The FReeper Foxhole Profiles The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars)

Our Programs

Direct community involvement always has been and will continue to be a VFW priority. Working traditionally with the Red Cross, USO and Salvation Army, the VFW recently partnered with the Points of Light Foundation and America's Promise to expand the VFW's presence in the community and in youth education programs.

VFW's Community Service programs, working in conjunction with such organizations as March of Dimes, Connect America and Junior and Special Olympics, are key elements of VFW membership at the Post and the Auxiliary level. These activities are designed to encourage community service and increase civic pride, which ultimately enhances education, improves the environment and ensures the availability of health services for our nations veterans.

VFW's Citizenship Education program is designed to stimulate interest in America's history and traditions and to promote citizenship, civic responsibility and patriotism.

VFW's Youth Scholarship programs include Voice of Democracy,youth essay contest and Boy Scouts of America.

· The Voice of Democracy is a national audio essay program for our nation's high school students, which annually provides more than $2.5 million in college scholarships and incentives to 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders across the nation.

· Together with its Ladies Auxiliary, the VFW promotes annual national patriotic youth essay contest for 7th and 8th students.

· The VFW's partnership with the Boy Scouts of America includes the sponsoring of more than 1,200 Scouting units with 40,000 members across the nation.

VFW's Safety Program encourages VFW Posts and Auxiliaries to conduct programs in home, auto and bicycle safety, as well as programs dealing with drug awareness and substance abuse.

Since 1922, Buddy Poppy has symbolized aid for needy veterans and their families. The VFW annually sells more than 17 million poppies, which generate funds for the national veterans service program, relief for local veterans and their families and the VFW National Home for Children.

The VFW National Home for Children is a community development in a family like environment that is home to orphaned or single parent children of VFW or Ladies Auxiliary members. The home, which was established in 1925 on 160 acres in Eaton Rapids, Mich., emphasizes the values of education, good work habits and sound moral character.

Veteran Services

The location of our office in Washington D.C., allows the VFW to monitor Congress and to administer our Veterans' Services program. The VFW has more than 100 trained service officers to assist any veteran, or their dependents, obtain federal or state entitlements.

VFW service officers also assist veterans seeking discharge upgrades, record corrections, education benefits, disability compensation, pension eligibility and other veterans' needs. Field representatives regularly inspect VA healthcare facilities, regional offices and national cemeteries. In addition, civil service and employment specialists monitor laws concerning veterans' preference in federal employment and represent veterans in grievances regarding employment in the federal, state and private sectors. A recent addition to the Washington D.C., office is the Tactical Assessment Center, a 24-hour help line for veterans with questions or concerns about VA entitlements. (1-800-vfw-1899)

VFW's National Legislative Service office monitors all legislation affecting veterans. It alerts VFW membership to key veterans' legislation under consideration and actively lobbies Congress and the administration on veterans' issues. It often assists congressional staffs in preparing veterans' legislation.

VFW's National Security and Foreign Affairs office monitors national security and foreign affairs issues.

'The fundamental difference between our organization and other veteran's organizations is our eligibility qualifications. There are three requirements for membership in the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States:
· U.S. citizenship,
· honorable service in the U.S. armed forces and
· service entitling the applicant to the award of a recognized campaign medal, or as set forth in the VFW Congressional Charter or VFW bylaws.
The only exception for service is serving in Korea for 30 or more consecutive days or its territorial waters after June 30, 1949, until present.'

