Monday---Inside the AG's Mind on NorVergence Scandal
---bottom line, they don't feel sorry for the leasing companies involved & who should regulate the leasing industry
---the fed's or state government new laws
read all about it on Monday----

Austin, TX.
20+ years exper. lease/finance. P & L responsibility, strong credit & collection management, re-marketing& accounting. Computers, construction, auto & transportation. Both commercial/ consumer portfolios.
Email: kmalone@austin.rr.com

Bloomfield Township, MI.
15+ yrs experience asset management and credit analyst. Leadership and training skills. Audited returns, max residual, lease end and resale negotiator.
E-mail: cmcozzolino@msn.com

Chicago, IL.
MBA, 15+ years exp. Long history of success in maximizing residual position through outstanding negotiation skills & lease contract management. Third party re-marketing, forecasting etc...
email: jgambla@aol.com

Princeton, NJ.
Asset management/credit/collection
20+ years experience in equipment financing. Last five years in Asset Management including remarketing, end of lease negotiations, equipment and market evaluations
E-mail: bgaffrey@earthlink.net

Wilton, CT.
18 years exp. in IT and High Tech leasing industry. Residual forecasting, workouts, off-lease sales, mid-term restructures, auctions, all aspects of remarketing and equipment management.
Email: charrer@hotmail.com

April 21-24, 2005
Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort
Scottsdale, AZ
Chairman: Steve Reid - Pacific Capital Bank

Content:
- Great Educational Sessions and Roundtables
- Strong Speakers
- Spouse Function
- Golf
- Texas Hold-em Tournament
- Arizona Diamondbacks Game

Direct-dealing Dell did it again! Strong growth throughout Dell's diversified range of products and services in the fiscal fourth-quarter 2005 led to the company's best ever operating period. The company achieved quarterly records for revenue, unit shipments, operating income and cash flow from operations.

Sales increased 22 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 21 percent in Asia- Pacific and Japan. Worldwide revenue growth from servers and storage systems accelerated from the last quarter, increasing 20 percent year-over-year. In the United States, sales to business customers grew 19 percent year-over-year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 28 was $13.5 billion (US), up 17 percent from a year ago. Pro-forma fourth-quarter net earnings were 37 cents per share, 28 percent higher than last year. That exceeded Dell's guidance by one cent, as continued strong profit growth in markets outside the United States reduced the company's operating tax rate.

Dell's fourth-quarter reported earnings were $667 million, or 26 cents per share, which included a tax charge of 11 cents per share. The charge was taken in anticipation of repatriating foreign earnings at a one-time favorable tax rate under the U.S. American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA).

"The quarter represents continued record performance by our team around the world," said Kevin Rollins, Dell's chief executive officer. "No one has higher expectations for Dell over time than we do, and we're constantly driving for excellence on behalf of customers and shareholders."

Rollins said the company expects Dell first-quarter fiscal-2006 product shipments to increase 21 percent. The resulting company volumes should produce quarterly revenue of about $13.4 billion, up 16 percent from the prior year, and earnings per share of about 37 cents, up 32 percent.

In the fourth quarter, Dell's operating margins improved to 8.8 percent, up from 8.5 percent a year ago. The company generated $1.8 billion in cash flow from operations, and total cash and investments at quarter-end was $14.1 billion, a company record.

Solid volume growth across product lines in the Americas was highlighted by 25-percent growth in servers and a 28-percent increase in notebook computers. Dell increased its share in the U.S. by nearly three points to 33 percent during the quarter. Revenue growth in the Americas outside the U.S. increased 27 percent year-over-year, and shipments of notebook computers and servers rose 52 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

Dell's overall volume growth for the quarter was highlighted by increases of 30 percent in notebook computers and 25 percent in servers.

Revenue from external storage systems grew 27 percent compared to a year ago, driven by strong demand for Dell storage-area-network products. Sales of Dell / EMC storage systems increased 46 percent. Enhanced services revenue rose 32 percent worldwide, led by Asia- Pacific, where sales of services grew about 50 percent year-over-year.

Quarterly worldwide revenue from software and peripheral products increased 36 percent. Dell's full-year printer shipments were 5.2 million units, exceeding the company's volume targets and contributing to more than $1 billion in printing and imaging revenue.

The Equipment Leasing Association International Committee is facilitating interchanges with leaders from the Shanghai Leasing and Rental Business on February 17 and 18 in New York. At present, four top-10 companies have built up a new company, Zhejiang Businessman International Rental and Leasing Corporation Ltd., with initial capital of RMB 200 million, and second-period capital of RMB 500 million. The total capital of the partners amounts to RMB 20 billion.

They are visiting the US to understand our approach to renting and to meet with firms that might be interested in working with them. They are in the general rental business and focus on vehicles, aircraft and real estate.

The parties visit to New York is being managed by committee member Donald Paynter, Commodore Funding. If interested in visiting with the delegation, contact Mr. Paynter at 212/750-4600.

This section on our web site has recently been up-dated. If there are any corrections, additions, or changes that need to be made, please
contact: maria@leasingnews.org

(A) according to a highly reliable source, the company is back to direct marketing and should not be considered an aggregate funding source.
(B) Ampent (11/2001) Ampent's site back up, reportedly ; landlord is allegedly sueing them; VC has reportedly dropped them, may even be perusing legal action. appears they are operationg out of a PO Box. (10/2001) site is off line, looks like they are going “south.” (8/2001) formerly Accesslease.com; There are rumors there have been serious cutbacks in sales and marketing here. Senior Marketing Manager Parker Trevin says it is minor, basically a change in strategy and denies the rumor.

