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Day in American History

Monday, February 14,2005

Headlines---

Classified Ads---Three “C's”
    From Our Archives--—Amex Buys Sierra Cities
        Economic Events This Week
Classified Ads—Help Wanted
    Up-Date: Leasing Association Conferences—Spring
        Leasing Software Companies
Leasing Partners Capital/Swaun Funding Group
    Paul J. Winkelhoff Irwin Fin. VP Biz Dev.
        Randy Freeman Irwin Fin. VP E.Coast Sales
News Briefs---
    California Nuts Briefs---
        "Gimme that Wine"
This Day in American History
(includes Valentine Day in America)
    Winter Poem

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”

Classified Ads---Three “C's”

Collector: Boston, MA.
Challenging position where my skills, professional experience, organization, leadership, strategic thinking, creativity, energy, passion, competitive nature will enable me to define opportunities and personal development.
Email: bernd.janet@verizon.net

Collector: Jacksonville, East Brunswick, FL.
13 years experience with collection, recovery, re-marketing and legal on commercial loans and leases. Expertise with distressed portfolios, Six Sigma trained. Willing to relocate.
Email: RichardB12364@aol.com

Collector: West Hartford, CT.
Credit/ Collections /Rental Management in leasing & construction fields. Looking for stable company that will appreciate my 20+ years of experience.
Email: losterastringban@aol.com

Controller: Seattle, WA
CPA w/ 15 years management exp. as CFO/ Controller/5 yrs w/ PriceWaterhouse Coopers. Extensive exp providing accounting/ tax guidance for the equipment lease industry. Willing to relocate.
Email: bltushin@hotmail.com

Controller: Southeastern, MI.
Controller & Management experience w/ equip lessors &broker. MBA, CPA w/ extensive accounting, management, securitization experience with public and private companies. Willing to relocate.
Email: Leasebusiness@aol.com

Contract Administrator: New York, NY.
10+ years in equipment leasing/secured lending. Skilled in management & training, documentation, policy and procedure development & implementation, portfolio reporting. Strong work ethic.
Email: dln1031@nyc.rr.com

Contract Administrator: Portland, OR.
6+ years small ticket leasing/financing. Documentation/funding Policy development &implementation, management &training, process mapping, customer service, broker, vendor, portfolio experience.
Email: susanc777@hotmail.com

Contract administrator : Sacramento, CA.
Accomplished project, program/contract manager/B.A. in Business/A.A. in Paralegal Studies- more than 15 years exper. equip. leasing industry (transaction & program management). Will relocate.
Email: keller67@citlink.net

Full listing of all ads at:
http://64.125.68.90/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm

[headlines]

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From Our Archives February 14,2002—Amex Buys Sierra Cities

-

American Express to buy SierraCities.com for $107.5 million

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - American Express said on Wednesday that it would buy equipment financing company SierraCities.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:BTOB - news) for $107.5 million, in order to expand American Express's small business lending.

New York-based American Express said its American Express Travel Related Services Co. unit would pay $5.68 cents per share for about 18.9 million shares outstanding.

SierraCities shares rose 3/8 to $4-7/16, or more than 9 percent, from Tuesday close of $4-1/16 on the Nasdaq. The stock has a 52-week trading high of $22-7/16 and low of $1-1/8.

SierraCities scrapped its merger agreement with VerticalNet Inc. (NasdaqNM:VERT - news) on Jan. 10., a deal worth $7 per SierraCities share.

Shares in American Express fell 48 cents to $46.30 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, compared to a 52-week high of $62.8125 and low of $39.833.

( American Express last year sold its equipment leasing business to Key Equipment Finance, which evidently includes its $20 million law suit against RW Financial, part of the portfolio from Sierra Cities, and Thomas J. Depping is back in business at Main Street Bank, hiring former United Association of Equipment President Bob Fisher to attract leasing business.)

Sale to Key Equipment Finance:
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/October%202004/10-22-04a.htm

Main Street Bank announcement:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Depping_is_back3.htm

[headlines]

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Economic Events This Week

Tuesday
February 15
Inventory-Sales Ratio: December.
Retail Sales: January

Wednesday
February 16
Capacity Utilization: January
Housing Construction: January
Industrial Production: January

Thursday
February 17
Leading Indicators: January
Weekly Jobless Claims

Friday
February 17
Producer Prices: January

[headlines]

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Classified Ads—Help Wanted

Leasing Sales Representative

National Account Manager

Platform Business Manager / Asset Manager

Sales Professionals

Small Ticket Sales Representative

[headlines]

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Leasing Association Conferences—Spring

April 6-7,2005

National Funding Exhibition Fairmont Hotel
Chicago, IL

(note: ELA will allow a one time conference attendance to a non-member. However, the ability to attend not only the conferences but information from their website is well-worth the membership fee)
http://www.elaonline.org/events/calendar/ataglance.cfm#now

[headlines]

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April 14-17,2005
Mills House
Charleston, South Carolina

“The famous Mills House in beautiful, historic Charleston, South Carolina will be the setting for this super conference. Bill Cowden of Springs Leasing, chairman of this event, promises a conference to remember. If you have any workshop ideas or want to volunteer as a panelist, call Alison at 212-809- 1602.”
        EAEL.org web site

To view the Mills house, please go here:
http://www.millshouse.com/virtual-tour.htm

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April 21-24, 2005

Spring Leadership Conference
Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort
Scottsdale, Arizona
Chairman: Steve Reid - Pacific Capital Bank

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

For brochure, click here:
http://www.uael.org/events/conferences/slc/register.asp

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May 4-6,2005

Loews Miami Beach Hotel
South Beach, Miami, Florida

for more information, please go here:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/25AM05_springpgm.pdf

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May 12-15,2005

Hyatt Regency Union Station
St. Louis, Missouri

Claude Elmore—Conference Chairman
Netbank Business Finance

Conference information:
http://www.naelb.org/associations/2004/files/
NAELB05%20Reg%20Brochure%20FINAL.pdf

General Conference Information:
http://www.naelb.org/displayconvention.cfm

[headlines]

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Leasing Software Companies

Friday we put on line the aggregate web site leasing companies:
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/February%202005/
02-11-05.htm#soft

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

N/R No Response
*as reported by receptionist.