Current Military Issues
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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on January 18:
1543 Alfonso Ferrabosco composer
1641 François Michel le Tellier French statesman (Marquis de Louvois)
1657 Hendrik Casimir II Dutch Fieldmarshal (Nassau)
1685 Tiberius Hemsterhuis Dutch Classical prof, baptized
1689 Charles de Montesquieu France, philosopher/writer (Lettres Persanes)
1726 Hendrik prince of Prussia/diplomat
1732 Jean-Guillain Cardon composer
1751 Ferdinand Kauer composer
1779 Peter Roget thesaurus fame/inventor (slide rule, pocket chessboard)
1782 Daniel Webster Salisbury NH, orator/politician/lawyer
1793 William Henry Havergal composer
1795 Anna Paulowna Romanova monarch of Russia/daughter of czar Paul I
1809 Richard Caswell Gatlin Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1896
1813 Joseph Farwell Glidden inventor (1st commercial usable barbed wire)
1815 James Chesnut Jr Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1885
1815 Richard Yates Warsaw KY, Governor-Illinois (1861-65), died in 1873
1817 Jacques Gregoir composer
1818 Johannes van Vloten Dutch literary/theologist
1820 Abraham Buford Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1884
1829 Louis van Haecke Flemish chaplain/author (Blood to Bridge)
1831 Edward Ferrero Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1835 César A Cui Vilna Lithuania, fort architect/composer
1835 Jan van Droogenbroeck Flemish poet
1840 Austin Dobson England, poet/critic/biographer
1840 Ernst Rudorff composer
1841 Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier France, composer (Le Roi Malgré Lui)
1849 Sir Edmund Barton 1st PM of Australia (1900-03)
1854 Thomas A Watson needed by Bell, inventor assistant (Telephone)
1856 Dr Daniel Nathan Hale Williams famous African-American
1856 John Hyatt Brewer composer
1857 Otto von Below German commandant (WWI)
1861 Hans Goldschmidt German chemist
1861 Raymond Huntington Woodman composer
1867 Rubén Darío national poet (Nicaragua)
1869 Willem De Vreese Flemish linguist/biblographer
1870 Berend Modderman printer (Drukkers yearbook)
1871 Franz Blei [Peregrinus Steinhövel], Austrian painter/critic
1872 Paul Leautaud [Maurice Boissard], France, writer (Petit ami)
1878 Hendrik Baels Belgian politician
1879 Henri-Honoré Giraud French General /member of parliament
1880 Paul Ehrenfest Austria/Netherlands physicist (adiabates hypothesis)
1881 Gaston Gallimard French publisher (Librairie Gallimard)
1882 Alan Alexander Milne English author (Winnie-the-Pooh)
1882 Jacob Clay Dutch philosopher/physicist (Mesones)
1882 Sylvia Pankhurst English feminist
1884 Arthur Ransome English author (Swallows & Amazons)
1886 Antoine Pevsner French sculptor
1886 Peter Alma Dutch painter/graphic artist
1892 Oliver Hardy Harlem GA, comedy team member (Laurel & Hardy)
1893 John Lawrence Seymour composer
1893 Jorge Guillén Valladolid Spain, poet/critic (Cántico, Final)
1894 Wilhelm HC Tenhaeff Dutch parapsychologist
1896 Hans H Holm Norwegian poet (Jonsoknatt)
19-- Jose Luis Perales Spain, Spanish singer (Con El Paso del Tiempo)
19-- Mike Marquis rocker (Kik Tracee-Hot Wire)
1901 Arie Querido Dutch social psychiatrist
1903 Berthold Goldschmidt German/British (opera)composer (Beatrice Cenci)
1904 Cary Grant England, actor (Arsenic & Old Lace, North by Northwest)
1904 Henri-Georges Adam French etcher/painter/sculptor (Grand Nude)
1905 Chick Chandler Kingston NY, actor (Barney-One Happy Family)
1906 Hans Aeschbacher Swiss sculptor (Venus de Six-Tours)
1907 Janos Ferencsik Budapest Hungary, conductor (Budapest Opera)
1908 Albert P Morano (Representative-R-CT, 1951-59)
1908 Jacob Bronowsky British mathematician/cultural historian
1910 Arthur John Howard actor (Frieda, Last Holiday, Paradiso, Glass Cage)
1911 Gabor Darvas composer
1912 William Sansom English writer (The Loving Eye)
1912 Charles Moeller Belgian theologist (Humanisme et sainteté)
1912 René Gabriëls Belgian billiard pro (7 World/9 European championships)
1913 Danny Kaye Brooklyn NY, UNICEF/comedian/actor (Danny Kaye Show)
1914 Arno Schmidt writer
1916 Alec Coxon cricketer (England pace bowler in one Test, 2-90 & 1-82)