Leasing News published the first report on “eLeasing” in August, 2000. We have updated it several times. We are hoping to have the latest by the end of the year.

The internet appears to be a viable business for captive vendors, those that control the placement of leases, and other financial institutions, including many in the leasing industry, who control the placement of leases. Most leasing companies today have a web site, and either a simple or “portal” application “on line.”

These “eLeasing” companies aggregate, collect and connect funding sources with lessees. They are intermediaries. They may be considered "online brokers" or "online super brokers." They do not fund leases "direct." Most of them have an "auction" type format ,"matching" lessees with the lowest cost lessor. They also claim to offer a one-stop-shop for all credit and equipment types. Many of them do not "credit score" but introduce or match lessee and equipment to lessor. Most do not have "auto approval" or make so-called "instant decisions.” Although they may make claims, they do not live up to them. Most make mention of the leasing industry in various forms of “negative selling.”

Very few have come from the leasing industry itself. Many have folded on and about to go out of business.

The ones that survive are going the more traditional methods of other leasing companies, who hire salesmen, telemarketers, send out faxes, mail letters to businesses, including “pre-approved” plastic leasing cards, seeking business from “lease brokers” , pay fees to sellers of equipment, and of course, make direct calls on end users. The World Wide Web is not bringing them enough business to survive as a sole “dot com” attraction of lease applications..

The internet is great technology with the ability to process data at tremendous speeds, but in the end it is still a communication tool just like the cellular telephone or fax machine. It has tremendous capabilities and possibilities, but the selling of leases is not done by telephone or fax or by the computer connected on the internet . It is still a people business.

This niche of the leasing industry that started out with the attitude they were going to change the way financing was done, that everyone was “out of date,” and “we are the World,” is now struggling to survive, perhaps more so than the rest of the leasing industry.

*80 percent of San Francisco-area dot-coms are expected to go out of business during the next 18 months.

75,500 dot-com employees laid off nationwide since December 1999

25,000 dot-come employees laid off in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco

Bay Area since December, 1999

30,000 dot-come layoffs, expected in the San Francisco Bay Area this year.

S.F. Chronicle, 4/07/01

Source: Cox Newspapers, Rosen Consulting Group;

Cushman & Wakefield; Chanllenger, Gray and Christmas

(We also have other stories on other eLease companies in our Archives)

* Note: LeaseExchange is reportedly on "autopilot" and has very few employees. Many of these aggregate on line funding sources are running empty. In February, eLease closed down when they could not secure their "C" round of funding.
+ accepts broker business ( fees are negotiated per deal at eLeaseusa)
+* Lease2save.com offers an ASP Leasing System to equipment vendors, according to Brian Murray . Their customer, sales reps and VAR's are able to submit lease applications directly to Lease2save.com from their website. Most of the eLease brokers have this ability.
~ more a "finance" or "lender," but claims leasing available.

Phil Litchenstein, Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager of ATEL Leasing Corporation, announced the hiring of Peter Lewin as Regional Vice President for the Southeast.

Peter began his career in leasing with Bank of New England in 1982 as a pricing and structuring analyst. From 1984 through 1996 he held various sales positions for Bank of New England and later BTM Capital Corp. He was most recently with Fleet Capital Corp until their acquisition by Bank of America. He is currently located in Jacksonville, Florida.

Litchenstein said, “Peter is a great addition to the ATEL team. He has a long track record of success and many important contacts in the Southeast that we hope to leverage.”

ATEL Leasing Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of ATEL Capital Group, works closely with investment-grade and near investment-grade companies in the United States, Europe, and Asia to structure creative financing solutions for the leasing of business-necessary equipment. Each lease transaction is customized to preserve cash resources and optimize accounting and tax planning objectives.

Some of the types of equipment in ATEL's nearly $2 billion portfolio are: aircraft, communications equipment, machine tools, materials handling equipment, off-shore marine vessels, medical equipment, tractors, trailers, helicopters, and various types of manufacturing equipment.

SUNDERLAND, MA – American Lease Insurance (ALI) has named Pamela Zoldy of South Hadley to client relations manager. In her new position, Zoldy will work to ensure ongoing client satisfaction with the ALI program, setting objectives with clients, then monitoring and measuring performance to ensure goals are met. Most recently collections manager at ALI, Zoldy joined ALI in 2002. According to ALI President Steve Dinkelaker, “Pam is an asset to us, as evidenced by her achievements within the organization. She knows the program we offer inside and out. I'm proud to have her on our team, and happy to see her take responsibility for such an important function. Our ability to communicate clearly with clients, anticipate their needs and initiate changes to address those needs has contributed in large part to our success.”

Prior to coming to ALI, Zoldy worked for MBNA America, the world's largest credit card company. She graduated with honors from Plymouth State College in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

The ALI program currently supplies systematic tracking, integrated billing, full collections follow-up and fee income to many lessors of small-ticket equipment. Dinkelaker comments, ”Small-ticket lessors typically do not have the resources to adequately track insurance on their portfolios. Our program allows them to re-allocate staff to more productive functions, while providing quantifiable advantages.” Dinkelaker founded ALI in 2000. He is a licensed insurance agent and broker who has created, implemented, and managed lease insurance programs for almost all of the major small-ticket leasing companies.

