New York Commercial Finance Disclosure Law
By Sloan Schickler, Esq.

New York enacted the Commercial Finance Disclosure Law (“CFDL”), Financial Services Law (“FSL”) §§ 801-812 on December 23, 2020, to require consumer style disclosures for commercial finance transactions. The disclosures cover, among other things, the finance charge and the estimated annual percentage rate to be calculated in accordance with Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.22) which is the regulation promulgated under the Truth in Lending Act. The CFDL was to go in effect in January 2022 subject to adoption of regulations promulgated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”). About one year ago, the DFS issued a proposed set of regulations for comment in the state register which met with severe criticism. On September 14, 2022, the DFS proposed posted a new draft of regulations in the state register and the comment period is for 60 days. The new proposed regulations provide that the regulations will not go into effect until six months after they are adopted by notice in the state register.

The following transactions and entities constitute exceptions under the CFDL: (a) financial institutions; (b) a person acting in its capacity as a technology services provider, such as licensing software and providing support services, to an entity exempt under this section for use as part of the exempt entity’s commercial financing program, provided such person has no interest, or arrangement or agreement to purchase any interest in the commercial financing extended by the exempt entity in connection with such program; (c) lenders regulated under the federal Farm Credit Act (12 U.S.C. Sec. 2001 et seq.); (d) commercial financing transaction secured by real property;
(e) true leases as defined in section 2-A-103 of the Uniform Commercial Code; (f) any person or provider who makes no more than five commercial financing transactions in New York State in a twelve-month period; (g) an individual commercial financing transaction in an amount over $2,500,000.00; or (h) a commercial financing transaction in which the recipient is a dealer as defined in §415 of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, or a dealer’s affiliate, a rental vehicle company as defined in §396-z of the New York General Business Law, or a rental car company’s affiliate pursuant to a commercial financing agreement or commercial open-end credit plan of at least $50,000.00, including any commercial loan made pursuant to such a commercial financing transaction.

Among other things, the proposed regulations provide that the disclosures apply if one of the parties to the transaction “is principally directed or managed from New York, or the provider negotiated the commercial financing from a location in New York.”

Under §600.1(j) of the proposed regulations a broker is defined as:

…any person other than a financer, recipient, or recipient’s agent, who, for a fee, commission, or other consideration, participates in any financing negotiation; counsels or advises the recipient about financing options; participates in the preparation of any financing documents, including financing applications; or contacts the financer on behalf of the recipient other than to refer the recipient, gathers financing application documentation or delivers the documentation to the financer; communicates financing decisions or inquiries from the financer to the recipient; or obtains the recipient’s signature on financing documents.

Note the broad description of a broker as one who, for a fee or other consideration, participates, counsel, or advises the recipient, prepares any financing documents including the application, or contacts the financer other than to refer the recipient, gathers or delivers the financing documentation, communicates the financing decision to the recipient, or obtains the recipient’s signature on the documents.

While the broker is not required to make any disclosures under the new regulations, the provider is required to give the disclosures to the recipient when the financial offering is made and accordingly, if the offer is conveyed by the broker, the disclosures must appear in the offering documents. The financer must disclose the broker’s fee, as applicable, in one of the three following formats:

• “The broker’s compensation in this transaction is being paid by the provider and may be based upon the transaction size and profitability to the provider”;
• “The broker’s compensation is paid by you, and the amount of compensation is disclosed in the Itemization of Amount Financed”; or
• “The broker is not being compensated.”

Further, disclosure of the broker fee is required for all commercial finance transactions subject to the CFDL: sales-based financing, closed-end financing, open-end financing, factoring, lease financing, general asset-based financing and all other types of commercial financing transactions.

Among the comments to the prior version of the regulations was a request that the New York regulations be as consistent as possible with the California regulations adopted earlier this year and which go into effect on December 9, 2022. The DFS response was that while it will try to do so, the California and New York laws are not identical and both are subject to future amendment so it is not possible to agree that the regulations will be identical.

Sloan Schickler
SCHICKLER KAYE LLP
One Rockefeller Plaza
11th Floor
New York, NY 10020
Direct Dial: 212-262-5297
Facsimile: 212-262-6298
WWW.SKFINANCELAW.COM

 

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Leasing and Finance Industry Help Wanted
Excellent Compensation/Marketing Support/Work

 

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Critical Thinking in Sales
By Steve Chriest

Steve Chriest is the CEO of Open Advance and author of “Selling to the E-Suite, The Proven System for Reaching and Selling Senior Executives and Business Acumen 101.” He is the former president of several leasing companies. Today, he produces video and radio blogs, as well as continuing as a columnist for Leasing News since 2005.

This is the first in a series of articles that looks at the role of critical thinking in sales.

More than a few educators and business leaders fret over what they perceive as a lack of critical thinking skills among students and employees. So, what exactly is critical thinking? How big a problem is the lack of critical thinking skills? Why is critical thinking important in selling situations? 

What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is a process and skill set that aids us in gathering relevant information, using sound reasoning in analyzing the data, connecting the dots, and relying on fact-based evidence to solve problems. It’s a departure from our normal, auto-pilot way of thinking.

How big a problem is it?
If students and employees don’t acquire critical thinking skills, they will no doubt make decisions based on suspect information sources, faulty assumptions, and reliwa upon comfortable, non-challenging thinking patterns. The same holds true for business leaders.

Why is critical thinking important in selling situations?
In sales, critical thinking skills will help you save time, earn more, and become a go-to resource for your customers. These skills can help you identify prospects with whom you have a realistic chance of doing business, concentrate your efforts on customers with the highest profitability potential, and help you objectively evaluate the quality of opportunities in your sales funnel.

Learning to think critically doesn’t require a teacher.The interested learner is perfectly capable of teaching herself. In the next article, I will use a sales simulation that incorporates many of the key elements of critical thinking you can evaluate and use in all your selling activities.

Steve Chriest
800-570-7145
schriest@sbcglobal.net
http://www.openadvance.com

CLFP Foundation Adds 25 New Members
Reaching 1,200 Milestone

The CLFP designation identifies an individual as a knowledgeable professional to employers, clients, customers, and peers in the commercial equipment finance industry. There are Certified Lease & Finance Professionals and Associates located throughout the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, India, Africa, and Australia.

The Certified Lease & Finance Professional (CLFP) Foundation is pleased to announce that 25 individuals who recently sat through the 8-hour online proctored CLFP exam, have passed. The newest members have are:

Katherine Baker, CLFP
President
MC2 Finance

Karla Beran, CLFP
Legal Supervisor
Amur Equipment Finance

Christopher Bough, CLFP
Senior Account Manager
Amur Equipment Finance

Kyle Boysen, CLFP
Controller
Amur Equipment Finance

Zachary Burghardt, CLFP
Senior Account Manager
Amur Equipment Finance

Logan Dickey, CLFP
Financial Accountant
Amur Equipment Finance

Joel Freebersyer, CLFP
VP of Finance
MC2 Finance

David Gernhard, CLFP
Vice President, Credit & Collections
Transport Enterprise Leasing LLC

Richard Griffin, CLFP
AVP, Equipment Finance Sales Executive
The Huntington National Bank

Jared Goldberg, CLFP
Director of Business Development
Kalamata Capital Group

Christopher Little, CLFP
Vice President and Senior Relationship Manage
The Huntington National Bank

Carol Maurer, CLFP
Business Development Manager
The Huntington National Bank

Benjamin Mussehl, CLFP
Leasing Sales Team Lead
Compeer Financial

Claire Nelson, CLFP
Senior Credit Analyst
Amur Equipment Finance

Trevor Petersen, CLFP
Credit Analyst
North Mill Equipment Finance

Megan Registan, CLFP
Business Relationship Manager I
Financial Pacific Leasing, Inc.

