Documentation Manager: 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

Finance: Austin, TX.
20+ years all facets of lease/finance. Collection and credit management. Equipment & rolling stock structuring. $150k credit authority, $100 million portfolio management.
Email: texmartin@juno.com

Finance: Lyndhurst, NJ
CFO w/20+ years leasing/financing. Respected by lenders/rating agencies full & fair financial reporting. Outstanding record restructuring debt. Adept at investor relations and mentoring people.
Email: joemcdev@aol.com

Finance: San Jose, CA.
15+ years sourcing debt, managing cash and receivables and other treasury functions. Strong background in credit, contract administration and bankruptcy litigation experience. MBA Finance.
Email: raycis@comcast.net

Legal: Los Angeles, CA
Experienced in-house corporate and financial services attorney seeks position as managing or transactional counsel. Willing to relocate.
Email: sandidq@msn.com

(Note: All “job wanted” ads are free. Posting pictures or links to resumes are free, no charge for this service. We want to help people find work, or better their current position.

“Christopher Canavati is a partner in Alpha Capital located in Alexandria, Minnesota. Prior to this position, he was the general manger at the Manifest Group, Business Credit Leasing.”

Middle Market Sales Rep.: exp. sales reps throughout country for middle market leasing/financing. Must have min.5-years exp. in “hard assets” ranging from 100K -$1.0MM generated from vendor and /or direct sources. Excel. benefits, base salary and commission program. Resumes to amandell@eqcorp.com .

About the Company: A rapidly expanding Middle Market Leasing / Finance Company located in CT. Equilease Financial Services, Inc

Business Channel Manager / National Sales Manager/ Small Ticket Leasing Sales People

The seemingly daily doses of discouraging news on the economy and our industry inarguably has some of your readership questioning why they are staying in the leasing industry.

I thought I would share the recently published "Top
Ten Reasons for Staying in the Equipment Leasing Industry".

10. I love my sales manager, he/she is so understanding
9. To hear a lessee utter those three magic words: "What's the Rate?"
8. I love the abuse and frustration
7. For the gratitude when a vendor says: "You've been so persistent, I'm gonna give you a shot" (Note: Only until you see the twenty leasing inquiries)
6. I love the consistent income
5. At parties, when introduced as being in the leasing business, to hear the other guy say "I'm resealing my driveway. Will you lease me a paver?"
4. For brokers only: Funding source's approval subject to explaining the inquiry from Capital One.
3. For funding sources only: When processing an application for Tony Marrone dba John's Auto Repair, to hear a broker say "I don't know who John is"
2. I love dealing with people and all their interesting, idiosyncratic little quirks
AND THE #1 REASON FOR STAYING IN THE LEASING INDUSTRY:
1. Leasing News' "The List"

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Please send to a colleague and ask them to subscribe. We are free. No subscription charge. We ask that you “spread the word” and help us grow. The more readers we have, the more inside information we receive. Our readers give us “on” and “off the record” news in the leasing industry---the truth---not the “lies”, “half-truths,” or “spin.”

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(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)

April 21-24, 2005
Spring Leadership Conference
Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort
Scottsdale, Arizona

May 12-15,2005
Hyatt Regency Union Station
St. Louis, Missouri
(as more specific information becomes available, we will add it to this page.)

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Leasing News has quite a collection of “Nigerian” letters and e-mails, perhaps over 500. Readers send them in as they know we collect them. They first started by mail from Africa, then they discovered the internet. Several of our readers have told us confidentially they have fallen for the scam. One well-known equipment leasing individual, a prominent member of the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers, told us he lost the $25,000 he used to set up the bank account.

If you think he was fooled, what about the Berkeley, California law firm that lost $2.1 million following a similar request.

This is how it works. It generally is some "inside" problem, a husband has died or someone has money from a corrupt government. Often they are “very Christian” and “honest,” others appeal to your sympathy to their plight or problem: death in family, money about to be claimed by the government as there are no relatives. They need your help. They can wire the money, but they need a bank, most often a certain bank.

The most common thread is offering a "finder's fee." Often it is a percentage, sometimes it is a specific dollar amount.