ALI is a member of the Equipment Leasing Association, the Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors, the United Association of Equipment Leasing, and the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers. ALI is also the corporate sponsor of the Equipment Leasing and Financing Foundation's annual Industry Future Council.

Atlanta, GA.: ORIX USA's Structured Finance division, based in Kennesaw, GA, recently exceeded $1 Billion in new business volume since its inception four years ago, while consistently growing its profits in each year. Structured Finance has built a core business around creative financial solutions targeted to the non-investment grade middle and larger ticket marketplace with customized transactions ranging between $1 million and $75 million.

Steve Crain, President of Structured Finance said, “Reaching this milestone further validates our original go to market strategy and positions Structured Finance for significant growth in the future under the Corporate Finance Group umbrella of ORIX. Our company is leveraging the wide variety of creative product offerings within the group in order to meet our customers' unique funding requirements. Structured Finance is also further developing its vertical market strategy within selected industries in order to accelerate growth by utilizing our depth of product knowledge within these markets.”

Structured Finance specializes in providing equipment financing and leasing to middle market and larger business enterprises with core competencies in manufacturing, energy, mining, business aircraft, rail, marine, media/broadcast, sports franchise, gaming and other capital intensive industries. Additionally, Structured Finance provides “turnkey” financing (land, building and equipment) of facilities (refineries, manufacturing plants, grocery stores, processing plants and other facility-related business locations).

Structured Finance is part of the Corporate Finance Group of ORIX USA Corporation. The Corporate Finance Group provides senior secured, unsecured, mezzanine and structured finance credit products to companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. ORIX USA Corporation, together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a division of ORIX Corporation, Japan's leading diversified financial services provider. Based in Tokyo with operations in 23 global markets, ORIX Corporation is a publicly traded company listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York Stock Exchanges.

CONTACT:
Steve Crain
ORIX USA Corporation
Phone Number: 770-970-6400
Fax Number: 770-970-6900
E-mail: structured@orix.com

Portsmouth, NH – Direct Capital Corporation recently completed a $50 million lease-backed commercial paper conduit securitization transaction. The transaction was completed in December 2004, with Autobahn Funding Company, LLC as lender and DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank as agent.

The completion of this transaction, combined with the recent expansion of the company's warehouse loan facility with Bank of America, supports Direct Capital's efforts to further diversify its funding capabilities for its U.S. business customers. “The closing of this transaction demonstrates the success of Direct Capital's focused strategy to bring simple, fast and cost effective capital to businesses across the U.S. which will enable continued growth of our business” commented Christopher Broom, Direct Capital Chairman. “We are extremely proud of this transaction, our first entry into the securitization market. It is the result of strategic planning and disciplined execution” said Dawn Gillette, VP of Finance. Richard Wisniewski, Senior VP of DZ Bank's Asset Securitization Group, added, “Direct Capital is a recognized leader in the leasing industry. We are pleased to welcome them into the growing family of Autobahn clients, and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

Established in 1993, Direct Capital provides small- and mid-ticket equipment and technology lease and finance solutions to businesses nationwide. Direct Capital is focused on serving U.S. businesses and their leasing and financing needs rather than financing specific equipment types. The company markets its services through direct relationships with equipment purchasers and through partnerships with vendors, dealers, and manufacturers of capital equipment. Direct Capital has completed over $500 million of equipment financing representing in excess of 20,000 transactions throughout the United States. Superb execution on its exceptional and unique direct service delivery model is the cornerstone of Direct Capital's success in an increasingly commoditized financial services industry.

DZ Bank's Asset Securitization Group offers structured asset and receivables financing for a wide variety of clients and asset types. ASG's unique financing programs are tailored to satisfy a company's capital needs through various forms of execution, including asset-backed commercial paper programs funded through DZ Bank's multi-seller commercial paper conduit, Autobahn Funding Company, LLC; and term note securitizations, placed through DZ Bank's broker-dealer, DZ Financial Markets LLC. ASG has successfully executed approximately $4.7 billion of transactions since its inception at DZ Bank in April of 1999.

Direct Capital recently moved and expanded its Portsmouth, New Hampshire headquarters to support its continued growth. In addition, Direct Capital operates satellite offices out of Roslyn, NY, Phoenix, AZ, Wilmington, DE and New London, NH. The company currently employs 165 professionals, with plans to add over 60 employees over the next year.

In 1999, Direct Capital was named #154 on the coveted Inc. 500 list of America's fastest growing privately held companies. Direct has also been named to Business NH's Top 100 list of the fastest growing companies in New Hampshire for four straight years.

