070109: Water Cooler News

Water Cooler News for Wednesday, July 1, 2009

It’s a mid-week Wednesday, but for many, it’s also one day closer to a long weekend! We’re heading for another Independence Day weekend which means many people have Friday off.

Hope you’re making some great plans for your July 4th celebration!

As we find ourselves half-way through this week, I once again want to make sure you’re ready for your daily Water Cooler gathering. You can once again be armed with some funny news stories and other historical tidbits of information to wow your colleagues.

In this edition of the Water Cooler News…

• Son Robs Ambulance While Mom Is Treated
• Pay Up…Or Mr. Coffee Gets It!
• Man’s Best Friend Accused of Eating Checks

In The Funny-News Category

Son Robs Ambulance While Mom Is Treated
An Elizabethton, Tennessee boy’s interest in medicine is surpassed only by his interest in crime. Authorities say the boy was arrested for stealing medical supplies from an ambulance while paramedics treated his mother. Police say he stole five thousand dollars worth of provisions, including an oxygen tank and an oxygen sensor machine. Police also said the boy took a purse from one of the EMTs and claim he swiped credit cards, a cell phone and a portable video game from another car he broke into earlier in the day.

Pay Up…Or Mr. Coffee Gets It
Police in Lincoln, Nebraska cited 54-year-old Kyra Kinkade with suspicion of misdemeanor larceny after she took her niece’s Mr. Coffee machine and refused to return it because the niece would not pay Kinkade for looking after her home while she was away. Kinkade told her niece she would give back the machine when she received 48 dollars as payment for the house-sitting work she did.

Man’s Best Friend Accused of Eating Checks
50 year old Kristin Banfield is accused of withdrawing funds from her ex-huband’s bank account. Authorities in Arlington, Washington said she told them she stole the money because she couldn’t pay her bills from own account, because her dog ate all of her checks. Banfield said she was forced to take her ex-husband’s money because her dog got into her purse and ate all of her personal checks. Banfield is currently under investigation for identity theft and forgery.

Historical Tidbits

Today is…
Canada Day
Court TV Debut Anniversary - 1991
First Photographs Used in a Newspaper Report - 1848
First Scheduled TV Broadcast Anniversary - 1941
- The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) began broadcasting from the Empire State building on this day.
First US Postage Stamps Issued - 1847
First US Zoo Anniversary - 1874
- The Philadelphia Zoological Society Zoo opened as the first zoo in the United States.
Nick at Nite Premiered - 1985
Walkman Debuted - 1979
Zip Codes Inaugurated - 1963
- The U.S. issued its first adhesive postage stamps, a five-cent stamp
bearing a likeness of Ben Franklin and a 10-cent one with George
Washington’s picture on it. The cost of mailing a letter at the time was
five cents an ounce. If the customer had a letter that weighed less than one ounce, but only had a ten-cent stamp, he or she merely cut the stamp in half and used one of the pieces.

Notable birthdays…
Olivia de Havilland, 93, actress (Gone With The Wind)
Jamie Farr, 75, actor (M*A*S*H)
Sydney Pollack, 75, filmmaker (Tootsie)
Debbie Harry, 64
Fred Schneider, 58, singer (The B-52s)
Dan Aykroyd, 5
Julianne Nicholson, 38, actress (Law and Order: Criminal Intent)
Liv Tyler, 32, actress

Born on this date…also known as the late…
Princess Diana–1961-1997/married and divorced Prince Charles. Died in a car accident in France along with boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.
Sydney Pollack–1934-2008/movie director-actor, Tootsie, Out of Africa

Music History
1979 - The Doobie Brothers celebrated their 10th anniversary with an all-star jam at the Friars Club in Los Angeles.

1975 - Ringo Starr divorced his wife, Maureen Cox.

1970 - Jimi Hendrix recorded his first session at the studio he built in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Electric Ladyland.

1968 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono were hospitalized after a car wreck in Scotland.

1956 -  Elvis Presley appeared on The Steve Allen Show, on which the host instructed him NOT to dance and instead had him sing “Hound Dog” to a real live basset hound while wearing a tie and tails.

General History
1943 - The U.S. Government began automatically withholding federal income tax from paychecks.

1972 - After 1,729 performances, Hair closed. Not only did the musical enjoy a four-year run onstage, it also spawned a trio of hits, all in 1969: a #1 with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” a #2 with “Hair” and a #3 with “Good Morning Starshine.”

1986 - The Supreme Court said the Oakland Raiders were free to leave Oakland for Los Angeles. Owner Al Davis moved the team to L.A. and then, a few years later, moved it back to Oakland.

1991 - Michael Landon died after a battle with cancer. He was 54.

1995 - Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack in Belvidere, North Carolina. He was 57.

1996 - Actress-model Margaux Hemingway died at her apartment in Santa Monica, California. She was 41.

1997 - Robert Mitchum died in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 79.

Yours in Water Cooler News!
Dr. Rus