Now here is the how the scam works. Since you are opening this account, they tell you need to start with a specific dollar amount, often it is $10,000, and depends on what they think you can afford, as they explain the account needs to look legitimate. They will tell you why you should not put in a few hundred dollars, saying when they transfer this amount of money, it will raise attention. You need to let it sit in the bank for a specific time so it registers as a balance.

The bank account has both your signatures, for them to deposit and you to receive, but guess what, they can also withdraw.

Those who have fallen victim to the fraud are encouraged to contact the Specialist Crime OCU Fraud Squad by e-mail at
419@spring39.demon.co.uk .

There are now variations to the theme, and the e-mails keep coming daily, as if they have gone to a telemarketing school.

The Penske Truck Leasing episode is a little different, a variation, and they are suing Fleet National Bank and University Credit Union for $1,681,582, basically for cashing the “Nigerian check.”

As we piece the story together, it appears Enrique Fernandez-Barros.
a University of Miami professor received an e-mail from a supposed well-connected Nigerian businessman who was out $1.68 million from a U.S. truck-leasing company. He promised Fernandez-Barros $200,000 in fees for this and other work.

Professor Fernandez-Barros, who has three doctoral degrees, was flattered with the request. He believed they contacted him because of his education. He had not question about the authenticity, especially when he received the Penske Truck Leasing $1.6 million check made out to him personally. That he got if from someone in the United States, and sent to his home, did not bring up any warning lights. He followed the Nigerian businessman instructions and deposited it in his credit-union account, that he controlled, and where they knew him, although he never had ever had anywhere near that amount in his account before. After letting it “fund,” he then wired the money to Nigeria, as per the instructions, taking his fee.

According to the suit (a copy of it is at the bottom of the story,) the Pennsylvania-based leasing company mailed a $1.68 million check to truck manufacturer Freightliner's Atlanta bank in December 2003 to pay for a new fleet of tractor-trailers. The check, however, never made it into Freightliner's account.

No one is talking about how the professor got the check, but the suit notes that the actual check cashed does include the same check number, date and signature as the original one, but also several noticeable differences.

Penske Truck Leasing, owned by auto-racing team owner Roger Penske, doesn't want to sue Professor Fernandez-Barros. He evidently doesn't have the money or insurance to pay, but as the law suit states, they believe those involved in the process should pay Penske back, as they processed a “bogus” check, and took no “standards” or “routine” precautions in the transaction.

The professor allegedly told news reporters he had never met the well-connected Nigerian businessman, who arranged for the Penske check via FedEx to his West Miami-Dade County home.

Reportedly the businessman told him that Penske Corp., the holding company for the truck-leasing division, owed him the money from a stock sale. The law professor said he thought the check was authentic.

He told news reports that he followed through on the instructions: He wire-transferred all of the proceeds -- totaling $1,681,582.50 -- to the Nigerian government, the Nigerian businessman and two of the businessman's associates in Maryland. He said he was told that most of the money was supposed to reimburse the Nigerian government for a community public-works project.

According to the law suit brought against them, University Credit Union'' suspected that there might have been a problem with the authenticity and/or validity of the altered check'' and held it for seven days while the credit union contacted Penske's bank to verify its legitimacy. Fleet told the credit union that the ''altered check was legitimate,'' the suit says.

The credit union held the check for four more days to reconfirm its authenticity with Fleet. The bank gave its assurances a second time, according to the suit.

The credit union then cleared the $1.68 million check when Penske's Fleet bank account provided the funds to cover the check.

''At no point did anyone at Fleet or at UCU contact anyone at Penske to inquire if the check was legitimate or if Fernandez was the correct named payee [on the altered check],'' the suit alleges.

Here are collection on recent Nigerian e-mail, and as you can see, they are different with different gimmicks, but similar in kind, with the purpose of “cashing a check.”

This is a public thank you for the box of cookies that you sent to me for Christmas. I am overwhelmed that you thought of me, and especially was delighted to receive the tin box of cookies with your picture on each cookie.

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Are You Properly Pricing Your Medical Equipment Leases
(or Other Leases to Tax-Exempt Entities)
Given the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004?

