Today's Trivia and What Happened on December 27

In a one-story pink house where everything was pink, there was a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower, a pink fish, and even a pink cat. What color were the stairs?

In a one-story pink house where everything was pink, there was a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower, a pink fish, and even a pink cat. What color were the stairs? Close Large View

There were no stairs. It was a one-story house.

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Quote: Nothing's beautiful from every point of view. - Horace, Roman poet

Quote: Nothing's beautiful from every point of view. - Horace, Roman poet Close Large View

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What Happened On

Soviet helicopters and tanks fighting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan Soviet helicopters and tanks fighting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan

Soviet helicopters and tanks fighting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan Soviet helicopters and tanks fighting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan
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Soviet War in Afghanistan

December 27, 1979

Russia invades Kabul, Afghanistan at the start of the nearly 10-year conflict between the Soviet Army and rebels in Afghanistan.

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Buffalo Bob with the second Howdy Doody (left), the original Howdy Doody (top right), and after "plastic surgery" go to Video for Howdy Doody
Buffalo Bob with the second Howdy Doody (left), the original Howdy Doody (top right), and after "plastic surgery"

Buffalo Bob with the second Howdy Doody (left), the original Howdy Doody (top right), and after "plastic surgery" Buffalo Bob with the second Howdy Doody (left), the original Howdy Doody (top right), and after "plastic surgery"
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Howdy Doody

December 27, 1947

The children's TV show Howdy Doody debuts on NBC. "Say, kids, what time is it?" It was the first nationally-broadcast TV program for children.
Howdy Doody was originally a "voice only" character and there was no puppet. But, the response was so great to the character that they hastily had puppeteer Frank Paris create a puppet for the character. As popularity for the character and demand for merchandising increased, a battle ensued since Buffalo Bob Smith owned the character, but Paris owned the puppet. Feeling he was being cheated out of revenues, Paris took off with the puppet during a live broadcast of the show. The producers then concocted a story where Howdy Doody decided to have plastic surgery to make him more handsome for the electorate while he was running for "President Of All Kids Of the United States". A new puppet was created to replace Paris' puppet. This is the puppet most people associate with the show.

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First Ordained Female Rabbi Photo Credit: N/A (Jewish Women's Library)

First Ordained Female Rabbi Photo Credit: N/A (Jewish Women's Library)
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First Ordained Female Rabbi

December 27, 1935

Regina Jonas is ordained, making her the first female ordained as a rabbi. Her 1930 thesis argued that there was no law forbidding women from becoming rabbis, and that there were many biblical and historical examples of women teaching and arbitrating Jewish law.
She died in the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII. After being arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, she continued her rabbinic work and provided counseling to new arrivals until she and her mother were sent to Auschwitz where they were killed.
She was almost forgotten to history. After the war, she and her work were ignored by her male colleagues, even by those who worked with her in Theresienstadt. However, in 1991 a researcher discovered her ordination papers, seminary dissertation, and other personal documents.

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Radio City Music Hall Photo Credit: skvidal

Radio City Music Hall Photo Credit: skvidal
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Radio City Music Hall

December 27, 1932

Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City, featuring the high-kicking Rockettes.

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Show Boat

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Show Boat

December 27, 1927

Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern's musical Show Boat premieres at the Ziegfield Theater on Broadway. It is considered the first true American musical play and features the classic number, Ol' Man River. It was based on the Edna Ferber novel of the same name.

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Terrorist Attacks in Rome and Vienna

December 27, 1985

Palestinian terrorists kill 20 civilians at airport ticket counters in Rome and Vienna.

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World Bank

December 27, 1945

The World Bank is established at a meeting in Washington, D.C.

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First Black Intercollegiate Football Game

December 27, 1892

Livingstone College and Biddle College, (now Johnson C. Smith University) played in Salisbury, North Carolina. They played two 45-minute halves with Biddle wining 5-0.

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Manifest Destiny

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Manifest Destiny

December 27, 1845

The term "Manifest Destiny" is coined by John L. O'Sullivan, in his newspaper the New York Morning News, writing that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country, "…that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given to us".

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Birthdays

Heather O'Rourke

Heather O'Rourke Close Large View
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Heather O'Rourke

Born December 27, 1975 d. 1988

American child actress. Film: Poltergeist (1982, Carol Anne), Poltergeist II (1986), and Poltergeist III (1988).
In 1987, 12-year-old O'Rourke became ill with giardiasis and was diagnosed as having Crohn's disease. She was treated for the disease during the filming of Poltergeist III. On January 31, 1988, she began vomiting and the next morning she collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest en route to the hospital where she died later that day during surgery to repair an acute bowel obstruction caused by congenital stenosis of the intestine.

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John Amos with Esther Rolle in Good Times John Amos with Esther Rolle in Good Times

John Amos with Esther Rolle in Good Times John Amos with Esther Rolle in Good Times
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John Amos (John Allen Amos Jr.)

Born December 27, 1939 d. 2024

American actor. Known for his portrayal of patriarch James Evans on the TV show Good Times (1974-76). He claims he was kicked off the television show Good Times because he didn't agree with the shucking and jiving of his character's son J.J. Evans. Amos, at age 34 when the show began, was only eight years older than the actor who played his oldest son and 19 years younger than the actress who played his wife.
Amos signed as a free agent with the American Football League's Denver Broncos, but was released on the second day of training camp. He went on to play in the United Football League, the Continental Football League, and the Atlantic Coast Football League.
TV: Good Times (1974-76, James Evans, Sr.), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-73, Gordy Howard the weatherman), Roots (1977, adult Kunta Kinte), and The West Wing (1999-2004, Admiral Percy Fitzwallace). Film: The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) and Coming to America (1988, Cleo McDowell).