(a) Summit National, Inc. is a leading global provider of lease accounting software and services for the equipment, computer, and automobile leasing industry. Our suite of systems include: AP 2000, MILLENNIA, OPTIMA, & MAXXUM. Summit also offers Application Service Provider and Outsourcing services.

Summit National, Inc. maintains offices in Chicago, IL, Norcross, GA, Toronto, CAN, London, ENG, and representation in Sydney and Melbourne Australia to serve over 350 domestic and international clients/users.

Summit's 350+ client/user base include 18 of the Monitor 100. Summit also provides software and services for leading small and mid-range banks, leasing companies, and other captives.

The 26 eLeasing software providers listed in your report provide different products for different needs. As such, the 26 vendors could be placed in separate and distinct categories. Of the 26, Summit would put itself in the same category with 3 or 4 of the 26 vendors listed. The others offer different services that are not in direct competition with Summit National, Inc. products and services. Summit's systems are designed to manage lease applications and lease portfolios for its client base.

For further information, please visit Summit's web site at www.summitnational.com or contact me at 800.621.9531 / k@sumnat.com. Please feel free to add our comments/additions to your next "Leasing News" eLetter.

Thank you,
Ken Duffy, Jr.
k@sumnat.com
Summit National, Inc.

(b) Products: LeaseTeam is a full service provider of software and services to assist small, middle and large ticket equipment lessors. Since our inception, LeaseTeam has been dedicated to the equipment leasing software industry. Our turnkey solutions - Lease Sales Manager and LeasePlus - are the choice of established leasing companies and banks throughout North America, making LeaseTeam a trusted leader in the equipment leasing software industry.

LeasePlusTM, lease accounting and equipment asset management software. Lease Sales ManagerTM, leasing and financial services front-end system. Our Lease Sales Manager product focuses on automating and managing the front-end operations of a leasing company with functionality including pricing, quote generation, application submittal, pre-credit decisions, electronic credit report pulls, credit scoring or analysis, automated documentation and integration with your back-end system. Your front-end process(s) can be defined in the workflow so that everyone knows what they are responsible at any point in time. Lease Sales Manager workflow also provides metrics for measuring turnaround times for the entire process or for specific steps in the process. RDSTM, reporting database system.

In conjunction with the aforementioned software solutions, we offer licensing options that include in-house licensing, running from the clients' hardware- at the clients' site; and ASP hosting of all LeaseTeam applications.

Partnerships
LeaseTeam has historically identified "best of breed" software solutions that are complimentary with our products and entered into strategic relationships with those companies in order to provide the most cost effective total solution for our customers. We feel that this is particularly important in functional areas that span different industries and are not unique to equipment leasing. LeaseTeam currently has relationships with the following "best of breed" products:

* Microsoft Great Plains (Financial Accounting)
* Crystal Reports (Ad hoc Report Writing)
* Crystal Enterprise (Report Distribution)
* Vertex (Sales Tax)
* TaxWare (Sales Tax)
* PTMS (Property Tax)
* CBIZ (Property Tax)
* UCC Direct (UCC Filing)
* American Lease Insurance (Insurance)
* Premier Lease & Loan Services (Insurance)
* Microbilt (Business and Consumer Credit Bureau Report Retrieval)
* MelissaData (Address Validation)
* PayNet (Credit Reports)

Onsite and Virtual Client Services:
Software installation and implementation services.
Data conversion services.
Project Management services and Leasing System Consulting.
Best Practices Consulting.
Custom Reporting.

Knowledge Transfer:
We offer LeasePlusTM, Microsoft Great PlainsTM and Crystal ReportsTM training monthly at our headquarters and as-needed, onsite at our customer's offices throughout the United States and Canada. In addition to regularly scheduled training workshops, LeaseTeam holds an annual client conference in Omaha, Nebraska. The LeaseTeam client conference brings together a comprehensive grouping of Senior IT, Finance and Corporate Executives from successful leasing companies together with the experts within LeaseTeam and leading vendors to offer hands-on training as well as networking opportunities. LeaseTeam is preparing for it's 14th annual conference, which is attended by more than 100 participants each year.

Application Support:
Telephone support and online "customer only" section of our website provide direction and instruction to new and existing users of our products. Additionally, we provide ongoing product enhancement via software updates.

Technical Support:
We offer technical troubleshooting and start-up assistance to users of varying abilities, from IT Managers to Accountants.

Yearly Volume:
$10MM

Major Clients:
LeaseTeam products have installed base of approximately 300 leasing and commercial finance companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. Our organization possesses a wide variety of exposure to leasing operations including pricing, credit operation, documentation, accounting, collections and portfolio and asset management with a wide variety of types of leasing companies using our products from micro-ticket through large-ticket.

Some of our key clients include:
MATSCO Financial Corporation
IFC Credit Corporation / First Corp
Verizon Credit
Popular Leasing
Volvo Commercial Finance, LLC
Information Leasing Corporation
HPSC
Relational Funding Corporation
Eplus Group, Inc.
ICX Corporation
All Points Capital Corporation
Heartland Business Credit
Raymond Leasing Corporation
Americorp Financial, Inc.
ICX Corporation
Balboa Capital Corporation
Alter Moneta Corporation

(c) WiredCapital/CapitalStream
October ,2001,WiredCapital and Capital Stream "merged" and the corporate officers of WiredCapital kept the name but took over management.
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/October2002/10-31-2002.htm#takeover
One of the cofounders, John Kruse, resigned January 1, 2003.
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/Januray%202003/1_07_03.htm#john
They "integrated" with Ivory Consulting Partners in early March.
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/March%202003/03-03-03.htm#capital

(d) Description of Services: Vision Commerce delivers unparalleled front-end e-commerce solutions to the Equipment Leasing and Finance Industries. Vision Commerce provides a front-end solution for proposal delivery, processing credit applications, status reporting and documentation via the Internet. We offer a suite of technology solutions. Vision Commerce delivers its lease origination and marketing system through an Application Service Provider (ASP) model, hosted solution or as an in-house solution. The ASP offering allows us to provide rapid and economical solutions to Subscribers. Vision Commerce has all the technical capabilities to securely support thousands of simultaneous users processing quotes and applications through the Internet. Software enhancements are applied regularly to the ASP solution at no additional cost to Subscribers.