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (P.L 108-357) which was signed into law by President Bush on October 22, 2004 affects all members who lease equipment to tax-exempt entities. These consequences are not limited to long-term leveraged leases, but rather cut across multiple markets, including single investor leases in the health-care market. These consequences could require members to charge higher rents or to incur lower rates of return. The following article is a brief description of the provisions of new Code Section 470, which could affect leases to tax-exempt entities in the health-care market, and generally applies to leases entered into after March 12, 2004.

For leases which are subject to this section, any excess of (a) depreciation, amortization and similar deductions directly allocable to the transaction plus interest expense properly allocable to the transaction over (b) revenue from the transaction in a given tax year is deferred. This excess is carried forward to the first year in which there is available revenue from the transaction (or in any event the year of disposition of the leased property). Leases subject to this section include leases to tax-exempt entities, which includes the United States, any state or subdivision, any possession of the United States, state or subdivision governmental agency or instrumentality, any tax-exempt organization other than a farmer's cooperative, any foreign entity, and any Indian tribal government. This would include, for example, tax-exempt hospitals.

To avoid application of these excess loss carryover rules, a lease must pass four tests. The lease must pass all tests as failing a single test will subject the lease to the excess loss carryover regime.

The first test is that the lessee must not collateralize or set aside funds in excess of 20% of the lessor's initial basis. This 20% test is continuous throughout the lease term. The 20% limit applies to cash deposits, cash-backed letters of credit, prepaid rent, or similar arrangements. Further, on any fixed purchase option date, such arrangements may not exceed 50% of the purchase option price; however, as discussed below the ability to offer fixed purchase options at all is constrained. There is no short-term lease exception to either the 20% or 50% tests.

The second test is that the lessor must make a substantial equity investment. Under this test the lessor (1) must make and maintain an initial investment of at least 20% and (2) the equipment must have an expected fair market value, not counting inflation, at least equal to 20% at the end of the base term or any renewal term. Any residual guarantee (even from a third party insurer) would be subtracted from expected fair market value before determining whether the 20% test is met. This test will not apply to leases that have a total term, including renewal options, which does not exceed five years. Renewal options are included in the calculation of total term even if the renewal rents are based on fair market rentals as determined at the end of the basic lease term.

The third test is that the lessee must not bear more than a minimal residual risk at lease end. The lessee may not be responsible for any portion of the top 25% portion between expected fair market value and actual proceeds, and may not be responsible for more than 50% of the total expected fair market value. TRAC provisions are excluded from this test. This test also will not apply to leases that have a total term, including renewal options, which does not exceed five years. Renewal options are included in the calculation of total term even if the renewal rents are based on fair market rentals as determined at the end of the basic lease term.

The final test is that the lessee may not have any purchase option at the end of the lease term, other than fair market value as determined at the exercise date, for property which has a class life (not MACRS recovery period) in excess of seven years. For example, high technology medical equipment which has a class life of 9 years would be covered by this provision. This test will not apply to fixed wing aircraft or vessels. There is no short-term lease exception to this test.

Due to the complexity and scope of the new law, there will be new challenges as well as unintended consequences for various segments of the industry. Members should be particularly mindful of these changes so that their pricing of their lease products properly reflects this new law.

ELA would like to thank Raleigh Klein of Bank of America and David Burton of GE Commercial Finance for their contributions to this article.

For further information please contact David Fenig, ELA'S Vice President for Federal Government Relations at dfenig@elamail.com

