-discrimination.  In 1994, a black chamber of commerce was formed in Tucson, the 33rd largest city in the United States. One of the “hold out” states, it was not until 1993 that Arizona observed its first statewide Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. June 7, 1993, Governor Jean Shaheen of New Hampshire signed the King Holiday legislation into law, completing enactment of holiday in all states.
    1965 - Motown Records releases Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Going to a Go-Go." The song is later covered by the Rolling Stones. The Miracles' version will reach #11 on the pop chart.
    1966 - The Beatles record "When I'm Sixty-Four" 
    1967 - Top Hits
“Daydream Believer” - The Monkees
“The Rain, the Park & Other Things” - The Cowsills
“I Say a Little Prayer” - Dionne Warwick
“It’s the Little Things” - Sonny James
    1967 - The first heart transplant in the United States was performed at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, New York City. Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz was the surgeon and the patient was a two-week-old baby boy who lived for 6.5 hours after the operation. The transplant took place three days after Dr. Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant in history in Cape Town, South Africa. The first heart transplant performed on an adult in the United States took place on January 6, 1968, at the Stanford Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA. The patient was Mike Kasperak and the surgeon was Dr. Norman Shumway.
    1967 - LITEKY, ANGELO J., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Chaplain (Capt.), U.S. Army, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199th Infantry Brigade. place and date: Near Phuoc-Lac, Bien Hoa province, Republic of Vietnam, 6 December 1967. Entered service at: Fort Hamilton, N.Y. Born: 14 February 1931, Washington, D.C. Citation: Chaplain Liteky distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while serving with Company A, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade. He was participating in a search and destroy operation when Company A came under intense fire from a battalion size enemy force. Momentarily stunned from the immediate encounter that ensued, the men hugged the ground for cover. Observing 2 wounded men, Chaplain Liteky moved to within 15 meters of an enemy machine gun position to reach them, placing himself between the enemy and the wounded men. When there was a brief respite in the fighting, he managed to drag them to the relative safety of the landing zone. Inspired by his courageous actions, the company rallied and began placing a heavy volume of fire upon the enemy's positions. In a magnificent display of courage and leadership, Chaplain Liteky began moving upright through the enemy fire, administering last rites to the dying and evacuating the wounded. Noticing another trapped and seriously wounded man, Chaplain Liteky crawled to his aid. Realizing that the wounded man was too heavy to carry, he rolled on his back, placed the man on his chest and through sheer determination and fortitude crawled back to the landing zone using his elbows and heels to push himself along. pausing for breath momentarily, he returned to the action and came upon a man entangled in the dense, thorny underbrush. Once more intense enemy fire was directed at him, but Chaplain Liteky stood his ground and calmly broke the vines and carried the man to the landing zone for evacuation. On several occasions when the landing zone was under small arms and rocket fire, Chaplain Liteky stood up in the face of hostile fire and personally directed the medivac helicopters into and out of the area. With the wounded safely evacuated, Chaplain Liteky returned to the perimeter, constantly encouraging and inspiring the men. Upon the unit's relief on the morning of 7 December 1967, it was discovered that despite painful wounds in the neck and foot, Chaplain Liteky had personally carried over 20 men to the landing zone for evacuation during the savage fighting. Through his indomitable inspiration and heroic actions, Chaplain Liteky saved the lives of a number of his comrades and enabled the company to repulse the enemy. Chaplain Liteky's actions reflect great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
    1969 - Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, a free concert featuring performance by the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplanes, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Flying Burrito Brothers turned into tragedy. The "thank you" concert for 300,000 fans was marred by overcrowding, drug overdoses and the fatal stabbing of a spectator by a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, who had been hired as security guards for the event. The murder is filmed and included in the film "Gimme Shelter" which premieres exactly one year later.
http://www.echoes.com/rememberaday/altamont.html
    1969 - Musician Cab Calloway turned actor as he was seen in the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "The Littlest Angel" on NBC. The big band singer, known for such classics as "Minnie the Moocher", became a movie star in "The Blues Brothers" (1980) with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. 
    1969 - "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," by Steam, reached the #1 spot on the top 40. It stayed at the top for two weeks and was the only major hit for the group that later ran out of ... steam. 
    1970 - "Gimme Shelter," the documentary film about the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour of the U.S. debuts on the anniversary of the Altamont concert.
    1970 - A windstorm toppled the National Christmas Tree at the White House. 
    1971 - It was payday for Jack Nicklaus. He received $30,000 for capturing the first Disney World golf tournament. His earnings for the season totaled $244,490. 