1917 Oscar Lewenstein impressario
1918 Adriano Mandarino Hypolito priest
1918 Bohuslav Jeremias composer, dies at 58
1918 Ton Brandsteder CEO/founder (Sony Nederland)
1919 Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas Santiago Chile, composer
1921 Bruce Woodcock boxer
1922 Constance Moore Sioux City IA, actress (Window on Main Street)
1922 Yehezkiel Braun composer
1924 Donald Baverstock TV producer
1925 Anthony Joly de Lotbiniere TV producer
1925 Gilles Deleuze philosopher
1925 Roepie Kruize Dutch field hockey player (Olympics-Bronze-48/Silver-52)
1932 Joe Schmidt NFL Hall-of-Famer
1932 Robert Anton Wilson US, sci-fi author (Trick Top Hat)
1933 John Boorman producer/director (Exorcist II, Deliverance, Zardoz)
1933 David Bellamy English botanist/tv-program maker
1933 Ray Dolby sound expert/inventor (Dolby noise limiting system)
1933 Vladimir Yevgrafovich Bugrov cosmonaut
1935 Raymond Briggs English author (Fungus the Bogeyman)
1939 Bernard Glassman New York, Zen teacher/head (Zen Center of NY)
1941 Bobby Goldsboro Marianna FL, singer (Honey)
1941 David Ruffin Mississippi, vocalist (Temptations-Papa Was a Rolling Stone)
1941 Tom Bailey rock vocalist (Thompson Twins-Doctor Doctor)
1941 Iva Zanicchi actress (Ragazza Tutta d'Oro)
1943 Dave Greene rocker
1944 Larry "Legs" Smith rocker (Bonzo Dog Band-Urban Spaceman)
1944 Relus ter Beek Dutch Minister of defense (PvdA)
1946 Katia Ricciarelli actress (Falstaff, Otello, Turandot)
1948 Takeshi Kitano Tokyo Japan, actor (Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)
1950 John Hughes director (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Weird Science)
1950 Claudia de Colombia Bogato Columbia, Spanish singer (Yo Creo En Ti)
1950 Gilles Villeneuve Canadian auto racer
1953 Brett Hudson Portland OR, comedian (Bonkers, Hudson Brothers Show)
1955 Johannes AM "Hans" van Tongeren Dutch actor (Hunk)
1955 Kevin Costner Los Angeles CA, actor (Fandango, Silverado, Bull Durham)
1955 Mable Fergerson Los Angeles CA, 4x400m runner (Olympics-silver-1972)
1956 Mark Collie Waynesboro TN, country singer (Another Old Soldier)
1957 Tom Bailey rock vocalist/keyboardist (Thompson Twins-Doctor Doctor)
1958 Jeffrey N Williams Superior WI, Major Army/astronaut
1958 Larry Smith NBA player
1959 Bob Rosenberg rocker (Will To Power)
1961 Mark D Messier Edmonton Alberta, NHL Center (Edmonton, New York Rangers)
1962 Alison Arngrim actress (Nellie-Little House of the Prairie)
1962 David O'Connor equestrian 3-day (Olympics-silver-96)
1963 Jane Horrocks Lancashire England, actress (Absolutely Fabulous)
1964 Brady Anderson Silver Spring MD, outfielder (Baltimore Orioles)
1964 Jenny Holliday Australian softball pitcher (Olympics-bronze-96)
1965 Richard Dunwoody British jockey)
1967 M C Tab [Sharon Richard], New York City NY, rapper
1967 Kim Perrot WNBA guard (Houston Comets)
1967 Peter Cox Jr Bronxville NY, fencer-sabre (Olympics-96)
1969 Larry Webster defensive tackle (Baltimore Ravens)
1969 Marvin Pope CFL defensive end (Calgary Stampeders)
1970 Leo Araguz NLF/WLAF punter (Oakland Raiders, Rhein Fire)
1971 Andre Coleman NFL wide receiver/kick returner (San Diego Chargers)
1971 Greg Engel NFL center (San Diego Chargers)
1972 Dwayne Carswell NFL tight end (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl XXXII)
1972 Mike Lieberthal Glendale CA, catcher (Philadelphia Phillies)
1972 Ryan Kuehl defensive tackle (Washington Redskins)
1972 Steven Conley linebacker (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1972 Vinod Kambli cricketer (prolific Indian batsman 1993-)
1973 Crispian Mills London, vocalist/guitarist (Kula Shaker)
1973 Edward Jasper defensive tackle (Philadelphia Eagles)
1973 Junior Burrough NBA forward (Boston Celtics)
1973 Regilio Vreede soccer player (Blue White, RKC)
1974 Devon Odessa actor (Sharon-My So Called Life, Girl of Limberlost)
1974 Shane Burton defensive tackle (Miami Dolphins)
1975 Derek Smith linebacker (Washington Redskins)
1976 Laurence Courtois Kortrijk Belgium, tennis star (1995 finalist Jakarta)
1976 Vincent Polvliet soccer player (FC Utrecht)
1981 Kimberly Gloudemans Miss California Teen-USA (1997)
1981 Latoya Farley Miss Oklahoma Teen-USA (1996)

