1927 - The HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS played their first game in Hinckley, Illinois.
1958 - LITTLE RICHARD quit his music career to enroll at Oakwood Bible College in Huntsville, Alabama.
--He made the decision after his plane caught fire while he was on tour. He promised God he'd study the Bible if he didn't go down in flames. However, Little Richard doesn't mind going down ON flames . . . yes???
1967 - (--Speaking of flames . . .) Astronauts GUS GRISSOM, ED WHITE and ROGER CHAFFEE died on the Cape Kennedy launch pad when their Apollo command module became engulfed in fire.
1968 - (--More flames . . .) OTIS REDDING'S "Dock of the Bay" was released, six weeks after Otis and four members of his band were killed when their plane went down in flames.
1973 - HENRY KISSINGER and the very sexy LE DUC THO of North Vietnam signed the Vietnam Peace Treaty. (???)
1977 - THE VATICAN reaffirmed God's Will that the Roman Catholic Church continue to BAN FEMALE PRIESTS. (????????)
1993 - The great ANDRE THE GIANT died of a heart attack at the age of 46. Acromegaly is THE silent killer of our times. (???)
1998 - In the midst of the MONICA LEWINSKY scandal, First Lady HILLARY CLINTON appeared on NBC's "Today" show, charging that the allegations against her husband were the work of a "VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY"!!!
2003 - MATTEL lost its copyright infringement lawsuit against the band AQUA for their completely obnoxious song "Barbie Girl".
--The Supreme Court ruled that the song is a parody and a social commentary, and is thus protected by the First Amendment.
2005 - Mentally unstable rapper HOUSTON locked himself in a London bathroom and GOUGED OUT HIS LEFT EYE in an attempt to rid himself of the Devil. (???) (--You can see a VERY gross picture of the eye here.)
2010 - "Catcher in the Rye" author J.D. SALINGER died three weeks after his 91st birthday. Mark David Chapman had it with him when he killed John Lennon.
2010 - ZELDA RUBINSTEIN . . . the short chick from "Poltergeist" . . . died of natural causes. She was 76 and towered over the rest of the world at 4'3".
2010 - STEVE JOBS unveiled the iPAD at a press conference in San Francisco. This March, you will FINALLY be able to view "Playboy" magazine . . . in its entirety . . . on YOUR iPad.
(--You can preview Friday's Back in the Day events here.)