Vision provides typical origination, workflow, decisioning, and documentation capabilities. Our product is differentiated from the rest by its marketing and co-branding capabilities. Vision Commerce hosts hundreds of private-label or custom program leasing sites supporting more than 2000 users. With Vision, our subscribers can quickly and economically deploy solutions that meet the individual requirements of vendors, manufacturers, distributors, brokers, funding sources, and partners. We understand that each relationship is different, and we have constructed our product to adapt to changing business rules.

Vision is a single solution that allows internal staff to collaboratively originate, score, price, and document in one integrated platform.

Developed using the Microsoft .NET framework, Vision showcases the versatility of the latest Internet development tools. This industry leading technology is a secure and reliable solution now and a robust foundation for enhancements planned to extend support to the leasing and finance industries.

Recent Enhancements: In February 2003, Vision Commerce, Inc. released its Vision Framework. The new framework supports the ASP, Hosted and In-House solutions all with the same degree of flexibility, scalability and configurability.

Linda Lundergan
Vision Commerce, Inc.
866-707-9929
636-669-1400
linda@visioncommerce.com

(e) LeaseComplete© is a comprehensive lease accounting and management system for the leasing industry. A true 32-bit Windows-based product, LeaseComplete boasts a robust feature set capable of supporting both equipment leasing and vehicle leasing. This lease servicing system is able to marry complex accounting features and ease of use in a way until now not available in the software industry. A truly competitive and proven product that combines its richer features with realistic pricing to bring a superior alternative to today's marketplace. Please compare LeaseComplete to the other software systems to find out why this new alternative is the better alternative.

Here is what one of our users says about LeaseComplete and the support provided by DLS:

"LeaseComplete has proven to be a solid and reliable product to handle all aspects of managing and servicing our growing equipment lease portfolio. Although relatively new, it has weathered several challenges including a very aggressive conversion schedule. The support and continued additions to the system are provided by a company, DLS, who insures quality service by proven professionals in credit software development and industry knowledge. Based on my experience their support has been second to none in both turn around of issues and attention to our expanding needs. LeaseComplete will compare favorably with any product, especially when you consider cost, features, and superior support."

Harry Kaplun, President, Frost Leasing Corporation, San Antonio, Texas

Thank you
Clinton Dunlow
Dominion Leasing Software, LLC
Clinton.Dunlow@dominionls.com
Powhatan, VA

(f) . DocuTouch is a Seattle-based, privately held ASP (Application Service Provider) that offers corporations technology needed to manage and digitally sign legally binding documents. The company recently released a patent-pending Microsoft Word 2000 Add-In that will allow users to digitally sign documents at the paragraph level. The company's application features a patent-pending process for authenticating anonymous users on the Internet. DocuTouch ensures document security utilizing a proprietary RSA Security Inc. Bsafe(R)-enabled encryption scheme. The company presently represents over 1,000 users in real estate, financial services, insurance, leasing, legal, professional services and enterprise verticals.

(g) Leasing Street Inc. Forms Leasing Division

Leasing Street, a provider of business leasing and financial products launches the formation of a middle market and large ticket leasing division which will provide nationwide equipment leasing and financing to Fortune 500 companies.

The new divisions reflect the company's move beyond leasing marketplace solutions to providing full service management capabilities for the Fortune 500 companies and organizations nationwide and in Canada.

"Leasing Street has earned its reputation as a leader in Leasing and Financing provider by consistently executing quality, innovation, and integrity in it's products and services," said Shelly Bunting president of Leasing Street."

Leasing Street has been aggressively and consistently executing its transition since late 2002. In the first quarter alone of 2003, it has attracted new members to its senior management team, revamped the sales organization, signed new strategic alliances and significantly expanded its product offerings." This is a company that is moving to the next level despite the difficult economic conditions we all face. The Leasing Street team has met and exceeded our expectations at every turn," said Ron Begley of Begley Partners & Investments.

According to Tamer E. Qursha, CEO of Leasing Street, the new divisions will focus on originating transactions in the $100,000 to $50 Million range: "Over the past few years, many equipment Lessor's have retreated from the middle market and large ticket arena. "We believe the middle market and large ticket is underserved and while we will look at any transaction that makes sense, we will focus on our core Fortune 500 companies.

For more information visit, www.leasingstreet.com

Tamer E. Qursha
Leasing Street, Inc.
23411 Aliso Viejo Pkwy, Suite K
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
949-716-8077 Direct Line
949-716-8177 Direct Fax
866-4-STREET TOLL FREE
e-mail: tqursha@leasingstreet.com
www.leasingstreet.com

(h)

(i) International Decision Systems

http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/September%202003/9-16-03.htm#international
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/September%202003/9-16-03.htm#managers
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/September%202003/9-16-03.htm#ids

[headlines]

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

LPC Strikes National Accord With Swaun Funding Group

Leasing Partners Capital, Inc. (LPC), one of the fastest growing equipment leasing companies in the U.S., has recently entered into an exclusive joint marketing agreement with Swaun Funding Group for marine/vessel financing. Swaun is a marine finance company whose principal, Phil Swaun, has over 19 years experience in the marine financing business.

