Wednesday, February 14, 2007

 

Spotlight: When it comes to romance and marriage proposals, there's something about being high and in a whirl. Some favorite locales for popping the question are hilltops, the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower and Ferris wheels. So how appropriate that George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., the inventor of the modern Ferris wheel, was born on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1859. When he came up with the idea for the wheel, Ferris was hoping to design something for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 that would be grander in scale than the Eiffel Tower, the darling of the Paris World's Fair of 1889.

Quote: "Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel/As every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way." — Joni Mitchell, "Both Sides Now"

Holiday: Valentine's Day

Today's News:

• North Korea: to nix nukes in exchange for oodles of aid (story)
• Mitt Romney: ex-Massachusetts governor joins Republican race for 2008 (story)
• Year of the Pig: Asia prepares for boom of babies born in auspicious year starting Sunday (story)
• Google News: Belgian press wins lawsuit over cached links, headlines, snippets and thumbnail images (story)
• Gmail: Google's email service no longer requires an invitation to join (story)
• Westminster Kennel Club: Best in Show goes to English springer spaniel who works as a therapy dog (story)

Today's History:

• Oregon, Arizona: the Beaver State and the Grand Canyon State joined the union (1859 and 1912, respectively)
• St. Valentine's Day massacre: 7 gangsters died as Al Capone's gang ambushed Bugs Moran's (1929)
• ENIAC: giant computer was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania (1946)

Today's Birthdays:

• Jack Benny (1894-1974): comedian
• Florence Henderson (73): mom on the Brady Bunch
• Michael Bloomberg (65): mayor of New York City