For more information, contact:
Bob Sweeney
Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer
Direct Capital Corporation
155 Commerce Way
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Ph: 603-433-9450
E: bsweeney@directcapital.com

Dawn Gillette
Vice President - Finance
Direct Capital Corporation
155 Commerce Way
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Ph: 603-433-9419
E: dgillette@directcapital.com

CONTACT:
Kate McGrath
Direct Capital
Phone Number: (603) 433-9413
Fax Number: (603) 766-8435
E-mail: kmcgrath@directcapital.com

Citibank, Henry Schein and NDA Align to Help African-American Dentists Launch and Expand Their Practice in Underserved Markets

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)----Citibank, Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq:HSIC) and the National Dental Association (NDA), today announced a landmark alliance that will help African-American dentists launch profitable and thriving practices and bring quality oral healthcare to underserved urban communities. The agreement is a result of Citibank's new membership on the National Dental Association's Corporate Roundtable and all three organizations strong commitment to the African-American community. By aligning their resources, Citibank, Henry Schein and the NDA will enhance the opportunities for member dentists to start and expand their practices and make oral healthcare more accessible to underserved communities.

As part of the alliance, Citibank will offer a complete set of financial solutions to the qualified NDA members seeking to launch or expand their dental practice. The Citi Dental Suite includes working capital loans, equipment leasing programs, commercial and personal banking services, patient financing programs, and dental practice financing offered through Citibank's arrangement with Henry Schein, the largest distributor of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets. In addition, Citibank will also make available through its Small Business Administration program $10 million in low interest-rate loans to those dental practitioners who provide oral healthcare in underserved communities and do not qualify for conventional loans.

"We are excited about working with the NDA and their members," said Ellen Alemany, EVP in charge of Citigroup's Global Commercial Business Group." Together, we will help African-American dental practitioners grow their practice, provide optimal oral healthcare to all their patients and make their communities stronger. We recognize that a healthy community helps to develop a successful community."

"We strive to be a valuable business partner with our dental customers in all areas of the practice," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Office of Henry Schein. "This commitment includes a comprehensive offering of financial services to help practitioners operate more efficient and profitable practices while delivering the highest level of quality oral healthcare to patients. We are particularly pleased that this new alliance with the NDA will help extend this valuable offering in underserved communities across our country and further bridge the healthcare disparity gap."

"This is an important partnership for the NDA and one that will further advance our mission and create opportunities for our members and the communities they serve, " said Robert Johns, the Executive Director of NDA. " Since its inception, NDA members have been dedicated to providing affordable oral healthcare to the disenfranchised. By joining forces with Citibank and Henry Schein, we can now provide our members with a set of innovative and responsible financing programs that will help them serve their communities, grow their businesses and achieve their long-term goals."

NDA members can take advantage of Citi Dental Suite by calling 800-257-8451, ext. 3069.

Citibank is a member of Citigroup (NYSE:C), the preeminent global financial services company, which has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com.

Henry Schein, a Fortune 500(R) company, is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices. The Company's four business groups - Dental, Medical, International and Technology - serve more than 450,000 customers worldwide, including dental practices and laboratories, physician practices and veterinary clinics, as well as government and other institutions. The Company's sales reached a record $3.4 billion in 2003. The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 125 countries with a comprehensive selection of over 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products. Henry Schein also offers a wide range of innovative value-added practice solutions, including such leading practice management software systems as DENTRIX(R) and Easy Dental(R) for dental practices, and AVImark(R) for veterinary clinics, which are installed in over 50,000 practices; and ArubA(R), Henry Schein's electronic catalog and ordering system. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs nearly 10,000 people and has operations in 17 countries. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

Founded in 1913, the NDA is the voice of 10,000 African American dental professionals and the communities they serve. In recent years, the focus has been on collaborating with community groups, the NDA corporate partners, and other organization's and government agencies to increase access and eliminate health disparities. The critical shortage of African American dentists and the overwhelming oral health needs in communities of color makes solving this crisis a moral imperative.

The NDA is dedicated to recruitment, community education and educational scholarships. Programs at the annual convention present advances in healthcare, promotes entrepreneurship, community empowerment and business/financial management. The umbrella organizations of the NDA are: the Student National Dental Association, National Dental Assistants Association, National Dental Hygienists Association and the Auxillairy to the NDA (spouses).

Skokie, IL – PayNet announces the release of its new Office Score built from payment behavior history on office small ticket transactions. Developed in partnership with industry leader PredictiveMetrics, this empirically derived and statistically sound score is built from the largest pool of office related transactions in the industry. By utilizing historical office specific performance data to predict the future credit risk of borrowers produces results that are more accurate, facilitating better decisions and improving overall performance results for the office lessor or lender.

Office Score drives profits by providing the capability to quickly and definitively assess a new or existing account for superior financial performance:
$ Increase Volume: Small ticket, high volume lenders profit by increasing originations through automating the majority of your decisions. Office Score quickly and accurately identifies risk to confidently drive higher auto-decision rates.
$ Optimize Resources: Equipment lenders shorten turn around time and cut costs by using Office Score in their auto-decision process for most applications.
$ Better Decisioning: The score is derived from statistics analyzing and weighting hundreds of variables to find the most predictive data to improve the accuracy of your office credit specific decisions.
$ Cost-Effective: Leverages PayNet's office and other equipment data, which is the largest pool of comparable payment history in the country on office related leases and loans.
$ Minimize IT Resources: No software required. Easily access the scores through an encrypted FTP Internet process.

Office Score is designed to automate front and back-end office equipment leasing decisions. The model is based on actual office equipment leasing performance and predicts the likelihood that a new account will go 90+ days delinquent or to loss within 18 months of underwriting. Office Score provides a consistent decision process that allows trained credit analysts to focus their time on the more difficult credits not easily decided by credit scoring, including firms with limited history or unique financing.