Christopher Rooney, CLFP
Vice President/Relationship Manager
The Huntington National Bank

Melanie Rudiger, CLFP
Vice President Operations
The Huntington National Bank

Shelby Schut, CLFP
Usage Portfolio Administrator
Stryker

Rema Shamon, CLFP
Vice President
The Huntington National Bank

Zachary Shiffman, CLFP
Vice President
The Huntington National Bank

Ricardo Small, CLFP
Executive Vice President
Director, Cadence Bank

Michelle Speranza, CLFP
SVP, Chief Marketing Officer
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.

Stacie VanBibber, CLFP
Collection Manager
Amur Equipment Finance

Whitnee Yager, CLFP
Manager, Funding
Amur Equipment Finance

Ms. Baker attended the ALFP in Cincinnati, Ohio hosted by Great American Insurance Group.

She stated, “I have been involved with the American Association of Certified Finance Brokers for several years now and noticed that many of my well-respected peers in the industry had the letters CLFP behind their names.

“I was always curious about the meaning of those letters. When I learned that CLFP stood for Certified Lease & Finance Professional, I became very eager to earn the respectful designation as well. I wanted to be recognized in the finance and equipment leasing industry as someone that was both knowledgeable and a person of character.

“After reading the book, taking the course, and passing the test, I have a whole new understanding and respect for those letters and their true meaning. I now understand that they represent experience, wisdom, education, perseverance, and character. I haven't taken a test in many years, and I was very nervous about passing at my age. I am so thankful that I trusted in God to provide me with the strength and tenacity to get me through this and he did.

“I am so excited to join my husband Joel, also a new CLFP, and get to know the rest of the CLFP family which we will treasure for years to come.”

New CLFP "Frequently Asked Question" Guide:
https://clfpfoundation.org/faqs/

For further information, please contact Reid Raykovich, CLFP, Chief Executive Officer, reid@clfpfoundation.org or or visit: http://www.CLFPFoundation.org.

 

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Academy for Certified Lease & Finance Professionals
 November, December 2022

The Academy for Lease and Finance Professionals (ALFP) is a three-day event designed to fully prepare an individual to sit for the CLFP exam assuming the attendee has already self-studied. A trend has begun in having virtual online sessions.

During the first two days, all of the required sections of the CLFP exam are covered in-depth. On the third day, the exam is offered but is not mandatory and may be taken on another day.

Students are strongly advised to have read and studied The Certified Lease & Finance Professionals' Handbook prior to attending the class in order to ensure success.

Beacon Funding Public ALFP
November 7 - 8
Monday 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Exam may be taken at any time

CIT Private ALFP
November 16 – 17

Taycor In-Person Private
December 7 – 8, 2022

2022 Private Virtual ALFP Hosted by DLL
December 13 – 14. 2022

Professional Handbook for Taking the Test in 2022
Eighth Edition:
https://clfpfoundation.org/
(Note: for taking test in 2023 Ninth Edition, available.)

About Academy
https://clfpfoundation.org/academy-for-lease-and-finance-professionals/

If you are interested in attending, please contact Reid Raykovich, Executive Director: Reid@clfpfoundation.org

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Top Ten Leasing News Read by Readers
October 17 to October 21

(1) California DFPI Auditor Says State Bank
  Subsidiaries Need CFL License!
By Ken Greene, Leasing News Legal Editor
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Oct2022/10_19.htm#ca

(2) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Oct2022/10_21.htm#hires

(3) Remember the NorVergence Scandal and Tom Salzano?
Now Charged with $650 Million Ponzi Scheme, 2,000 investors
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Oct2022/10_17.htm#remember

(4) North Mill Equipment Finance Announces
$353 Million Term Securitization
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Oct2022/10_17.htm#nm

(5) Quality Leasing Names Hall as Vice President of Sales
Stephanie Hall, CLFP, to Lead Quality’s Sales & Marketing Efforts
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Oct2022/10_19.htm#quality

(6) ELFF Reports Confidence Continues Three Month Drop
October goes to 44.9 from September 48.7
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Oct2022/10_21.htm#elfa

(7) FinTechs to Start Issuing 7(a) Loans Up to $5 Million
If New SBA Rule Change Is Approved
https://www.inc.com/diana-ransom/small-business-loans-sba-backed-fintechs.html

(8) Report: Elon Musk might lay off 75% of Twitter staff
after purchase. What does that mean for S.F.?
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Report-Elon-Musk-might-lay-off-75-of-Twitter-17523470.php

(9) The Fed, Staring Down Two Big Choices
Charts an Aggressive Path
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/business/economy/federal-reserve-inflation-november-meeting.html

(10) Tesla to open massive warehouse in Metro East
Best Selling cars in the Marketplace
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/tesla-to-open-massive-warehouse-in-metro-east/article_cfbf4b65-112e-5045-a0b8-cb896d0f03dd.html

 

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Creative Vision Finance Embrace Digital Transformation
with ASPIRE Express

LTi Technology Solutions (LTi), providing lease and loan cloud platforms to equipment and asset finance lenders and hybrid brokers, is excited to announce that Creative Vision Finance is driving its digital transformation with the implementation of LTi’s new fast track Entry Level platform - ASPIRE Express.

Creative Vision Finance (CVF) identified a growing need for digital innovation that will transform their customer experience for their broker and own funded transactions whilst also enabling them to manage wholesale blocking lines to fuel their own book growth.

While searching for a technology partner to support its business, CVF was confident that LTi’s ASPIRE Express platform would support their current and future needs. This partnership was built around LTi’s long-standing presence in the industry in the US and significant growth in the UK over the last 6 years, along with a deep understanding of CVF’s business.

ASPIRE Express was implemented in less than 6 weeks and provides CVF with a complete lifecycle management platform needed for both billing and servicing, management of the assets being funded and management of all their wholesale funding lines with full MI reporting functionality with the ability to tap into infinite data and resources to make quick and accurate decisions.

Rebecca Price, Director of Creative Vision Finance, said, “The journey with LTi has been exceptional from start to finish. Every single employee that has touched this project has been an utter delight to work with. LTi was always the preferred option, having worked with other systems in the past, but the price point for a new start business with a very small book made us have to explore the market. Having pressed the button and started implementation with another provider, Robert Taylor, then presented the ASPIRE Express option. The existing system wasn’t delivering the solutions we needed and were promised, or the support internally to get it live. Luckily they accepted this and we were able to unwind the agreement and plough ahead with LTi. The ASPIRE Express system is incredibly user friendly and versatile, which having come from a sales background, has made the leap so smooth. In a world where mediocrity seems ok, working with an outstanding team and system has been a breath of fresh air!

Robert Taylor, UK Country Manager for LTi Technology Solutions, said, “It’s been a fantastic journey to work with Rebecca and CVF to deliver within 6 weeks their new finance platform. LTi delivered a fast track system build within a very short period of time and we are now looking forward to working with CVF to deliver further functionality when they require it to help them scale and grow without adding headcount whilst serving their customer needs.”

About Creative Vision Finance
Creative Vision Finance (CVF) was established by a group of individuals with a drive to do things differently. We offer a fresh approach to financing, breaking free from the constraints of traditional banking, which enables us to be bolder and braver in our lending options. We partner with our customers to understand their unique business needs and deliver results quickly and efficiently.  Creative Vision Finance will consult with you to get a deep understanding of your overall plans and what you want to achieve. By taking a holistic approach and understanding you and your business, we use our experience to blend different finance approaches and strategies. We offer you the strongest proposition and match you to a solution based on the type of assets you require, your timeframes and your financial situation.

