January 26th - Today is the 26th day of the year, with only 339 days remaining in 2006.

Television's Birthday
In 1926, Scottish inventor John L. Baird first demonstrated television (then called a televisor) in London, England. He had built upon suggestions of Scottish engineer A.A. Campbell, who suggested in 1911 that cathode-ray tubes could be used to transmit pictures.


"Universal Time" (UT) which is sometimes referred to, now colloquially, as "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT)
LAST QUARTER - Jan 22   3:14 p.m.
NEW MOON - Jan 29   2:15 p.m.
FIRST QUARTER - Feb 5   6:28 a.m.
FULL MOON - Feb 13   4:44 a.m.


TAGLINES (http://taglinesgalore.com)
- A fool and his money are the prime-time television target audience.
- An idle mind is television's playground!
- But Daddy, you watched the news on television YESTERDAY.
- I watch television because you don't know what it will do if you leave it in the room alone.
- If it wasn't for Faraday, we'd be watching television by candlelight
- Life is what goes by while you are watching television.
- Television is not only furniture, but generally tasteless in style.
- Television is a medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well-done
- The strangest thing about television is that commercials are never interrupted by special bulletins.
- There's just not enough sax and violins on television!
- Were there "radio dinners" before television?
- When he talks, his wife listens--usually to the stereo or the television
- You aren't a kid any more when you can't remember the last time you lay on the floor to watch television.
- You'd be good on Television ... then I could turn you off.


ACTING -
1915 William Hopper, NY NY, actor (Paul Drake-Perry Mason) [D: 03/06/70]
1925 Paul Newman, Shaker Heights OH, racer/popcorn mogul/actor (Hud, Hombre, Hustler)
1941 Scott Glenn, Pittsburgh PA, actor (Right Stuff, Personal Best, Backdraft)
1946 Gene Siskel, Chicago IL, movie critic (Siskel & Ebert) [D: 02/20/99]
1958 Ellen DeGeneres, Metairie LA, comedienne (Ellen Morgan-Ellen, The Ellen Show)
1971 Dorian Gregory, Washington DC, actor (Darryl-Charmed, Soul Train)

ARTISTIC -
1831 Mary Mapes Dodge, NYC, writer (Hans Brinker) [D: 1905]
1929 Jules Feiffer, Bronx NY, comic-strip cartoonist/author (The Village Voice) 2004 Comic Book Hall of Fame

HISTORIC -
1831 Mary Mapes Dodge, NYC, writer (Hans Brinker) [D: 1905]
1929 Jules Feiffer, Bronx NY, comic-strip cartoonist/author (The Village Voice) 2004 Comic Book Hall of Fame

MUSIC -
1905 Maria von Trapp, Austria, matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers (Sound of Music) [D: 03/28/87]
1957 Eddie Van Halen, Nijmegan Netherlands, rock guitarist (Van Halen-Jump, 1984)
1958 Anita Baker, Toledo OH, contemporary R&B singer (Sweet Love) Grammys 87-91, 96
1963 Andrew Ridgeley, Bushley England, singer (Wham!- Freedom)

SCIENCE -
1949 Paul Nurse, doctor/director-General elect (Imperial Cancer Research Fund) Nobel 2001
1952 Mario Runco Jr, Bronx NY, LCDR USN/astronaut (STS 44, 54, 77)

SPORTS -
1961 Wayne Gretzky, Brantford Ontario, Edmonton Oilers/Los Angeles Kings/New York Rangers (NHL MVP 1980-1987)
1977 Vince Carter, Daytona Beach FL, shooting guard (Raptors/Nets, 2000 Olympics) several All-Stars


1784 Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to his daughter expressing disappointment over the selection of the eagle as the symbol of the United States; he wanted the turkey.
1788 The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sail into Sydney Harbor to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Celebrated as Australia Day.
1802 The U.S. Congress passes an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol; eventually this becomes the Library of Congress.
1871 US income tax repealed
1875 Electric dental drill is patented by George F Green.
1905 World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa.
1907 First federal corrupt election practices law passed.
1913 Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for being a pro.
1915 Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado established.
1942 First US force in Europe during WWII goes ashore in Northern Ireland.
1956 Buddy Holly's first formal recording session.
1992 Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect.
1998 Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip.
MORE EVENTS

SOURCE: Earth Calendar
ADMISSION DAY ** Jan. 26, 1837 - Michigan (26th State)
Australia Day - Australia
Duarte Day - Dominican Republic
Foundation Day (Santos) - Brazil
Republic Day - India


BEFORE IT STARTS
A man comes home from an exhausting day at work, plops down on the couch in front of the television, and tells his wife, "Get me a beer before it starts." The wife sighs and gets him a beer.

Fifteen minutes later he says, "Get me another beer before it starts." She looks cross, but fetches another beer and slams it down next to him.

He finishes that beer and a few minutes later says, "Quick, get me another beer, it's going to start any minute."

The wife is furious. She yells at him, "Is that all you're going to do tonight? Drink beer and sit in front of that TV? You're nothing but a lazy, drunken, fat slob, and furthermore..."

The man sighs and says, "It's started..."


Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other. - Ann Landers


INTERNET: Replaces the TV as children's favorite babysitter. (WordFoolery)

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