Children's television programming, then and now.
Mister Rogers smiled, walked in the front door and sang his welcome:
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
The first time Fred Rogers came through his TV studio singing that song to a U.S. audience was 45 years ago today, on Feb. 19, 1968. He hung his coat and jacket, put on a comfy cardigan, and changed from shoes into sneakers, a practice stemming from his background as a puppeteer who needed to make his way quietly through backstage sets.
Skinny-dippers, cheerleaders and male models -- we've elected them all.
Presidents Day is a time to reflect on the greatness of the presidential institution and to reflect on the men who have brought honor to our nation's highest office. It's also a good chance to remember just how weird and unpredictable some of these guys could be.
• Gerald Ford (1974–1977) was a model in his younger years, and appeared on the April 1942 cover of Cosmopolitan. Wife Betty Ford was also once a fashion model and a dancer.
More from MSN News: JFK items auctioned 50 years after his assassination
• John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) was a strong swimmer, and would often walk from the White House to the Potomac River for an early-morning skinny dip. A female reporter once snatched his clothes on the riverside and sat on them until Adams agreed to an interview.
The very best and very worst of the news week ending Feb 15.
Every week, the Daily Dose reviews the news to select three very best and three very worst stories to come across our desk.
—The Very Best —
• After five hungry, sickening and sometimes frightening days at sea, a disabled cruise ship carrying 4,200 people docked in Mobile, Alabama. The Carnival Triumph went adrift between Cozumel, Mexico, and Galveston, Texas, after an engine-room fire knocked out power and plumbing. Passengers sang “Sweet Home Alabama” as the ship concluded a torturously slow day-long docking.
Grave-squatting Serbian survives on foraged candles, garbage scraps and cigarette butts.
The next time you find yourself complaining about the high cost of living consider this: You could always live in a cemetery. For free. That’s what a 43-year-old homeless man from Serbia has been doing for the past 15 years, reports the International Business Times.
NASA may have identified the nearest black hole in our galaxy.
Man has been wonderstruck by the sky since he first thought to look up. Glimpsing celestial bodies, even with the naked eye, can be awe-inspiring whether you have a child’s curiosity or the wisdom of the ages. But it takes a scientist to look up there and get excited about what can’t be seen.
It was not the something but the nothing observed that told a young astrophysicist she might be looking at a black hole.
The government wants to know.
Now that it’s tax season, the government has a lot of questions for you: How much money do you make, and how do you spend it? How many dependents do you have? Have you purchased a car or a refrigerator with a good energy rating?
Soon the feds may be asking a more surprising question: Are you happy?
The evolution of decent thought.
Evolution is on our minds since today marks the birthday of Charles Darwin, born on Feb. 12 in 1809. Or, if you don’t believe at all in verifiable scientific knowledge, maybe his parents just wished for an evolutionary theorist and then one day — ding! — there he was.
A good debate broadens the middle ground between opposing views, but the nature of argument these days seems to relegate everyone to one side or the other of a hard line.
Headed to N'awlins? You can keep your top on.
If you’re wondering what the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans was doing onstage last night at the Grammys in Los Angeles, you missed out on the music industry’s nod to Mardi Gras. Here are five myths about Mardi Gras, the grand carnival culminating on Feb 12 this year.
Mardis Gras isn’t just a day — it’s a season. Mardi Gras is the carvinal season preceding Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and abstinence leading up to the Christian celebration of Easter. The official start of Mardi Gras comes every year on the Epiphany holiday of January 6th and runs until the midnight before Ash Wednesday. “Fat Tuesday” marks the final day of feasting and merriment.
