I wonder how often this happens ??

We All Loved the Little Dummy

1936 - Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy started their own radio show on NBC -- only months after they had debuted on Rudy Vallee’s radio program. W.C. Fields, Don Ameche and Dorothy Lamour were a few of the stars that helped Bergen and the little blockhead, McCarthy, jump to the top of radio’s hit parade.

"Biggest Little City in the World"

Happy Birthday to Reno, Nevada. It was on this day in 1868 that a little town in Northwestern Nevada was officially named, Reno (after General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer of the Civil War). Actually, the town that was just over the border from California, already existed before this date. It was first settled by the Washoe Indians who used the area for festivals and ceremonies. Then, as settlers moved in, it was known as Fuller’s Ferry, and later, as Lake’s Crossing.
In the mid 1800s, Reno was just another settlement of silver miners. When the Comstock Lode was discovered in the Virginia City area, intrigued fortune hunters throughout the world came to the area to strike it rich.

Today, they still come to strike it rich at Reno’s glitzy gambling casinos.

Reno, also a haven for quickie divorces (only a six-week residency is required), is known as the biggest little city in the world, the winning slogan from a contest held in 1929.

The Berlin wall was a symbol

Residents of Berlin awoke on August 13,1961 to find the communist government of East Germany erecting what would become a 96-mile wall around the “western quarters” of the city — not so much to lay siege to the westerners (that had been tried in 1948, frustrated by the Berlin Airlift) as to keep easterners from “defecting” to the West. The Brandenburg Gate was closed on August 14, and all crossing points were closed on August 26.

From 1961 through 1991, teachers could use the Berlin wall as a simple and clear symbol for the differences between the communist Eastern Bloc, the Soviet Union and her satellite states, and the free West, which included most of the land mass of Germany, England, France, Italy, the United States and other free-market nations — the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries. Many high school kids today know very little about the Wall, why it was there, and what its destruction meant, politically. The Berlin Wall, the totem of the Cold War came down in 1989, pushing the end of the Cold War.

The edible "cornucopia"

It is said that on July 23, 1904, Charles E. Menches of St. Louis, Missouri conceived the idea of filling a pastry cone with two scoops of ice cream and thereby invented the ice cream cone. Yet there are other, perhaps stronger, claimants to that honor: Ernest Hamwi, Abe Doumar, Albert and Nick Kabbaz, Arnold Fornachou and David Avayou have all been touted as the inventor(s) of the first edible cone. Interestingly, these individuals have in common the fact that they all made or sold confections at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, known as the St. Louis World's Fair and it is from the time of the Fair that the edible "cornucopia," a cone made from a rolled waffle, vaulted into popularity.

Coca-Cola: An 1886 Creation

Dr. John S. Pemberton sold the first Coca-Cola on May 8, 1886, at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. Bookkeeper Frank Robinson coined the name and it is his handwriting we recognize as the Coca-Cola trademark. Until 1905, the drink, marketed as a tonic, contained extracts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut.

By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola was one of America's most popular fountain drinks. With another Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Chandler, at the helm, the Coca-Cola Company increased syrup sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900. Advertising, was an important factor in Pemberton and Chandler's success and by the turn of the century, the drink was sold across the United States and Canada. Around the same time, the company began selling syrup to independent bottling companies licensed to sell the drink. Even today, the US soft-drink industry is organized on this principle.

Until the 1960s, both small town and big city dwellers enjoyed carbonated beverages at the local soda fountain or ice cream saloon. Often housed in the drug store, the soda fountain counter served as a meeting place for people of all ages. Often combined with lunch counters, the soda fountain declined in popularity as commercial ice cream, bottled soft drinks, and fast food restaurants came to the fore.

A lotta birds . . . but much less

Fowl take flight near the Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Scientists say the annual bird migration to the Klamath Basin in California has decreased by two-thirds in the last 50 years.
(Robert Durell / LAT)

An Act of War That Aroused the Nation

On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States, but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain.

When World War I erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson pledged neutrality for the United States, a position that the vast majority of Americans favored. Britain, however, was one of America's closest trading partners, and tension soon arose between the United States and Germany over the latter's attempted quarantine of the British isles. Several U.S. ships traveling to Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines, and in February 1915 Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Britain.

