by tyler | Jan 25, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and environmentalist Carole King.
Birth date: February 9, 1942
Birth place: New York, New York
Birth name: Carol Joan Klein
Father: Sydney Klein, New York City fire lieutenant
Mother: Eugenia (Cammer) Klein, speech therapist
Marriages: Rick Sorenson (1982-divorced); Rick Evers (1977-1978, his death); Charles Larkey (1970-divorced); Gerry Goffin (1959-divorced)
Children: with Charles Larkey: Levi and Molly; with Gerry Goffin: Sherry and Louise
Education: Attended Queens College
Working with partner Gerry Goffin during the early 1960s, King composed melodies on piano, and Goffin wrote lyrics. They were based in the famed Brill Building in New York, an office complex where some of the catchiest tunes of the era were written for vocal groups.
King and Goffin’s songs were recorded by popular performers such as Aretha Franklin (“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”), the Drifters (“Up on the Roof”), the Chiffons (“One Fine Day”), the Monkees (“Pleasant Valley Sunday”), the Beatles (“Chains”), Linda Ronstadt (“Oh No, Not My Baby”) and James Taylor (“You’ve Got a Friend”).
Started playing piano when she was 4 years old.
Nominated for nine Grammy Awards and won four, plus a lifetime achievement award.
Nominated for one Primetime Emmy Award.
1960 – The Shirelles recording of King and Goffin’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” becomes their first hit single.
1962 – King and Goffin ask their teen babysitter, Eva Boyd, to record one of their songs, “The Loco-Motion.” The tune, which Boyd records under the stage name “Little Eva,” vaults to the top of the singles charts.
1967 – Moves to the Los Angeles area and forms a folk rock band, the City. Their only album, “Now That Everything’s Been Said,” is released in 1968.
1970 – King releases her first solo album, “Writer.”
February 10, 1971 – Her second album, “Tapestry,” is released. It hits No. 1 on the Billboard chart and stays there for 15 weeks. It is the first album by a female artist to be certified as “Diamond,” selling more than 15 million copies.
1972 – King wins four Grammy Awards: Record of the Year (“It’s Too Late”), Song of the Year (“You’ve Got a Friend”), Album of the Year (“Tapestry”) and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “Tapestry.”
May 1973 – Performs a free concert in New York City’s Central Park to an audience of nearly 100,000.
1987 – Is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with Goffin.
1990 – Is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Goffin.
2002-2005 – King has a recurring role as the owner of a music store on the television series, “Gilmore Girls.” The “Gilmore Girls” catchy opening theme is a re-recording of “Where You Lead,” King’s song on 1971’s “Tapestry.”
November 2007 – King and fellow singer-songwriter James Taylor play three nights at the famed Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood to celebrate the venue’s 50th anniversary. King also tours Japan with Mary J. Blige and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas as “Three Great American Voices.”
May 2009 – Testifies before Congress in support of a bill that will protect the ecosystem of the Northern Rocky Mountains, by preventing development and the promotion of wilderness expansion.
April 2012 – Her memoir, “A Natural Woman,” is published.
February 9, 2013 – Receives the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
2013 – Receives the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. She is the first woman to receive the award.
January 2014 – “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” opens on Broadway. The show chronicles King’s beginnings as a singer-songwriter and her professional and personal partnership with Goffin.
February 8, 2015 – The cast recording of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” wins the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.
December 29, 2015 – Receives the Kennedy Center Honors along with George Lucas, Rita Moreno, Seiji Ozawa and Cicely Tyson.
January 26, 2017 – After more than two decades, re-releases a version of “One Small Voice” in support of protests against President Donald Trump.
January 2, 2022 – “Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name,” a concert documentary, premieres on CNN.
March 16, 2022 – King testifies before Congress, speaking about her support for the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act and the connection between logging and increased wildfires.
by tyler | Jan 25, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Birth date: February 12, 1965
Birth place: Washington, DC
Birth name: Brett Michael Kavanaugh
Father: Everett Edward Kavanaugh Jr., president of a trade association
Mother: Martha Kavanaugh, teacher, prosecutor and judge
Marriage: Ashley (Estes) Kavanaugh
Children: Liza and Margaret
Education: Yale College, B.A., 1987, graduated cum laude; Yale Law School, J.D., 1990
Religion: Roman Catholic
Regularly taught courses on separation of powers and on the Supreme Court at Harvard Law School.
