GMT

Today in History: February 13

1542 Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is beheaded for adultery.

1692 In the Glen Coe highlands of Scotland, thirty-eight members of the MacDonald clan are murdered by soldiers of the neighboring Campbell clan for not pledging allegiance to William of Orange. Ironically the pledge had been made but not communicated to the clans. The event is remembered as the Massacre of Glencoe.

1865 The Confederacy approves the recruitment of slaves as soldiers, as long as the approval of their owners is gained.

1866 Jesse James holds up his first bank.

1936 First social security checks are put in the mail.

1949 A mob burns a radio station in Ecuador after the broadcast of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds."


Born on February 13

1919 Tennessee Ernie Ford, country and gospel singer.

1922 Harold "Hal" Moore Jr., US Army lieutenant general, author; led 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment at 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley; his best-known book, co-authored with combat journalist Joe Galloway, is "We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young," an account of that battle.

1923 Charles "Chuck" Yeager, American test pilot, the first man to break the sound barrier.

JOTD
Parent Teacher conference

A boy tells his father, "Dad, our math teacher is asking to see you."
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The father asks, "What happened?"
"Well she asks me, 'how much is 7 * 9?' I answer '63' , then she asks, 'and 9 * 7?' so I ask 'what's the fricking difference?'"
"Indeed, what is the difference?" asks the father. ''Sure, I'll go.''
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The next day, the boy comes home from school and asks, "Dad, have you gone by the school?"
"Not yet," the dad replies.
The boy says, "Well when you do, come and see the gym teacher also."
"Why?" asks the father.
The boy answers, "Well we had a gym class today, and he asked me to raise my left arm, so I did. Then my right arm, so I raised it. Then he asked me to lift my right leg, so I did. 'Now,' he says, 'lift your left leg,' so I answer 'What, am I suppose to stand on my cock!?'"
"Exactly," says the father. "Alright, I'll come."
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The next day, the boy asks his father, "Did you go by the school?"
"No, not yet."
"Don't bother, I got expelled."
The father asks surprised, "Why did you get expelled?"
"They summoned me to the principal's office, and there were the math teacher, the gym teacher, and the art teacher."
"The frick was the art teacher doing there?" the father asked.
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"That's what I said" the boy replies.