Deaths which occurred on January 18:
1367 Pedro I king of Portugal (1357-67), dies at 46
1479 Louis IX the Rich, duke of Bayern (U of Ingolstadt), dies at 61
1580 Antonio Scandello Italian composer (Passion of John), dies at 63
1659 Benedikt Lechler composer, dies at 64
1664 Moise Amyrault French theologist/vicar, dies
1666 Adriaen A Bloemaert Dutch landscape painter, dies at about 56
1677 John A van Riebeeck Dutch founder Cape Colony, dies at 57
1730 Peter II czar of Russia (1727-30), dies at 14
1760 Claudio Casciolini composer, dies at 62
1769 Hakuin Ekaku Zen teacher (reformer of Rinzai school), dies in Japan
1854 Juda Turo American philanthropist, dies
1862 John Tyler 10th US President (1841-45), dies in Richmond VA at 71
1875 Joseph Philbrick Webster composer, dies at 55
1886 Michal Czajchovski [Sadik Pasja], writer, dies
1890 Amadeus I FM king of Spain (1870-73), dies at 44
1902 Filippo Marchetti composer, dies at 70
1906 Bartolomé Mitre President of Argentina (1862-70), dies at 84
1913 Edmond R H Regout Dutch industrialist/politician, dies at 49
1919 John C F son of English king George V, dies at 13
1921 Adolf von Hildebrand German sculptor, dies at 73
1923 Wallace Reid actor (Birth of a Nation), dies at 31
1936 Rudyard Kipling author (Gunga Din, Nobel 1907), dies in Burwash England at 70
1940 Kazimierz P Tetmajer Polish writer/poet (Young Poland), dies at 74
1951 Robert Mark US chairman (Caste World Congress), dies at 41
1954 Sydney Greenstreet actor (Conflict, Maltese Falcon), dies at 74
1962 Raymond Moulaert composer, dies at 86
1963 Johnnie Moyes journalist/cricketer (South Australian batsman), dies
1966 Kathleen Norris US author, dies at 85
1967 Barney Ross Welterweight Boxing Champ (1934), dies at 57
1967 Albert Conti actor (Eagle, Jazz Heaven, Topaz), dies at 79
1967 Harry Antrim actor (Ma & Pa Kettle), dies of heart attack at 83
1967 Reese "Goose" Tatum basketballer (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 45
1967 Simon Berkelbach van der Sprenkel vicar/theologist, dies at 84
1968 Lee Tracy actor (Martin Kane-Martin Kane Private Eye), dies at 69
1968 Bert Wheeler actor (Rainmakers, High Flyers, Dixiana), dies at 72
1968 John Ridgely actor (Air Force, Possessed, Big Sleep), dies at 58
1970 David O McKay 9th Mormon president, dies at 96
1971 Catherine Calvert actress (Fires of Faith), dies of stroke at 80
1972 Rudolf Wittelsbach composer, dies at 69
1976 Ad Verhoeven soccer player (Xerxes, Sparta), dies in crash
1976 Sonia Dresdel actor (Fallen Idol, Secret Tent), dies at 67
1977 Carl Zuckmayer German/Swiss/US playwright (Second Wind), dies at 80
1977 Paul Nordoff US composer (Frog Prince), dies at 67
1977 Yvonne Printemps actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at 81
1978 Carl Betz actor (Alex Stone-Donna Reed Show), dies at 56
1978 Ivan Ivonovich Dzerzhinsky composer, dies at 68
1979 Cyril Mockridge composer, dies at 82
1980 Cecil Beaton British photographer, dies at 76
1982 Trent Lehman actor (Butch-Nanny & the Professor), dies at 20
1982 Burnet Corwin Tuthill US composer (Laurentia), dies at 93
1982 Ramón (J) Sender (Garcés) Spanish writer, dies at 79
1984 Malcolm H Kerr 9th president of American University of Beirut, shot dead
1985 Mahmoud Taha Sudanese Moslem leader, hanged at 76
1985 Wilfrid Brambell actor (Hard Day's Night, Boys), dies at 72
1986 Claire James actress (Jack Armstrong), dies
1989 Bruce Chatwin British writer, dies at 49
1990 Melanie Appleby rocker (Mel & Kim), dies of liver cancer at 23
1991 Hamilton Fish congressman (NY), dies at 102
1991 Lillian Bond actress (Air Mail, Pick-up, Blond Cheat), dies at 83
1991 Nita Krebs actor (Munchkin-Wizard of Oz), dies of heart attack at 85
1992 John Remme entertainer, dies of AIDS at 56
1992 Tom Elios entertainer, dies
1993 M Eleonore Lippits 1st Dutch female missionary doctor, dies at 85
1993 Mia Meijer Dutch playwright/director (Machine Child), dies
1993 Mike Templeton 2nd person to receive a heart pump, dies at 34
1994 Arthur Altman songwriter, dies at 83
1995 Adolph F J Butenandt German bio-chemist (Nobel 1939), dies at 91
1995 Charles Baskerville vocalist, dies at 54
1995 Joseph Kagan businessman, dies at 79
1996 Leonor Fini painter, dies at 87
1996 Minnesota Fats [Rudolf Wanderone Jr], billiard hustler, dies at 82
1996 N T Rama Rao PM of Andhra Pradesh India (1983-84, 84-89, 94-95), dies
1997 Myfanwy Piper librettist, dies at 85
1997 Neville Crump racehorse trainer, dies at 86
1997 Paul Tsongas (Senator-D-MA), dies at 55