“Not surprisingly, this model's performance statistics outperforms those of commercial scores that don't focus specifically on office equipment because it is tailored to the unique needs of office equipment lenders” says Michael Banasiak of PredictiveMetrics. Rather than relying on this, PayNet invites qualified potential users to request a free retro/historical analysis of how Office Score actually performs on your own portfolio. Put facts to work in your office lending business. Reduce your losses, approve more deals, approve them faster and be the first lender back with an approval, so you get to book the business.

For additional information contact us at 847-965-9800 ext. 12 or OfficeScore@paynetonline.com.

PayNet, Inc. manages the data repository for the commercial equipment finance industry, an industry that represents more than $550 billion in assets. With the exclusive endorsement of the Equipment Leasing Association (ELA) this repository has become the nation's largest online database of current and historical lease and loan payment information used for credit decision purposes. Over 100 commercial lenders are Members including eight of the ten largest finance companies, representing a majority of the net assets in the industry. PayNet uses its proprietary technology and the power of information tools to increase profitability, improve operational efficiency, and reduce credit losses. Founded in 1999, PayNet Inc. is headquartered in suburban Chicago. For more information, visit www.paynetonline.com

PredictiveMetrics is a market leader in the development of credit and collection statistical models for the leasing industry. PredictiveMetrics continuously helps its customers increase their profit margins by providing custom and industry specific credit, portfolio management, collection and recovery scoring tools. Leveraging advanced methodologies and statistics to application, accounts receivable, and collection data, as well as credit bureau, financial statement, and demographic data allows companies to turn probabilities into profits. Armed with an analytical staff comprised of statisticians, econometricians and actuaries who have extensive experience in developing predictive scoring solutions for a variety of applications, types of financing, and industries allied with its consultative approach, PredictiveMetrics provides the most accurate and predictive decision tools in the market today! Established in 1995, PredictiveMetrics is headquartered in Tinton Falls, NJ.

For more information about PredictiveMetrics, please visit the website at www.predictivemetrics.com.

