Today in History January 17th

In 1929, His an iconic rascal endearing to history, a fictional hero. His name is Popeye the Sailor Man.  Popeye was created by Elzie Crisler Sega and syndicated by the New York Journal for the Thimble Theatre Page, through King Features, on December 19, 1919.

Popeye the Sailor Man: “I yam what I yam” – he‘s feisty yet endearing!

Jan. 17, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address in which he warned against “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.

In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., ruled 5-4 that the use of home video cassette recorders to tape television programs for private viewing did not violate federal copyright laws.

Happy Birthday

1706 Benjamin Franklin, US Founding Father, inventor, ambassador and writer (Poor Richards Almanac), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1790)

1880 Mack Sennett, movie creator (Keystone Kops)

1882 Arnold Rothstein, American gambler and mobster (fixed 1919 World Series), born in NYC, New York (d, 1928)

1899 Al Capone, American gangster (Chicago bootlegging), born in Brooklyn, New York

1900 George Sperti, American inventor (Preparation H), born in Covington, Kentucky (d. 1991)

1922 Betty White [Ludden], American actress and comedian with the longest TV career of a female entertainer (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls), born in Oak Park Illinois