Today's Trivia and What Happened on March 11

Murphy's Law states "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". What is Cole's Law?

Murphy's Law states "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". What is Cole's Law? Close Large View

Shredded cabbage and carrots with mayonnaise and seasonings.

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Quote: I am a marvelous housekeeper: Every time I leave a man I keep his house. - Zsa Zsa Gabor (Married nine times)

Quote: I am a marvelous housekeeper: Every time I leave a man I keep his house. - Zsa Zsa Gabor (Married nine times) Close Large View

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What Happened On

Hinckley Watches Taxi Driver

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Hinckley Watches Taxi Driver

March 11, 1980

Would be Presidential assassin John Hinckley, Jr. watches the film Taxi Driver for the first time. He would watch it many more times, developing his obsession with teenage actress Jodie Foster. His obsession led to his attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan the following March in an effort to impress Foster.

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First Armored Car Robbery Photo Credit: Post-Gazette

First Armored Car Robbery Photo Credit: Post-Gazette
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First Armored Car Robbery

March 11, 1927

Members of the Flathead gang dynamite a Brink's armored car en route outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and make off with $104,000 (over $2 million in today's money).
One of the guards noted the license plate of the getaway car and several members of the gang were arrested the following day, including gang leader Paul Jaworski. Jaworski pleaded guilty to two murders committed during previous robberies and was sentenced to death. However, the following August he and another inmate shot their way out of jail, wounding two guards in the process. In June of 1928, a policeman was shot and killed by the gang during a robbery. In September, Jarworski was recaptured, but during the shootout a policeman was killed and another died of his wounds five years later. Jarworski was executed in January of 1929.

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Grand Street in New Britain, Connecticut Grand Street in New Britain, Connecticut

Grand Street in New Britain, Connecticut Grand Street in New Britain, Connecticut
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Great White Hurricane of 1888

March 11, 1888

One of the most famous snow storms in U.S. history, killing 400 people and creating 50-foot (15 m) snow drifts. It lasted for four days with snowfalls up to 58 inches (147 cm) in Saratoga Springs, New York. The destruction of telegraph lines led to their being placed underground in the future.

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Madrid Train Bombings

March 11, 2004

Terrorists set off a series of ten bombings during rush hour aboard four commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. 192 people were killed and 2,050 were injured.

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First Woman U.S. Attorney General

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First Woman U.S. Attorney General

March 11, 1993

Janet Reno, appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton, is confirmed.

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Mikhail Gorbachev

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Mikhail Gorbachev

March 11, 1985

Mikhail Gorbachev takes office as leader of the Soviet Union. He is the superpower's fourth leader in three years.

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Partridge Family Hit Song go to Video for Partridge Family Hit Song

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Partridge Family Hit Song

March 11, 1971

The TV group The Partridge Family's Doesn't Somebody Want to be Wanted is certified gold. David Cassidy hated the song and initially refused to do it. He later stated, "It was horrible, I was embarrassed by it. I still can't listen to that record."

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World War II

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World War II

March 11, 1942

General Douglas MacArthur leaves the Philippines. Six days later he would declare, "I shall return."

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World War II

March 11, 1941

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill, allowing the U.S. to supply military aid to the Allies.

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Civil War

March 11, 1861

The Confederate Constitution is created by the Confederate Congress and passed to the states for ratification.

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Birthdays

Anissa Jones

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Anissa Jones

Born March 11, 1958 d. 1976

American actress. Anissa Jones is known for her role as Buffy in TV's Family Affair (1966-71). After Family Affair ended, feeling typecast as Buffy, she exited the entertainment business. Brian Keith offered her a role on The Brian Keith Show (1972-74) and she was invited to audition for the role of Iris in Taxi Driver, but turned both down.
She died at age 18 of a drug overdose that was ruled accidental. A toxicology report found cocaine, PCP, Quaalude, and Seconal in her body. The doctor who prescribed her Seconal was charged with second-degree murder, but died before he could go to trial.
Film: The Elvis Presley comedy The Trouble with Girls (1969, Carol Bix).

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Douglas Adams

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Douglas Adams

Born March 11, 1952 d. 2001

British author. Writings: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1980). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy. It was then developed into five books, a television series, several stage plays, comics, a computer game, and a 2005 feature film. Don't panic and bring a towel.

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Left to right: Jacinta Marto, Lúcia dos Santos, and Francisco Marto Left to right: Jacinta Marto, Lúcia dos Santos, and Francisco Marto

Left to right: Jacinta Marto, Lúcia dos Santos, and Francisco Marto Left to right: Jacinta Marto, Lúcia dos Santos, and Francisco Marto
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Jacinta Marto

Born March 11, 1910 d. 1920

Fátima viewer. She was one of the three children who claimed to have seen the Our Lady of Fatima visions of the Virgin Mary near Fátima, Portugal (1917).
She and her brother Francisco Marto, who also claimed to have seen the visions, would both die in the Great Influenza Epidemic several years later. Also witness to the visions was Lúcia dos Santos.

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Welk with Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer Welk with Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer

Welk with Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer Welk with Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer
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Lawrence Welk

Born March 11, 1903 d. 1992

American orchestra leader, accordion player. Host of television's The Lawrence Welk Show (1951-82). "Ah-one, an' ah-two."
Known for his conservative wholesome values, he fired then Champagne Lady Alice Lon for showing too much leg, stating he would not tolerate such "cheesecake" performances on his show.