About LTi Technology Solutions
LTi Technology Solutions is a global customer-centric, cloud-native, full lifecycle asset finance and lending finance platform.  We support equipment, asset finance and loan companies whether they are broker hybrids, captives, small ticket, middle market, independents or banks throughout the U.S., UK, and Canada. Backed by comprehensive and flexible interfaces, our powerful technology solutions allow for improved efficiencies and decisioning. Our highly configurable platform, ASPIRE, empowers our customers to scale their business by streamlining the transaction lifecycle.

For more information, call +44 (0) 1189 653 551 or +1 (800) 531-5086, or visit www.ltisolutions.com.

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

Siberian Husky Cross
Novato, California  Adopt-a-Dog

Skylar

ID 2777707
Female
1 Year, 3 weeks
Spayed
53 lbs.
black/white
Adoption fee: $175

My health has been checked.
My vaccinations are up to date.
My worming is up to date.
I have been microchipped.

Happy go lucky Skyler is young, beautiful and up for anything. She is a high energy girl who is ready to go go-go. Ball focused and interested in a LOT of exercise and play, Sky is the perfect companion for runners, hikers and people who enjoy exercising with their best friend.

Skyler's previous guardian loves her very much but is no longer in a position to give Skyler her best life. It's fair to say, Sky got lots of love but maybe not too much education. As a smart, treat motivated dog, Skyler will be an A+ student in Family Dog 1 (also a great place for her to learn to focus her attention on you and not the other dogs in the room).

Skyler is a great find: old enough to be past the puppy crazies and young enough for you to impress on her ideas of structure, manners and good citizenship. A tired dog is a good dog and an exhausted dog is even better. Skyler is hoping you'll wear her out with your exhaustive love.

Marin Humane location
171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd.
Novato, California
(415) 506-6225
https://www.marinhumane.org/
Contact:
http://support.marinhumane.org/site/Survey

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List of Exhibitors NEFA Funding Symposium
November 2-4  Nashville, Tennessee

Exhibitors

AILCO Equipment Finance Group, Inc.
American Lease Insurance
AMUR
Apex Commercial Capital
AvTech Capital
Balboa Capital
BankFinancial Equipment Finance
Baystone Government Finance, KS State Bank
Blue Bridge Financial
Boston Financial & Equity Corporation
Cannaday Bloom Wealth & Insurance Solutions
Centra / 4 Hour Funding
CH Brown Co., LLC
Channel
CLFP Foundation
Constellation Financial Software
Copernicus
Corporate Freight Savers
Dedicated Financial GBC
Dedicated Funding, LLC
Dext Capital
ECS Financial Services, Inc.
Equipment Finance Advisor
Equipment Finance Cares
Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation
Experian
Financial Pacific Leasing, Inc.
First Federal Leasing
Great American Insurance Group
instaCOVER
JB&B Capital LLC
LEAF Commercial Capital
Leasepath
Liventus
LTi Technology Solutions
Macquarie Specialized and Asset Finance
Meridian Equipment Finance, LLC
Monitor
Navitas Credit Corp.
NewLane Finance
North Mill Equipment Finance
Northteq
OCB Accountants
Odessa
Orion First Financial, LLC
Pawnee Leasing Corporation
PEAC Solutions
Quality Leasing Co., Inc.
Quiktrak
ROK Financial
Sandhills Publishing
SCJ Commercial Financial Services
Security Credit Services, LLC
SmartVault Corporation
Solifi
Tamarack Technology
TaxConnex
TimePayment
VFI Corporate Finance

Attendance numbers continue to rise for the Funding Symposium and we currently have 363 attendees! We would like to thank all of our amazing sponsors and exhibitors for their part in the success of this wonderful event. If you still need to register for the Funding Symposium

If you still need to register for the Funding Symposium, CLICK HERE!

News Briefs---

Documents detail plans to gut Twitter’s workforce
   No matter who owns the company
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/20/musk-twitter-acquisition-staff-cuts/

Rivian opponents sue to halt excavation work
    on Georgia $5 Billion EV plant site
https://www.ajc.com/news/rivian-opponents-sue-to-halt-excavation-work-on-georgia-ev-plant-site/KOHWSDJA7REAJAQYAG3KJ4C6ZQ/

Nation's Longest Home Price Boom Ends with Prices
    Declining from Peaks in Almost All of the Nation's 60 Largest Metros
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nations-longest-home-price-boom-ends-with-prices-declining-from-peaks-in-almost-all-of-the-nations-60-largest-metros-301656350.html

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U.S. economy likely grew a lot last quarter.
    Most people didn’t notice
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/10/22/gdp-growth-economy-inflation/

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Sports Briefs---

Patrick Mahomes' 3 TDs lead Chiefs past 49ers 44-23
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/sports/patrick-mahomes-3-tds-lead-chiefs-past-49ers-44-23/

‘No one feels good about where we’re at’: Tom Brady,
Buccaneers fall to Panthers, drop to 3-4
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2022/10/23/tom-brady-buccaneers-panthers-loss/

 

Chargers vs. Seahawks recap: Injuries sting
L.A. in humbling loss to Seattle
https://www.latimes.com/sports/chargers/liveblog/chargers-seahawks-live-updates-start-time-score-betting-blog

Aaron Rodgers, Packers listless in alarming loss
to Taylor Heinicke-led Commanders
https://sports.yahoo.com/aaron-rodgers-packers-listless-in-alarming-loss-to-taylor-heinicke-led-commanders-203521085.html

 

Giants beat Jaguars 23-17, move to 6-1
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/10/23/giants-beat-jaguars-23-17-move-to-7-1/

Lions-Cowboys final score: Detroit turnovers waste
strong defensive game, lose to Dallas 24-6
https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2022/10/23/23418966/lions-cowboys-recap-final-score-turnovers-jared-goff-jamaal-williams-loss

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson
has a partially torn hamstring
https://www.milehighreport.com/2022/10/23/23418815/report-broncos-quarterback-russell-wilson-has-a-partially-torn-hamstring

Stanford kicks five field goals, barely survives
against Arizona State to break Pac-12 losing streak
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/10/22/stanford-survives-barely-against-arizona-state-to-break-pac-12-losing-streak/

UCLA’s showdown with Oregon turns into beatdown
as undefeated season crumbles
https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2022-10-22/ucla-oregon-football-recap-chip-kelly-defense-struggle

Phillies defeat Padres in NLCS Game 5
to punch their World Series ticket
https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-10-23/philadelphia-phillies-defeat-san-diego-padres-nlcs-game-5

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California Nuts Briefs---

S.F.’s Toiletgate: Newsom calls $1.7 million bathroom
a waste, halts state money until costs come down
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/S-F-s-Toiletgate-Newsom-calls-1-7-million-17526254.php

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"Gimme that wine"

Want to buy a home — and a vineyard?
    Guess the price of this Wine Country chateau
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2022/real-estate-quiz-calistoga/

Georges Dubœuf treats its 12-ha Mâcon vineyard
to a €1.5 million winery
https://www.vitisphere.com/news-97782-georges-duboeuf-treats-its-12-ha-macon-vineyard-to-a-15-million-winery-.html

