Red Rock On Air

BIRTHDAYS

Sally Jessy Raphael-75
Bob Schieffer -73
Daniel Powter-39
Diane Baker (House M.D.: Blythe)-72
Julio Iglesias Jr.-37
Jack Handey (SNL)-61
Veronica Webb-45
Tea Leoni-44
Carrot Top-43

TODAY IN HISTORY

1836 Samuel Colt patents 1st revolving barrel multishot firearm
1862 Paper currency (greenbacks) introduced in US by President Abraham Lincoln
1950 “Your Show of Shows” with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon & Woody Allen
1969 Beatles begin recording for the Abbey Road album
1982 Final episode of “The Lawrence Welk Show” airs
1989 Dallas Cowboys fire coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career
1992 34th Grammy Awards Unforgettable, Marc Cohn win
1995 “Take a Bow” by Madonna peaks at No. 1.
2004 Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” opens in theaters.

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL
A South Korean military vehicle was returning from an all night training exercise near the North Korean border when it suddenly accelerated and veered off the road. The tank driver had fallen asleep. The massive tank crushed two cars before ploughing into four trucks as terrified drivers and pedestrians ran for cover. One driver escaped death by inches, gripping the steering wheel in disbelief as the tank ploughed through the passenger side of his car, leaving it a mass of twisted metal. The tank only came to a halt when it careered into a shopfront and stalled, waking up still sleeping driver Yeon Lee, 32.

CURVY WOMEN A DRUG
According to the US study, looking at a curvaceous figure activates the part of the brain associated with feelings of reward, rendering the same effects of drugs or alcohol. Scientists say their findings make sense of the view that curvier women, such as Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce Knowles, are sexually appealing.

WIENER DOG RESCUE
JoJo the wiener dog is being credited for saving a family from an electrical fire in the Kennewick, Wash. mobile home the other night. The dog started barking and also tried pushing 11-year-old Kalen out of bed. The couple and three children were home at the time. The Urquharts say they rescued JoJo from the water in a local park when he was a puppy. Now, they add Jojo has returned the favor.

HOW’D YA KNOW ?
The hose dangling from the gas tank of a truck was a dead giveaway to officers. They were called by several drivers reporting their vehicles were hit by a dangling hose from a truck. Employees at a service station say the man bought gas with a credit card and drove off with gas nozzle still attached. Yes alcohol was involved.

SMOKE FREE RACEWAY
Michigan International Speedway says it’s banning smoking in most areas in response to a state law change that takes effect May 1. The racetrack announced Wednesday smoking will be forbidden in its grandstands, mezzanines, concessions, restrooms, suites and chalets. It says smoking will be allowed in open-air areas behind the grandstands, the New Holland Fan Plaza and campgrounds. The 2-mile oval track seats 119,500 and will host two weekends of NASCAR events this year.

LIGHT SABER FLASH MOB
Participants in a British “flash mob” event said hundreds of “Star Wars” fans came out to a shopping center for a massive lightsaber battle. Organizers of the flash mob — defined as an event organized online involving a large group of people carrying out an unusual activity in public — said hundreds of Jedi knights and Sith lords brought their lightsabers to the Cabot Circus shopping center in Bristol, England, for what they said was “the world’s largest lightsaber fight. It’s become a YouTube sensation.

LET TEDDY SEE THE WORLD
A newly formed Czech travel agency is offering escorted trips for pampered toys. Send them your favorite animal and they will whisk it around the sights of Prague, taking photographs of it against backgrounds like Prague Castle or the Charles Bridge.

Remember: In many ways, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

1. Eat less.
2. Don’t ask for money all the time.
3. Are easier to train.
4. Normally come when called.
5. Never ask to drive the car.
6. Don’t hang out with drug-using friends.
7. Don’t smoke or drink.
8. Don’t have to buy the latest fashions.
9. Don’t want to wear your clothes.
10. Don’t need a ‘gazillion’ dollars for college.

And finally,

11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

USELESS TRIVIA

The first coffee mill appeared in London during the seventeenth century.

In 1670 Dorothy Jones of Boston was granted a license to sell coffee, and so became the first American coffee trader.

When a Roman boy reached adulthood sometime between the ages of 14 and 17, he was entitled to wear the pure white toga of a man and Roman citizen.

The first person to have his diabetes successfully treated was a 14-year old Canadian boy named Leonard Thompson, who was injected with the new discovery called insulin, at Toronto General Hospital in 1922..

The first recorded person to run a mile race in under four minutes was Sir Roger Bannister on May 6, 1954. He broke the four-minute barrier at Imey Road, Oxford, in a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.