In early May 1915, several New York newspapers published a warning by the German embassy in Washington that Americans traveling on British or Allied ships in war zones did so at their own risk. The announcement was placed on the same page as an advertisement of the imminent sailing of the Lusitania liner from New York back to Liverpool. The sinkings of merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland prompted the British Admiralty to warn the Lusitania to avoid the area or take simple evasive action, such as zigzagging to confuse U-boats plotting the vessel's course. The captain of the Lusitania ignored these recommendations, and at 2:12 p.m. on May 7 the 32,000-ton ship was hit by an exploding torpedo on its starboard side. The torpedo blast was followed by a larger explosion, probably of the ship's boilers, and the ship sunk in 20 minutes.

It was revealed that the Lusitania was carrying about 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, which the Germans cited as further justification for the attack. The United States eventually sent three notes to Berlin protesting the action, and Germany apologized and pledged to end unrestricted submarine warfare. In November, however, a U-boat sunk an Italian liner without warning, killing 272 people, including 27 Americans. Public opinion in the United States began to turn irrevocably against Germany.

On January 31, 1917, Germany, determined to win its war of attrition against the Allies, announced that it would resume unrestricted warfare in war-zone waters. Three days later, the United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany, and just hours after that the American liner Housatonic was sunk by a German U-boat. On February 22, Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriations bill intended to make the United States ready for war. In late March, Germany sunk four more U.S. merchant ships, and on April 2 President Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4, the Senate voted to declare war against Germany, and two days later the House of Representatives endorsed the declaration. With that, America entered World War I.

Some say he was "the DEVIL reincarnated"

Dr. H. H. Holmes, one of America's first well-known serial killers, is hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although his criminal exploits were just as extensive and occurred during the same time period as Jack the Ripper, the Arch Fiend--as Holmes was known--has not endured in the public's memory the way the Ripper has.

Born with the unfortunate moniker Herman Mudgett in New Hampshire, Holmes began torturing animals as a child. Still, he was a smart boy who later graduated from the University of Michigan with a medical degree. Holmes financed his education with a series of insurance scams whereby he requested coverage for nonexistent people and then presented corpses as the insured.

In 1886, Holmes moved to Chicago to work as a pharmacist. A few months later, he bought the pharmacy from the owner's widow after his death. She then mysteriously disappeared. With a new series of cons, Holmes raised enough money to build a giant, elaborate home across from the store.

The home, which Holmes called "The Castle," had secret passageways, fake walls, and trapdoors. Some of the rooms were soundproof and connected by pipes to a gas tank in the basement. His bedroom had controls that could fill these rooms with gas. Holmes' basement also contained a lab with equipment used for his dissections.

Young women in the area, along with tourists who had come to see the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and had rented out rooms in Holmes' castle, suddenly began disappearing. Medical schools purchased many human skeletons from Dr. Holmes during this period but never asked how he obtained the anatomy specimens.

Holmes was finally caught after attempting to use another corpse in an insurance scam. He confessed, saying, "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing." In 1896 the serial killer was hanged


Reportedly, authorities discovered the remains of over 200 victims on his property.

Devil in the White City, a book about Holmes' murder spree and the World Fair by Erik Larson, was published in 2003.

I wonder how many of you remember "The Collins Kids" ???

In the 50's, the Collins Kids: Lorrie and Larry had such hits as Rock Away Rock, In My Teens, Rock Boppin’ Baby, Hop Skip & Jump and were featured on TV's Town Hall Party, Grand Ole Opry, Steve Allen Show.

The First Chattanooga Choo Choo

The first Chattanooga Choo Choo was Cincinnati Southern Railroad's small wood burning steam locomotive that started its journey through history from Cincinnati, Ohio on March 5, 1880. Nearly all trains traveling to the South passed through Chattanooga. The wood-burning "Choo Choo" was the first to provide non-stop service.

The men who stood at the controls of these early steam locomotives were rugged individualists. They were men who were willing to withstand the hardships and personal sacrifices associated with this demanding profession. The Chattanooga Choo Choo engine now on display at Terminal Station is the same kind of wood-burner used on that first run from Cincinnati to Chattanooga in 1880. Built at that time by Baldwin, it was last used in service by the Smoky Mountain Railroad between Knoxville and the Smoky Mountains in the 1940's. Completely refurbished, she is the only engine of her kind now in the city.

