157 years ago – In 1866, Lucy B. Hobbs (Taylor) became America’s First Female Dentist.

145 years ago – In 1878, in New Haven, Connecticut, the First Telephone Directory was issued.  It contained 50 numbers . . . 11 homes, 38 businesses, and the Police Department.

92 years ago – In 1931, Alka-Seltzer was first introduced.  Julianna Margulies’s dad helped come up with the famous “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz” ad campaign.

76 years ago – In 1947, Edwin H. Land demonstrated the First Self-Developing Instant Camera.  It produced a black and white photograph in 60 seconds.  He called it the Polaroid.

(Six seconds later, he invented instant amateur pornography.)

75 years ago – In 1948, NASCAR was founded.

58 years ago – In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated . . . allegedly by rivals from the Nation of Islam.  He was only 39.  He was shot in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun . . . while two other men fired semi-automatic handguns.

The autopsy identified 21 gunshot wounds to his chest, left shoulder, arms and legs, including 10 buckshot wounds from the initial shotgun blast.

57 years ago – In 1966, “One Million Years B.C.”, starring Raquel Welch, was released in the U.S.

55 years ago – In 1968, the Minimum Annual Salary for Major League Baseball players became $10,000.  This year it’s $700,000.

53 years ago – In 1970, The Jackson 5 debuted on “American Bandstand”.

42 years ago – In 1981, Dolly Parton’s “Nine to Five“ hit #1 on the pop chart.

37 years ago – In 1986, the naughty erotic thriller “Nine-and-a-Half Weeks” was released . . . starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke.

35 years ago – In 1988, Jimmy Swaggart confessed to his congregation that he had sinned . . . by FORNICATING in a motel with a streetwalker named Debra Murphree.  She described Swaggart as “cheap and quick.”

31 years ago – In 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi won the Olympic Gold Medal in women’s figure skating.  Midori Ito of Japan won silver, and Nancy Kerrigan got the bronze.

22 years ago – In 2001, Eminem won three awards at the Grammys.  Steely Dan won Album of the Year for “Two Against Nature”, plus Best Pop Album and Best Group Pop Performance for “Cousin Dupree”.