This agreement allows LPC to offer its business base of customers a marine financing program for both commercial and consumer marine/boat loans.

Duane Rouba, Managing Partner of LPC states: “this allows LPC to cross-sell marine financing to our existing database of lessees, which currently numbers over 30,000. Furthermore, the service and rate philosophies of Swaun reflect our own business models. Marine financing is a niche market that compliments our equipment leasing business. With the 20 offices LPC maintains nationwide (and plans to double that number in 2005) LPC is happy to give our Territory Managers another value-added product in our financing array.”

Bruce Larsen, National Sales Manager of LPC, indicates that their Territory Managers will also market this product directly to boat and yacht dealers and brokers on a nationwide basis. Larsen also states: “our sales team is very excited about this product—it is a very unique opportunity for them.

“About the Company”

Leasing Partners Capital, Inc. (LPC) is a small/middle ticket equipment leasing company headquartered in Wayne, NJ. LPC currently has offices in Naples, FL, Louisville, KY, Atlanta, GA, Pittsburgh, PA, Minneapolis, MN, Houston, TX, San Francisco, CA, St. Louis, MO, Boston, MA, Detroit, MI, Seattle, WA, Litchfield, NH, Tampa, FL, Warwick, NY and Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

For additional information or questions about LPC, contact Bruce Larsen, National Sales Manager, 877-333-5864 or email him at blarsen@leasingpartnerscapital.com, or check out their web site @ www.leasingpartnerscapital.com .

[headlines]

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

Paul J. Winkelhoff to Vice President,
Business Development. Irwin Financial

Irwin Commercial Finance Corporation, Equipment Finance announced today the promotion of Paul Winkelhoff to Vice President, Business Development for the Northeast Region.

In his new position, Mr. Winkelhoff will be responsible for managing Irwin Commercial Finance's major vendor relationships in the Northeast. He will report directly to Randy Freeman, Vice President of Sales, East Coast.

Mr. Winkelhoff has served in a variety of Sales and Operations management positions in the leasing industry for the past 16 years. Prior to joining Irwin Commercial Finance, Mr. Winkelhoff was one of the founding partners of Interchange Capital Company. He has also held positions at Eaton Financial, AT&T Capital and BankVest Capital.

Mr. Winkelhoff is also an active member of the Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors (EAEL).

[headlines]

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

Irwin Commercial Finance Appoints Randy L. Freeman
as Vice President, Sales – East Coast

Irwin Commercial Finance Corporation, Equipment Finance announced Randy Freeman's promotion to Vice President, Sales for the East Coast. Mr. Freeman joined the company in November 2003 as a Business Development Manager. In his new capacity, Mr. Freeman will be responsible for managing Sales in the east coast as well as National Account Development.

Mr. Freeman has held various Senior Management, Sales, Operations, and National Account positions in the leasing industry for the past 21 years. He has held positions at Eaton Financial, AT&T Capital, CitiCapital, Fidelity Leasing, and ABB Business Finance.

[headlines]

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

News Briefs---

Verizon Beats Out Qwest In Battle to Acquire MCI
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A22085-2005Feb13.html

Dollar Sags, Asian Stocks Up
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A22199-2005Feb14.html?nav=headlines

Ray Charles Wins Eight Grammy's
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A22191-2005Feb14.html

[headlines]

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California Nuts Briefs---

Governor energizes state GOP
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/14/GOP.TMP

Governor's crusade against business rules has found no villains
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/10890007.htm

[headlines]

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“Gimme that Wine”

North Coast grape prices fall
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20050211/NEWS/502110305/1033/NEWS01l

U.S. soon to be world's No. 1 wine market
http://westernfarmpress.com/news/2-10-05-top-wine-market/

At Silver Oak, they just keep on coming
http://www.sthelenastar.com/templates/index.cfm?template=
story_full&id=00E42B51-791E-4619-95CC-C40A0C594804

High court to settle wine battle
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/
10860920.htm?1c

Fresh talent and modern techniques in emerging regions have rejuvenated the Spanish winemaking industry
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/
2005/02/10/WIGFIB678A1.DTL

[headlines]

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This Day in American History

Valentine's Day in America
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb14.html

