HumorMatterstm

New Year's Humor 
Today and in History

Source The Associated Press

- Today is Tuesday, Dec. 31, the 365th day of 2002. This is the last day of the year 2002. Today is New Year's Eve.

- On Dec. 31, 1879: Thomas Edison publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.

- In 1775: The British repulsed an attack by Continental Army Gens. Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec. Montgomery was killed.

- In 1862: President Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union.

- In 1897: Brooklyn, N.Y., was on the eve as a separate entity before becoming part of New York City.

- In 1946: President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

- In 1961: The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid. 

- In 1974: Americans were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.

- In 1978: Taiwanese diplomats struck their colors for the last time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, marking the end of diplomatic relations with the United States.

- In 1985: Singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people died in a fire aboard a DC-3 while they were en route to Dallas for a New Year's Eve performance.

- In 1986: Fire killed 97 people in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the blaze. 

- In 1989: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir fired Science Minister Ezer Weizman, accusing him of meeting with officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

- In 1994: Bosnian government officials and Bosnian Serb leaders signed a U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement; Russian ground forces launched a ferocious assault on the Chechen capital of Grozny.

- In 1997: Michael Kennedy, 39-year-old son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.

- in 1998: Europe's leaders proclaimed a new era as 11 nations merged currencies to create the euro, a shared money they said would boost business, underpin unity and strengthen roles in world affairs. 

*Happy Birthday*
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- Folk and blues singer Odetta is 72.
- Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is 65.
- Actress Sarah Miles is 61.
- Rock musician Andy Summers is 60.
- Actor Ben Kingsley is 59.
- Movie producer-director Taylor Hackford is 58.
- Fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg is 56.
- Actor Tim Matheson is 55.
- Pop singer Burton Cummings (Guess Who) is 55.
- Singer Donna Summer is 54.
- Actor Joe Dallesandro is 54.
- Rock musician Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith) is 51.
- Actor James Remar is 49.
- Actress Bebe Neuwirth is 44.
- Actor Val Kilmer is 43.
- Singer Paul Westerberg is 43.
- Rock musician Scott Ian (Anthrax) is 39.
- Pop singer Joe McIntyre (New Kids on the Block) is 30.