Kavanaugh finished the Boston Marathon in 2010 and in 2015.
1990-1991 – Law clerk to Judge Walter Stapleton of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
1991-1992 – Clerks for Judge Alex Kozinski of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
1992-1993 – Attorney with the Solicitor General’s Office at the Department of Justice.
1993-1994 – Serves as law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy.
1994-1997 and 1998 – Associate counsel for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigation, which leads to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
1997-1998 and 1999-2001 – Partner at Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, DC.
2001-2003 – Serves as associate counsel and then senior associate counsel to President George W. Bush.
July 25, 2003 – Bush nominates Kavanaugh to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but the Senate doesn’t vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination for almost three years.
July 2003-May 2006 – Serves as assistant and staff secretary to Bush.
May 26, 2006 – The Senate confirms Kavanaugh to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 57-36.
May 30, 2006 – Sworn in by Kennedy.
July 9, 2018 – President Donald Trump announces Kavanaugh as his nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Kennedy’s retirement.
September 4-7, 2018 – Confirmation hearings are held on Capitol Hill. A Senate Judiciary Committee vote is tentatively slated for the week of September 17.
September 16, 2018 – The Washington Post publishes an article about a California psychology professor who accuses Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when they were both teenagers at a house party during the early 1980s. Christine Blasey Ford says she initially sent a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein about the incident when Kavanaugh’s name was included on a shortlist for the Supreme Court. Ford tells the newspaper she initially did not want to go public but she decided to talk on the record because her letter to Feinstein had been leaked to the media. Kavanaugh denies that such an incident ever took place.
September 23, 2018 – The New Yorker magazine publishes a report about a second allegation of sexual misconduct, prompting Feinstein to call for a postponement of confirmation proceedings. The magazine article centers on a college classmate from Yale, Deborah Ramirez who says Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while a group of students were drinking at a party in a dorm during the 1983-1984 academic year. Kavanaugh denies the allegation and a White House spokeswoman dismisses the claim as uncorroborated.
September 27, 2018 – Kavanaugh and Ford testify during an all-day hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
September 28, 2018 – GOP Senator Jeff Flake, a member of the Judiciary Committee, agrees to vote yes, paving the way to a floor vote but he says the FBI should reopen its background investigation of Kavanaugh and spend a week looking into claims made by Kavanaugh’s accusers. Trump later agrees to direct the FBI to reopen its background check but the probe will be limited in scope and must be completed in a week.
October 3, 2018 – The FBI completes its supplemental background check and sends the information to the Senate late in the day.
October 4, 2018 – The Wall Street Journal publishes an op-ed by Kavanaugh in which argues that he is an independent, impartial judge. He expresses regret for a few of his statements during the September 27 hearing, explaining that he was frustrated and emotional. He pledges, going forward, that litigants and colleagues will be treated with respect. The same day, retired Justice John Paul Stevens says that Kavanaugh’s comments during his confirmation hearings suggest bias. Stevens says Kavanaugh should not serve on the Supreme Court.
October 6, 2018 – The Senate confirms Kavanaugh with a 50-48 vote. He is sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts during a private ceremony. The vote takes place amid public protests for and against Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
September 14, 2019 – The New York Times publishes an article adapted from a forthcoming book, “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh” that contains a new allegation of college sexual misconduct. According to the report, the FBI did not investigate the new allegation and the bureau did not speak with witnesses to verify Ramirez’s original claim.
July 2020 – An exclusive CNN report says Kavanaugh urged his colleagues in a series of private memos this spring to consider avoiding decisions in major disputes over abortion and Democratic subpoenas for Trump’s financial records, according to multiple sources familiar with the inner workings of the court.
October 28, 2020 – Kavanaugh tweaks a line in his controversial opinion on Wisconsin mail-in voting, after he received criticism for incorrectly saying Vermont had not changed its election rules due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
July 22, 2021 – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse releases a letter from the FBI disclosing that it received more than 4,500 tips on a phone line in 2018 as part of a background investigation Kavanaugh and provided “relevant” ones to former President Trump’s White House counsel.