    1639-The first formal declaration of American Democracy was the “fundamental orders,” drawn up by Roger Ludlow and adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsow, and Hartford, Connecticut. It was a written body of laws by which they would govern themselves. It is considered the first constitution of colonial Connecticut, with the declaration “...the foundation of authority is in the free consent of the people.” Roger Ludlow was influenced by a sermon delivered May 31, 1638, by the Reverend Thomas Hooker at Hartford's Center Church.
    1639-Connecticut colony organizes under Fundamental Orders
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1601-1650/connecticut/orders.htm
    1739-Birthday of William Whipple, American patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born at Kittery, ME, he died at Portsmouth, NH, Nov 10, 1785
http://www.williamwhipple.com/
http://www.colonialhall.com/whipple/whipple.asp
    1741-Birthday of Benedict Arnold, a revolutionary war hero, injured in battle, not happy with the French, deserted to the British during the war in trade for plans of West Point, which at the time was a major fortress guarding a major waterway and route of supplies. His name has since become synonymous with treachery. Born at Norwich, CT. Died June 14, 1801 at London, England.
http://earlyamerica.com/review/fall97/arnold.html
    1784-The Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris , officially establishing the United States as in independent and sovereign nation.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan14.html
    1794-Dr. Jesse Bennett of Edom, VA, performed the first successful Caesarean section. The patient was his wife. Bennett had asked Dr. Alexander Humphreys of Staunton, VA, to assist in performing the operation, but because of the low chance of success, Humphreys had declined. Dr. Bennett performed the operation with the assistance of two slaves, who held the patient. She was placed on a table made of two planks, load on a couple of barrels, and was given laudanum in lieu of an anesthetic.
    1799-The first US Senator to be impeached was William Blount, the first senator from Tennessee, who was elected on August 2, 1796, and served from December 6, 1876, until July 8, 1797, when he was expelled. The trial was held form December 17, 1798 to January 14, 1799, when the vice president announced the decision of the High Court of Impeachment that the charges were dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Blount was accused of entering into a conspiracy with British officers to divert part of Louisiana from Spain to Great Britain,, “ a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public trust and duty as a Senator.” While the case was in progress in Washington, DC, Blount was elected to serve in the Tennessee state senate, and at the opening session in 1798, was chosen to be its speaker.
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/blount/blount.htm
http://www.blountweb.com/williamblount/
http://www.blountmansion.org/
http://www.ci.maryville.tn.us/cityhist/index.htm
    1799- Eli Whitney receives government contract for 10,000 muskets
http://www.eliwhitney.org/ew.htm
    1806-Birthday of Matthew Fontaine Maury, Naval officer, born at Fredericksburg, VA. Maury established oceanography as a branch of science and revolutionized the recording of oceanographic data as a superintendent of the Naval Observatory. Died at Lexington, VA, Feb 1, 1873.
    1863—Birthday of Richard Outcault, creator of the newspaper “funnies.” When Outcault was asked by the New York World's Sunday editor to submit drawings for use with their new process for printing color pictures, colored comics or “funny papers” were born. Outcault's first color drawing, titled “ Origin of a New Species” was published Nov 18,1894. The first regular colored strip, “Hogan's Alley,” drawn by Outcault, began appearing with its main character's blustery comments written across his nightshirt. It was Outcault's strip “Buster Brown” that brought him celebrity and fortune. Outcault was born at Lancaster, OH, and died Sept 25, 1929 at Flushing, NY.
    1878- US Supreme court rules race separation on trains unconstitutional. On May 18,1896, the Supreme Court endorsed “separate but equal” racial segregation with its “Plessy versus Ferguson” decision, a ruling that was overturned 58 years later.
http://www.landmarkcases.org/plessy/background3.html
    1882 - Southern California's greatest snow occurred on this date. Fifteen inches blanketed San Bernardino, and even San Diego reported a trace of snow.
    1896 – Birthday of American novelist John Dos Passos, (the U.S.A. trilogy), and later Cold War warrior, born Chicago. An integral part of the Lost Generation crowd in Paris in the 20s. His increasing fascism estranged him from most of his associates, including Hemingway, it is reported. His philosophy changed over his life from very liberal to conservative. He is still controversial today and his books very well read and discussed. He died in 1970.