On this day...
0336 St Mark begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0350 General Maxentius drives out Western Roman emperor Constans
0532 Nika uprising at Constantinople fails, 30-40,000 die
1307 German king Albrecht I makes his son Rudolf king of Bohemia
1478 Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupies Novgorod
1486 King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV
1520 Christian II of Denmark & Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde
1535 Francisco Pizarro founds Lima Peru
1644 Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's 1st UFO sighting
1650 French Prince Louis II of Condé captured
1671 Pirate Henry Morgan defeats Spanish defenders, captures Panamá
1691 English king Willem III travels to The Hague
1701 Frederik I/Sophie Charlotte van Hanover crowned king/queen of Prussia
1733 1st polar bear exhibited in America (Boston)
1777 San Jose CA founded
1778 Captain James Cook stumbles over Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)
1795 French admitted to Amsterdam without resistance
1795 Governor/Viceroy Willem V flees Scheveningen to England
1817 San Martin leads a revolutionary army over Andes
1840 Electro-Magnetic Intelligencer, 1st US electrical journal, appears
1850 British blockade Piræus, Greece to enforce mercantile claims
1854 Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México
1862 Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed
1865 Battle of Fort Moultrie SC
1869 Elegant California Theatre opens in San Francisco CA
1871 2nd German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I & Bismarck
1884 General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum
1895 Amsterdam's AFC soccer team forms
1896 1st demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City NY
1896 British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa
1900 Jan Blockx's "Tÿl Uilenspiegel" premieres in Brussels
1901 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Graves De Communi Re
1905 French government of Combes falls
1908 Frederick Delius' "Brigg Fair" premieres
1911 1st shipboard landing of a plane (Tanforan Park to USS Pennsylvania)
1913 Turkish-Greek sea battle near Troy
1915 Train crashes at Colima-Guadalajara Mexico, about 600 die
1919 WWI Peace Congress opens in Versailles, France
1921 William Archer's "Green Goddess" premieres in New York City NY
1922 Irish author Liam O'Flaherty & others occupy the Rotunda in Dublin
1923 1st radio telegraph message from Netherlands to Dutch East Indies
1929 "New York Daily Mirror" columnist Walter Winchell debuts on radio
1929 Stalin proposes to ban Trotsky from the Politburo
1930 -27ºF (-33ºC), Watts OK (state record)
1930 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "The Nose" premieres in Leningrad
1933 White Sands National Monument, NM established
1934 Eugene O'Neill's "Days Without End" premieres in New York City NY
1938 Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame
1938 Bradman scores 104* for South Australia vs New South Wales at the SCG
1939 South African wicketkeeper Bradman gets his 6th straight ton, 135* vs New South Wales
1942 Nazis arrest journalists Frans Goedhart & Wiardi Beckman
1943 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin resistance of Nazis
1943 Presliced bread sale banned to reduce bakery demand for metal parts
1943 Soviets announce they broke the long Nazi siege of Leningrad
1944 1st Chinese naturalized US citizen since repeal of exclusion acts
1947 Small river steamer sank on Yangtze River, kills 400
1947 "Red Mill" closes at Ziegfeld Theater New York City NY after 831 performances
1947 Detroit Tigers sell Hank Greenberg to Pirates (for $25-35,000)
1948 1st courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria
1948 Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour" begins, DuMont (later NBC/ABC/CBS)
1949 "They Stand Accused" courtroom drama premieres on CBS (later DuMont)
1949 1st US Congressional standing committee headed by Negro (W Dawson)
1949 South African Reverend Andries P Treurnicht marries Engela Dreyer
1950 Christopher Fry's "Venus Observed" premieres in London
1950 Indians pitcher Bob Feller, after 15-14 season, takes $20,000 salary cut to $45,000, pay cut is Feller's own suggestion
1951 NFL rules tackles, guards & centers ineligible for forward pass
1951 NFL takes control of the failing Baltimore Colts
1951 1st use of lie detector in Netherlands
1951 Hermann Flake sentenced to death due to "hate campaign against German Democratic Republic"
1953 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1954 Fanfani forms Italian government
1956 German Democratic Republic forms own army (National People's Army)
1957 3 B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes
1958 1st black in the NHL (William O'Ree, Boston Bruins)
1959 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open
1960 US & Japan sign joint defense treaty