October 1, 2021 – The Supreme Court announces that Kavanaugh has tested positive for Covid-19. This is the first publicly known case of coronavirus among the high court’s justices. Kavanaugh was fully vaccinated, according to the court.
June 8, 2022 – Nicholas John Roske is arrested near Kavanaugh’s house, after calling emergency authorities to say he was having suicidal thoughts, had a firearm in his suitcase, and had traveled from California “to kill a specific US Supreme Court Justice.” The Justice Department charges him with attempting to kidnap or murder a US judge.
January 20, 2023 – “Justice,” a documentary examining the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, premieres at the Sundance Film Festival.
by tyler | Jan 24, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of John Hickenlooper, former governor of Colorado and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
Birth date: February 7, 1952
Birth place: Narberth, Pennsylvania
Birth name: John Wright Hickenlooper Jr.
Father: John Hickenlooper Sr., a steel mill executive
Mother: Anne (Morris) MacDonald
Marriages: Robin Pringle (2016-present); Helen Thorpe (divorced)
Children: with Robin Pringle: Jack (December 8, 2022); with Helen Thorpe: Teddy
Education: Wesleyan University, B.A., English, 1974; Wesleyan University, M.A., Geology, 1980
Religion: Quaker
He suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness, a medical condition that makes it difficult to remember or recognize faces.
Is the first geologist to become a governor.
He plays a fictional senator in “Casino Jack,” a movie by his cousin George Hickenlooper, a filmmaker who died in 2010.
Hickenlooper struggled in school due to dyslexia.
1981-1986 – Works as an exploration geologist for Buckhorn Petroleum.
1988 – Opens the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Colorado’s first brewpub.
2003-2011 – Serves as mayor of Denver.
August 24, 2007 – Hickenlooper sells his stake in Wynkoop Brewing and its associated restaurants to his business managers and employees.
January 11, 2011-January 8, 2019 – Serves as governor of Colorado.
December 4, 2012 – Is appointed vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association.
March 20, 2013 – Signs three gun-control measures into law, including one that will require universal background checks for gun sales.
March 17, 2016 – Launches Skillful, an online service to help people without degrees find skill-based jobs, alongside LinkedIn co‐founder Allen Blue and Zoe Baird, CEO of the Markle Foundation.
March 4, 2019 – In a video titled “Standing Tall,” Hickenlooper announces he is running for president in 2020.
August 15, 2019 – Ends his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
August 22, 2019 – Announces his Senate candidacy.
June 5, 2020 – Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission rules that Hickenlooper twice violated ethics laws in 2018. The complaint by a conservative group claims that Hickenlooper violated the state’s gift ban while he was governor. Hickenlooper is later fined almost $3,000 and is not expected to appeal the ruling.
November 3, 2020 – Hickenlooper is elected to the US Senate from Colorado, defeating Republican incumbent Cory Gardner.
August 19, 2021 – In a statement, Hickenlooper announces that he has tested positive for a breakthrough case of Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms.
by tyler | Jan 24, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of John Roberts, chief justice of the United States.
Birth date: January 27, 1955
Birth place: Buffalo, New York
Birth name: John Glover Roberts Jr.
Father: John Glover Roberts Sr., steel company executive
Mother: Rosemary (Podrasky) Roberts
Marriage: Jane (Sullivan) Roberts (July 27, 1996-present)
Children: Adopted with Jane Roberts: John and Josephine
Education: Harvard University, A.B., 1976; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1979
Religion: Roman Catholic
He grew up in Long Beach, Indiana.
As an attorney for the government and in private practice, he argued 39 cases before the US Supreme Court and won 25 of them.
Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution.
Roberts is the youngest chief justice since John Marshall in 1801.
1979-1980 – Clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly, US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
1980-1981 – Clerk for Associate Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist.
1981-1982 – Special assistant to US Attorney General William French Smith.
1982-1986 – Associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan.
1986-1989 – Partner and head of the appellate division at Hogan & Hartson, Washington, DC.
1989 – Roberts argues his first case before the Supreme Court: United States v. Halper.
1989-1993 – Principal deputy solicitor general for the US government.