    1896-Carlo Ponzi immigrates to America from Italy on this day. The small-time con man would later stumble into one of the largest scams of all time and have an entire type of crime named after him: the "Ponzi scheme.” For 20 years, Ponzi bounced from job to job, always dreaming up a way to make millions but never coming close. But in 1919, he came up with a new plan. Ponzi told friends and potential investors that they would get a 50 percent return on their money within three months if they invested with him. The hapless investors were never told much about what Ponzi planned on doing with their money, but, when pressed, he told them that it had to do with international postal exchange coupons, an obscure field that virtually no one knew much about. Ponzi told his marks that they could cash out at the end of three months or roll over their investments. Ponzi promptly paid off his initial investors and soon the investment dollars were pouring in. Thousands of people came to his offices, where money was stuffed in every desk drawer and filing cabinet. Ponzi was taking in an estimated $200,000 a day at the frenzy's peak. When a local writer questioned Ponzi's financial record, he threatened to sue and scared off further inquiry. Ponzi went on a personal spending spree in 1920, buying 100 suits and 100 pairs of shoes. He also took $3 million in cash to the Hanover Trust Company and bought a controlling interest in the reputable firm. However, when state investigators finally began examining his books and interviewing his workers they found that there was no real investment going on. Of course, only the very early investors actually got any money back, and these funds came from later investors. Such a scam, known as a pyramid scheme, inevitably explodes, as it did on August 13, 1920, when thousands of investors demanded their money back. Ponzi, anticipating the collapse, had already taken $2 million to the Saratoga casinos in a vain attempt to make up the lost money. Ponzi went to jail and was deported to Italy in 1934. He told reporters, "I hope the world forgives me.” Perhaps taken in by his apparent contrition, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini gave Ponzi a high position in the government's financial sector. However, human nature is very difficult to change, and Ponzi eventually embezzled funds from the country's treasury and escaped to Brazil, where he died in 1949.
    1910---Drummer Jimmy Crawford born Memphis, Tenn. With Jimmy Lunceford 1929-42, many bands.
    1914 - Henry Ford announced the latest advance in the assembly line production of automobiles, the continuous motion method. This new concept decreased assembly time of a car from 12½ hours to
http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/ford.html 93 minutes.
http://www.hfmgv.org/
    1916-Birthday of African-American Novelist John Oliver Killens, born Macon, Georgia. died October 27, 1957, Brooklyn, New York. His novels And Then We Heard the Thunder and 'Sippi dramatized racism in the U.S. Army during World War II and the South during the voting rights struggles of the 1960s. Both And Then We Heard the Thunder and Killens's satirical novel about black class divisions, Cotillion, or One Good Bull Is Half the Herd , were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
http://www.libs.uga.edu/gawriters/killens.html
http://aalbc.com/authors/killens.htm
    1916-Birthday of tenor sax player, arranger/producer Maxwell Davis, Independence, KS, died September 18, 1970,
http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/artists/profiles/2946.html
    1917-Birthday of trumpeter Billy Butterfield http://www.musicweb.uk.net/encyclopaedia/b/B322.HTM
http://www.landing.com/profiles/matteson.htm
http://art.staviator.com/B/Billy_Butterfield.html
    1919-Birthday of writer, columnist Andy Rooney, Albany, NY.
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes.php3?author=Andy+Rooney http://www.funny2.com/rooney.htm
http://www.newseum.org/warstories/interviews/mp3/
journalists/bio.asp?id=14
    1919-Birthday of Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer. Most famous story "The Lottery" (1949).
    1919-Charles Stoneham, John McGraw and Francis X. McQuade bought the New York Giants from Charles Hempstead. The Stoneham family controlled the Giants for the next 56 years and moved them to San Francisco after the 1957 season.
    1930- Canadian avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler was born in Toronto. He moved to England in 1952, rising to prominence in Britain in the 1960's and in the European avant-garde the following decade. From 1971 to '76, Wheeler performed with US reedman Anthony Braxton, with whom he often appeared in North America
    1932-Brithday of drummer Grady Tate, Durham, NC
http://www.cpcn.com/articles/012998/six1.shtml
    1938 – Birthday of Jack Jones (John Allan Jones) (singer: Lollipops and Roses, Wives and Lovers, The Impossible Dream, Lady, The Race is On, Love Boat theme). His father was a very famous singer in the 1930's and early 1940's.
