Real Talk!

My daughter was born on a Friday the 13th. Other Friday the 13th babies include: Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, Steve Buscemi, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

A British Medical Journal study has shown that there is a significant increase in traffic related accidents on Friday the 13ths.

My daughter was born on the 13th of March, 1992. It was a very important day in my life and in hers. It changed my entire world.

For the rest of the world, that day, there was other significant news too. In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registered 6.8 on the Richter scale and killed over 500. Martina Navratilova and Judy Nelson announced that they had settled their galamony suit. Bob Hope appeared on the Johnny Carson Show.

The Commonwealth of Independent States agreed on repayment of the former Soviet Union's foreign debt. In Physics news, it was announced that the conductance of a cross-wired tunnel junction can be reversibly changed by a factor of 15 through the magnetic interaction between a tunneling current and what may be a single electron trapped in the junction. My Cousin Vinny was released theatrically in the USA.

1992 was a little hazy for me, busy adjusting to motherhood, I saw little else but my darling bundle of joy- but I also felt somewhat concerned about the planet and the world that I had introduced her to.

That year, Silence of the Lambs won best picture. The Disney animated classic Aladdin was released, so was Wayne’s World, Basic Instinct, Sister Act, A Few Good Men, The Bodyguard, Unforgiven and Reservoir Dogs. The record of the year was “Unforgettable” by Natalie Cole. We listened to a lot of Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, U2, REM, Peter Gabriel , Metallica and Michael Jackson.

Popular TV shows were Law and Order, Home Improvement, Married With Children, Star Trek the Next Generation and for some, Jerry Springer, Rugrats and the Ren and Stimpy Show.

That summer, 26 people died as a direct result of Hurricane Andrew while indirect loss of life raised the death toll to 65 and left 250,000 people homeless. MS-DOS users were quaking in their boots over reports that the Michelangelo computer virus had infected their computers and was going to wipe out all their data on the birthday of the Renaissance genius. It didn’t.

In Chicago, the strangest of accidents, a piling was driven into the Chicago River bottom that caused a leak in an underground freight tunnel. The resulting inrush of water spread throughout much of the system's 50 miles of tunnels, flooding subbasements and disrupting utility service throughout the Loop.

The Toronto Blue Jays won the American League Championship.

Some 1,700 of the world's leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences, issued an appeal that said:

"Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about."

There was a Fischer - Spassky Rematch.

Dr. Roberta Bondar became the first Canadian woman in space.

Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted of raping a Miss Black American contestant

A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentenced Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

Microsoft shipped Windows 3.1

Mafia boss John Gotti was convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.

Police officers that were accused of excessive force in there severe beating of Rodney King, were found "not guilty". The verdict resulted in several days of riots in L.A. and smaller riots around the country. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Florence and South Normandie Avenues, was dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten by an angry mob of young black men as news helicopters hovered above, recording every blow, including a concrete fragment connecting with Denny's temple and a cinder block thrown at his head as he lay unconscious in the street. He remains the best-known victim of the riots.

Amy Fisher, the so-called "Long Island Lolita," was arrested for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco on the front porch of her Massapequa, New York home.

Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.

Iraq refused a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claimed that it had reliable information that the site contained archives related to illegal weapons activities.

The Follies Bergere music hall in Paris, France closes.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Depo Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States.

Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush and H. Ross Perot in the U.S. presidential election

The Church of England voted to allow women to become priests.

TWA Declared Bankrupcy

AT & T release video telephone for $1,499

The first Nicotine patch was introduced to help stop smoking
Space Shuttle Endeavour had a successful maiden voyage
DNA Fingerprinting was introduced in UK.

A fire broke out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle

US President George H. W. Bush ordered 28,000 American troops to Somalia.

The largest shopping mall in the US, Minnesota's Mall of America was constructed spanning 78 acres.

After a seven year run the last episode of The Cosby Show aired.

Clinton played the saxophone with the live band on the Arsenio Hall Show.

After 30 years on the air, Johnny Carson announced his retirement. David Letterman, who had been promised The Tonight Show upon Carson's retirement years earlier left NBC for CBS when the network gave the show to frequent guest host Jay Leno.

Barney & Friends, a children's educational television show starring a giant purple dinosaur, premiered.

Newspapers in America celebrated 300 years of publishing.

In England, the Conservatives won their fourth successive general election.

Yitzhak Rabin came to power in Israel promising to pursue peace talks with PLO.

US and UN intervention in Somalia aimed to end famine and civil war.

In Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale killed over 500.

Fuel leaked into the sewer and exploded in Guadalajara, Mexico - 215 dead, 1500 injured.

McDonalds opened the first McDonalds in Beijing China.

Euro Disney opened in France.

That year we lost:
· January 26 - José Ferrer, actor
· January 31 - Willie Dixon, blues musician
· February 2 - Bert Parks, game show host, Miss America host
· February 10 - Alex Haley, author
· February 20 - Dick York, actor
· March 2 - Sandy Dennis, actress
· March 9 - Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel
· April 6 - Isaac Asimov, author
· April 18 - Benny Hill, comedian, actor
· May 6 - Marlene Dietrich, actress
· May 12 - Robert Reed, actor
· May 17 - Lawrence Welk, musician
· December 18 - Mark Goodson, game show producer
· December - Pierre Culliford, a.k.a. "Peyo". Belgian Creator of Smurfs

I know where I was on March 13, 1992… do you?