In the Clouds

For more amazing images like this click on the link below:

Spiderman Has Global Reach and a New Record

Spider-Man 3" gave new meaning to the term "worldwide web" this weekend, snaring $373 million in ticket sales in a record display of Hollywood's global reach.

Fans in 107 countries lined up for Peter Parker's third outing, which shattered the previous mark by 47% and launched the movie industry's extended summer season in blockbuster style.

"Spider-Man 3" crushed the North American record with an estimated three-day total of $148 million in the U.S. and Canada, topping last summer's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

You've heard the expression "put a bug in his ear" but what's this ???

ALBANY, ORE. — These invaders might seem to fit somewhere between Spider-Man and Snap, Crackle and Pop, but they're real.

What began as a faint popping in a 9-year-old boy's ear that he said sounded "like Rice Krispies" ended up as an earache, and the doctor's diagnosis was that a pair of spiders had made a home in the ear.

"They were walking on my eardrums," Jesse Courtney said.

Dr. David Irvine said he flushed the boy's left ear canal and a dead spider came out.

The boy's mother, Diane Courtney, said her son insisted he still heard a faint popping.

After a second dousing, the second spider emerged — alive. Both were about the size of a pencil eraser.

Jesse was given the spiders — now both dead — as a souvenir.
Jesse Courtney, 9, displays the two spiders that where removed from his ear, Friday, May 4, 2007, at his home in Albany, Ore. (AP Photo/The Albany Democrat-Herald, David Patton)

18,000 Mexicans get naked and help mass nudity photographer Spencer Tunick set a new record

Thousands of naked people fill Mexico City's Zocalo plaza during the massive naked photo session with photographer Spencer Tunick early Sunday.

The Magic of Haleakala

The journey to the summit of Haleakala brings you from coastal Maui, to the remote, native, high-elevation world protected by the park. Here on Maui's highest peak you find an island in the sky where the clouds spread out below you like a second layer of ocean. Cindercones, rare plants, native birds, and hiking trails await your discovery.

For more information on the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics click on the Link below:

Cave of stalactites and stalagmites in action

Soreq Cave is located at the Avshalom Nature Reserve (also, Stalactite Cave Nature Reserve), less than two miles east of Bet Shemesh, Israel.

In 1968, a crew of workers excavating a quarry on Mt. Yaela's western slope unwittingly discovered Soreq Cave with a single explosion. Scientists estimate the cave to be between 8 million and 25 million years old. Authorities were stunned by the cave's complicated clusters of stalactites and stalagmites.

Although it barely covers an acre, the cave is believed to be one of the world's most active, meaning its moist air and mineral-rich droplets are still building stalactites and stalagmites. One particularly poignant pair of speleothems, or formations in the making, are nicknamed Romeo and Juliet because they "grow" together.

Visitors to the cave can view a slide show and take a guided tour through this captivating mixture of limestone formations and dripstone walls.

Doing Jailtime

Plan on doing time at Alcatraz? The former island penitentiary off San Francisco has undergone a $3-million redo that includes a new audio tour, in which former inmates and guards tell their stories — with sound effects. (Listen for "grenades" from a bloody 1946 escape attempt that are actually July 4 fireworks recorded last year in San Francisco.)

You'll also find original uniforms, furnished jail cells and new gift items such as a Regulation 29 sticker, ideal for a family bathroom wall: "You are expected to bathe in a reasonable length of time."

Adult tours from $21.75. (415) 981-7625

The Kingdom of Books

HAY-ON-WYE nestles like a jewel in the midst of the tranquil Welsh countryside. Set in the grounds of the Brecon Beacons National Park, on the foothills of the Black Mountains, where mountain sheep graze with the sober diligence of sheep everywhere, Hay-on-Wye is an unlikely lure for a particular type of visitor.
Here's a hint: nearby is Clyro, where Kilvert the Diarist served as curate and described this beautiful area in loving detail. Doesn't ring any bells? How about this then... every year for 10 days in the early summer, 80,000 people from all over the English-speaking world descend upon Hay for a carnival celebration known as the Hay Festival, swamping the tiny town of 1,500 inhabitants and 39 bookstores.