    1971 - Ryan Wayne White (d. 1990) born with hemophilia, Kokomo, IN, later to contract AIDS from blood-clotting products.
http://teenink.com/Past/1999/10658.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451173228/inktomi-bkasin-20/
103-8044451-6791041
    1973 - Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice-president under Richard Nixon, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew who pled no contest to a charge of income tax evasion. Ford became the first vice president chosen under the 25th amendment when he was sworn into office as President Richard Milhous Nixon’s vice president. The 25th amendment, ratified on February 10, 1967, enables the president to appoint a vice president in the event that the office becomes vacant. On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned to face charges of income tax evasion, leaving the vice presidency open for the first time since the passage of the amendment. When President Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford became the first president of the United States never elected to the office. He later pardoned Nixon after his resignation as president. Some say it was this act that elected Jimmy Carter president of the United States in 1976. The electoral vote was Carter, 297; Pres. Ford, 240. the popular vote was Carter, 40,828,929; Ford 38,148,940. In congressional elections, the Democrats kept a 2-Senate majority, 61-38, with one seat going to an impendent, and a House Majority o4 2192-143. Yet Carter was considered by historians as a very ineffectual president and leader. Some say it was the challenging of his chief campaign manager who became director of the Officer of Management and budget, Bert Lance. Nevertheless, in the first months of Pres. Jimmy Carter’s administration, most Vietnam-era draft resisters were pardoned, the planned pullout of U.S. forces from South Korea was announced, and administration officials spoke out against human rights violations worldwide. Vernon Jordon of the National Urban League charged the administration with not doing enough to reduce unemployment among blacks. In his second year, national unemployment reached 7% and the Dow Jones declined, while the U.S. faced a high trade deficit, primarily because of oil imports and the falling value of the dollar. 
    1973 - Steve Miller who'd been laying low for most of last year and this year, gets a gold record for "The Joker," his most successful LP to date. The title track becomes Miller's first chart-topping hit and gives cameo roles to some of his previous in-song personas, like "Maurice" and "The Gangster of Love."
    1975 - Paul Simon’s album, "Still Crazy After All These Years," was number one in the U.S. It was Simon’s first #1 solo album and it contained his first recording with Art Garfunkel since their 1969 breakup ("My Little Town," which was also included on Garfunkel’s "Breakaway" album). 
    1975 - Senator Robert Dole & Elizabeth Hanford marry.
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/republican/dole/timeline/index.shtml
    1975 - Top Hits
“Fly, Robin, Fly” - Silver Convention
“Sky High” - Jigsaw
“Let’s Do It Again” - The Staple Singers
“Secret Love” - Freddy Fender
    1975 - Soul singer Tyrone Davis enters the R&B chart with "Turning Point," which -- though it will never enter the pop chart -- will hit Number One early next year.
    1979 - AC/DC's big breakthrough comes with his fifth U.S. album, "Highway to Hell." It turns gold and happens to be the last album recorded with original vocalist Bon Scott, who dies two months later.
    1983 - Top Hits
“All Night Long (All Night)” - Lionel Richie
“Say Say Say” - Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson
“Uptown Girl” - Billy Joel
“A Little Good News” - Anne Murray
    1984 - The longest winning streak in the history of women’s tennis came to an end when Helena Kuova defeated Martina Navatilova, who had won 74 matches in a row, starting January 15, 1974.
    1986 - University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde won the Heisman Trophy. 
    1987 - Another in a series of storms brought high winds and heavy rain to the northwestern U.S., with heavy snow in some of the higher elevations. In northern California, Crescent City was drenched with 2.58 inches of rain, and winds gusted to 90 mph. Up to fourteen inches of snow blanketed the mountains of northern California, and snow and high winds created blizzard conditions around Lake Tahoe, NV.
    1989 - Heavy snow blanketed the Central Rocky Mountain Region. Totals in the southern foothills of Colorado ranged up to 17 inches at Rye. Arctic air invaded the north central U.S. Lincoln, NE, which reported a record high of 69 degrees the previous afternoon, was 35 degrees colder. International Falls, MN was the cold spot in the nation with a morning low of 9 degrees below zero, and temperatures in northern Minnesota hovered near zero through the daylight hours.
    1991 - Top Hits
“Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” - PM Dawn
“Black or White” - Michael Jackson
“Blowing Kisses in the Wind” - Paula Abdul
“Forever Together” - Randy Travis
    1994 - Financial disaster hit Orange County on December 6, 1994, as a dalliance with high-risk investing forced the affluent California community to file for bankruptcy. The move, which marked the single biggest bankruptcy filing by a municipality, capped off a disastrous run for Orange County and its multi-billion-dollar investment fund.
