Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine was awarded patent #188,292 for Ear-Muffs on this date in 1873.

He was 15 years old.

He reportedly came up with the idea while ice skating, and had his grandmother sew tufts of fur (get over it PETA!) between loops of wire.

He went on to manufacture these ‘ear protectors’ for almost 60 years.

He provided jobs for folks in the Farmington area for the rest of his life!

And he kept Americans warm.

in 1836, 155 Texas Heroes and Freedom Fighters died in what is known as the Battle of The Alamo. 

In 1835 the Texan government dismissed its commander in chief, General Sam Houston, for recommending that the fort at San Antonio be abandoned. Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis and James Bowie (of the Bowie Knife Fame) were placed in command of about 155 men at the Alamo.

When Mexican General Santa Anna showed up with between 3,000 and 4,000 Mexican troops, the Alamo heroes were able to hold off from February 23 until March 06.

The odds being what they were, there were no survivors, with the exception of 30 non-combatants, the Texas Spirit and the will of the Texan People to gain their independence from Mexico.

Like The Maine, Pearl Harbor, The Buring of Washington, and 9-1-1, never forget…Remember The Alamo.

…Liz Taylor…She’s 78 today.

You all know I’m a huge fan.  So this is a holiday for me!

She’s gone from the winsome child star to the most beautiful woman in Hollywood and an award winning actress to “the Grande Dame” of Tinseltown.  With stellar Oscar winning performances in “Butterfield 8″ and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe”, her classic portrayal of the girl who wants to ride in “National Velvet” and the vamp of the Nile, “Cleopatra”, Elizabeth Taylor has charmed audiences for over 60 years.   Her philantrophic work has raised millions for several causes, including AIDS research. 

Her art and jewelry collections continue to be the envy of many collectors and her loans to museums are coveted.

She’s truly a Grande Dame!

Regardless of her ‘trashed through the tabloids’ life, Liz has thrilled us all.   She’s living proof that a life of excess can rob one of beauty, health, and viablilty, but she…remains a National Treasure.

Happy Birthday Dame Elizabeth!

Gloria Vanderbilt.

The younger generation may know her only as Anderson Cooper’s mother, but Gloria Vanderbilt had quite a life of her own prior to her son’s celebrity.

She was a media star from an early age.

Born to Reggie and Gloria (yes, she named her after herself!), Little Gloria was passed from family member to family member via the courts after a nasty, nasty, nasty custody battle.

Her Aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney ended UP with her most of the time, since Mama was a tad nuts!  And frankly, Aunt Gertrude wasn’t much better.

Big Gloria was a socialite, only concerned with her own celebrity and hedonistic life.  Little Gloria was subjected to many scenes which a child should never see.  So, Aunt Gertrude ended up with her.

A member of one of the wealtihest families in America, one of her ancestors built the Biltmore House in North Carolina, she was a child of privilege and had the best of everything, except family life.  Shuttled between and educated in top notch private schools, Little Gloria took off for Hollywood at 17 where she promptly married Pasquale DeCicco.  It lasted less than four years.  It was the first of four marriages.  Her last husband was Wyatt Emory Cooper, the father of Anderson and his brother, Carter who committed suicide by jumping from their 14th floor New York City apartment.

Her career coverd the theater, movies, scents, and fashion.  She She is the Queen of Designer Jeans, and is credited with starting the designer jean onslaught of the late 1970s and 1980s.  She even did some of her own ads.

She became known for her artwork, giving one-woman shows of oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels. This artwork was adapted and licensed, starting about 1968, by Hallmark and by Bloomcraft, and Vanderbilt began designing specifically for linens, china, glassware and flatware.

During the 1970s, she ventured into the fashion business, first with Glentex, licensing her name for a line of scarves. In 1976, Indian designer Mohan Murjani’s Murjani Corporation, proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Vanderbilt’s name embossed in script on the back pocket, as well as her swan logo. Vanderbilt appeared in a series of television ads promoting her products, and the line flourished. After Murjani, she began her own company, “GV Ltd.”, on 7th Avenue in New York.

She also wrote a very trashy novel, Obsession: An Erotic Tale, which is not fit to read and should never have seen the first drop of ink.  It involves sado-maschoism with all the trimmings and includes kitchen herbs and vegetables.  There’s a Unicorn as well, but he remains in the background, and is never brought into the plot.  Whew! 

Today, Vanderbilt is not involved in the fashion or home furnishings business and is in no way affiliated with the clothing and accessories company that uses her name.

She’s 85 today. 

Maybe she is Happy At Last!