http://www.interq.or.jp/jazz/jackjone/
http://www.jackjones.org/
    1938-Birthday of Allen Toussaint, born New Orleans, LA; one of the most important forces in New Orleans rock 'n' roll in the 1960's. Toussaint, a pianist, songwriter and arranger, played on some of Fats Domino's early recordings. And in the '60s, he produced and arranged such hits as "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" by Jesse Hill, "Mother-In-Law" by Ernie K-Doe and "I Like It Like That" by Chris Kenner. Allen Toussaint is also the composer of "Java," an instrumental hit for both trumpeter Al Hirt and pianist Floyd Cramer.
    1940—Birthday of Julian Bond (legislator: Georgia [1965]; civil rights leader: helped found Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; chairman of NAACP board of directors) , born Nashville, TN.
http://www.omega23.com/books/b/julianbond.html
    1941 -- A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and chief spokesperson for the African American working class, calls for a March on Washington, demanding racial integration of the military and equal access to defense-industry jobs. The call prompts black enthusiasm too great for the government to ignore. On June 18th, less than two weeks before the march, Beloved and Respected Comrade Leader President Roosevelt invited Randolph to the White House. In the unpleasant confrontation, Randolph told Roosevelt he will abandon the march plans only if Roosevelt bars job discrimination in both the defense industry and government. Incredulous at Randolph's obstinacy, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 [eighty-eight oh two], the government's most significant action on behalf of African Americans since post-Civil War reconstruction.
http://www.apri.org/Bio-Rand1.htm
http://www.aphiliprandolphmuseum.com/evo_history5.html
http://www.pbs.org/weta/apr/aprbio.html
http://www.pbs.org/weta/apr/
    1941 - Then head football coach of Massillon High School, Paul Brown, was named head coach of Ohio State's Buckeyes. In his seven years of high school competition, Brown's team only lost one game.
http://massillonproud.com/massillon/mem2.htm
http://massillonproud.com/fans/stadium.htm
http://massillonproud.com/massillon/index.shtml
    1943 - The Allies met in Casablanca to agree on a strategy for concluding World War II and to demand the unconditional surrender from the enemy. United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to fly in an airplane while he was in office, when he flew from Miami, Florida to French Morocco.
    1944-Birthday of guitar/accordian/zydeco Paul “Little Buck” Senegal, LA
http://www.buckwheatzydeco.com/bwzydecoourstory/zydeco_20year.html
    1947--Kenton Band records “Intermission Riff,” Capitol.
    1947-Birthday of Gene Alden Washington, former football player, born Tuscaloosa, AL.
    1949-The Department of Justice went trust busting on January 14 and filed an anti-trust suit against AT &T. The suit was designed to break AT& T's choke hold over the industry by forcing the company to relinquish ownership of Western Electric, a potent manufacturing concern. After much wrangling, the suit was settled in 1956, when AT&T consented to limit the scope of its business to the national phone network and government jobs.
    1950---Top Hits
Dear Hearts and Gentle People - Dinah Shore
A Dreamer's Holiday - Perry Como
The Old Master Painter - Snooky Lanson
I Love You Because - Leon Payne
    1951 - In Los Angeles, California, the first National Football League Pro Bowl All-Star Game was played. The American Conference beat the National Conference, 28-27.
    1952- the Modern Jazz Quartet was formally incorporated, beginning a career that lasted more than 40 years. The group signed a unique partnership agreement stipulating that the quartet would have no leader. The original members were pianist John Lewis, vibraharpist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke. The MJQ had only one personnel change in 42 years - Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955.
    1952-“Today” Premiered on TV. The NBC program that started the morning news format we now have today. Captained by Dave Garroway, the show was segmented with bits and pieces of newes, sports, weather, interviews and other features that were repeated so that viewers did not have to stop their morning routine to watch. The segments were brief and to the point. Slyvester Weaver devised this concept to capitalize on television's unusual qualities. What used to take three hours to broadcast live across the country was done in two with videotape of a delayed basis. The addition of chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs in 1953 helped pus ratings up. There have been a number of hosts of the years, from John Chancellor and Hugh Downs to Tom Brokaw, Bryant Gumbel and Matt Lauer. Female hosts ( originally called, “ Today Girls” ) include Betsy Palmer, Florence Henderson Barbara Walters, Jane Pauley and Katie Couric.