    1998 - Astronauts on the U.S. space shuttle "Endeavour" completed the most difficult task of their 12-day mission, mating modules from Russia and the United States to create the first two building blocks of International Space Station. “We have capture of Zarya,” Commander Robert Cabana announced when the two pieces came together at approximately 9:07 p.m. EST. “Congratulations to the crew of the good ship Endeavour,” replied Mission Control. “That's terrific.” 
    1999 - The U.S. airline maintenance company SabreTech was cleared of conspiracy charges in the crash of a plane belonging to cut-rate carrier ValuJet, which killed 110 people. The company was convicted on a series of less serious charges, including the improper packaging of the oxygen canisters thought to be responsible for the crash. The case involved 144 oxygen generators removed by SabreTech from other ValuJet planes and delivered to the ill-fated flight without the required safety caps or any markings indicating the canisters were hazardous. Investigators blamed the generators for starting a 2,200-degree cargo fire that brought down the DC-9 on May 11, 1996. 
    1998 - Comedian and actor Bill Cosby receives the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. Cosby was born in Philadelphia in 1937. He dropped out of high school and joined the Navy in 1956, later getting his high school degree by correspondence. In 1960, he entered Temple University on a football scholarship, but by the following year he had become more interested in comedy and began performing regularly in a Greenwich Village nightclub. He went on to pursue a career in show business and was cast in 1965 as the partner of a white undercover agent in “I Spy,” which ran until 1968. The first network TV show to portray a natural working relationship between white and black colleagues, “I Spy” co-starred Robert Culp. (The first black-white TV show was “Harlem Detective” written-produced-directed by my father in the early 1950’s in New York.) Cosby starred in numerous other TV shows throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including “The Bill Cosby Show,” from 1969 to 1971, a situation comedy in which Cosby played a high school coach, and “The New Bill Cosby Show,” a variety show that lasted only one season (1972-73). Meanwhile, Cosby released a series of hit comedy recordings, winning eight Grammys, and earned a doctorate in education. In 1972, he launched an animated cartoon series called “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” which ran until 1984. In the 1970s and '80s, he made many appearances on children's TV shows, including “The Electric Company” and “Sesame Street.”  In 1984, “The Cosby Show” debuted, a series featuring obstetrician Cliff Huxtable, his attorney wife, and their houseful of children. Rejected by ABC and NBC when Cosby pitched a similar concept based on a blue-collar family, NBC agreed to try the show once Cosby made the main characters an affluent family. The show, which ran until 1992, became one of the most popular programs on television. From 1994 to 1995, Cosby starred in “The Cosby Mysteries,” playing a forensic expert, and launched Cosby, about downsized airline worker Clinton Lucas, in 1996. Cosby also starred in several movies, including “Leonard, Part 6” (1987), which he produced, and “Ghost Dad” (1990), but his movies generally failed to make a splash at the box office. He is later to be charged by many women for rape.  In 2018, Cosby was convicted of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Costand. He was imprisoned until the conviction was vacated in 2021 by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for violations of Cosby's 5th Amendment and 14th Amendment due process rights.
http://www.delafont.com/comedians/Bill-Cosby.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-649/
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-14611/
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cosbyshowt/cosbyshowt.htm
    2005 - At the Winter Meetings, the Blue Jays continue to keep their wallets open as the team agrees to a five-year, $55 million deal with A.J. Burnett ( 12-12, 3.44 ). The signing of the Marlin free agent who many consider the best starter available on the market, comes on the heels of Toronto giving B.J. Ryan $47 million over five-years making it the richest contract in baseball history.
    2006 - NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
2007 - Billy Joel released a new Pop single called "Christmas in Fallujah," which featured the vocals of 21-year-old singer Cass Dillon. At 58, Joel said he felt he was too old to sing the song, which was inspired by letters he received from soldiers in Iraq.
    2010 – US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks revealed a cable from Hillary Clinton accusing Saudi Arabia’s wealthy of being the largest source of funding for Sunni terrorist groups.
    2014 – NASA awakened the New Horizons spacecraft from hibernation for the last time. The vessel was launched in 2005 to travel over 3 billion miles to Pluto and will be within range to begin data collection on the planet by January, 2015.
2017 - "Supermassive" became the most distant black hole discovery, announced by astronomers in journal "Nature", 13 billion light-years away, 800 x bigger than the Sun.
2018 - Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry explodes for franchise-record 238 yards and 4 touchdowns in 30-9 win vs Jacksonville Jaguars in Nashville; 99-yard TD run ties Dallas Cowboys HOF RB Tony Dorsett's longest run in NFL history.