ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1719 Thomas Fleet of Boston, MA, published his mother-in-law's tales in the book, "Mother Goose."

On this date in 1787, New Jersey became our country's third state.

In 1813, the British took Fort Niagra. Eventually, we made them put it back.

On this date in 1849, a photo of the moon was taken through a telescope for the very first time.

In 1932, the Chicago Bears beat the Portsmouth Spartans, 9-0, in the first NFL playoff game.

On this day in 1972, the U.S. began the "Christmas bombing" of North Viet Nam.

One week from today, baby! Gentlemen, start your shopping lists! Christina Aguilera celebrates number 29, Katie Holmes -- Mrs. Tom Cruise -- turns 31. and Ray Liotta is 54 today.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Russell Ferguson was the big winner on "So You Think You Can Dance." Auditions for season 7 begin in Miami on January 18.
• Eva Longoria Parker will be spending New Year's Eve on Fox, along Kim Kardashian and Carmen Electra on Billboard's New Year's Eve Live show airing from Las Vegas.
• One of the singing "King Sisters" -- Yvonne -- has died at age 89.
• Elin has announced she will be spending the holidays in Sweden with family... and without Tiger.
• Up to 65% of people tell themselves that they're not attracted to their opposite sex friend even when they clearly are.
• A study conducted at New York University found that babbling about a major goal can give you a false sense of accomplishment, making you less likely to actually go after it.
• Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry died Thursday, a day after falling out of the back of a pickup truck during what police said was a domestic dispute with his fiancee. Henry was 26.
• Meredith Baxter, who recently "came out," says she's going to put her life story down into book form.
• On December 27, Dominos Pizza is changing its core pizza recipe, according to AOL's Slashfood.com. The new pizza was developed after 18 months of testing with dozens of cheeses, 15 sauces and 50 crust-seasoning blends.
• Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics have found what they're calling a "super Earth," located about 42 light years away in another solar system. The planet, officially called GJ 1214b, is nearly 2.7 times larger than our Earth and could be more than half-covered with water. But the temperature is over 250 degrees!
• No serious injuries, but Anne Hathaway's car knocked over a cyclist earlier this week.

Whether it's Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major," U2's "Vertigo" or 50 Cent's "In Da Club," your cell phone ringtone tells others a lot about your personality. Cell phone ringtones can be loud, obnoxious and very revealing. If you've never given it a thought, you might want to consider the message you're sending before you let your phone ring at work or in a crowded atmosphere. Otherwise, people might get the wrong idea about you. So, what does your ringtone say about you?

• Vibrate -- You are über-responsible and considerate, concerned above all else that your personal calls not bother anyone. Thank you.
• Standard ring -- You're showing your age and your inability to master technology. What? You don't know how to change the ringtone?
• Classic rock song -- When it comes to looking old, this isn't much better than the standard ring that comes with the phone.
• "Jingle Bells" -- If it's December, you get points for being current with the season. If it's June, you're lazy and indolent.
• Disco beat -- It makes you look as dated as those gold chains and that white suit hanging in the back of your closet.
• Hip-hop or R&B -- You're young, cool and enjoy annoying the old folks so you may delay answering your phone just to let that song annoy them a little longer.
• Classical music -- You must be a genius.
• Country music -- You're as American as Mom and apple pie.
• Jazz -- You're independent and strong-willed.
• TV theme song -- You didn't graduate, did you?
• Animal noises -- You think you're hilarious. Others think you're bothersome.
• Your own voice -- You are so conceited and pompous.
• You change your ringtone a lot -- You are fickle, capricious and undependable. Either that or you get bored easily.

Women are far more likely to pen their hearts to the plights of people outside their own cultural background providing nonprofit groups with a new target for seeking donations, researchers reveal. A set of studies published in the Journal Of Consumer Research observed whether men or women would contribute more to charities collecting funds for disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, the Pacific tsunami and terrorism victims in London and Iraq. The results showed that women were more giving to the natural disasters in Louisiana and the South Pacific, while men tended to open their wallets only for the Katrina victims. And while the gals gave to victims in both London and Iraq, guys limited their donations to the London attacks.

Cosmopolitan says when women dine out with several girlfriends at once, they consume more calories than if they'd eaten with a few people, in a coed group, or with a guy, new research shows. A theory why: When you share a meal with men, you're more worried about looking gluttonous.

When a survey asked guys which of several activities, like swimming with sharks, they would find scariest, one quarter of them picked proposing marriage. Why? Well, a guy may look at it as an end rather than a beginning. "A lot of men think of marriage as the death of their bachelorhood," explains William July, PhD, author of "Confessions of an Ex-Bachelor." A guy may also be overwhelmed by the thought of providing for a family and changing his priorities like trading in his Mustang for a minivan. Worrying isn't a bad thing he should be taking the responsibility seriously. So ask him about his fears. Seeing that you're sympathetic and eager to understand will help him come around. (Cosmopolitan)