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Shemp Howard

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Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz)

Born March 11, 1895 d. 1955

American comic actor. One of the original 3-Stooges (1923-32, 1946-55). He was the brother of fellow stooges, Moe Howard and Curly Howard.
The term "Fake Shemp" was coined after an uncredited double was used to complete several The Three Stooges shorts after Shemp's death. The films were completed using old footage of Shemp and an actor who was filmed mostly from the back.
Shemp appeared in 77 (four of which were "Fake Shemps") of the 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures that have been regularly airing on television since 1958.

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Christian Kent Nelson

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Invented the Ice Cream Bar

Christian Kent Nelson

Born March 11, 1893 d. 1992

Danish-born American ice cream vendor. He patented the first ice cream bar (1922). Nelson's patent was "to provide a frozen dainty comprising a form retaining block or brick of ice cream or the like, also to, provide an encasement therefore which facilitates its ready handling." He originally sold them as "I-Scream-Bars", but later partnered with local chocolate producer Russell C. Stover to mass-produce them under the name "Eskimo Pie".
Nelson received the inspiration for his invention when a boy in his store was unable to decide whether to buy ice cream or a chocolate bar, so he ventured forth to find a way to combine the two.

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Sir Malcolm Campbell go to Video for Sir Malcolm Campbell
Photo Credit: State Archives of Florida

Sir Malcolm Campbell Photo Credit: State Archives of Florida
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First to Drive 300 mph

Sir Malcolm Campbell

Born March 11, 1885 d. 1948

British Hall of Fame auto racer. He was the first person to drive over 300 mph (1935 at the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah). With a 2,227 cu. in. 2,500-hp V-12 engine, his car "Bluebird" made two runs over a one-mile course averaging 301.129 mph (484.955 km/h). He later went on to set the water speed record of 141.74 mph in 1939.

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Antonin Scalia

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Antonin Scalia

Born March 11, 1936 d. 2016

U.S. Supreme Court justice (1986-2016). Scalia on abortion, "The States may, if they wish, permit abortion on demand, but the Constitution does not require them to do so."

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Sam Donaldson

Born March 11, 1934

American reporter. TV: ABC Weekend News and PrimeTime Live.

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Rupert Murdoch

Born March 11, 1931

Australian-born American publisher of the New York Post and Village Voice.

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Peter Roger Hunt

Born March 11, 1925 d. 2002

British editor, director. Film: Goldfinger (1964, editor), Dr. No (1962, editor), and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969, director).

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Harold Wilson

Born March 11, 1916 d. 1995

British politician. United Kingdom Prime Minister (1964-70, 74-76) and Labor Party leader.

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Dorothy Gish

Born March 11, 1898 d. 1968

American silent-film actress. Film: Remodeling Her Husband (1920) and Nell Gwyn (1926).

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Wanda Gag

Born March 11, 1893 d. 1946

American author, artist. She is known for her translation and illustration of Grimms' Fairy Tales.

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Vannevar Bush

Born March 11, 1890 d. 1974

American electrical engineer. In 1927, Bush constructed a differential analyzer, an analog computer with some digital components, that could solve differential equations with as many as 18 independent variables. He also founded the company now known as Raytheon (1922) and was chiefly responsible for the creation of the National Science Foundation.

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Marius Petipa

Born March 11, 1818 d. 1910

French-born Russian choreographer. He is considered the most influential ballet master and choreographer in ballet history. Stage: The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Swan Lake (1895).

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Urbain Le Verrier

Born March 11, 1811 d. 1877

French astronomer. Both he and John Couch Adams, working independently, correctly predicted the existence and orbit of Neptune (1845). The planet was discovered the following year by Johann Gottfried Galle using Le Verrier's calculations.

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Robert Treat Paine

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Robert Treat Paine

Born March 11, 1731 d. 1814

American politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

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Torquato Tasso

Born March 11, 1544 d. 1595

Italian poet of the late Renaissance. He spent seven years confined to an insane asylum. Writings: Gerusalemme liberato (1575, which is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of European literature).

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Deaths

Philo Taylor Farnsworth go to Video for Philo Taylor Farnsworth

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Invented the First All Electronic TV

Philo Taylor Farnsworth

Died March 11, 1971 b. 1906

American inventor. He invented the first all electronic TV, conceiving of his invention when he was 14 years old. He also invented a small nuclear fusion device, known as the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, or simply "fusor." Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.

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Keith Emerson

Died March 11, 2016 b. 1944

British keyboardist, with Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Music: Lucky Man (1970), Tarkus (1971), and Brain Salad Surgery (1974).

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Merlin Olsen

Died March 11, 2010 b. 1940

American football player, actor. Played defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams (1962-1976). TV: Little House on the Prairie (1977-81, Jonathan Garvey) and Father Murphy (1981-83, title role).

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Richard Brooks (Ruben Sax)

Died March 11, 1992 b. 1912

American director, screenwriter. Film: The Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).

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Erle Stanley Gardner

Died March 11, 1970 b. 1889

American lawyer, author. Creator of Perry Mason (1933).

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Richard E. Byrd

Died March 11, 1957 b. 1888

American naval aviator. He and Floyd Bennett became the first to fly over the North Pole (1926), and he was the first to fly over the South Pole (1929).

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Sir Alexander Fleming

Died March 11, 1955 b. 1881

English bacteriologist. He discovered the bacteria fighting capabilities of penicillin (1928), for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize (1945).

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