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

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

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

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

This Day in History

        1761 - James Otis voices opposition to English colonial rule in a speech before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. In 1761, the merchants of Boston hired attorney James Otis to give a speech against the writs of assistance, a general warrant which was issued for the life of the sovereign to search "any House, shop, Cellar, Warehouse or Room or other Place.” Customs officers could ask anyone to help with the writ, which was the reason for its name. Young attorney John Adams, who later became the second President of the United States, heard the speech, and was so inspired by it that he wrote a provision for the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights based on the arguments Mr. Otis made. The language later formed the basic language of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The battle against the writs of assistance, and the Otis speech, was one of the major opening chapters in the American colonists' struggles against tax tyranny that led to the American Revolution. The speech generated much excitement.
    1786 - Charles Cornwallis, whose armies had surrendered to US at Yorktown, was appointed Governor-General of India.
    1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the United States Supreme Court declared a federal law unconstitutional for the first time. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion for the court. He held that it was the duty of the judicial branch to determine what the law is. His opinion established the power of judicial review—that is, the court's authority to declare laws unconstitutional.
http://www.stanley2002.org/marbury.htm
http://www.jmu.edu/madison/marbury/background.htm
    1811 - Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne (d. 1893), sixth Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and a founder of Ohio's Wilberforce University, was born to free black parents in Charleston, South Carolina. Named for English abolitionist Lord William Wilberforce, Wilberforce University in Xenia, Ohio was the first black-owned college in the United States. Payne was named the university's president in 1863, becoming the nation's first black college president.
http://www.amecnet.org/payne.htm
http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/payne70/frontis.html
    1831 - The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, was proclaimed, having been signed on September 27, 1830. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede about 11 million acres in exchange for about 15 million acres in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma.
    1836 - Home Winslow (d. 1920) was born at Boston.  American artist noted for the realism of his work, from the Civil War reportage to the highly regarded rugged outdoor scenes of hunting and fishing.
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/homer.html
    1836 - Texan Colonel William Travis sends a desperate plea for help for the besieged defenders of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas, with the famous last words, "Victory or Death." On March 6, the Alamo, where 182 Texans were garrisoned, was captured by the Mexican leader Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who had led over 3000 troops across the Rio Grande. Every Texan except a mother, a child, and a servant was killed. “Remember the Alamo” became a battle cry that brought Texans and friends from neighboring states together that eventually formed the Republic of Texas. The movie in the 1950's “Davey Crockett,” would bring the event to worldwide attention as he died in the Alamo along with Colonel Travis, making the “Bowie” knife and coonskin cap famous (as a point of history, Crockett never wore a coonskin cap. He was a former legislator and well-educated man for his time, not a hick or country bumpkin as the role Fess Parker made famous.)
    1852 - The Susquehanna River ice bridge at Havre de Grace, Maryland began to break up after 40 days of use. A total of 1738 loaded freight cars were hauled along the rails laid on the ice.
    1857 - Los Angeles Vineyard Society organized by two men in San Francisco named Charles Kohler and James Frohling who were looking for an area to establish a vineyard colony. Kohler and Frohling formed the Society with a group of German immigrants. George Hansen, a Los Angeles surveyor, was selected to find an ideal site for their planned community. He found it on the Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, which was then in Los Angeles County. Plans were formed for the new town, which was named "Anaheim," but known to their Spanish-speaking neighbors as "Campo Aleman." Although the first settlers arrived in town in 1859, it was not until 1870 that the city was first organized as a municipality.
http://www.anaheim.net/depts_servc/police/history/intro.htm
    1863 - Arizona was recognized as a US territory.  It was first organized as a Confederate territory on Feb. 14, 1862.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb24.html
    1864 - Battle of Tunnel Hill, GA (Buzzard's Roost). This started as a skirmish on February 22 but grew into a battle that lasted until February 25.  This was the second of four major Civil War battles here as the location includes a nearby 1,497 feet long railroad tunnel through Chetoogeta Mountain.  The railroad tunnel was the first to be completed south of the Mason-Dixon Line. 
http://bachelorsgrove.com/archive/obituaries
/info/jamfuller/stories/index4.html
http://www.northga.net/whitfield/tunnel.html
http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/tunnelhill.html
http://www.ganet.org/civilwar/georgia.html#anchor221032
    1867 - In a showdown over reconstruction policy following the Civil War, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson. During the two years following the end of the war, the Republican-controlled Congress had sought to severely punish the South. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act that divided the South into five military districts headed by officers who were to take their orders from General Grant, the head of the army, instead of from President Johnson. In addition, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which required Senate approval before Johnson could remove any official whose appointment was originally approved by the Senate. Johnson vetoed this act but the veto was overridden by Congress. To test the constitutionality of the act, Johnson dismissed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, triggering the impeachment vote. While Johnson was not pro civil rights, he was pro South.  In fact, one of his last acts of office in December was to pardon Jefferson Davis, who was on trial for treason. Stanton was very much anti-South and harbored many ill feelings, basically because of his blundering of military assignments to “society” generals. On Mar 5, 1868, the Senate convened as a court to hear the charges against the President. The Senate vote of 35—19 fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed for impeachment. Thus the South became Dixie Democrats until modern times. The 1868 presidential election was close, with Ulysses S. Grant's popular majority a scant 306,000 out of 5,717,500 votes, although the electoral vote was 214 Grant to 80 for Republican Horatio Seymour. The black vote, which totaled over 700,000, decided the election for Grant. In 1872, Grant beat Republican Candidate Horace Greely 3,597,132 to 2,384,124.  The electoral vote was 286 to 66. History changed and the Democratic Dixiecrats destroyed reconstruction and controlled the house with an inside deal to give. [Is this related to 1868 or 1872???]The election had been thrown back to Congress before, such as the one between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson. This was the first time the nation faced a dispute over the results of a presidential election. A candidate needed 185 electoral votes to win and Samuel J. Tilden the Democratic candidate, clearly had 184. In dispute were the 19 electoral votes of three states till under carpetbag rule---Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina---plus one vote in Oregon. In Congress both parties agreed on January 29, 1877 to establish an electoral commission to decide the issue. The commission, with five members from each house of Congress, and five members from the Supreme Court, was made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats. All the commission's decisions were to fall along party lines. On March 2, Congress accepted the commission's decision, which awarded all the disputed votes to the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, who thus received 185 electoral votes to Tilden's 184. The Republicans were accused of offering southern Democrats economic favors for their region if they supported Hayes's claim. In any event, the new president showed a conciliatory attitude toward the South: all the programs in place that had elected blacks to office, given them property and protection were removed, and the last federal troops were withdrawn and there was no further effort to protect the rights of blacks. Reconstruction was over.
    1868 - First US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile AL)
http://www.fabuloustravel.com/usa/mardigras/almardigras.html
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/6483/mg1.html
http://www.mglinks.com/mg101.htm
