So what should we toast today? It’s a tough one. In 1737, John Hancock, the first man to sign the American Declaration of independence was born. His signature has gone on to become one of the most famous in American History and gave rise to a great Chris Farley bit in the movie Tommy Boy (“It’s Herbie Hancock. Duh!”)
Some historians believe the first English parliament formally convened on this day in 1265. Consequently, on January 24th, 1265, those same historians believe the first case of political gridlock was reported.
In 1789, Georgetown University in Washington D.C. was founded. In 1973 Richard Nixon announced the Paris Accord, ending the Vietnam War was agreed to and would be signed in a few days later. One is a school I didn’t attend, the other is morbid, so I won’t use either of those.
Those are too obvious. As a child of the 90s, I’ll choose a different route. Today is also the 40th birthday of Tiffany Amber Thiessen (who now apparently has dropped the “Amber” from her name), of Saved By The Bell fame (and later Beverly Hills 90210, but we’re talking true artistic television here, not that later soap opera fluff.) Those of our age group who grew up with the kids from Bayside High tuned in regularly throughout our formative years to see how Zack, Slater, Screech, and the gang were faring. Those of us who were males were mostly tuning into watch Kelly Kapowski, played by Tiffany. Kelly was the hot one. She was popular, attractive, yet sensitive, and an early crush of many now 30-somethings who grew up on cheesy television.
So raise a glass today to the 90s and Kelly Kapowski, aka Tiffany (Amber) Thiessen!