    1760- Birthday of Richard Allen, the first black ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church (1799), and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in 1816, was born in slavery in Philadelphia.
http://www.brightmoments.com/blackhistory/nrallen.html
http://earlyamerica.com/review/spring97/allen.html
    1784- James Davenport received a patent for a carding and spinning machine, the first textile machinery patent. He later established the Globe Mills, Philadelphia, PA.. He established a textile .
    1797 --Battle of Cape St Vincent, known as Nelson's forgotten battle. It was a great and welcome victory for the Royal Navy - 15 British ships had defeated a Spanish fleet of 27, and the Spanish ships had a greater number of guns and men. But, Admiral Jervis had trained a highly disciplined force and this was pitted against a Spanish navy under Don José Cordoba that was little more than a panic stricken mob. Of 600-900 men on board his ships, only some 60 to 80 were trained seamen, the others being soldiers or inexperienced landsmen. The Spanish men fought courageously but without direction. After the San Josef was captured it was found that some her of guns still had their tompions in the muzzles. The confusion amongst the Spanish fleet was so great that they were unable to use their guns without causing more damage to their own ships than to the British. This was a turning point that affected the colonies as Britain began her dominance over the seas and fight for real estate in the new world from the Spanish and French, who would rather see the United States obtain the land than the British.
http://www.stvincent.ac.uk/Heritage/1797/battle/index.html
    1801- birthday of Mary Ann Prout, known as “ Aunt Mary Prout.” It is believed most likely that this American--social activist, humanitarian, educator--was born free on this date at Baltimore, MD. Prout became a teacher and in 1830 founded a day school. Actively involved in her church, she founded a secret society that became the Independent Order of St. Luke to help with the cost of medical care and burial services for needy blacks, an organization that grew to have 1,500 chapters across the nation by 1900. Prout died at Baltimore in 1884.
    1805- Colonial American theologian Henry Ware, 41, was confirmed as the first Unitarian professor to teach at Harvard University. Soon after, the Trinitarian Congregationalist teachers began withdrawing from the school, and in 1808 established Andover Theological Seminary.
    1817-Believed to be the birthday of Frederick Douglas, perhaps the beginning leader of the Civil Rights movement; a confident of President Abraham Lincoln.
http://www.history.rochester.edu/class/douglass/home.html
http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html
http://www.americancivilwar.com/colored/frederick_douglass.html http://www.nps.gov/frdo/freddoug.html
http://www.baltimoremd.com/monuments/douglass1.html http://www.cr.nps.gov/muse http://www.nps.gov/frdo/ um/exhibits/douglass/overview.htm
    1819-Birthday of Christopher Sholes, a printer and newspaper editor by trade, developed a page numbering machine in the mid-1800s. A friend suggested he modify the machine into a letter-printing device. Sholes patented the typewriter in 1868 and sold the rights to Remington in 1873. The typewriter served as the basis for the modern computer keyboard.
    1824-Birthday of Winfield Scott Hancock, born at Montgomery, PA, died Feb 9, 1886 at Governor's Island, NY. After serving as Union general in the Civil War, his command of the military division of Texas and Louisiana won him much favor form the Democratic Party because he allowed local civil authorities to retain their power. He pleased the Democrats so well they made him their presidential candidate in 1880. The presidential nominations of 1880 were wide open. The tariff was the only major issue and Hancock was inept at discussing it. The candidates for the most part stayed home, and for the first time interested supporters came in large numbers to visit them at their homes. James A. Garfield especially received gifts and poems composed for the occasion, watching silently as supporters trampled his flowers and shrubs. Garfield was elected president and Chester A. Arthur was elected vice president. The electoral vote was Garfield, 214; Winfield S. Hancock, 155. The popular vote was Garfield 4,449,053; Hancock, 4,443,035, a very narrow victory. Less than six months in his office, President Garfield would be shot July 2, 1881 at the Washington, DC railroad station. Chester A. Arthur would be acting president until Garfield's death on September 19, 1881.
    1849-President James Polk became the first US president to be photographed while in office. The photographer was Mathew B. Brady, who would become famous for his photography during the American Civil War.
    1859- Oregon became the 33rd state in the Union. Oregon's many national parks and recreational areas are home to the state animal, the beaver, which also provides the state with its nickname, the Beaver State. Oregon's agricultural industry raises more hazelnuts than any other state, hence the state nut is the hazelnut. The fishing industry is also very large in this northwestern state, making the Chinook salmon the official fish. The Douglas fir, a popular Christmas tree in many American households, comes from the forests of Oregon and is the state tree. Other official Oregon state symbols are state bird: western meadowlark; state flower: Oregon grape; state insect: swallowtail butterfly. “She flies with her own wings” (Alis volat Propriis) is Oregon's state motto. The state gemstone: sunstone; state rock: thunder egg; state song: "Oregon, my Oregon"; and state dance: square dance. Contrary to popular belief, Portland is not the capital; it is Salem.
    1859- birthday of George Washington Gale Ferris, American engineer and inventor, at Galesburg, IL. Among his many accomplishments as a civil engineer, Ferris is best remembered as the inventor of the Ferris wheel, which he developed for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, IL, in 1893. Built on the Midway Plaisance, the 250-feet-in-diameter Ferris wheel (with 36 coaches, each capable of carrying 40 passengers), proved one of the greatest attractions of the fair. It was America's answer to the Eiffel Tower of the Paris International Exposition of 1889. Ferris died at Pittsburgh, PA, Nov 22, 1896.
    1867-Less than two years after the Civil War ended, Morehouse College was founded as Augusta Institute in Augusta, Georgia. The college was relocated to Atlanta in 1879 and received its present name in 1913. Morehouse is the nation's only historically black, all-male, four-year liberal arts college. Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., JET magazine publisher Robert Johnson, two-time Olympic gold medal hurdler Edwin Moses, former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, filmmaker Spike Lee, and actor Samuel L. Jackson.
http://www.morehouse.edu/
    1870 -- Esther Morris becomes the nation's first woman justice of the peace. Morris is credited with winning women's suffrage in Wyoming territory last year. She arm-twisted two Democratic lawmakers into sponsoring legislation giving women the vote after giving a dinner for twenty ( one of those who did not attend, opposed the legislation, some feel because he was not invited to the dinner; or perhaps he knew what was the purpose of the dinner and did not want to attend). Most Wyoming lawmakers treated the measure lightheartedly, hoping their bold step would attract more women to the territory. Democrats, for their part, were counting on a veto by Governor John Campbell. After the bill passed, however, Campbell promptly signed the bill, making Wyoming the first state or territory to enact women's suffrage. In     1872, the Democrats try to repeal the bill, offering Campbell 2,000 dollars to cooperate. The governor firmly refused.