    1671-Birthday of Hannah Callowhill Penn. was the second wife of William Penn; she effectively administered the Province of Pennsylvania for six years after her husband suffered a series of strokes and then for another eight years after her husband's death. She served as acting proprietor from 1712 until her death in 1726. She is one of the few individuals and the first woman who has been given the status of Honorary Citizen of the United States. It was given to her by Presidential Proclamation upon an Act of Congress (PL.98-516) by Ronald Reagan on November 28, 1984. When she came to America she had already been pregnant with their second of eight children when the couple embarked from England for their three month voyage. When William Penn died at age 73 July 30, 1718 his will gave full control of the colony and his fortune to Hannah Penn. William Penn's oldest son by his first marriage sought to set aside his father's will to obtain control of the colony. His suit was unsuccessful and Hannah Penn remained in charge until she died from a stroke at age 55.
http://www.cbsd.org/pennsylvaniapeople/level1_biographies/
Biographies_Level_1/hannah_penn_level_1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Callowhill_Penn
    1751- The first hospital to open in the United States was the Pennsylvania Hospital, opened in Philadelphia, PA, through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. A temporary hospital was erected in 1751 in a private house on High (now Market ) Street before the permanent building opened on February 11,1752. This was the first hospital to give free treatment to the poor and to offer humane treatment to the insane.
    1790 -- Pennsylvania Society of Friends petition Congress to emancipate slaves.
    1801- President elected by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives started debating who would be president.. After the election of 1800, the electoral vote stood as follows: Thomas Jefferson 72, Aaron Burr 73, John Adams 65, Charles Cotesworht Pinckney 64, and John Jay 1. It was quite a debate, with Alexander Hamilton working behind the scenes to elected Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton detested Burr and his principals, who's dislike for each other led Aaron Burr to challenge him to a pistol duel on July 11, 1804. There were 35 ballots, all deadlocked as each state had one vote. On the 36 th ballot, February 17, barely two weeks before a new president was to be inaugurated, Jefferson was elected President. Delaware and South Carolina cast blank ballots, with the result that the vote was 10 states for Jefferson and 4 for Burr. Aaron Burr was elected vice-president.
    1805 -- Sacajawea gives birth to Jean-Baptist Charbonneau while leading Lewis & Clark Expedition . Mother and son both were invaluable to the expedition. As hoped, Sacagawea's services as a translator played a pivotal role in securing horses from the Shoshone. Jean Baptiste's presence also proved unexpectedly useful by helping to convince the Indians the party encountered that their intentions were peaceful-no war party, the Indians reasoned, would bring along a mother and infant. When the Corps of Discovery returned east in 1805, Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and Jean Baptiste resumed the fur-trading life. Little is known of Sacagawea's subsequent fate, though a fur trader claimed she died of a "putrid fever" in 1812 at a Missouri River trading post. True to a promise he had made to Sacagawea during the expedition, Clark paid for Jean Baptiste's education at a St. Louis Catholic academy and became something of an adoptive father to the boy. A bright and charismatic young man, Jean Baptiste learned French, German, and Spanish, hunted with noblemen in the Black Forest of Germany, traveled in Africa, and returned to further explore the American West. He died in 1866 en route to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana.
    1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimentally burned anthracite coal to keep his Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania home warm on this winter day. He showed how cleanly and cheaply the coal burned as heating fuel. As a result, that area of northeast Pennsylvania would become an important coal mining area for generations. Those who came to the area to work the coal mines were called ‘coal crackers'.
    1811- President Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war. The young Nation was not prepared to fight; its forces took a severe trouncing. The British entered Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. But a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson's triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been gloriously successful. An upsurge of nationalism resulted. The New England Federalists who had opposed the war--and who had even talked secession--were so thoroughly repudiated that Federalism disappeared as a national party.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm4.html
http://courses.smsu.edu/ftm922f/Documents/madBritdoctrine.htm
    1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signed a law changing the state's electoral boundaries to ensure a Republican majority. One grotesquely shaped new district, described as looking like a salamander, results in the coining of the word gerrymander. The move gave rise to the term "gerrymandering."
    1847-Birthday of Thomas Edison, American inventive genius and holder of more than 1,200 patents ( including the incandescent electric lamp, phonograph, electric dynamo and key parts of many now-familiar devices such as the movie camera, telephone transmitter, etc. ) Edison said, “ Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” His birthday is now widely observed as Inventor's Day. Born at Milan, Oh, and died at Menlo Park, NJ. Oct. 18, 1931.
    1882-Birthday of Joe Jordan, piano player, songwriter, Cincinnati, OH
http://www.jass.com/jordan.html
http://www.trachtman.net/ragtime/classicpianorags.htm
    1889-First Woman Episcopal Bishop. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Edmond L. Browning, consecrated the reverend Barbara Clementine Harris a bishop of the Episcopal Church.
    1899 -15ºF (-26ºC), Washington DC (district record)
    1899 -61ºF (-52ºC), Montana (record low)
    1899 - Perhaps the greatest of all arctic outbreaks commenced on this date. The temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. At the same time a "Great Eastern Blizzard" left a blanket of snow from Georgia to New Hampshire. The state of Virginia took the brunt of the storm, with snowfall totals averaging 30 to 40 inches temperature)
    1908-Birthday of Philip Dunne, American screenwriter and director Phillip Dunne, born at New York, NY. In 1947, he joined directors John Huston and William Wyler to found the Committee for the First Amendment which campaigned against the committee for the First Amendment, which campaigned against the “blacklisting” in Hollywood of anyone suspected of being a communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was also a founder of the Screen Writers Guild. Dunne died June 2, 1992 at Malibu, CA.
    1910-Birthday of singer, guitarist, arranger John Mills, Jr. (Mills Brothers ) Piqua, OH
http://www.themillsbrothers.com/
http://www.themillsbrothers.com/phototour.htm http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/productm.jsp?product=
3184022&template=dec6
    1911—Emma Goldman is arrested in New York for distributing information on family planning (birth control.)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb11.html