That's right. Literature buffs, get your annotated copies of classics out into the open. No-one here will scoff. For Hay-on-Wye, also known as the Town of Books, lays proud claim to being the largest 'used and antiquarian' bookshop in the world. Shown above is Hay Castle.

At One With Art

A visitor takes in the beauty of the Sistine Chapel, including Michelangelo's ceiling, painted in the early 16th century.

Wrestlemania

Felino, El Gangster, Guerrero Azteca, Histeria. As noms de guerre, the signatures of Mexican wrestlers are almost as colorful as their outfits, and photographer Malcolm Venville has assembled more than 120 color portraits of masked marvels, dressed to kill, or at least maim in "Lucha Loco" (Therapy, $80). His portraits are funny, scary, artistic or bizarre. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

The book includes an introduction by Sandro Cohen, the Mexican poet, novelist and literary critic, that wrings all the cultural, historical and socioeconomic meaning out of the sport of lucha libre, which became popular in the 1950s and '60s and survives, he writes, as "a circus for the poor."

The colorful, cartoonish get-ups of "Lucha Loco" deserve a place in any encyclopedic review of native costumes. One wonders what many people would choose to wear if they could hide their identities behind masks.

Wouldn't you just love to have one of these outfits ??

Stylist Brandy St. John wound up handstitching 13,000 buttons onto Jack and Meg White's suits for the traditional cockney costume party for a "pearly king and queen".
(Autumn de Wilde)

Bolivian pyramid hid corpse, jewels for 1,300 years

Archeologists have uncovered the 1,300-year-old skeleton of a ruler or priest of the ancient Tiwanaku civilization together with precious jewels inside a much-looted pyramid in western Bolivia.

The bones are "in very good condition," Roger Angel Cossio, the Bolivian archeologist who made the discovery, said Wednesday.

He said the tomb — containing a diadem and fist-sized carved pendant of solid gold — survived centuries of looting by Spanish invaders and raiders who depleted Tiwanaku of many precious treasures.

"After so much looting … miraculously this has stayed to tell us the history," Cossio said.

"It's a complete body…. Next to it are jewels, offerings and a llama," he said.

The llama may have been a status symbol or a source of food for the journey to the afterlife, archeologists said.

The corpse was found in a niche carved inside the 15-yard-high Akapana pyramid, which was built around 1200 BC and is described as one of the biggest pre-Columbian constructions in South America.

At its peak, the city of Tiwanaku stretched over 1,480 acres and had a population of more than 100,000, according to chief archeologist Javier Escalante, who presented the findings Wednesday at a news conference near the pyramid.

The Tiwanaku civilization spread throughout southwestern Bolivia and parts of neighboring Peru, Argentina and Chile between around 1500 BC and AD 1200.

(From Reuters)

'Carlos the Jackal' to be tried in '80s attacks

PARIS — The jailed Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges of masterminding deadly bombings in France a quarter of a century ago to win the release of his girlfriend and an accomplice.

Carlos, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, will face charges for four attacks in 1982 and 1983 that killed 12 people and injured at least 100. France's top anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, issued the order after a 20-year investigation.

Two Germans and a Palestinian also were ordered to stand trial. No date has been set, said a judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about investigative matters. All four suspects face up to life in prison if convicted.

Sanchez, 57, is serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informer. He gained international notoriety as the Cold War-era mastermind of bombings, killings and kidnappings, many in Western Europe.

In the 1982-83 bombings, authorities say, Ramirez was driven by a desire to win the release of two jailed radical leftists, Bruno Breguet and Magdalena Kopp, his girlfriend at the time.

(From the Associated Press).

Watch Out !! They're at it again

A Canadian mobster who said he participated in the slaying of three reputed New York Mafia captains in 1981 pleaded guilty to racketeering under a deal calling for a 10-year prison term.

Vito Rizzuto, 61, dubbed the "Godfather of Montreal" by the Canadian press, entered his plea at a federal court in Brooklyn a day before the 26th anniversary of the social-club slayings.

Prosecutors said Rizzuto came to New York at the behest of the Bonanno crime family to help kill Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera, Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone and Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato. They were suspected of plotting a coup.

Robbers glue man to exercise bike

Armed robbers forced a South African man to strip and then glued him to his exercise bike and sealed his lips before ransacking his house, a published report said.