http://www.womenofthewest.org/exhibits/suffrage/justice_full.html
http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/photos9.html
http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/morris.htm
    1880-Birthday of Dei Gratia Emperor Norton of the United States & Protector of Mexico.
http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nort.html
http://members.aol.com/VirtualOle/norton.html
http://www.discordia.org/~keeper/norton.html
http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/principia.html
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html
http://www.notfrisco.com/nortoniana/index.html
    1886-. Destined to become one of the state's major exports, the first trainload of oranges grown by southern California farmers left Los Angeles this day via the transcontinental railroad. In 1880, just before the first trainload of oranges departed, Los Angeles had 11,183 inhabitants A decade later, the population had ballooned to 102,479. By 1920, there would be more than half a million residents. Los Angeles was already well on its way to becoming the largest urban center in the American West. The Spanish had established Los Angeles, one of the oldest cities in the Far West, in 1781 to help colonize the region. For several decades, the city was the largest center of population in Mexican California. Mexican settlement and development of California, however, proceeded very slowly, and Los Angeles developed little real economic or political power during this period. By the time the U.S. took control of California in 1848, Los Angeles still only had just over 1,610 inhabitants. As Anglo-Americans began to assert their control over California, they gradually broke up the large Hispanic ranches and replaced them with a more diversified farming economy. With irrigation, southern California proved an ideal environment for growing many crops, particularly valuable fruits like oranges. During the 1870s and 1880s, state railroad lines linking Los Angeles into the new system of transcontinental railways created additional moneymaking opportunities. Settlers, tourists, and health seekers all boarded trains to travel to the Pacific, where the sunny climate and beautiful scenery promised a new and better life. The healthful new California lifestyle became closely associated in the public mind with the sweet fruits that grew so abundantly in the orchards around Los Angeles. Taking advantage of the rapid transportation capabilities of the transcontinental lines, Los Angeles area orchard owners began shipping their oranges to the East in 1886. As the city grew, it subdivided many nearby orchards and pushed the orange growers out into regions like Orange County. There the orange growers steadily increased the size of their orchards to the point where local supplies of water for irrigation were inadequate. Determined to sustain their agricultural and real estate booms, Los Angeles residents undertook a massive program of hydraulic engineering in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Engineers took water from the distant mountains to transform the arid southern California ecosystem into a green agricultural and residential paradise. The resulting growth was astonishing. 1893-Birthday of singer/pianist/songwriter Perry Bradford, Montgomery, Al
http://www.redhotjazz.com/bradford.html http://www.theiceberg.com/artist/25838/perry_bradford/
http://www.jass.com/lonesome.html
http://64.33.34.112/.WWW/b8.html
    1894-,Jack Benny Birthday, American comedian. Born Benjamin Kubelsky, Jack Benny entered vaudeville at Waukegan, IL, at age 17, using the violin as a comic stage prop. His radio show first aired in 1932 and continued for 20 years with little change in format. He also had a long-running television show. One of his most well-known comic gimmicks was his purported stinginess. Benny was born at Chicago, IL, and died Dec 26, 1974, at Beverly Hills, CA.
    1899 - A great blizzard struck the eastern U.S. Washington D.C. received 20.5 inches of snow to bring their total snow depth to nearly three feet. The storm produced 36 inches of snow at Cape May NJ
    1912 – Arizona became the 48 th state (in Indian, Arizona means ‘little or young spring'). From its beautiful deserts come the state bird: the cactus wren; the state flower: the saguaro cactus' flower, the state reptile: Arizona ridge nose rattlesnake; state fossil: petrified wood; state gem: turquoise; the oasis, the capital city of Phoenix. More American Indians live in Arizona than any other state, representing over 14 different tribes. But the Spanish influence is everywhere, including the official state neckwear: the bolo tie. State motto: Ditat Deus (God enriches).
    1913 –Birthday of American labor leader (gangster) Jimmy Hoffa lives, born Brazil, Indiana. Died we do not know date nor where. (Where is this guy?)
http://boozers.fortunecity.com/brewerytap/586/hoffa.html
http://www.hoffa.com/
http://www.who2.com/jimmyhoffa.html
    1914- Birth of Ira F. Stanphill, Assemblies of God clergyman and song evangelist. He is best known today for the hymn, "Room at the Cross," which he penned in 1946. 1946, Edith Houghton - signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as the first woman to scout for a major league baseball team.
    1918 - The film, "Tarzan of the Apes", was released. It was based on stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The movie centered on 10-year-old Gordon Griffith who played the young Tarzan, the older Tarzan was played by Elmo Lincoln. Famous baseball player, Lou Gehrig, turned down an offer to play Tarzan. Four Tarzan actors have won Olympic medals: Johnny Weissmuller, Herman Brix, Buster Crabbe and Glen Morris. Johnny Weissmuller made the Tarzan yell famous.
    1920- leaders of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) approved the formation of a new organization-the League of Women Voters. With the vote for women just a few months away, the new organization was created to help American women exercise their new political rights and responsibilities.
www.lwv.org
    1921 -- In New York, Jane Heap & Margaret Anderson face obscenity charges for publishing a portion of James Joyce's Ulysses in the Little Review . They got fined $50. Here is a picture of the "Little Review" reunion:
Jane Heap, Mina Loy, & Ezra Pound, Paris, c. 1923
http://jacket.zip.com.au/jacket05/pix05/mina_pound.jpg
    1922- Murray “The K” Kauffman, WINS NYC DJ, born Richmond, VA.
    1925 -- A close-up of a lottery list shows the winning numbers drawn in the Mexican National Lottery, dated February 14, 1925. The camera pulls back to the hands of a man holding a lottery ticket.
The scraggly-looking bum, a dirty, ragged scrounger [later identified as Fred C. Dobbs "Dobbsie" ( Humphrey Bogart )], tears his losing ticket to pieces.
--- From John Huston's film script of the anarchist B. Traven's book, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre .
http://www.riverart.com/books/traven.htm
    1925-Birthday of bandleader Elliot Lawrence (Broza).
http://www.theiceberg.com/artist.html?artist_id=27416
http://www.fantasyjazz.com/catalog/lawrence_e_cat.html
http://www.jazzmanrecords.com/ellawbigban.html
