A Brief History On December 21, 1898, the chemical element radium (Ra) was discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie who had isolated it from uranium. Digging Deeper When radium decays, it produces ionizing radiation that causes radioluminescence, in other words, it glows in the dark.  This characteristic led to the use of radium-laced paint for measuring devices such as watches, clocks, aircraft switches and instrument dials, so that they could be used at night.  Due to their smaller hands being able to do extra fine craftsmanship, women were employed by factories to apply the self-luminous paint to the aforementioned products.  The women would routinely…

A Brief History On November 29, 2009, career criminal Maurice Clemmons killed four Lakewood, Washington police officers with shots to the head while they were sitting in a coffee shop.  Clemmons was a career criminal and apparently some kind of nut who that had been released early from prison in 2000 by then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in what turned out to be a blunder of epic proportions. (Thanks a lot, Governor.) Digging Deeper Returning to a life of crime upon release, Clemmons racked up numerous felony charges in Arkansas and then Washington State where he had moved to in 2004. …

A Brief History On November 28, 1967, the Number 1 song in the United States was “Daydream Believer” by the Monkees, a made-for-television rock band with its own zany television show. Certainly a Number 1 song is a big deal, and television gave us much iconic music and many iconic musical performances.  Here 10 such instances are listed, some famous, some less famous.   Digging Deeper 10. Rhythm Heritage, “Theme from S.W.A.T.,” 1976. Upon reaching Number 1 on the U.S. music charts in February of 1976, the “Theme from S.W.A.T.” became the first television theme song to hit that lofty height.  Three months later…

A Brief History On November 27, 1968, the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association, the ABA, a major league basketball rival of the National Basketball Association, the NBA, actually put a woman on the court during a real basketball game.  Letting Penny Ann Early play was just a publicity stunt, but it was valid, making her the first (and so far only) woman to play on a men’s top professional American sports team. Digging Deeper If you are unfamiliar with the ABA, it was an upstart rival to the NBA that operated from 1967 to 1976 before it merged with the NBA.  It used…

A Brief History On November 26, 1977, the people of southern Britain were astonished to find their afternoon televisions hijacked by an entity claiming to be “Vrillon.” (Some television viewers reported the entity’s name to be Gillon or Asteron.) Digging Deeper Hijacking a television signal, even for only 6 minutes (5:10 pm to 5:16 pm) is highly unusual to say the least.  That the hijacker claimed to represent the “Ashtar Galactic Command” is even more bizarre.   The hijacked signal came from the Hannington transmitter, a type of transmitter that does not receive its signal via cable but rather one that rebroadcasts…