    1913 -- IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) leads rubber strike in Akron, Ohio. The Akron Rubber Workers will do it again in 1936-37, at the General Tire Company of Akron, scene of the first sit-down strike in rubber. The first major strike, in 1913, represented an end of innocence. The action, which included workers from all of Akron's rubber shops, began after the introduction of machinery that made tires easier to build and resulted in lower piece rates for the workers. The strike was loosely directed by the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical group nicknamed the "Wobblies." It lasted more than five weeks. The workers made no gains -- they didn't even manage to shut down the rubber shops. The strike served chiefly to disillusion company executives.
    1914-Birthday of guitarist Josh White, Greenville, SC
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAwhiteJ.htm
http://www.folkways.si.edu/40081.htm
http://www.umass.edu/umpress/fall_00/wald.html
(he was one of my late father's favorite folksingers along with “Leadbelly” that I can remember his playing when I was very small, maybe five years old.)
    1914-Birthday of song writer Matt Dennis http://www.melbay.com/authors/denn.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056314/
ref=pd_sxp_f/102-2783041-0221764
Wrote “Angel Eyes,” “Everything Happens to Me,” “Will You Still Be Mine?”     1960-Water Closet Incident: Jack Paar, then host of “The Tonight Show,” walked out of his late-night TV show on this date. The incident was prompted by NBC's censoring of a slightly off-color “water closet” joke the previous night. After a meeting with the network officials, Paar agreed to return to the show on March 7.
    1916 -- Black feminist and civil-rights activist Flo Kennedy is born in Kansas City, Missouri. As a lawyer, Kennedy represented Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and H. Rap Brown. In 1966, she founded the Media Workshop to confront racism in media and advertising. In 1972 she forms the Feminist Party and files an Internal Revenue Service complaint alleging that the Catholic Church violates tax-exempt requirements by spending money to influence political decisions. Kennedy describes herself (quote) "I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady . . .and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me." Died December 22,2000
http://rwor.org/a/v22/1090-99/1095/flo_kennedy.htm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131523716/
avsearch-df1-2-20/002-5861649-1425657 http://www.writetools.com/women/stories/kennedy_flo.html
    1918-Birthday of country music publisher Wesley Rose. Wesley and his father Fred are credited with demolishing the barriers between pop and country music by successfully selling the songs of Hank Williams in the pop market. When Williams wrote "Cold, Cold Heart," Wesley Rose traveled from Nashville to New York to try to sell the song. The only person who would listen to him was Mitch Miller, director of pop music at Columbia Records. Miller gave the song to an aspiring young singer named Tony Bennett. Bennett's 1951 recording of "Cold, Cold Heart" sold a million copies. Wesley Rose died on April 26th, 1990.
    1919 -- Seattle General Strike ends.
Harvey O'Connor's sympathetic Revolution in Seattle remains the best book on this event.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0939306018/
inktomi-bkasin-20/002-5861649-1425657
Another perspective: Howard Zinn's People's History of the U.S. http://free.freespeech.org/americanstateterrorism/books/
PeoplesHistory.html
Seattle General Strike
http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/strike/
http://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/curcan/main.html
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/hist_texts/seattle1919.html
    1935-Birthday of singer Gene Vincent, whose full name was Vincent Eugene Craddock, born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was signed by Capitol Records as an answer to Elvis Presley, and his career was launched in 1957 with "Be Bop a Lula." Vincent is supposed to have written the song after reading a Little Lulu comic book. He had only two major hits, then began drinking heavily. A comeback attempt in the late '60s failed, and Gene Vincent died of a bleeding ulcer in October 1971. He was only 36.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/index2.html
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/gvbebop.html
http://www.cybernemo.com/les-claviers/partoches/Gene%20Vincent.doc
http://www.webspawner.com/users/GeneVincent/
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rockin.paul/gene.htm
    1938-Larry Clinton Band with Bea Wain records “Martha.”
    1939-Birthday of pop songwriter Gerry Goffin was born in New York City. Goffin has been the lyricist for dozens of pop, rock and soul hits, many of them written with Carole King, his former wife. Among the hits the duo wrote were "The Locomotion" for Little Eva, "Up on the Roof" for the Drifters and "One Fine Day" for the Chiffons. A note for trivia buffs - Little Eva was Goffin and King's babysitter at the time of her hit, 1963.
    1939 – Birthday of Jane Yolen, children's book author, born New York City.
http://www.janeyolen.com/
    1940-Birthday of singer Bobby (Boris) Pickett, whose novelty "Monster Mash" was a number-one hit in 1962.
http://www.classicbands.com/boris.html http://www.themonstermash.com/mmdex.html
http://www.themonstermash.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi?cart_id=
K90m3W.a4873*Ho5ewWHj7sHz.a4873*3C1zVI&product=Music
    1941-Birthday of Brazilian musician and singer Sergio Mendes.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/mendes.htm
    1944-Birthday of drummer Martin Drew, Northampton, England
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/martin%20drew.html
http://homepages.tesco.net/~martindrew/
http://www.p2c2e.freeserve.co.uk/mdbiog.html
http://www.317x.com/albums/m/sergiomendes/card.html
    1945-Yalta Agreement singed: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed an agreement at Yalta, a Soviet city of the Black Sea in the Crimea. The agreement contained plans for new blows at the heart of Germany and for occupying Germany at the end of the war. It also called for a meeting in San Francisco to draft a charter for the United Nations.
    1946—Top Hits
Symphony - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Clyde Rogers)
I Can't Begin to Tell You - Bing Crosby with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra
Let It Snow - Vaughn Monroe
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
    1948- U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'We ask Thee not for tasks more suited to our strength, but for strength more suited to our tasks.'
    1950-- "Rag Mop" by The Ames Brothers hit #1
http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?sid=PK©'DK7f
http://www.dirtywater.com/a2z/a/amesbros/
http://www.singers.com/jazz/vintage/ames.html
    1953-Chris Connor, with the Stan Kenton Band, cuts “And the Bull Walked Around, Ole.”
    1954—Top Hits
Oh! My Pa-Pa - Eddie Fisher
Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford
Young-at-Heart - Frank Sinatra
Bimbo - Jim Reeves
    1956-Birthday of jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, Calais, France
http://www.ejn.it/mus/lockwood.htm
http://www.jazzvalley.com/musician/didier.lockwood
    1958-The first African-American Woman hired as a flight attendant was Ruth Carol Taylor, a graduate nurse from Ithaca, NY, who made her first flight from Ithaca, New York City on Mohawk Airlines.
    1961- Robert C Weaver sworn in as Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency with then highest federal post by a black
    1962—Birthday of Sheryl Crow - U.S. musician, singer, and songwriter/musician. Grammy Award- winning singer and songwriter known all-around musical expertise and for her edgy pop songs, such as "All I Wanna Do" (1993), " If It Makes You Happy" (1996) and "Strong Enough" (1996)..