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?PID=1020872
    1928- the Dorsey Brothers record their first record, Okeh Label.
    1929- in the gangland struggle for control of the Chicago trade in bootleg liquor, gunmen in the employ of mobster Al Capone machine-gunned seven members of the George “Bugs” Moran gang in garage on North Clark Street. It made national headlines as the “the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.”
    1930-Birthday of trumpet player Dwike Mitchell, Dunedin, FL http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/linernotes/zinsser.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966491343/
inktomi-bkasin-20/002-5861649-1425657
    1931-Ted Lewis' "Just A Gigolo" hits #1 on the pop singles chart. Over a half century later, "Diamond" David Lee Roth scores a major hit with the same song
    1932 - The U.S. won its first Olympic bobsled competition (both the two-man and four-man races) at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, NY. Twelve other teams competed in the event. This was also the first bobsledding competition in the United States. The four-man team included Edward Eagan, who was also the 1920 Olympic light heavyweight boxing champion. Eagan's winter gold medal made him the first person to take home gold in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
    1935-Birthday of trombonist Rob McConnel, London, Ontario
http://www.concordrecords.com/bios/mcconnell.html
http://www.jazzfest.markham.on.ca/McConnell.htm
    1933 –FEB 14- Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak of Chicago is fatally wounded in Miami, Florida, by an assassin's bullet intended for President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.
http://cermak.com/mayor/
http://www.iarelative.com/cz1933/cermak.htm
    1940 - The first porpoise born in captivity arrived at Marineland in Florida.
    1940 - A "Saint Valentine's Day Blizzard" hit the northeastern U.S. Up to a foot and a half of snow blanketed southern New England, and whole gales accompanied the heavy snow stranding many in downtown Boston
    1941 - Frank Leahy was named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.
    1941- Anita O'Day joins Gene Krupa's Band. ( as I compile this, I am listening to “Anita O[Day swings Cole Porter with Billy May.” I think I like Ella singing the songs better, but the arrangements here are the best Billy May---Lean, Baby, Lean.)
    1946- J.Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly demonstrated the Electronic Numerical integrator and Computer (ENIAC) for the first time at the University of Pennsylvania. This was the first electronic digital computer. It occupied a room the size of a gymnasium and contained nearly 18,000 vacuum tubes. The Army commissioned the computer to speed the calculation of firing tables for artillery. By the time the computer was ready, World War II was over. However, ENIAC prepared the way for future generations of computers. Compare today's 32mb Palm Pilot with the .5kb ENIAC.
    1949—Top Hits
A Little Bird Told Me - Evelyn Knight
Powder Your Face with Sunshine - Evelyn Knight
Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
I Love You So Much It Hurts - Jimmy Wakely
    1951- Sugar Ray Robinson, often regarded as the greatest boxer of all time, won the world middleweight championship by knocking out Jake LaMotta in the 15 th round of a fight in Chicago.
    1956- birthday of Dave Dravecky, former baseball player, Youngstown, OH.
    1957 - Lionel Hampton's only major musical work, "King David", debuted at New York's Town Hall. Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted the four-part symphony jazz suite.
    1957—Top Hits
Too Much - Elvis Presley
Young Love - Tab Hunter
You Don't Owe Me a Thing - Johnnie Ray
Young Love - Sonny James
    1962 - A televised tour of the White House, led by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and hosted by Charles Collingwood, was broadcast simultaneously by CBS and NBC. The tour was watched by an estimated 46,500,000 viewers, offering them their first opportunity to see many of the rooms of the President's home. The First Lady was praised on her astute knowledge of the antique furniture in the White House, as she explained the history of many of the pieces during the tour.
    1962-President John F. Kennedy authorizes U.S. military advisors in Vietnam to return fire if fired upon. At a news conference, he said, "The training missions we have [in South Vietnam] have been instructed that if they are fired upon, they are of course to fire back, but we have not sent combat troops in [the] generally understood sense of the word." In effect, Kennedy was acknowledging that U.S. forces were involved in the fighting, but he wished to downplay any appearance of increased American involvement in the war. The next day former Vice President Nixon expressed hopes that President Kennedy would "step up the build-up and under no circumstances curtail it because of possible criticism." Contrary to popular belief, it was not President Kennedy who authorized the first military assistance to the government of Viet Nam. It was President Harry S. Truman in 1946. Each president since then inherited this decision to halt communism and increased participation in the South East.
    1965—Top Hits
You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin' - The Righteous Brothers
This Diamond Ring - Gary Lewis & The Playboys
All Day and All of the Night - The Kinks
You're the Only World I Know - Sonny James
    1966-Simon and Garfunkel receive their first gold record for "Sounds of Silence," which had hit Number One on the pop charts on the first day of this year.
    1966 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers set a National Basketball Association record when, after 7 seasons of pro basketball, he hit a career high of 20,884 points.
    1967 -- Jim Morrison and The Doors performed at Whisky A-Go-Go, 568 Sacramento St., San Francisco, California.
http://www.thedoors.com/
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/2914/
http://doors.iscool.com/
    1967-Aretha Franklin records her signature song "Respect" at New York's Atlantic Studios
    1968 – Tired of traveling, The Jefferson Airplane opens at the Carousel Ballroom, Van Ness Avenue and Market Street, Frisco, California.
http://www.starship.pp.se/history/part1.html
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/id_10021/bio.jhtml
http://grove.ufl.edu/~number6/Jefferson.Airplane/airplane.html
http://www.starship.pp.se/
    1968-Frank Zappa releases “We're Only in it for the Money” album.
http://www.science.uva.nl/~robbert/zappa/
    1970—45% favor or “have no opinion” regarding the war in Viet Nam. Despite an increasingly active antiwar movement, a Gallup Poll shows that a majority of those polled (55 percent) oppose an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. Those that favored American withdrawal had risen from 21 percent, in a November poll, to 35 percent. President Nixon had taken office in January 1969 promising to bring the war to an end, but a year later the fighting continued and support for the president's handling of the war had begun to slip significantly.
    1970 -- The Chicago Seven Trial, case goes to the jury. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/
chicago7.html
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Exhibits/
Track16.html#Poster
http://theaction.com/Abbie/
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/Graphics/Track16/
chicago_8.gif