1992 – Is nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The nomination is never acted upon by the Senate.
1993 – Suffers a seizure.
1993-2003 – Returns to Hogan & Hartson.
2001 – Roberts represents 18 states and the District of Columbia in the appeal to the Microsoft antitrust case, U.S. v. Microsoft.
May 2001 – Is nominated by President George W. Bush to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The vote stalls when the Democrats take control of the Senate in June 2001.
November 13, 2002 – Roberts defends Megan’s Law before the Supreme Court. The law creates a registry for sex offenders that can be searched online.
May 8, 2003 – The Senate unanimously votes to confirm his appointment to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
September 5, 2005 – Is nominated by George W. Bush to be chief justice of the United States following the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist.
September 12-15, 2005 – Senate confirmation hearings take place. On September 29, the Senate votes 78-22 to confirm Roberts.
2007 – Suffers another seizure. The Supreme Court later says in a statement that doctors called the episode a “benign idiopathic seizure,” similar to the one suffered by Roberts in 1993. An idiopathic seizure is one with no identifiable physiological cause.
January 21, 2009 – Re-administers the oath of office to President Barack Obama one day after the official swearing-in ceremony, during which Roberts misplaced a word in the oath and caused Obama to stumble over the recitation.
June 28, 2012 – In National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius, Roberts casts the deciding vote, 5-4, and writes the majority opinion in favor of the Affordable Care Act.
June 25, 2013 – The court strikes down portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, with Roberts writing in the majority opinion that “our country has changed,” suggesting that many of the issues addressed by the law have been resolved.
June 25, 2015 – Roberts writes the court’s majority decision in King v. Burwell, saving the Affordable Care Act by authorizing federal tax credits for eligible Americans living not only in states with their own exchanges but also in the 34 states with federal marketplaces.
June 26, 2015 – Roberts writes a dissent against the court’s ruling that legalizes same-sex marriage nationwide.
May 23, 2016 – With a majority opinion written by Roberts, the court rules in favor of a death row inmate who claims he did not get a fair trial because of racial discrimination during the jury selection process.
December 31, 2017 – Roberts announces, in his year-end report on the state of the judiciary, that an evaluation of how the judicial branch handles allegations of sexual harassment will take place in 2018. Roberts says recent events “have illuminated the depth of the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace” and made clear that the “judicial branch is not immune.”
June 26, 2018 – Roberts writes the majority opinion upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban stating, “The Proclamation is squarely within the scope of Presidential authority.”
November 21, 2018 – Roberts issues a statement in response to Trump criticizing District Court Judge Jon Tigar as an “Obama judge.” Roberts says, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
January 16, 2020 – After being sworn in by Sen. Chuck Grassley, Roberts administers an oath to US senators to do “impartial justice, according to the Constitution and laws.” Roberts will preside over the impeachment trial against President Trump.
January 22, 2020 – Scolds both the Democratic House managers and Trump’s defense team after a contentious exchange on the Senate floor during the impeachment trial, saying, “I think it is appropriate for me to admonish both the House managers and the President’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body.”
January 30, 2020 – Roberts publicly refuses to read a question from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky during the Senate impeachment trial that names the alleged Ukraine whistleblower.
February 5, 2020 – Roberts is presented a golden gavel for presiding over the impeachment trial before thanking the Senate and officially adjourning the trial. Trump was acquitted on both articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
June 21, 2020 – Roberts is briefly hospitalized after falling while walking near his home, according to a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court.
May 3, 2022 – Roberts announces the Supreme Court will investigate the leak of a draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade. In a statement, Roberts says, “This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here. I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.” On January 19, 2023, the Supreme Court issues an investigative report, announcing that it has yet to determine who leaked a draft opinion.
June 29, 2023 – Roberts delivers the majority opinion ending affirmative action for college admission programs.
by tyler | Jan 24, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at horse racing’s Triple Crown. The three races in the Triple Crown are the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
A horse must win all three races to achieve the Triple Crown.