Kobus van Deventer, 50, was stuck to the bike for three hours before he was rescued by his girlfriend, the South African Press Assn. reported.

Van Deventer was carjacked Wednesday in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, it said. He "was 'Super-Glued' to the seat of an exercise bicycle, his hands were 'Super-Glued,' as were his feet, and then his mouth was 'Super-Glued' shut," an emergency services spokesman said.

(From Times Wire Reports)

Mt. Rainier Forever

ASHFORD, WASH. — For the last six months, the road to Paradise has been eerily quiet. The most popular destination in Mt. Rainier National Park has been closed since epic rains in November devastated the area.

Today, after a $5-million effort to repair the damage, the park reopens. But rangers say visitors will find a markedly different place, one with new landscapes and vistas — and new dangers.

Last fall's torrential rain — 18 inches in 36 hours — washed away bridges and roads, obliterated hiking trails and destroyed campgrounds. The damage is estimated at $36 million. Never before had weather closed the 365-square-mile park. (For the complete article click on the Link below).

Randy Travis, "Always and Forever"

Born May 4, 1959, Randy Travis (Randy Bruce Traywick) has had many hits, including "Forever and Ever Amen", "On the Other Hand", "Diggin’ Up Bones" and "Always and Forever".

The "Misty Miss Christy"

In 1945, June Christy sang with the Stan Kenton band on one of the most famous of all big band hits, Tampico. The tune was waxed as Capitol record number 202.

This is "FUNNY FACE" Day

Edda Kathleen Hepburn van Heemstra was born on this day in Brussels, Belgium in the year 1929. This is quite a large name for the gamine-faced, petite charmer we knew as Audrey Hepburn. At the young age of thirteen, she had already developed the need to provide relief to the human suffering surrounding her and enlisted in the Dutch underground in their fight against the Nazi occupation of Holland.
Nine years later, performing on the Broadway stage, critics found her to be charming, honest and talented in the title role of Gigi. She achieved stardom a mere two years later with her Academy award-winning performance in Roman Holiday. Audrey married Mel Ferrer on September 25, 1954 and co-starred with him and Henry Fonda in War and Peace. A year later, Funny Face premiered with Fred Astaire as her co-star. (The title role stuck to her like glue.) Love in the Afternoon opened the same year with Gary Cooper sharing the spotlight.

Just your ordinary, normal family life

Nazi propaganda portrayed Adolf Hitler as a man minus family or private life. As a matter of fact, he kept in touch with his family--mainly to control them. There was shady half-brother Alois, a Berlin innkeeper who tried to profit from his name, and half-sister Angela, in charge of housekeeping at the Berghof retreat, who had neighbors chased away. His niece Geli, who called her uncle a "jailer", committed suicide. His "favorite nephew" was educated at an elite Nazi school. His sister Paula wanted to marry a surgeon and mass murderer. And his English-born nephew William Patrick, a playboy in Berlin, extorted money by threatening to expose family secrets.

Some People Thought It Would Run Forever

In 1960, the play, "The Fantasticks", opened at the Sullivan Playhouse in New York City. It would later become the longest-running off-Broadway play. Soon It’s Gonna Rain was one of the big hit tunes from the production. The show was the equivalent of London’s long-running play, "The Mousetrap". Unfortunately, though the British were familiar with "The Mousetrap" and might have known of the similarities between the two plays, when "The Fantasticks" opened in London, it failed miserably and closed after only 44 performances.

At the North Pole

The first airplane to land at the geographic location of the North Pole did so on this day in 1952. The crew may have missed the mark, as they saw no tall barber pole or little red house, no sign of elves and no Santa Claus. There was a report that there was loud, bellowing laughter from not far off and a few reindeer were seen frolicking about, however...
The Moon and Sun at the North Pole (For more information click the Link below)

Lord Byron Swam the Hellespont ??

On this day in 1810, Lord Byron swam the Hellespont. Pretty darn fast, too. It took just an hour and 10 minutes to do it, by Jove! *The Hellespont is now known as the Dardanelles. It is a 40 mi. (64 km) long, 1-5 mi. (1.6-8 km) wide strait between European and Asian Turkey, connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Did I miss something here ??