    1971 – President Richard Nixon orders secret taping system in the white House. Instructs Bob Haldeman to install it also in the Nixon's White House office. The purpose was to obtain historic information for his autobiography and the idea of a Nixon Library. There are those who say it was also a device to spy on his staff, which Nixon avertedly did, not trusting anyone, including his own Secretary of State Henry Kissinger ( as the tapes eventually revealed.)
    1972 - The musical, "Grease", opened at New York's Eden Theater, a musical with a 1950's rock score by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, opened off-Broadway. The play later moved to Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre Among the original cast members were Barry Bostwick and Adrienne Barbeau. The show moved to Broadway later in 1972, and when it closed in 1980, it was one of the longest running musicals in history with 3,388 performances. A hit movie based on the play starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John produced the hit songs: "Grease" The movie included several additional songs. Among them were Barry Gibb's title tune, which became a hit for Frankie Valli, and John Farrar's "You're the One That I Want," a million-seller for the film's stars, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. by Frankie Valli, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" by Travolta and Newton-John.
    1972-Birthday of football player Drew Bledso, Ellensburg, WA.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=2359
http://www.shopthedotcoms.com/drew_bledso_jersey.htm
    1973- birthday of football player Steve McNair, Mount Olive, MS.
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1069
    1973—Top Hits
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Why Can't We Live Together - Timmy Thomas
Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? - Hurricane Smith
She Needs Someone to Hold Her (When She Cries) - Conway Twitty
    1974- Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille - the Captain and Tennille - were married in California.
http://www.captainandtennille.net/
http://www.tonitennille.net
Feb 14
    1977- Clifford Alexander, Jr. first Black Secretary of Army State, confirmed. Retired October 1, 2003 as Chairman of Moody's Investment Firm.
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/sw-sa/Alexander.htm
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0EIN/2003_August_1/
106171152/p1/article.jhtml
    1978 -- First 'microcomputer on a chip' patented by Texas Instruments
http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/tihistory.htm
    1980 - As Walter Cronkite announced his retirement from the "CBS Evening News", Dan Rather was chosen to replace television's most trusted journalist. Cronkite announced Rather would take over the anchor desk in 1981.
    1981—Top Hits
Celebration - Kool & The Gang
9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt
Who's Cheatin' Who - Charly McClain
    1984- the publicly bisexual Elton John married sound engineer Renate Blauel in an Anglican church in a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Their engagement was a mere five days. The pair seldom lived together and they divorced in 1988. Blauel was reported to have received a 45-million-dollar divorce settlement.
    1985- The U.S. Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism announced their decision to begin accepting women as rabbis.
    1986- Frank Zappa appeared on "Miami Vice" as a crime boss named "Mr. Frankie."
    1987- Singer Paul Simon performed before 20,000 people in the first of two shows at a soccer stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. Sharing the stage with Simon were the black South African artists who helped him record his best-selling "Graceland" LP. Simon performed for free, and proceeds from the concerts went to charity.
    1987- George Strait became the first artist to debut an album at number one on Billboard's country chart when "Ocean Front Property" went to the top spot in its first week.
    1987 - The largest crowd to see an NBA game was at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, as 57,745 people watched the Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 125-107.
    1987 - A powerful storm spawned severe thunderstorms in Texas and Oklahoma, and produced heavy snow in the Rocky Mountain Region. Snowfall totals in Colorado ranged up to 27 inches at Telluride. Straight line winds gusting to 104 mph howled through Guadalupe Pass in West Texas.
    1987 - Dick Baldwin beat Adolph Rupp's record for the most college career coaching wins as his Broome County Community College won game number 876. Baldwin was with the Upstate New York college for New Jersey's hometown favorites
    1987- Bon Jovi hit #1 with their tune "Livin' On A Prayer." It was from their album "Slippery When Wet" which went to #1 for 8 weeks and sold over 9 million copies!!!
    1988- Bobby Allison became the first 50-year old driver to win the Daytona 500 when he out dueled his 26-year-old son Davey.
    1989—Top Hits
Straight Up - Paula Abdul
Wild Thing - Tone Loc
Born to Be My Baby - Bon Jovi
Song of the South – Alabama
    1990 - Valentine's Day was a snowy one for many parts of the western and central U.S. Five to ten inches of snow fell across Iowa, and 6 to 12 inches of snow blanketed northern Illinois, and strong northeasterly winds accompanied the heavy snow. Air traffic came to a halt during the evening at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, where 9.7 inches of snow was reported. More than 250 traffic accidents were reported around Des Moines IA during the evening rush hour. An ice storm glazed east central sections of Illinois, causing twelve million dollars damage in Champaign County alone.
    1994- Michael Jackson sang a cappella passages from his songs "Billie Jean" and "Dangerous" in a Denver, Colorado, courtroom while testifying in a copyright infringement case. Crystal Cartier had claimed Jackson stole one of her songs but the case was dismissed. The court later began selling audio transcripts of Jackson's testimony, including his singing, at $15 a tape.
    1996 - The artist formerly known as Prince, age 37, returned to his hometown of Minneapolis and, under his given name Prince Rogers Nelson, married his backup dancer Mayte Jannell Garcia, age 22. Church workers were not allowed to watch the 40-minute candlelight service in the sanctuary, which was decorated with pink and white roses. It was the first marriage for both. The eccentric artist had announced a few years earlier that he would no longer use the name "Prince", and would be known by an unpronounceable sign that merges the symbols for male and female.
    1998 - Eric Rudolph was declared the suspect in the bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama abortion clinic. A $100,000 reward was offered for his arrest and conviction. As of early 2002, Rudolph was still at large, among the top ten most wanted.
    2001- The two astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis took the 100th space walk; the first had been taken by American Edward White in 1965. On their excursion Thomas Jones and Robert Curbeam Jr. put the finishing touches on the International Space Station's new science lab Destiny

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Winter Poem

Fresh Fallen Snow

    by Ogden Nash

I like to walk on fresh fallen snow
The kind that whispers and speaks.
It sings a song as I walk along
With crackles and scrunches and squeaks.

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