http://www.mglinks.com/
    1874 – Birthday of Honus Wagner (d. 1955), born Johannes Peter Wagner in Chartiers (now Carnegie), PA.  He played 21 seasons in the Majors from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won eight batting titles, tied for the most in National League history with Tony Gwinn. He also led the league in slugging six times, and in stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage ("Dutch" in this instance being an alteration of "Deutsch").  In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the five charter members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb and tied with Babe Ruth.  Although Cobb is frequently cited as the greatest player of the dead-ball era, some contemporaries regarded Wagner as the better all-around player, and most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever. Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond."
    1885 - Birthday of Chester Nimitz (d. 1966), Fredericksburg, TX.  Admiral who was Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.  Nimitz signed for the United States when Japan formally surrendered on board the USS Missouri. On October 5, 1945, which had been officially designated as "Nimitz Day" in Washington, DC, Admiral Nimitz was personally presented a Gold Star for the third award of the Distinguished Service Meal by President Harry Truman "for exceptionally meritorious service as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, from June 1944 to August 1945...."
    1891 - The term "honky tonk" introduced, appearing in an Oklahoma paper, The Daily Ardorite, which reports "the honk-a-tonk last night was well attended." The word is most likely a Creole derivative but a definitive source could not be found. “Honkey” or "Honkie" might be its original source or a “spin-off.”
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199703/1997.03.05.06.html
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/13/messages/216.html
    1895 – Revolution broke out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, that ended with the Spanish-American War in 1898.
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/1895/chronology.htm
http://www.autentico.org/oa09313.html
http://www.historyofcuba.com/cuba.htm
    1897 - Emile Berliner took out a Canadian patent on his gramophone talking machine. Manufacturing facilities were set up in Montreal. Berliner had built a crude model of his machine ten years earlier at his home laboratory in Washington, DC, and he applied for a US patent on it on September 26th, 1887. Today the terms "gramophone" and "phonograph" mean the same thing. But in Berliner's day this was not so. "Gramophone" referred to a talking machine employing lateral-cut discs, while the phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison, used vertical-cut cylinders. Berliner's discs eventually made Edison's cylinders obsolete. Berliner also invented the microphone, which we still use today.
http://www.invention.org/electronic-music/berliner.html
    1905 - The temperature at Valley Head, Alabama fell to 18 degrees below zero. This was the coldest temperature ever recorded in Alabama until January 30, 1966 when it reached -27 at New Market.
    1909 - The Hudson Motor Car Company, founded by Joseph Hudson, in Detroit, Michigan, was incorporated. Hudson is perhaps most famous for its impact on NASCAR racing, which it accomplished thanks to a revolutionary design innovation.  Hudson's strong, light-weight bodies, combined with its high-torque inline six-cylinder engine technology, made the company's 1951–54 Hornet an auto-racing champion, dominating NASCAR in 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954.  Some NASCAR records set by Hudson in the 1950s (e.g. consecutive wins in one racing season) still stand even today.  The company made Hudson, Essex and Triplane brands from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American motors (AMC). The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was discontinued.
    1910 - Arranger/Pianist Clyde Hart (d. 1945) born Baltimore, MD.
http://www.centrohd.com/biogra/h1/clyde_hart_b.htm
(Ben Webster talks about Clyde Hart:
http://www.jazzprofessional.com/interviews/BenWebster.htm
http://www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/ww2/1939/jive_txt.htm
(CD had Clyde Hart All-stars with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie)
http://www.geocities.com/ladenso1/RBird/RepliestoKLONBird3_2_.html
Una Mae Carlise Orchestra
http://www.welwyn11.freeserve.co.uk/LY_smallgps.htm
    1912 - Hadassah: Twelve members of the Daughters of Zion Study Circle met at New York City under the leadership of Nerietta Szoid. A constitution was drafted to expand the study group into a national organization called Hadassah (Hebrew for “myrtle” and the biblical name of Queen Esther) to foster Jewish education in America and to create public health nursing and nurses training in Palestine. Hadassah is now the largest women's volunteer organization in the US with 1,500 chapters rooted in health care delivery, education and vocational training, children's villages and services and land reclamation in Israel.
    1912 - Labor activist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn heads "Bread & Roses" Lawrence Textile Strike of 20,000 women in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Police attack 150 children & their parents at the town railroad station. Many strikers are sending their kids to safe homes with friendly families in other cities. The exodus has generated so much publicity that Lawrence authorities have resolved to crush it. They forced 35 women and their children into patrol wagons. After charging the women with neglect and handing jail sentences and fines to the organizers, the town fathers send 10 of the kids to the Lawrence poor farm. This prompts only more publicity, forcing Congress to investigate the strike. Sixteen children will testify, describing the poverty that led them to leave school and take jobs in the mill. The American Woolen Company will have no choice but to yield to the strikers' demands.
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5202/rebelgirl.html
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45b/index-a.html
    1921 - Abe Vigoda (d. 2016) was born in Brooklyn.  He was known for a number of roles, especially his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in “The Godfather” and Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the sitcom “Barney Miller” from 1975 to 1977 and its spinoff show “Fish” from 1977 to 1978.  http://www.zxcproductions.com/web/Abe/abe.html
http://www.tvland.com/shows/barneymiller/actor1.jhtml
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800022099&cf=biog&intl=us
    1927 - West Coast bassist Ralph Pena (d. 1969) was born in Jarbridge, NV. He played with Pete Jolly and was also popular at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, where we saw him play often with many jazz groups.
http://www.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio
/0,,478135,00.html?artist=Ralph+Pena
    1928 - In its first show to feature a Black artist, the New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley.
    1930 - Ted Lewis records, "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
    1932 - Composer Michel Legrand (d. 2019) born Paris, France
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Legrand,+Michel
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005YW0W/inktomi-musicasin-20/
102-1682336-8966565
    1933 - Tenor Sax David “Fathead” Newman (d. 2009) Birthday
http://www.davidfatheadnewman.com/
http://www.interneted.com/Reviewpages/newmandaviddaveyblue.htm
http://www.utdallas.edu/dept/ah/fathead/david_fathead.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000333E/avsearch-df1-9-20/
102-1682336-8966565
    1936 - Vermont and New Hampshire received brown snow due to dust from storms in the Great Plains Region. A muddy rain fell across parts of northern New York State. (24th-25th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
    1938 – Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, was born in Portland, OR.  In November, 2015, Forbes named Knight the 15th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $28.1 billion.  He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika.  A graduate of the University of Oregon and Stanford Graduate School of Business, he has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to both schools; Knight gave the largest donation in history at the time to Stanford's business school in 2006. A native Oregonian, he ran track under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon, with whom he would co-found Nike.
    1940 - On Decca Records, Frances Langford recorded "When You Wish Upon a Star" during a session held in Los Angeles, California. Many artists have recorded that particular song, including Linda Ronstadt with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra in the early 1980s. The song can also be heard in the opening credits of any Disney movie, video or television program.
    1941 - '60s pop singer Joanie Sommers was born Joan Drost in Buffalo, NY.  Once billed as "The Voice of the Sixties", and associated with top-notch arrangers, song-writers and producers, Sommers' popular reputation became closely tied to her biggest, yet most uncharacteristic, hit song "Johnny Get Angry," in 1962, which reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
http://www.grillecloth.com/sommers/sommers.html
http://www.homestead.com/joaniesommers/
    1942 - Harry James records “Trumpet Blues and Cantabile” (Col. 36549)