    1954 - Screen actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, age 29, and New York Yankees baseball star Joe DiMaggio were married in San Francisco. Monroe later wrote in her autobiography, "That was something I had never planned on or dreamed about - becoming the wife of a great man.
http://www.amctv.com/article/0,,1234-1--0-99-PST,00.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dimaggio/peopleevents/pande12.html
    1954-Alan Freed, disc jockey of the popular radio show Rock 'n' Roll Party, produces his first rock and roll dance concert in New York at the St. Nicholas Arena. The Rock and Roll Ball featured the Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner, and others. All the musicians were black, but at least half the audience packing the arena was white. Freed, who was also white, had been an influential force in popularizing rock and roll (then a synonym for rhythm and blues) since he started airing a radio show in Cleveland called Moondog House in 1951. The self-dubbed "King of the Moondoggers" (who actually preferred classical music) spoke to listeners as if they all belonged to a hip kingdom, united by their affinity for the same music. In 1952, he had thrown a rhythm and blues concert called the Moondog Coronation Ball, which drew more than 10,000 people. An angry mob, denied admittance once the arena was full, started a riot, and teens stormed the stage, abruptly ending the concert. Cleveland city officials accused him of "reckless disregard" for public safety, but the riot turned him into a local celebrity. Radio station WJW gave him nightly airtime for his program. The following year, he threw The Biggest Rhythm and Blues Show tour, featuring Ruth Brown and Wynonie Harris. The tour drew a largely black audience, but within just a few years rhythm and blues crossed over to become the dominant mainstream musical form. The Moondog had to stop using his popular moniker in 1954; he had borrowed it from the song "Moondog Symphony," recorded by a blind New York City street musician who won a court battle with Freed, which stripped Freed of the ability to use the name. Forced to find a new identity for his show, he decided to rename it Alan Freed's Rock and Roll Party . He copyrighted the phrase in partnership with black music legend Morris Levy, veteran promoter Lew Platt, and radio station WINS. But soon, the tidal wave of rock and roll made his copyright virtually useless; nevertheless, in 1955, Cleveland was selected as the site for construction of the Rock and Roll Museum because Freed had popularized the term there.
    1955-Disc jockey Alan Freed begins his first New York area Rock & Roll Ball, a two night affair which is held at the Saint Nicholas Arena in Harlem. Both shows at the 6,000 seat arena are sold out in advance, bringing in $24,000. Those appearing on stage include Big Joe Turner, the Clovers, Fats Domino, the Moonglows, Drifters and the Harptones.
    1956 - Rock ‘n' roller, Little Richard, sang the recently released, "Tutti-Frutti". The Pat Boone version of the song became more popular as it appealed more to white audiences
http://www.littlerichard.com/
    1958---Top Hits
At the Hop - Danny and The Juniors
Stood Up/Waitin' in School - Ricky Nelson
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - Jimmie Rodgers
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
    1960-Elvis Presley is promoted to Sgt. in the U.S. Army.
    1963- Bob Dylan sat in on a recording session in London for an album by folk singers Richard Farina and Eric Von Schmidt. Dylan was billed as "Blind Boy Grunt."
    1963 -- George Wallace sworn in as Governor of Alabama, his address states "segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!". It was written by Asa Carter, the founder of a KKK terrorist organization.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wallace/timeline/index_2.html
    1964 – first hootenanny was held at the White House, as the New Christy Minstrels performed not only for President and Lady Bird Johnson, but also for Italy's President.
    1966 -- March on Atlanta to protest ouster of Julian Bond, African American from Georgia House of Representatives, after his endorsement of SNCC statement critical of US involvement in Vietnam; basically he opposed the war in Viet Nam. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. “    — Martin Luther King Jr.
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/Graphics/
Bond/bond_comic_frame_06.GIF
    1966- rock promoter Bill Graham leased the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. The Fillmore became the prime venue for psychedelic rock in the late '60s
    1966---Top Hits
We Can Work It Out - The Beatles
She's Just My Style - Gary Lewis and The Playboys
Flowers on the Wall - The Statler Brothers
Giddyup Go - Red Sovine
    1967- Sonny and Cher release "The Beat Goes On"
http://www.reallyrics.com/lyrics/S024800010004.asp
    1967-The first "Human Be-In" is held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Among the performers are The Grateful Dead and The Jefferson Airplane
