The Daily Dose/March 24, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
Leading Off will return.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow considers telling a joke while manning the county’s virus hotline. Today’s Diary,
One of the people answering phones was the lady from the Election Department…I told her I could be on the ballot this June in a Minor Party primary and inquired as to whether or not she would find a joke about asking who to bribe to ensure I carried our county funny…She heard the word “bribe” and immediately got rather serious, completely missing the whole point of my joke so, officially, the joke was never made, merely run up the flagpole to see in she would salute and withdrawn when she didn’t.
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On This Date
Great moments in us.
In 1989 – The Exxon Valdez, sailing outside of normal shipping lanes in Prince William Sound, Alaska, runs aground. Eventually, the tanker would spill 10.8 million gallons of crude oil, affecting roughly 1,300 miles of coastline, with cleanup efforts hampered by the fact the sound is only accessible by helicopter, plane or boat. An investigation showed, among other things, the ship’s radar, which would have warned of the reef, had been inoperable for a year and that the crew was fatigued. It was the largest oil spill in US waters until the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010.
In 1936 – The longest game in NHL history is played, when the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in six overtimes in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series. The only goal was scored by Mud Bruneteau 16 minutes and 30 seconds into the sixth overtime. The 176-minute game broke the record of 164 minutes – also six overtimes – when the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 in the fifth and deciding game of their 1933 Stanley Cup semifinal series. – Editor’s Note: though the game actually ended at 2:25am on March 25, the NHL record considers the game to have been played on March 24.
In 1951 – Tennessee Ernie Ford is at #1 on Billboard’s Most-Played Juke Box (Country and Western) Records chart – one of several predecessors to today’s country chart – for the eleventh of 14 consecutive weeks with Shotgun Boogie. It was Ford’s second of three #1s on the country chart and remains his biggest country hit. The song also peaked at #14 on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not…?– Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
The two men who succeeded Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia were Edmund Randolph (1786) and Thomas Jefferson (1779).
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
How many Top 40 hits did Tennessee Ernie Ford have on Billboard’s pop charts? – Answer next time!
