And you thought going to the movies was a waste of time

A good way to waste 7 minutes:



Reel Wisdom: Lessons from 40 Films in 7 Minutes


A very cool commercial but



choosing a drink shouldn't be a life decision.


It's the 202th birthday of both Abraham Lincoln, a man with only a years' worth of formal education and still became our 16th President



and Charles Darwin, the man who tried to ride a dog to the tropics and the uncle of most monkeys.



Go try preserving a union and question people's fundamental religious beliefs in their honor.


February 12, 1924 -
George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York .



It has become one of the most popular American concert works.


Today In History:
On February 12, 1554, The sixteen year old Lady Jane Grey, puppet Queen of England for nine days, was beheaded in the Tower of London, on this date.



Questions arose as to where to bury this semi-queen, until it was decided to place her among the beheaded former wives of Henry VIII.


Adolf Frederick was King of Sweden until he died of digestion problems on February 12, 1771 after having consumed a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sour cabbage, smoked herring and champagne, which was topped off with 14 servings of his favorite dessert: semla (a hot cross bun filled with cream) served in a bowl of hot milk.

He is thus remembered by Swedish schoolchildren as the king who ate himself to death.

So remember - push away from the dessert tray, folks.


February 12, 1789 -
Ethan Allen dies in a drunken sleigh accident while crossing the frozen Lake Champlain, reminiscing with friends and rye. Much of the circumstance remains a mystery.



The Spirit of Ethan Allen is Lake Champlain's largest cruise ship.

So kids remember, if you're lucky and you die while drunkenly crossing a Great Lake, you too can get a cruise ship or a line of furniture named after you.


Immanuel Kant, a real pissant, died on February 12, 1804. His last words were reportedly It is good.

This is hard to believe, since Kant did not speak English.


On February 12, 1894, Hans von Bulow died, (yes, Klaus is related to him).

He was a popular pianist and composer, and the husband of composer Franz Liszt's daughter, Cosima, who screwed around behind Hans' back and ultimately left him for Richard Wagner, (more about him tomorrow)


Emperor Pu Yi of China's Manchu dynasty abdicated on February 12, 1912, allowing the establishment of a provisional republic under Sun Yat-sen, eventually causing Red China.



And making a fine movie.


February 12, 1935 -
The 785-foot USS Macon, the last US Navy dirigible (ZRS-5), crashed on its 55th flight off the coast of California, killing two people. After takeoff from Point Sur, California, a gust of wind tore off the ship's upper fin, deflating its gas cells and causing the ship to fall into the sea. Two of Macon 's 83 crewmen died in the accident.



The U.S. Navy lost the airships Shenandoah in 1925 and Akron in 1933. Some considered airships too dangerous for the program to continue at that point, and work on them in the United States was halted temporarily.


On this day in 1940, Superman appeared for the first time on radio, the first time in a non-print medium. It was the debut of the radio show called The Adventures of Superman and the episode was called "The Baby From Krypton."



We don't get to hear Superman speak though until the second episode: "Clark Kent, Reporter" (Feb 14, 1940)
(this was sent in by a loyal reader. Thank you good citizen.)


February 12,1967 -
Police in London arrest Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful after they discover amphetamine pills, cannabis resin, and Marianne scandalously naked but for a fur rug. The two Rolling Stones received jail sentences which were successfully appealed.





Questions still persist - where exactly was that Mars Bar anyway?


February 12, 1976 -
Sal Mineo, film and theater actor, was stabbed to death in Los Angeles while coming home from a play rehearsal.

A pizza deliveryman, Lionel Ray Williams, was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 57 years in prison for killing Mineo and for committing 10 robberies in the same area.


February 12, 2004 -
After 43 years together, Barbie and Ken, shocked the nation when they announced that they were breaking up.



Barbie appeared to have moved on to an Australian surfer named Blaine.



But starting in 2006, in an effort to compensate for his lack of genitalia, Ken hit the gym and sported a new look in an effort to win Barbie back



Currently, Ken wants to be with Barbie again and he has mounted a nationwide campaign to get her back.



And so it goes.