Today is Thursday, January 5, the fifth day of 2017 in the Gregorian calendar, with 360 days remaining.
There are:
11 days until Martin Luther King Day;
15 days until
Donald Trump becomes President of the Unites States;
28 days until
Groundhog Day;
40 days until Valentines Day;
46 days until
Presidents Day;
66 days until Daylight Saving Time begins;
71 days
until St. Patrick's Day;
74 days until the arrival of Spring;
86
days until April Fool's Day;
99 days until Good Friday;
101 days
until Easter Sunday; and
669 days until the 2018 midterm elections.
-----
On this day in 1914, actor George Reeves was born (as George Keefer Brewer) in Woolstock, Iowa. Reeves' film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (incorrectly listed in the film's credits as Brent Tarleton), one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors in Gone with the Wind. But he is best known, especially to those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, for portraying the eponymous lead character in The Adventures of Superman (1952-1958). While the late Christopher Reeve is most associated with the role because of the 1978 Richard Donner film and its sequels, Reeves is "the" Superman for most fans over the age of 50.
Filmed on a non-existent budget with crude special effects, it nontheless captivated a generation of kids who ran around their houses with bath towel capes tied to their necks, imitating the swooshing noise of the Man of Steel in flight.
Reeves died in 1959 at the age of 45 from a gunshot wound. Officially ruled a suicide, others maintained he was either murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. The 2006 movie Hollywoodland, starring Ben Affleck as George Reeves, presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding Reeves' demise and features re-enactments of the three theories concerning his death.
Also born on this day, in 1910, was Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum, an American vocalist, arranger, composer and actor best known as "Mr. Green Jeans", a character he played for 30 years on the CBS children's television show Captain Kangaroo.
-----
Among other things, today is also National Whipped Cream Day. Not so coincidentally, it's the birthday of Aaron S. "Bunny" Lapin (January 5, 1914-July 10, 1999), who invented Reddi-wip in 1948. From a chemical standpoint, whipped cream is an aerated colloid produced when air is incorporated into cream containing at least 35% fat. During whipping, partially coalesced fat molecules create a stabilized network which traps air bubbles. The resulting colloid is roughly double the volume of the original cream. If, however, the whipping is continued, the fat droplets will stick together destroying the colloid and forming butter. Lower-fat cream (or milk) does not whip well, while higher-fat cream produces a more stable foam. (A colloid is a mixture in which one substance of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance).
-----
During a search, police report a Florida man tried to hide nearly 100 heroin pills in his butt. And a Florida woman is out on bond after being accused of aiming her car at her son-in-law, hitting him and her daughter, pinning her daughter under the vehicle, and then running over her.
-----
As of this writing, The KGB Quotations Database contains 44,047 entries. Check it out.
-----
Some persons born on January 5 who said interesting things:
- Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967), European statesman who served as the first post-war Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) from 1949 to 1963;
- Robert Duvall (1931), American actor and filmmaker;
- Umberto Eco (1932-2016), Italian novelist, literary critic, philosopher, semiotician, and university professor;
- Stella Gibbons (1902-1989), English writer, journalist, and poet, author of Cold Comfort Farm;
- Diane Keaton (1946), American film actress, director and producer;
- Florence King (1936-2016), American novelist, essayist and columnist;
- Walter Mondale (1928), 42nd Vice President of the United States;
- Chuck Noll (1932-2014), professional American football player, assistant coach and head coach;
- Charlie Rose (1942), American television talk show host and journalist;
Quote of the day:
"There will be no veterans of World War III."
-Walter
Mondale
-----
Macho unemployment: More than a fifth of American men aren't working, yet they aren't flocking to service-sector jobs. Experts suggest that much of the resistance comes from a culture of masculinity.
-----
If you think it's tough finding employment now, hold on... 47% of jobs will disappear in the next 25 years, according to Oxford University, and nobody has any idea what to do about it. It will mean the obliteration of the middle class, and this "structural unemployment" is inevitable and cannot be reversed.
-----
Lego's new robotics set lets kids program a cat to play the harmonica. And prepare for what appears to be the only job remaining in their future... programming robots.
-----
Assuming we're still around, that is. Society could collapse within a decade, a 'mathematical historian' predicts. And before you start blaming Trump, he asserts that we're doomed, no matter who is in power.
-----
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you... Two major credit reporting agencies have been lying to consumers. A CFPB investigation concluded that Transunion and Equifax deceived Americans about the reports they provided and the fees they charged.
-----
She fell and she couldn't get up... Lucy, our pre-historic hominid cousin, died after falling from a tree, scientists now believe.
-----
17 pop culture icons will achieve milestone anniversaries in 2017, including recorded jazz, SPAM, movies with sound, West Side Story, St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, among others.
-----
Let's give Florida a break: Newly elected West Virginia sheriff arrested for stealing meth from evidence locker.
-----
As you see, KGB Report is now a daily effort, and I'd appreciate it if you can share us with your friends and, perhaps, click on the link below and become a patron, or send a donation to me here in the KGB Kave at 1512 Annette Avenue, South Park, PA 15129. Aside from some consulting work, KGB Report, other writing efforts and partial Social Security retirement benefits are looking more and more like my main source of income. So if you like us, chip in a buck or ten every month to keep us on the air. Becoming a patron will also get you free copies of any books we publish on Amazon or Kindle in the coming year. Thanks for your support!
Categories: The Daily KGB Report
KGB Stuff Commentwear E-Mail KGB
Donate via PayPal