1961 Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi party wins 1 seat by a single vote & parliament by a single seat
1962 Southern University closed due to demonstrations
1962 US begins spraying foliage in Vietnam to reveal Viet Cong guerrillas
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 Reinier Paping wins Dutch 11-Cities Skating Race (10 59)
1964 Beatles 1st appearance in Billboard Chart (I Want to Hold Your Hand-#35)
1964 Plans for the World Trade Center announced (New York City NY)
1965 H L de Vries appointed Dutch Governor of Suriname
1966 Robert C Weaver, confirmed as 1st black cabinet member (HUD)
1967 Yellowknife replaces Ottawa as capital of NW Territories, Canada
1967 20th NHL All-Star Game: Montréal beats All-Stars 3-0 at Montréal
1967 Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
1967 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 "Happy Time" opens at Broadway Theater New York City NY for 286 performances
1968 Hester & Appolinar's musical "Your Own Thing" premieres in New York City NY
1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk USSR
1969 Expanded 4 party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris
1969 Soyuz 5 returns to Earth
1970 Hasse Börjes skates world record 500 minutes in 38.9 seconds
1970 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 16-13
1971 Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in NY, to become WWF champ
1973 Islanders break 12 game losing streak, 20 game road winless streak
1973 Boston Red Sox sign Orlando Cepeda as 1st player signed as a DH
1973 John Cleese's final episode on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on BBC
1974 "The $6 Million Man" starring Lee Majors premieres on ABC TV
1974 Israel & Egypt sign weapons accord
1975 "The Jeffersons" spin-off from "All in the Family" premieres on CBS
1976 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, Wide Receiver
1977 Imran Khan takes 12 wickets in match for Pakistan win at the SCG
1978 Roof of 3-year-old Civic Center in Hartford CT collapses (no injuries)
1978 Thiokol conducts 2nd test firing of space shuttle's SRB
1978 Geoff Boycott captains England for the 1st time, vs Pakistan Karachi
1979 Peter Jenkins finishes "A Walk Across America", Florence OR
1980 Gold reaches $1,000 an ounce
1980 Pink Floyd's "The Wall" hits #1
1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
1981 Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
1981 Wendy O Williams arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity
1983 IOC restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals 70 years after they were taken from him for being paid $25 in semipro baseball
1984 80th Islander & 3rd dual hat trick (Carroll & Bossy) 9-1 win
1985 US renounces jurisdiction of World Court despite previous promise
1986 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
1986 AIDS charity record "That's What Friends are For" hits #1
1986 New York Lotto pays $30.5 million to one winner (#s are 19-20-27-34-41-46)
1987 11th Soap Opera Digest Poll Awards - Days of Our Live wins
1988 Airliner crashes in SW China, killing all 108 on board
1989 Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC)
1989 Candace Thomas marries Steve Garvey
1989 IBM announces earnings up 10.4% in 1988
1989 Otis Redding, Dion, Rolling Stones, Temptations & Stevie Wonder inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1989 West Indies beat Australia 2-1 to win the World Series Cup
1990 South Africa says its reconsidering ban on African National Congress
1990 Washington DC, Mayor Marion Barry arrested in drug enforcement sting
1991 Eastern Airlines goes out of business after 62 years
1991 Iraq launches SCUD missiles against Israel
1991 US acknowledges CIA and US Army paid Noriega $320,000 over his career
1991 WLAF's New York Knights become New York-New Jersey Knights
1991 Longest tennis match at the Australian Open, Boris Becker beats Italy's Omar Camporese in 5 hours & 11 minutes
1992 Comedian Pat McCormick injured in a car accident
1992 43rd NHL All Star Game - Campbell-10, Wales-6 (Brett Hull, MVP) at Philadelphia
1992 49th Golden Globes
1992 Actress Joan Chen (Twin Peaks) marries Dr Peter Hui
1993 Martin Luther King Jr holiday observed in all 50 states for 1st time
1993 West Indies win the World Series Cup, beating Australia 2-0
1995 Kumble takes 16-99 in match for Karnataka vs Kerala
1995 Pope John Paul II begins visit to Australia
1996 Baseball owners unanimously approve interleague play in 1997
1996 Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson in NY
1997 47th NHL All-Star Game East beat West 11-7 at San Jose Arena
1998 "Ragtime" opens at Ford Theater New York City NY
1998 48th NHL All-Star Game North America beats World 8-7 at Vancouver
1998 55th Golden Globes Awards
1998 ABL All-Star Game at Disney complex in Orlando FL (West beats East 102-73)
1998 Boston Celtics retire Robert Parrish's #00
1998 Kelly Robbins wins Healthsouth Golf Inaugural
1998 UCP Telethon