    1942 - The Army, mistaking a weather balloon that strayed over Los Angeles for a Japanese bomber, unleashes a saturation antiaircraft barrage. Three civilians are trampled to death in the attending panic, and dozens more injured by falling shrapnel. The Japanese later in the war deployed large balloons with bombs, most landed in Oregon and Northern California, causing damage, but was kept out of the news, and the Japanese thinking they were not effective, ended the program. The press was told not to print any stories as if the Japanese learned how effective and inexpensive it was for them to release balloons with bombs in the jet stream, it may have destroyed many cities on the West Coast.
    1943 – “The Human Comedy,” a novel written by William Saroyan, was published on this date in New York.
http://www.housecollectibles.com/highschool
/catalog/display.pperl?0440339332
http://www.cilicia.com/armo22_william_saroyan_3.html
    1943 - George Harrison (d. 2001) was born in Liverpool, England.  As a member of The Beatles, he achieved international fame as the lead guitarist.  In June, 1965, Harrison and the other Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire.  They received their insignia from Queen Elizabeth at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.  In 1971, the Beatles received an Academy Award for the best Original Song Score for the film “Let It Be.”   In December, 1992, he became the first recipient of the Billboard Century Award, an honor presented to music artists for significant bodies of work.  Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".  In 2004, Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame in 2006 for the Concert for Bangladesh.  On 14 April 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded Harrison a star on the Walk of Fame in front of the Capitol records Building. Among his songs:  “My Sweet Lord,” “Isn't It a Pity,” “What is Life?,” “All Those Years Ago.”  As an actor: “A Hard Day's Night,” “Help!,” “The Beatles,” “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Let It Be,” “The Concert for Bangladesh,” “Shanghai Surprise,” “You Can't Do That!,” “The Making of ‘A Hard Day's Night'.” Harrison believed for most of his life his birthday was Feb 25 but a family birth record has his birth at near 11:50 p.m. Feb 24.
    1944 - "Merrill's Marauders" hit Burma. The Marauders' mission began with a 1,000-mile walk through dense jungle, without artillery support, consisting of five major and 30 minor engagements with a far more numerous Japanese enemy. They had to carry their supplies on their backs and on pack mules and were resupplied only with airdrops in the middle of the jungle. Merrill's Marauders succeeded in maneuvering behind Japanese forces to cause the disruptions necessary to throw the enemy into confusion. They were so successful, the Marauders managed even to capture the Myitkyina Airfield in northern Burma.
    1947 - Bass player Bob Magnusson born New York City, NY,
http://www.theiceberg.com/artist/24649/bob_magnusson/
http://www.emusic.com/cd/10600/10600220.html?fref=148694
    1951 - Top Hits
“If” - Perry Como
“My Heart Cries for You” - Guy Mitchell
“Tennessee Waltz” - Patti Page
“There's Been a Change in Me” - Eddy Arnold
    1955 – President Dwight Eisenhower met with newspaper publisher Roy Howard and expressed his resistance under pressure to commit American troops to Vietnam. The conversation was recorded on a dictabelt machine that Eisenhower had secretly installed in the President’s office.
    1955 - Steven Jobs (d. 2011), co-founder of Apple Computer, was born Los Altos, CA. Jobs started out selling his friend Stephen Wozniak's computers door-to-door at electronic hobbyist shops. By 1979, Apple Computer had become the fastest growing company in history, worth more than $1 billion. That year, Jobs led a team of several Apple developers, working on a new project called Lisa, on a visit to Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where the team saw the Alto, an early computer with a graphical user interface using icons, a mouse, and built-in networking capacity. Both the Lisa and the Macintosh adopted key elements of the Alto. Jobs, whose impulsive personal style irritated some of Apple's key managers, was forced to leave Apple in 1985. He formed NeXT Inc., became president of Pixar animation studios, and returned to Apple in 1997 as acting president. He turned both ventures into giant money-making companies, winning awards, dominating the music market with the iPod.  The company changed their name to Apple Inc. to reflect their diversification.  Jobs is credited with the company's tremendous success. Under his direction the company grew from computers to portable music players, portable wireless telephones, and now the IPAD, which revolutionized the computer industry as Jobs did to both the music industry and telephone/web industry. The Apple computer is considered the finest by architects, graphic designers, and web designers, as well as other aficionados. Jobs was also the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios until it was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2006. Jobs was the Walt Disney Company's largest individual shareholder and a member of its Board of Directors.  Jobs was diagnosed with a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor in 2003 and died of respiratory arrest related to the tumor
    1956 - Need an adult to dance in Cleveland: Now the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland invoked a 1931 law barring people under 18 from dancing publicly without an adult guardian.
    1959 - Top Hits
“Stagger Lee” - Lloyd Price
“Donna” - Ritchie Valens
“The All American Boy” - Bill Parsons
“Don't Take Your Guns to Town” - Johnny Cash
    1963 - The Rolling Stones take over as the Sunday house band at the Station Hotel, near London. They are paid £24 ($67) to entertain a crowd of 66 people.
    1967 - WILBANKS, HILLIARD A., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Air Force, 21st. Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nha Trang AFB, RVN. Place and date: Near Dalat, Republic of Vietnam, 24 February 1967. Entered service at: Atlanta, Ga. Born: 26 July 1933, Cornelia, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. As a forward air controller Capt. Wilbanks was pilot of an unarmed, light aircraft flying visual reconnaissance ahead of a South Vietnam Army Ranger Battalion. His intensive search revealed a well-concealed and numerically superior hostile force poised to ambush the advancing rangers. The Viet Cong, realizing that Capt. Wilbanks' discovery had compromised their position and ability to launch a surprise attack, immediately fired on the small aircraft with all available firepower. The enemy then began advancing against the exposed forward elements of the ranger force which were pinned down by devastating fire. Capt. Wilbanks recognized that close support aircraft could not arrive in time to enable the rangers to withstand the advancing enemy, onslaught. With full knowledge of the limitations of his unarmed, unarmored, light reconnaissance aircraft, and the great danger imposed by the enemy's vast firepower, he unhesitatingly assumed a covering, close support role. Flying through a hail of withering fire at treetop level, Capt. Wilbanks passed directly over the advancing enemy and inflicted many casualties by firing his rifle out of the side window of his aircraft. Despite increasingly intense antiaircraft fire, Capt. Wilbanks continued to completely disregard his own safety and made repeated low passes over the enemy to divert their fire away from the rangers. His daring tactics successfully interrupted the enemy advance, allowing the rangers to withdraw to safety from their perilous position. During his final courageous attack to protect the withdrawing forces, Capt. Wilbanks was mortally wounded and his bullet-riddled aircraft crashed between the opposing forces. Capt. Wilbanks' magnificent action saved numerous friendly personnel from certain injury or death. His unparalleled concern for his fellow man and his extraordinary heroism were in the highest traditions of the military service, and have reflected great credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.
    1967 - Top Hits
“Kind of a Drag” - The Buckinghams
“Love is Here and Now You're Gone” - The Supremes
“The Beat Goes On” - Sonny & Cher
“Where Does the Good Times Go” - Buck Owens
    1969 - LEVITOW, JOHN L.,  Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, 3d Special Operations Squadron. Place and date: Long Binh Army post, Republic of Vietnam, 24 February 1969. Entered service at: New Haven, Conn. Born: 1 November 1945, Hartford, Conn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Levitow (then A1c.), U.S. Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying a night mission in support of Long Binh Army post. Sgt. Levitow's aircraft was struck by a hostile mortar round. The resulting explosion ripped a hole 2 feet in diameter through the wing and fragments made over 3,500 holes in the fuselage. All occupants of the cargo compartment were wounded and helplessly slammed against the floor and fuselage. The explosion tore an activated flare from the grasp of a crewmember who had been launching flares to provide illumination for Army ground troops engaged in combat. Sgt. Levitow, though stunned by the concussion of the blast and suffering from over 40 fragment wounds in the back and legs, staggered to his feet and turned to assist the man nearest to him who had been knocked down and was bleeding heavily. As he was moving his wounded comrade forward and away from the opened cargo compartment door, he saw the smoking flare ahead of him in the aisle. Realizing the danger involved and completely disregarding his own wounds, Sgt. Levitow started toward the burning flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the flare was rolling wildly from side to side. Sgt. Levitow struggled forward despite the loss of blood from his many wounds and the partial loss of feeling in his right leg. Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw himself bodily upon the burning flare. Hugging the deadly device to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the aircraft and hurled the flare through the open cargo door. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft. Sgt. Levitow, by his selfless and heroic actions, saved the aircraft and its entire crew from certain death and destruction. Sgt. Levitow's gallantry, his profound concern for his fellowmen, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