    1968-The Green Bay Packers won their second straight Super Bow, defeating the Oakland Raiders, 33-14. Packers quarterback Bart Starr completed 13 of 24 passes for 202 years and one touchdown and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
    1968-Rapper LL Cool J is born.
    1968-Birthday of singer James Todd Smith ( L.L.Cool J ), St. Abans, Queens, New York.
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bio.asp?oid=933andcf=933
http://www.llcoolj.com/
    1970- Diana Ross performed for the last time with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. The show began with a medley of hits and ended with "The Impossible Dream."
    1972-“ Sanford and Son” premiered on TV. This NBC sitcom gained immediate popularity depicting an African American father and son engaged in the junkyard business. Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin developed the comedy series based on the British, “Steptoe and Son.” Comedian Redd Fox played Fred Sanford. His son, Lamont, was played by Demond Wilson. Others appearing on the show were Whitman Mayo as Grady, Slappy White as Melvin, LaWanda Page as Aunt Esther, Gregory Sierra as Julio. Nathaniel Taylor as Rollo, Raymond Allen as Uncle Woody, Don Bexley as Bubba Bexley, Lynn Hamilton as Donna Harris, aHoward Plat and Hal William as Hoppy and Smitty, Pat Morita as Ah Chew, Marlene Clark as Janet and Edward Craford as Roger. The last telecast was September 2,1977.
    1973 - The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go undefeated - a perfect season. They defeated the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII. Tickets were $15.00. Kickoff time was 12:30 p.m. in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Miami finished the season 17-0.
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/0114.jpg
    1973 - Elvis Presley drew the largest audience for a single TV show to that time -- an estimated one billion viewers in 40 countries. "Elvis - Aloha From Hawaii", a live, worldwide concert from Honolulu International Center Arena. Performed at 12:30 a.m. Hawaiian Time, it was beamed live via Globecam Satellite to Australia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, South Vietnam and other countries, and was seen on a delayed basis in approximately 30 European countries. The first American airing was April 4th on NBC-TV. The show was also released as a two-record album, and became one of Elvis's top-selling LPs.
    1973- bass guitarist Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead was arrested at his home in Fairfax, California on drug charges.
    1974---Top Hits
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
Show and Tell - Al Wilson
Smokin' in the Boys Room - Brownsville Station
I Love - Tom T. Hall
    1979 - Chicago, IL, was in the midst of their second heaviest snow of record as, in thirty hours, the city was buried under 20.7 inches of snow. The twenty-nine inch snow cover following the storm was an all-time record for Chicago
    1980- "Blues Brothers" movie with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi opens
http://www.fast-rewind.com/
http://blues.squidly.org/
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~pringle/bluesbros/movie/trivia.html
    1982---Top Hits
Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
Let's Groove - Earth, Wind and Fire
Fourteen Carat Mind - Gene Watson
    1984- Madonna made her debut on "American Bandstand," singing "Holiday."
    1986 - "Rambo: First Blood, Part II" broke the record set by "Ghostbusters", for first day orders, when it arrived at video stores. 435,000 copies of the video were sold, for a total of almost $21.4 million worth.
    1989 - A winter storm spread snow and sleet and freezing rain from the Middle Mississippi Valley to the northeastern U.S. Freezing rain in West Virginia caused fifteen traffic accidents in just a few minutes west of Charleston. Tennessee was deluged with up to 7.5 inches of rain. Two inches of rain near Clarksville TN left water in the streets as high as car doors.
    1990 - The pilot episode to launch the “The Simpsons” series on Fox was 7G02 Bart the Genius . There was a test launch on December 17, 1989 and originally the show was seen in “shorts” on the Tracey Ullman Show. The originator of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie is cartoonist Matt Groening.
http://www.snpp.com/guides/lisa-2.html#2.3.1
http://www.snpp.com/lists.html
    1990---Top Hits
Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
Pump Up the Jam - Technotronic featuring Felly
How Am I Supposed to Live Without You - Michael Bolton
It Ain't Nothin' - Keith Whitley
    1998- 100th episode of "Ellen" airs, starring Ellen DeGeneres
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/1777/
http://www.jumptheshark.com

This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is important as I am
exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever.
Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.
I want it to be a gain, not loss--good, not evil.
Success, not failure, in order that I shall not forget
the price I paid for it.