There have been 13 Triple Crown winners:
– 1919 Sir Barton
– 1930 Gallant Fox
– 1935 Omaha
– 1937 War Admiral
– 1941 Whirlaway
– 1943 Count Fleet
– 1946 Assault
– 1948 Citation
– 1973 Secretariat
– 1977 Seattle Slew
– 1978 Affirmed
– 2015 American Pharoah
– 2018 Justify
June 9, 2018 – Justify, ridden by Mike Smith, wins the 150th Belmont Stakes. Justify becomes the 13th horse to achieve the Triple Crown. Justify is the first undefeated horse to complete the Triple Crown since 1977.
The Kentucky Derby is traditionally run the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Derby is 1.25 miles in length.
The age limit for horses in the Derby is 3 years.
The winner is given a blanket of roses, so the race is also known as the “run for the roses.”
1875 – The Kentucky Derby is established.
May 6, 2023 – Mage, a 3-year-old chestnut colt, wins the 149th Kentucky Derby.
The Preakness is traditionally run the third Saturday in May at Pimlico in Baltimore.
The Preakness is 1 and 3/16 miles in length.
The winner is covered by a blanket of black-eyed Susans.
May 27, 1873 – The first Preakness Stakes is run.
1890-1909 – The Preakness is run at Gravesend Track in Brooklyn, New York.
May 20, 2023 – National Treasure wins the 148th running of the Preakness Stakes.
The Belmont Stakes is generally run on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
The longest of the three triple crown races at 1.5 miles; often referred to as the “Test of the Champion.”
Secretariat set a world record at the race that still stands for the mile and a half distance on a dirt track at 2:24.
The winner of the race is given a blanket made of between 300-400 white carnations, the traditional flower of the Belmont Stakes.
The Belmont Stakes is the oldest of the Triple Crown events.
June 19, 1867 – The first Belmont Stakes takes place at Jerome Park in the Bronx, New York.
June 10, 2023 – Jena Antonucci becomes the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when Arcangelo wins the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes.
by tyler | Jan 23, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome “Jay” Powell.
Birth date: February 4, 1953
Birth place: Washington, DC
Birth name: Jerome Hayden Powell
Father: Jerome Powell, attorney
Mother: Patricia (Hayden) Powell, mathematician
Marriage: Elissa (Leonard) Powell (1985-present)
Children: Samuel, Lucy and Susie
Education: Princeton University, A.B. in Politics, 1975; Georgetown University, J.D., 1979
Was editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Law Journal.
Powell is the first chairman in 40 years not to hold a Ph.D. in economics.
Avid cyclist who has been known to ride his bike to work at the Fed.
1984-1990 – Works at the investment bank Dillon, Read & Co.
1990-1993 – Assistant Secretary and then Under Secretary of the Treasury for Finance, under US President George H. W. Bush.
1997-2005 – Partner at The Carlyle Group, a private equity and asset management firm.
2010-2012 – Visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC.
May 25, 2012-present – Serves on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Reappointed and sworn in on June 16, 2014, for a 14-year term ending January 31, 2028.
April 2017 – Powell is appointed to head oversight of the “too big to fail” banks.
November 2, 2017 – US President Donald Trump announces Powell as his nominee to replace Janet Yellen as the next Fed chair.
December 5, 2017 – The Senate Banking Committee votes 22 to 1 in favor of advancing Powell’s nomination, with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren as the only member in opposition.
January 23, 2018 – Wins Senate confirmation by a vote of 84-13 with strong bipartisan support.
February 5, 2018 – Takes office as the 16th chairman of the Federal Reserve, for a four-year term.
January 4, 2019 – During a panel discussion at the annual American Economic Association conference, Powell says he would not resign if pressured to do so by Trump. Trump repeatedly criticized Powell for continuing to tighten monetary policy, saying on Twitter that it was the “only problem” with the economy. The President also asked advisers amid increasing market volatility whether he can fire Powell.
November 12, 2020 – During a virtual panel discussion at the European Central Bank’s Forum on Central Banking, Powell says “we’re not going back to the same economy” we knew before the coronavirus pandemic.
November 22, 2021 – Biden formally announces his intent to nominate Powell to serve as the chairman of the Federal Reserve for a second term and nominate Lael Brainard to serve as the Fed’s vice chair.
May 12, 2022 – The US Senate confirms Powell to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The final vote is 80-19.
January 18, 2023 – Announces that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.