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Tunisia : Revolution Day (1956)
US : Martin Luther King Jr Day (1929) - - - - - ( Monday )
Virginia : Lee-Jackson Day - - - - - ( Monday )
Florida : Arbor Day - - - - - ( Friday )

Religious Observances
Anglican, Lutheran : Commemoration of the Confession of St Peter the Apostle
Lutheran : Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins
Roman Catholic-Mexico : Commemoration of St Prisca, virgin/martyr at 13
Roman Catholic : Feast of Blessed Beatrix d'Este
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Leobardus
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Margaret of Hungary

Religious History
1562 The Council of Trent Ä called by the popes to deal with the monumental problems caused by the Reformation Ä reconvened, following a suspension of ten years.
1815 Birth of L.F.K. Tischendorf, German biblical and textual scholar. In 1844 he discovered one of the oldest and most valuable manuscripts of the Greek Bible, the Codex Sinaiticus, which dates back to the 4th century.
1846 Taylor University was established in Fort Wayne, Indiana, under Methodist sponsorship.
1891 The first Armenian Church in the U.S. was consecrated in Worcester, MA. New churches were later consecrated in Fresno, CA (1900); West Hoboken, NJ (1907); and Fowler, CA (1910).
1936 In Washington, DC, Catholic biblical scholars met to discuss two proposals: the preparation of a new Bible translation and the formation of a society of Catholic biblical scholars. In result, the Catholic Biblical Association (CBA) was formed in 1937, and the New American Bible (NAB) was published in 1970.

