Humanoid robots suck; Trump, science, Florida Man year in review; Alzheimer's reversed (in mice); Doomsday Glacier update.
It's Bacon Day!
We’re taking the second half of our holiday break and will return on Monday, January 5. In the meantime, check out KGB Report Notes for periodic posts.
The Trump year in review…
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December 30 is the 364th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; one day remains until the end of the year.
(Note: none of the links below are behind paywalls. They’re either on free sites or are gift articles. If you land on a page obscured by pop-ups asking for your email or showing a subscription offer, just look in the upper right corner of the pop-up for the close icon.)
Trump tells fans to donate to him or else Dems will steal their money. Donald Trump sent a crazed donation request email.
Donald Trump in his own words – the year in racism and misogyny.
FACT FOCUS: Trump says he’s ended eight wars. His numbers are off.
Why the Supreme Court is giving ICE so much power. The Constitution inarguably applies to federal immigration agents—but the Supreme Court has taken away the hope of ever holding them to that standard.
Something is making humanoid robot makers worry: the robots suck. This entire product category is starting to look like a bunch of overpriced junk.
Scientists reverse Alzheimer’s in mice and restore memory. For more than 100 years, Alzheimer’s disease has been treated as a one-way decline—but new research is turning that belief on its head.
Researchers say that giving a child a smartphone before age 13 could be dangerous. The researchers concluded that owning a smartphone was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence, and recommended the development of public policy to protect young people.
If all the money in the U.S. was distributed evenly, how much would each person get? TLDR: $471,465, and the figure includes the entire population, including babies and children.
Ten most dangerous jobs in America — are they worth the paycheck?
Doomsday glacier approaching catastrophic collapse. Large cracks forming in Thwaites Glacier, an enormous shelf of ice in the Antarctic, are continuing to weaken its structural integrity. Doomsday has never been closer.
Peruvian shamans predict Maduro’s fall, continued global conflicts in 2026. Before Monday’s ceremony, the shamans met to drink hallucinogenic concoctions derived from native plants — including Ayahuasca and the San Pedro cactus — which are believed to give them the power to predict the future.
Everything science taught us about health and wellness in 2025. Vital info, like gargling with pickle juice can stop cramps.
Florida Man year in review: Clowns, Chuck E. Cheese, Batman greatest hits of 2025.
Bookmark KGB Report Notes and check periodically for cartoons, memes, news, commentary and other stuff that didn’t fit or broke between e-mail newsletter issues. It’s also a great place to comment and chat.
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in Quote of the Day, Holidays, On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll learn something new.
History highlight:
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein was executed.
Quote of the Day:
There is no man living who can overcome the ingrained prejudice of social disadvantages.
--Stephen Leacock (Wikipedia link)
(More Stephen Leacock quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Bacon Day, Falling Needles Family Fest Day, Festival of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, National Bicarbonate of Soda Day, and National Resolution Planning Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein was executed.
1970 – Hurricane Creek mine disaster, near Hyden, Kentucky.
1970 – The Beatles’ single “Hello, Goodbye” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Video)
1963 – The television game show “Let’s Make A Deal” with Monty Hall premiered on NBC. (Video)
1953 – The first NTSC color television sets went on sale. The RCA units retailed at $1,175 ($14,157.75 in 2025 dollars).
1951 – “The Roy Rogers Show” premiered on NBC. (Video)
1950 – Patti Page’s recording of “The Tennessee Waltz” hit #1 on the Billboard chart. (Video)
1939 – The film “Of Mice and Men” was released. (Video)
1936 – The Flint sit-down strike hit General Motors.
1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed.
1916 – Russian mystic and advisor to the Tsar Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was murdered by a loyalist group led by Prince Felix Yusupov.
1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois killed at least 605.
1890 – Following the Wounded Knee Massacre, the United States Army and Lakota warriors faced off in the Drexel Mission Fight.
1853 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States bought land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.
1813 – War of 1812: British soldiers burned Buffalo, New York.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1984 – LeBron James, American basketball player, producer and businessman
1982 – Kristin Kreuk, Canadian actress
1980 – Eliza Dushku, American former actress and producer
1977 – Laila Ali, American boxer and actress
1975 – Tiger Woods, American golfer
1965 – Heidi Fleiss, American procurer
1961 – Sean Hannity, American radio and television host
1959 – Tracey Ullman, English-American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (Video)
1957 – Matt Lauer, American journalist and television host
1956 – Sheryl Lee Ralph, American actress and singer
1953 – Meredith Vieira, American journalist and game show host
1951 – Chris Jasper, American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer (died 2025)
1950 – Bjarne Stroustrup, Danish computer scientist, created the C++ programming language
1947 – Jeff Lynne, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1946 – Patti Smith, American singer-songwriter and poet
1945 – Davy Jones, English singer-songwriter and actor (died 2012)
1942 – Fred Ward, American actor (died 2022)
1942 – Michael Nesmith, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2021)
1940 – James Burrows, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1937 – Paul Stookey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Video)
1937 – John Hartford, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (died 2001) (Video)
1935 – Jack Riley, American actor (died 2016) (Video)
1935 – Sandy Koufax, American baseball player and sportscaster
1934 – Russ Tamblyn, American actor (Video)
1934 – Del Shannon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1990) (Video)
1934 – Joseph Bologna, American actor, director, playwright and screenwriter (died 2017)
1931 – Skeeter Davis, American singer-songwriter (died 2004) (Video)
1928 – Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2008)
1914 – Bert Parks, American actor, singer, television personality, and beauty pageant host (died 1992)
1911 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (died 1998)
1873 – Al Smith, American lawyer and politician, 42nd Governor of New York (died 1944)
1869 – Stephen Leacock, English-Canadian political scientist and author (died 1944)
1865 – Rudyard Kipling, Indian-English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2023 – Tom Wilkinson, English actor (born 1948)
2022 – Barbara Walters, American journalist, producer, and author (born 1929)
2020 – Dawn Wells, American actress, (born 1938)
2006 – Saddam Hussein, Iraqi general and politician, fifth President of Iraq (born 1937)
2004 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (born 1910)
2000 – Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter and producer (born 1909)
1999 – Sarah Knauss, American supercentenarian (born 1880)
1993 – Irving “Swifty” Lazar, American talent agent (born 1907)
1992 – Romeo Muller, American actor, screenwriter, (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special) (born 1928)
1982 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (born 1896)
1979 – Richard Rodgers, American playwright and composer (born 1902)
1970 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (born 1932)
1916 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic (born 1869)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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