1933 : Loch Ness Monster sighted

Although accounts of an aquatic beast living in Scotland's Loch Ness date back 1,500 years, the modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster is born when a sighting makes local news on May 2, 1933. The newspaper Inverness Courier related an account of a local couple who claimed to have seen "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface." The story of the "monster" (a moniker chosen by the Courier editor) became a media phenomenon, with London newspapers sending correspondents to Scotland and a circus offering a 20,000 pound sterling reward for capture of the beast.

Loch Ness, located in the Scottish Highlands, has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain; the body of water reaches a depth of nearly 800 feet and a length of about 23 miles. Scholars of the Loch Ness Monster find a dozen references to "Nessie" in Scottish history, dating back to around A.D. 500, when local Picts carved a strange aquatic creature into standing stones near Loch Ness. The earliest written reference to a monster in Loch Ness is a 7th-century biography of Saint Columba, the Irish missionary who introduced Christianity to Scotland. In 565, according to the biographer, Columba was on his way to visit the king of the northern Picts near Inverness when he stopped at Loch Ness to confront a beast that had been killing people in the lake. Seeing a large beast about to attack another man, Columba intervened, invoking the name of God and commanding the creature to "go back with all speed." The monster retreated and never killed another man.

In 1933, a new road was completed along Loch Ness' shore, affording drivers a clear view of the loch. After an April 1933 sighting was reported in the local paper on May 2, interest steadily grew, especially after another couple claimed to have seen the beast on land, crossing the shore road. Several British newspapers sent reporters to Scotland, including London's Daily Mail, which hired big-game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell to capture the beast. After a few days searching the loch, Wetherell reported finding footprints of a large four-legged animal. In response, the Daily Mail carried the dramatic headline: "MONSTER OF LOCH NESS IS NOT LEGEND BUT A FACT." Scores of tourists descended on Loch Ness and sat in boats or decks chairs waiting for an appearance by the beast. Plaster casts of the footprints were sent to the British Natural History Museum, which reported that the tracks were that of a hippopotamus, specifically one hippopotamus foot, probably stuffed. The hoax temporarily deflated Loch Ness Monster mania, but stories of sightings continued.

A famous 1934 photograph seemed to show a dinosaur-like creature with a long neck emerging out of the murky waters, leading some to speculate that "Nessie" was a solitary survivor of the long-extinct plesiosaurs. The aquatic plesiosaurs were thought to have died off with the rest of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Loch Ness was frozen solid during the recent ice ages, however, so this creature would have had to have made its way up the River Ness from the sea in the past 10,000 years. And the plesiosaurs, believed to be cold-blooded, would not long survive in the frigid waters of Loch Ness. More likely, others suggested, it was an archeocyte, a primitive whale with a serpentine neck that is thought to have been extinct for 18 million years. Skeptics argued that what people were seeing in Loch Ness were "seiches"--oscillations in the water surface caused by the inflow of cold river water into the slightly warmer loch.

Amateur investigators kept an almost constant vigil, and in the 1960s several British universities launched expeditions to Loch Ness, using sonar to search the deep. Nothing conclusive was found, but in each expedition the sonar operators detected large, moving underwater objects they could not explain. In 1975, Boston's Academy of Applied Science combined sonar and underwater photography in an expedition to Loch Ness. A photo resulted that, after enhancement, appeared to show the giant flipper of a plesiosaur-like creature. Further sonar expeditions in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in more tantalizing, if inconclusive, readings. Revelations in 1994 that the famous 1934 photo was a hoax hardly dampened the enthusiasm of tourists and professional and amateur investigators to the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.

This Englishman made them swoon

Ultrasmooth balladeer Engelbert Humperdinck was often billed as "the King of Romance," and for millions of fans around the world, he more than lived up to that title. Despite the strange name and the latter-day ads hawking his music on late-night TV, Humperdinck was one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around, a sensitive lyric interpreter with excellent vocal technique and a three-and-a-half-octave vocal range. During his heyday in the late '60s and early '70s, Humperdinck cultivated the image of a mysterious heartthrob, sporting shaggy sideburns and a flamboyant wardrobe that, when coupled with his rich, silky crooning, drove female fans wild. He was especially popular in Europe and his native U.K., and his worldwide record sales — counting both albums and singles — eventually totaled well over 100 million.