http://www.sherylcrow.com/
    1962—Top Hits
Peppermint Twist - Joey Dee & The Starliters
Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
Norman - Sue Thompson
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke
    1963-- the Beatles recorded all the tracks for their first album in one 12-hour session with producer George Martin at the EMI Abbey Road studios in London. Among the songs laid down were "I Saw Her Standing There," "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and "Twist and Shout."
    1964- the Beatles played their first American concert at the Coliseum in Washington, DC.
    1966 - Willie Mays became the highest-paid baseball player in both leagues when he signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants for an estimated salary of $130,000 a year.
    1967-The Turtles' "Happy Together" is released.
    1968 -Peggy Fleming wins Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France.
http://espn.go.com/abcsports/wwos/peggyfleming.html
http://www.peggyfleming.net/
    1968 - In New York, the new 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden officially opened, making it the fourth arena to be named Madison Square Garden. The arena for sports and entertainment opened with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
    1970- 26.37 cm (10.38") of rainfall, Mt Washington NH (state 24-hour record)
    1970—Top Hits
Venus - The Shocking Blue
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)/Everybody is a Star - Sly & The Family Stone
I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick
A Week in a Country Jail - Tom T. Hall
    1970 - "Variety" reported this day that Walt Disney had secretly taken its movie, "Song of the South", out of circulation back in 1958. Originally released in 1946, the live-action/animated flick featuring Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, Uncle Remus and kids, Johnny and Ginny, won an Academy Award in 1947 for the song, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". James Baskett won an Oscar for his Uncle Remus role. "Variety" said "Song of the South" was pulled because of ...racist attitudes reflected in the Negro roles in the film.
    1975 - The movie, "Shampoo", opened. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Jack Warden, Lee Grant (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), Tony Bill, William Castle and Howard Hesseman starred. And, making her film debut a year before "Star Wars" made her famous: Carrie Fisher.
    1977--Clifford Alexander Jr. becomes the first Black Secretary of the Army.
http://www.army.mil/CMH-PG/books/Sw-SA/Alexander.htm
http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/1004AlexanderClifford.asp?pic=none
http://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/alexanderc/
    1977- 20.2-kg lobster caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean in this century. Settlers in the United States report catching 25lb lobsters off the coast of Maine and Massachusetts as “common.”) The first thanksgiving with the Indians was mainly fish and shellfish. Lobster was so common it was considered poor man's food and served indentures servants until they rebelled that they did not want it more than three times a week.
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html
http://www.parl.ns.ca/projects/lobster/history.htm
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/society.html
    1978—Top Hits
Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
(Love Is) Thicker Than Water - Andy Gibb
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love - Larry Gatlin with Brothers & Friends
    1979- "Elvis," a biography of the late singer, was shown on ABC television. The program won the largest share of the audience in competition with the blockbuster films "Gone With the Wind" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" shown on the other networks.
    1979 - Birthday of Brandy Norwood (Grammy Award-winning singer: The Boy Is Mine [w/Monica: 1999]; I Wanna Be Down, Baby, Best Friend, Brokenhearted, Sittin' Up in My Room, Never S-A-Y Never, Top of the World, Have You Ever?, Almost Doesn't Count, U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To), What About Us?)
    1982 - ABC-TV's presentation of "The Winds of War", the miniseries, came to an end. The 18-hour miniseries totaled $40 million in production costs, and, to that time, was the most-watched television program in history; topping another ABC presentation, Alex Haley's "Roots". An estimated 140 million people watched one or more nights of the program.
    1983- the Rolling Stones documentary, "Let's Spend the Night Together," directed by Hal Ashby, opened in the US and Canada, amid one of the worst snow storms of New England States.
    1983 - The Middle Atlantic Coast States and southern New England were in the midst of a major snowstorm. In Pennsylvania, the storm produced 21 inches at Philadelphia, 24 inches at Harrisburg, and 25 inches at Allentown, establishing record 24 hour totals and single storm totals for those locations. New York City received 22 inches of snow, and 35 inches was reported at Glen Gary, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Windsor Locks CT received a record 19 inches of snow in 12 hours. The storm resulted in forty-six deaths, thirty-three of which occurred when a freighter capsized and sank off the Maryland/Virginia coast. Heavy snow was reported from northeastern Georgia to eastern Maine.
    1984-"Middle of the Road" by the Pretenders peaks at #19 on the pop chart. It was a track off their platinum album "Learning to Crawl."
    1985 - Kent Hrbek became the first Minnesota Twins player ever to sign a $1 million contract. As the Twins celebrated their 24th year as a franchise of the American League, the first baseman signed a five-year, $6-million pact.
    1986—Top Hits
That's What Friends are For - Dionne & Friends
Burning Heart - Survivor
I'm Your Man - Wham!
Hurt - Juice Newton
    1986---The Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" is certified gold.
    1988 - Bitter cold air gripped the north central U.S. Morning lows of 35 degrees below zero at Aberdeen SD, Bismarck ND and International Falls MN were records for the date. Bemidji MN was, officially, the cold spot in the nation with a low of 39 degrees below zero, however, a reading of 42 degrees below zero was reported at Gettysburg SD. In the Northern High Plains Region, Baker MT warmed from 27 degrees below zero to 40 above.
    1989- The Rev. Barbara C. Harris, 55, of Boston, was confirmed as the first female bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican Church. Harris has long advocated social change in the church and society. She's also a long-time member of the Union of Black Episcopalians, a group formed to promote the participation of blacks in the church and eradicate racism in society.
http://www.diomass.org/EpisTimes/Harris_10th_Sch ed.htm
    1989-U2's "Angel of Harlem" peaks at #14 on the pop chart. It was a track from their concert/ documentary LP "Rattle and Hum" which went to #1 for 6 weeks.
    1990 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
http://www.toddeldredgenews.com/
http://www.leigh-i-am.com/todd.shtml
    1995 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
http://www.toddeldredgenews.com/
http://www.leigh-i-am.com/todd.shtml
    2000-Space Milestone: Endeavor Mapping Mission. This manned flight spent 11 days in space creating a 3_d map of more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface. It will be the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth ever produced.
    2001--Ann Bancroft (U.S.A.) and Liv Arnesen (Norway) completed their historic crossing of the Antarctica on foot - Historic Expedition

Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?