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Major Charles Sweeney

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Major Charles Sweeney

Born December 27, 1919 d. 2004

American pilot. He flew the plane which dropped the "Fat Man" atom bomb on Nagasaki (1945). Sixty percent of the city was destroyed and approximately 70,000 people were killed in the initial blast. This was the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

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Pasteur in his laboratory Pasteur in his laboratory

Pasteur in his laboratory Pasteur in his laboratory
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Louis Pasteur

Born December 27, 1822 d. 1895

French chemist, bacteriologist. He discovered a vaccination for rabies (1885) and food preservation by heating (pasteurization). Pasteur refuted the theory of spontaneous generation and supported the germ theory of disease. His theory that many diseases are caused by tiny organisms was met with skepticism by many scientists of the day.

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Cayley's glider in Mechanics Magazine, 1852 Cayley's glider in Mechanics Magazine, 1852

Cayley's glider in Mechanics Magazine, 1852 Cayley's glider in Mechanics Magazine, 1852
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Father of Aerodynamics

Sir George Cayley

Born December 27, 1773 d. 1857

English inventor, "Father of Aerodynamics." He built the first manned glider (c1849). By 1799 he had developed the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control.
He was also the inventor of the hot air engine (1807). In 1837 he developed a hot air engine in which the products of combustion acted directly on a piston, making it the forerunner of the modern internal combustion engine.

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Johannes Kepler and his model of the Solar System

Johannes Kepler and his model of the Solar System Close Large View
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Father of Modern Astronomy

Johannes Kepler

Born December 27, 1571 d. 1630

German mathematician, astronomer. "Father of Modern Astronomy." He discovered that planetary orbits are elliptical (1609), and invented the astronomical telescope (1611).

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Celardo's cover for Jungle Comics #99 - 1948 Celardo's cover for Jungle Comics #99 - 1948

Celardo's cover for Jungle Comics #99 - 1948 Celardo's cover for Jungle Comics #99 - 1948
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John Celardo

Born December 27, 1918 d. 2012

American cartoonist. Artist for Tarzan (1958-68).

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William Howell Masters

Born December 27, 1915 d. 2001

American physician, obstetrician, sex therapist. He and his wife formed the Masters and Johnson sexuality research team.

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Mary Kornman

Born December 27, 1915 d. 1973

American actress. She appeared in 41 Our Gang films.

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Benjamin Eisenstadt

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Benjamin Eisenstadt

Born December 27, 1906 d. 1996

American inventor. He originated the idea of individual-sized sugar packets for use in restaurants and he and his son Marvin invented "Sweet'N Low" artificial sweetener (1957). The musical-scale logo for Sweet'N Low received Federal Trademark Registration No. 1,000,000.

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Marlene Dietrich (Maria Magdalene Dietrich)

Born December 27, 1901 d. 1992

German-born American actress, singer. Film: The Blue Angel (1930). She was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her efforts during World War II.

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Arch Ward

Born December 27, 1896 d. 1955

American sports editor for the Chicago Tribune. He originated the idea of major-league all-star baseball (1933) and football games (1934). He also created the Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament.

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Deaths

Jack Swigert

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Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here

Jack Swigert (John Leonard Swigert, Jr.)

Died December 27, 1982 b. 1931

American astronaut. During the Apollo 13 mission he proclaimed, "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here." Jim Lovell repeated the sentiment a few seconds later.
Note: The actual phrase was "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here", spoken by Swigert. After being asked to repeat the transmission Jim Lovell responded with "Uh, Houston, we've had a problem". In the 1995 movie Apollo 13, the line was shortened to the more dramatic, "Houston, we have a problem".

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Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

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Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

Died December 27, 1923 b. 1832

French civil engineer. Eiffel designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty (1885) and the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1889).

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Carrie Fisher

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Carrie Fisher

Died December 27, 2016 b. 1956

American actress. Film: Star Wars (Princess Leia) and When Harry Met Sally… (1989, Marie). She is the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and is the author of Postcards From the Edge.

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Meadowlark Lemon meeting with Betty Ford at the White House (1974) Meadowlark Lemon meeting with Betty Ford at the White House (1974)

Meadowlark Lemon meeting with Betty Ford at the White House (1974) Meadowlark Lemon meeting with Betty Ford at the White House (1974)
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Meadowlark Lemon

Died December 27, 2015 b. 1932

American basketball player. With the Harlem Globetrotters.

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Sir Alan Arthur Bates

Died December 27, 2003 b. 1934

British actor. Film: The Fixer (1968).

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David Pace

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Creator of Pace Picante Sauce

David Pace

Died December 27, 1993 b. 1914

American businessman. Creator of Pace Picante Sauce (1947). He played in the first Sugar Bowl (1937), while on a football scholarship to Tulane University.

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Hal Ashby

Died December 27, 1988 b. 1929

American Oscar-winning editor, director. Film: In the Heat of the Night (1967, Oscar for Film Editing), Harold and Maude (1971), and Shampoo (1975).

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Ham Fisher (Hammond Edward Fisher)

Died December 27, 1955 b. 1900

American cartoonist. Created Joe Palooka (1927).

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Stephen Fuller Austin

Died December 27, 1836 b. 1793

American pioneer, "Father of Texas." He established the first American settlement in Texas (Austin, 1822).

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