Arnold George Dorsey was born May 2, 1936 in Madras, India. Raised in Leicester, England, and originally known as Gerry Dorsey, this singer had attempted to achieve mainstream success in the UK during the 50s. He was a featured artist on the television series Oh Boy!, toured with Marty Wilde and recorded a failed single, "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". It was during this period that he first met Gordon Mills, a singer in the Viscounts, who later moved into songwriting and management. By 1963, Dorsey's career had hit rock bottom. The beat boom hampered his singing career and to make matters worse, he fell seriously ill with tuberculosis. Mills, meanwhile, was beginning to win international success for Tom Jones and in 1967 decided to help his old friend Gerry Dorsey. Soon after, the singer was rechristened Engelbert Humperdinck, a name inspired by the composer of the nineteenth-century opera Hansel And Gretel, and relaunched as a balladeer. His first single for Decca Records, "Dommage Dommage", failed to chart, but received considerable airplay. There was no mistake with the follow-up, "Release Me", which sold a million copies in the UK alone, dominated the number 1 spot for five weeks and, most remarkably, prevented the Beatles from reaching the top with "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever". The single also reached number 4 in the Billboard Top 200. Humperdinck's follow-up, "There Goes My Everything", climbed to number 2 in the UK and by the end of the summer he was back at the top for a further five weeks with "The Last Waltz". The latter once again sold in excess of a million copies in the UK alone.

In a year dominated by psychedelia and experimentation in rock, Humperdinck was the biggest-selling artist in England. His strong vocal and romantic image ensured regular bookings and brought a further series of UK Top 10 hits including "Am I That Easy To Forget" (number 3, January 1968), "A Man Without Love" (number 2, April 1968), "Les Bicyclettes De Belsize" (number 5, September 1968), "The Way It Used To Be" (number 3, February 1969) and "Winter World Of Love" (number 7, November 1969)."After The Lovin'" gave him a number 8 US hit in October 1976. Although he faded as a hit-making artist after the early 70s, his career blossomed in America where he took up residence and became a regular on the lucrative Las Vegas circuit.

Don't Go in the Water !!

In 1974 filming got underway for the motion picture, Jaws, in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. What was to be a 58-day shooting schedule for the film inspired by the Peter Benchley novel soon gave way to 120 days. Costs soared from what was to be a $3.5 million project to $8 million. The director, Steven Spielberg, was able to explain away the rise in costs and the picture did very well at the box office and, later, on video cassette.

The Singer with the Voice that Soared

Judy Collins was born on this day in 1939. The singer's many hits included Both Sides Now, Amazing Grace and Send In the Clowns

The One and Only: Elton John

1970 - Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin combined for the first time on Elton’s first American album simply titled, Elton John. The LP contained Elton’s first hit, Your Song, which made it to the top ten on the music charts in December.

A Voice that would Echo through Eternity

In 1931, Singer Kate Smith began her long and illustrious radio career with CBS on this, her birthday. The 22-year-old Smith started out with no sponsors and a paycheck of just $10 a week for the nationally broadcast daily program. However, within 30 days, her salary increased to a more respectable $1,500 a week!

At 102 stories, it's still impressive

On May 1, 1931, with the press of a button in Washington, D.C., President Herbert Hoover turned on the lights of the Empire State Building. This event officially opened the edifice, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in New York City, to the public. At 102 stories, it reigned as the world's tallest skyscraper until 1974.

Among the clouds: Dubai skyline

Universal City Dubailand to open in 2010

Dubailand the world’s most ambitious Leisure, Tourism and Entertainment destination with over 3 Billion square feet of world class theme Parks, Culture, well being, Sports, Shopping, Hospitality and Entertainment set to launch its first phase in December 2010. The multitude of projects that make up Dubailand are divided into six themed worlds. Each world has been meticulously planned to offer both children and adults experiences that are simply unforgettable. From walking with dinosaurs to floating in space, if it's entertaining, exciting, informative or fun, you'll find it here.

Discovery and Godspeed

SETTING SAIL: Three replica ships, from left, the Discovery, Susan Constant and Godspeed, sail up the Hampton Roads on the way to Virginia Beach, Va., re-tracing the route the original Jamestown-era Godspeed took almost 400 years ago.
(AP)