    1969 - Johnny Cash recorded his second live prison performance, this one at San Quentin, Marin County, California. It followed a concert the previous year at Folsom Prison. The LP "Johnny Cash at San Quentin" topped the Billboard pop and country charts. It also contained the hit single "A Boy Named Sue."
http://www.canoe.ca/JamAlbumsC/cash_johnny_sanquentin.html
    1970 – Former Niners and Eagles QB Jeff Garcia was born Gilroy, CA.
    1970 - Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" hits #1
    1971 - Janis Joplin's "Pearl" goes gold.
    1972 - Birthday of Manon Rheaume, Beauport, Quebec.  She is the first woman to play in a professional hockey game. Rheaume was goaltender when Canada won the 1992 and 1994 world championships as a member of Canada's women's national team and was MVP of both tournaments. In 1986, she goaled the national team to the Olympic silver. "In 1992, Rheaume made sports history by appearing in an NHL exhibition game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, thus becoming the first female to play in a major professional sport. She continued her pro hockey career with various men's minor league teams but in 1995, she turned to professional roller hockey playing for the New Jersey Rock 'n Rollers." Small for her position, she is 5' 6" with a playing weight of 130 lbs.
    1973 - With Roger McGuinn remaining the only original member, The Byrds made their final live appearance when they played at The Capitol Theatre, in Passaic, New Jersey.
    1973 - Roberta Flack's “Killing Me Softly With His Song” jumped to Number 1 on Billboard's hit record charts, and remained there for 5 weeks. It was rumored that the subject of her song was folk singer Don McLean. Actually, it was not.  Rather, the original singer, Lori Leiberman, was “inspired” by a McLean song and got a songwriter, Norman Gabriel, to make a few changes.
http://www.superseventies.com/1973_9singles.html
    1975 - Top Hits
“Pick Up the Pieces” - AWB
“Best of My Love” - The Eagles
“Some Kind of Wonderful” - Grand Funk
“I Care” - Tom T. Hall
    1976 - The Eagles "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" became the first LP in the US to be certified platinum with two-million copies sold.  It reached number one on the US Billboard 200, where it stayed for five weeks. The album has the distinction of being the first album to receive the RIAA Platinum certification, which was introduced in 1976 to recognize albums that shipped one million copies in the United States. It was ranked number four on the Billboard year-end album chart of 1976 and has spent a total of 239 weeks on the Billboard 200 as of August 2018.  It was the best-selling album of the 20th century in the United States and it stayed the best-selling album in the U.S. until it was surpassed by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” after the artist's death in 2009.  In August 2018, it regained the title of the best-selling album in the U.S. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
    1976 - At the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Paul Simon picks up Best Pop Vocal and Best Album awards for “Still Crazy After All These Years,” leading him to famously remark, in his acceptance speech, "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."
    1976 - Rhythm Heritage's "Theme From S.W.A.T." hits #1
    1978 - Barry Manilow shared the stage with Ray Charles during The Second Barry Manilow Special, dueting on "It's a Miracle." Manilow had just enjoyed a Top Ten hit with "Looks Like We Made It" and would follow with "Can't Smile Without You," "Even Now," "Copacabana" and "Ready to Take a Chance Again" during the next few months.
    1978 - The Pointer Sisters, now down to a trio after Bonnie Pointer had left for a solo career, enjoy their biggest US hit when the Bruce Springsteen written "Fire" tops out at Billboard's #2.
    1979 - The Jefferson Starship releases the greatest hits LP "Gold" which eventually makes the top-20 on Billboard's LP chart.
    1980 - Hockey Teams Wins Gold: Two days after defeating the Soviet Union 4-3, the US hockey team won the gold medal at the XIII Winter Olympic Games by beating Finland, 4-2.
    1981 - School Headmistress and Socialite Jean Harris is convicted of murdering "The Scarsdale Diet" doctor, Herman Tarnower. Harris and Tarnower had been a couple since they met in 1966. However, Tarnower was a notorious womanizer who never followed through on his vague promises to marry the 56-year-old Harris. In the late 1970s, Harris discovered that Tarnower was having an affair with a younger woman. Nonetheless, she assisted him in writing and editing “The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet,” which became a surprise sensation, earning Tarnower wealth and fame. Harris later claimed that she went there with suicidal intentions. However, the fact that Tarnower was shot four times seemed to belie her defense. Rather than maintain that she had killed in the heat of the moment, which would have dealt a manslaughter conviction, Harris insisted that the shooting was an accident. Her gamble (or insistence on principle) failed when the jury convicted her of murder and gave her a life sentence. Harris was a model prisoner who used every opportunity to bring attention to the plight of women prisoners. She wrote the well-received “They Always Call Us Ladies” in 1988, and finally won parole in 1993.
    1981 - Boston Celtics begin 18 NBA game win streak 
http://www.pataky.net/NBAFinals.asp
http://sporting.oneofakindantiques.com/
2085_boston_celtics_basketball_from
_1980_to_1981_4.htm
http://members.tripod.com/opey3/celtics.html
    1982 - Wayne Gretzky, 21-year-old center for the Edmonton Oilers, scored his 77th goal of the season against the Buffalo Sabres to break Phil Esposito's single-season goal-scoring record. With Esposito, who had scored 76 goals in the 1970-71 season, in attendance, Gretzky stole the puck and broke a 3-3 tie with seven minutes to play. He added two more goals in the game's final two minutes and finished the season with 92 goals.
    1982 - The 1981 Grammy Award winners are announced. Kim Carnes wins Record and Song of the Year with "Bette Davis Eyes," while John Lennon and Yoko Ono win Album of the Year with "Double Fantasy."
    1983 – Dow Jones average for the first time closed above the 1100 mark, after the stock market moved 24.87 points to close at 1121.81. In 1972, the 1100 plateau had been reached, but a rally could not keep the benchmark high at that point until the end of the trading day.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Baby, Come to Me” - Patti Austin with James Ingram
“Shame on the Moon” - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
“Stray Cat Strut” - Stray Cats
“Faking Love” - T.G. Sheppard & Karen Brooks
    1983 - A special commission of Congress released a report that condemned the internment of Japanese during World War II. It was silent on the same treatment of Italians and Germans.
    1985 - Quarterback Doug Flutie played his first professional game, leading the New Jersey Generals against Birmingham, to a 38-28 loss. The former Boston College star had a rough start in his USFL debut but completed 12 of 18 passes in the game's fourth quarter. I bring this up as he is my double cousin on my mother's side (son of my mother's sister's son.)
http://www.dougflutiejrfoundation.org/
http://members.aol.com/Argonuter/
    1985 - Yul Brynner reprised his "The King and I" role, setting an all-time box office weekly receipt record when the show took in $520,920.
    1987 - Not a Welk Tune: A spokeswoman for bandleader Lawrence Welk said some Welk fans who bought his "Polka Party" compact disc ended up with the punk rock soundtrack to the movie "Sid and Nancy." The Welk Enterprises office in Los Angeles fielded several telephone calls from upset fans. The CD's apparently were mislabeled at the factory in Japan.
    1987 - The Los Angeles Lakers' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made his first three-point shot. At this date, the leading scorer in NBA history had reached 36,000 points, but until now, Kareem never scored over two at a time.
    1987 - The 1986 Grammys are awarded: Paul Simon's "Graceland" wins Best Album; Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" wins Best Record and Bruce Hornsby and the Range win Best New Artist.
