ON THIS DAY
On this date in 1777, France became the first country to recognize the United States as a new country.
In 1790, an ancient Aztec calendar stone was discovered in Mexico City.
On this date in 1791, the very first one-way street opened in New York.
In 1843, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was published.
On this date in 1903, the Wright brothers successfully flew a plane. The flight lasted 12 seconds.
Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse magazine, turns 79.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Tiger Woods' wife, Elin, has set up a meeting with Victoria Beckham to talk about her situation. When did Victoria become a therapist?
- People magazine says that Elin has made up her mind and is going to divorce Tiger. Movers are already starting to work the Florida home.
- 95-year-old exercise guru Jack LaLanne had heart valve surgery this week. Before the surgery, he told his family that he wouldn't die because it would ruin his image.
- Your iPhone might know if swine flu is headed your way. An application called Outbreaks Near Me tracks viruses such as H1N1 flu and notifies you if there are flare ups in your area.
- Rapper T.I. is going to be moved to a half-way house after the first of the year.
- Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, has died. He was 79. The company announced that Disney died Wednesday in Newport Beach, CA, after a yearlong bout with stomach cancer.
- Nickelodeon has ordered up 26 new episodes of "SpongeBob Square Pants," making it the longest-running show in Nick history.
- Mr. Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, is going to start doing morning drive on a New York City radio station.
- Carrie Underwood's holiday special pulled in 8.5 million viewers. Jennifer Hudson's? Only 5.6 million.
- Metallica singer James Hetfield is donating 330 acres overlooking California's Lucas Valley for preservation as farmland.
- Something to worry about: Brian Setzer collapsed on stage during his concert in New Mexico this past week.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year."
- Arrest warrants have been issued for actor Randy Quaid and his wife after they failed to appear for a court hearing. Cousin Eddie, how could you?
Gary Busey has been named the unsexiest man in Hollywood in a new Internet poll. Editors at Moviefone.com compiled the list of Tinseltown's least desirable leading men, following People magazine's recent decision to name Johnny Depp Hollywood's top hunk. Here are Moviefone's top 10 unsexy actors:
- Gary Busey
- Kevin Spacey
- Justin Long
- Paul Giamatti
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Randy Quaid
- Michael Moore
- Mickey Rourke
- Joaquin Phoenix
- John C. Reilly
13-year-old Ted Estarija, of Hayward, California, near Oakland got a new cell phone and in the first month ran up the bill to a whopping $21,917. How did it get so high? The kid downloaded about 1.4 million kilobytes of data last month. Since Estarija's plan didn't cover data usage, he was billed by the megabyte. Fortunately, Verizon said they would credit his account for the entire amount.
Houston public schools have banned texting, some NFL teams are forbidding players from typing in locker rooms, and several states are cracking down on sending texts while driving. For those who can't control their thumbs, the new reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program helps toxtaholics "reconnect to the real world." (Cosmopolitan)
With so many Christmas movies out there, it's hard to pick a favorite. On the other hand, it's pretty easy to pick the stinkers. Here you will find a list of the top ten worst movie Santas from TopTenz.net:
- Santa Visits the Magic Land of Mother Goose
- Santa's Magic Kingdom
- A Christmas Story
- The Santa Clause 3 -- The Escape Clause
- Miracle on 34th Street
- Silent Night, Deadly Night
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
- Santa's Slay
- Santa Claus: The Movie
- Bad Santa
A new study shows that 80% of our conversations involve talking about other people. Dishing is the glue that keeps society together, researchers say, since each of us can know only a limited number of people.
If you ever worried that life would be dull after retirement, put your fears away and start counting the days. A new study by Swedish and French researchers proves what most people already know life without work can be great, especially when it comes to health. But while it's no surprise for most hardworking folks, the impact of retirement on a person's physical well being was even greater than researchers suspected. According to the 14-year study, the more demanding and stressful the job, the greater satisfaction a person received after stopping. Backaches and neck pain are often the first symptoms to disappear, followed by asthma, depression and stress related stroke. People who worked a high pressure job felt the most benefits upon leaving the workplace. (Sun)