Thought for the day :
" No really great man every thought himself so. "

Good Morning Everybody.

You Know The Drill
Click the Pics J

Coffee & Donuts J

Good morning SAM.

LOL! I love that cover! It's always the "guy" trying to fit into his old uniform, It's nice to see the woman vet being acknowledged in this humorous way.

1936 Rudyard Kipling author (Gunga Din, Nobel 1907), dies in Burwash England at 70

I loved the old Cary Grant movie they made based on Gunga Din and the American West version called "Sargeants Three" with the Rat pack.

Good Morning Fiddlstix.
Really appreciate the coffee on weekend mornings, what a way to relax and start the day.

Current Military News
504th Parachute Infantry

A U.S. soldier from 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment takes careful aim as he fires his machine gun during a live fire training exercise at the East river range in Bagram, Afghanistan Saturday Jan. 18, 2003. Two U.S. paratroopers were slightly injured in eastern Afghanistan when a parked bicycle rigged with explosives detonated as a patrol passed, a U.S. military spokesman said Saturday. The blast was the second attack on U.S. forces in the past few days using improvised explosives. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A U.S. soldier from 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment shoots during a live fire training exercise at the East river range in Bagram, Afghanistan (news - web sites) Saturday Jan. 18, 2003.

U.S. soldiers from 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment prepare their machine guns before a live fire training exercise at the East river range in Bagram, Afghanistan on Saturday Jan. 18, 2003

A U.S. soldier from 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment keeps alert at the back of an army truck after a live-fire training exercise at the east river range in Bagram, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003. The live-fire training is the most action many of these soldiers have seen in Afghanistan. Most of the serious fighting ended months ago, and the conflict has turned into a low-level hunt-and-seek guerrilla exercise. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

U.S. soldiers from 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment shoot mortars during a live-fire training exercise at the east river range in Bagram, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003.

U.S. soldiers from 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment fire their machine guns during a live-fire training exercise at the east river range in Bagram, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003.