    1987 - The massive winter storm continued to pound the western US in southern California.  Big Bear was blanketed with 17 inches of snow and Lake Hughes reported 4 inches in one hour. Snow pellets whitened coastal areas of Orange and San Diego counties with 3 inches falling at Huntington Beach. Thunderstorms producing hail and waterspouts also occurred. In Colorado, Purgatory was buried under 62 inches of snow over a 4 day period and Colorado Springs had 14.8 inches in 24 hours to set a 24 hour snowfall record for February.
    1988 - Strong winds produced snow squalls in the Great Lakes Region which created "white-out" conditions in eastern Upper Michigan. Squalls produced up to 14 inches of snow in Geauga County of northeastern Ohio.
    1988 - Matt Nykanen of Finland, having already finished first in the 70-and 90-meter ski jumping events, won an unprecedented third gold medal in Nordic skiing when the Finnish team won the new 90-meter team jumping competition.
    1989 - Jerry Jones announced the he had reached an agreement to buy the Dallas Cowboys from H.R. “Bum” Bright and that he had replaced Tom Landry, the only head coach in Dallas history, with University of Miami coach and former University of Arkansas teammate, Jimmy Johnson.  Johnson coached the Cowboys from 1989 through 1993. He is one of only six men in NFL history to coach consecutive Super Bowl winners, winning in 1992 and 1993. 
    1989 - A total of thirty-three cities in the eastern U.S. reported new record low temperatures for the date, and an Atlantic coast storm spread heavy snow from Georgia to southern New England. Snowfall totals in New Jersey ranged up to 24 inches in Cape May County, with 19 inches reported at Atlantic City. Totals in North Carolina ranged up to 18 inches in Gates County, and winds along the coast of North Carolina gusted to 70 mph at Duck Pier. Strong winds gusting to 52 mph created blizzard conditions at Chatham, MA.
    1989 – United flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, ripped open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.
    1990 - Strong northerly winds prevailed from Illinois to the Southern and Central Appalachians. Winds gusted to 68 mph at Sewickley Heights, PA. High winds caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow across northern and central Indiana through the day. Wind gusts to 47 mph and 6 to 8 inches of snow created white-out conditions around South Bend, IN. Traffic accidents resulted in two deaths and 130 injuries. Sixty-five persons were injured in one accident along Interstate 69 in Huntington County. Wind gusts to 60 mph and 4 to 8 inches of snow created blizzard conditions in eastern and northern Ohio. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
    1991 - In the Gulf War, the ground campaign began with an Allied night attack. More than 14,000 Iraqis were captured in the first 24 hours of fighting. The Persian Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Storm, authorized by the U.N. and led by the U.S., began with an all-out air war against Iraq on January 15, 1991. Its objective was to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, which Iraq had occupied since August 2, 1990. Ground action began February 24 and three days later, President George H. W. Bush halted the fighting with Iraqi forces routed. Iraq agreed to destroy its facilities for making chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons, but stalled the actual carrying out of the relevant UN resolution American casualties were 146 dead and 467 wounded. Iraq set fires to all the oil wells, gutted the hospitals, stole jewelry, automobiles, anything they could carry or drive. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, all US allies in the Persian Gulf War, wanted the US presence out of the area as soon as possible.
    1991 - Top Hits
“All the Man that I Need” - Whitney Houston
“One More Try” - Timmy -T-
“Someday” - Mariah Carey
“Walk on Faith” - Mike Reid
    1992 - GM loses $4.45 billion: The greatest loss by a US company was suffered by the world's largest industrial company, General Motors Corporation, who announced they had a $4.45 billion loss for the year 1991.
    1992 - The U.S. Postal Service unveils 2 versions of its proposed Elvis stamp for fans to vote on. Eventually, the younger Elvis wins and is issued on January 8, 1993
    1992 - As of 2:45 am CST, International Falls, Minnesota had recorded 29.5 inches of snow for the month with snow still falling. This set a new monthly snowfall record for February. The old record was 29.0 inches set back in 1911. A new record was also set for winter season snowfall (Dec-Feb) with 68.5 inches. The old record was 67.9 inches.
    1993 - British rock legend Eric Clapton, who had been virtually ignored in the Grammy Awards for most of his career, won six Grammys, including the music industry's three major awards - record, album and song of the year. Clapton was honored for his album "Unplugged," and the song "Tears in Heaven." Clapton wrote "Tears in Heaven" as a tribute to his infant son Conor, who died in 1991 when he fell out a window in Clapton's 53rd floor New York apartment.
    1998 - Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in front of his parents and his partner David Furnish.
    1998 – Andrea Boccelli, already an international singing sensation, released his second album, “Bocelli,” by Sugar Music. The album achieved double-platinum in Italy, sextuple platinum in Belgium, and quadruple platinum in both Germany and the Netherlands. His single song "Con te Partiro" topped the charts for 6 weeks in France, earning a triple-gold sales award. In Belgium, it became the biggest hit of all time, with 12 weeks at the top.
    1998 – Henny Youngman, legendary comedian, at age 91, died in Manhattan following a debilitating bout of flu. Youngman, often called "King of the One-Liners" was best known for his trademark "Take my wife, please!" Using that line since the 1930's, he continued after his beloved wife Sadie died in 1987.
http://www.iei.net/~liz/young.htm
http://www.comedycity.com/henny_youngman/
    1999 - Radio shock jock Doug Tracht, known as "Greaseman," was suspended indefinitely and then ultimately fired for a race-related remark made on station WARW-FM in Washington, D.C. On that morning's radio show, Tracht had noted that the Grammy Awards ceremony were scheduled for that evening and played a portion of a song by Lauryn Hill, a young black hip-hop artist nominated for 10 Grammys. Then he commented, "No wonder people drag them behind trucks." The reference was to the torture and death in Texas of James Byrd, Jr., a black man decapitated while being dragged behind a pickup truck. John William King, a white supremacist, was convicted of murder the previous day in the case. Tracht faxed a one-paragraph statement: "I'm truly sorry for the pain and hurt I have caused with my unfeeling comment. I have no excuse for my remark, and regret it. If I could take it back I would. In the course of my show, split second judgment is made over ad-libs. This remark was a grave error in my judgment." A statement from the station announcing Tracht's firing apologized to listeners who were offended. "While we will always strongly support the right of our on-air artists to express a wide range of opinions, even those that are unpopular or offensive to some, WARW cannot be associated with the trivialization of an unspeakable act of violence," the statement read.
    1999 - At the annual Grammy awards ceremony in the Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, hip-hop star Lauryn Hill broke a record for female artists, winning five Grammy Awards for her album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” Hill's five wins in one night - album of the year, best new artist, female rhythm and blues vocal, R & B song for “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and R & B album - topped the four Grammys won by Carole King in 1971 for “Tapestry.”
    1999 – Arizona executed Karl LeGrand, a German national convicted of murder during a botched bank robbery, in spite of Germany's legal action to attempt to save him.
    2002 - XIX winter Olympics closes in Salt Lake City UT/Québec City
http://www.utah.com/olympics/http://www.saltlake2002.com/
http://anythingkiss.tripod.com/xix_olympics.html
    2004 - Heavy snows blanket wide areas of northern New Mexico, closing schools and highways.  The mountains east of Santa Fe receive 20 inches. Sandia Park, east of Albuquerque, measures 11 inches. 8 inches falls at Los Alamos
    2010 - The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver ends with, among other things, a surprise appearance by Canadian native Neil Young, who sings "Long May You Run" as the torch is put out.
    2014 – Researchers report that taking acetaminophen during pregnancy can increase the risk of ADHD diagnoses as the babies mature.  Taking acetaminophen in the first trimester has the lowest risk at 9% but there is a 63% likelihood of the condition in babies if the drug is taken in the last two trimesters.
    2014 – 29-term Rep. John Dingell, Jr. announced that he will retire at the end of his current term.  The 87-year-old congressman said that his health is fine but the hostile environment in Congress means that he can no longer do his job effectively.  Dingell began his congressional career by succeeding his father as representative for Michigan’s 16th district.  His wife, Debbie Dingell, ran to succeed her husband and defeated Republican Terry Bowman in the general election on November 4, 2014.  He died in 2019.
    2015 – President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL project which would extend the existing Keystone pipeline and connect Canadian oil directly with US Gulf Coast refineries.  Environmentalists claimed the extension will add to climate change.