Gumby's Dad died

Art Clokey, the creator of the whimsical clay figure Gumby, died in his sleep Friday. Gumby's ability to enchant generations of children and adults had a mystical quality to it, said his son, Joseph Clokey , and reflected his father's spiritual quest. In the 1970s, Clokey studied Zen Buddhism, traveled to India to study with gurus and experimented with LSD and other drugs, though all of that came long after the creation of Gumby, his son said.



Clokey's second most famous production is the duo of Davey and Goliath, funded by the Lutheran Church in America.


January 10, 1952 -
Cecil B. DeMille's circus extravaganza, The Greatest Show on Earth, opened on this date.



The film did well at the box office and went on to win Oscars for Best Picture and Best Writing.


---THIS WEEK’S HEALTH TIP---
The holidays are over - quit stuffing your face, get off your big fat ass and do some exercises ...


Here is your Today in History -
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously (not that Tom didn't know his name - it was theoretically punishable by death to denounce the crown and Tom wasn't quick looking for death at that time) on January 10, 1776, before the American Revolution. Paine wrote it with editorial feedback from Benjamin Rush, who came up with the title.

The document denounced British rule, and through its immense popularity contributed to fomenting the American Revolution. The second edition was published soon thereafter. A third edition, with an accounting of the worth of the British navy, an expanded appendix, and a response to criticism by the Quakers, was published on February 14, 1776.


January 10 1883 -
A fire at the six-story Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee kills more than 71 people. For years this was considered one of the worst single structure fires in the United States.

Two famous midgets residing there, General Tom Thumb (Charles Sherwood Stratton) and his brother-in-law Commodore Nut, are rescued by firefighters.


January 10 1927 -
The film Metropolis on in Berlin. It was the most expensive silent film of the time, costing approximately 7 million Reichsmark to make.



While that seems like a very large sum of money due to the incredibly crushing inflation running rampant in Germany at the time, you could also just about buy a loaf of marble rye with that amount of money.


January 10 1948 -
Donald Fagen, singer and front man of the rock band Steely Dan, was born on this date.








January 10 1982 -
You could no longer go to Paul Lynde to block on this date. Mr. Lynde was found dead of a heart attack, naked and holding a bottle of poppers in his West Hollywood home.



Mr. Lynde's bed companion, it appears, neglected to call 911 to report the emergency.

Kids, remember you might get you kicks with hustlers but don't count on them to call the paramedics.



And so it goes.