September 18

If you're concerned about global warming and the recent opening of the elusive Northwest Passage due to the melting polar ice cap there is nothing here for you. If O.J. Simpson's arrest is of concern, again, there is nothing here on that occurence. Similiarly, there is absolutely nothing here about Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan or amateurs with blood alcohol levels just over 0.8 when they get arrested for DWI. You won't find a thing about Senator Larry Craig or nominee for Attorney General Michael Mukasey either. You will find a bunch of interesting facts presented in a palatable manner. Enjoy reading.

On the 18th in 1932, movie actress Peg Entwistle, upset that her acting career was not developing as quickly as she had hoped it would committed suicide by climbing to the top of the Hollywood[i] sign in Los Angeles, California, stood on the letter ’H’ and plunged fifty feet to her death at the base of the sign. She had had the foresight to neatly fold her clothes and leave them nearby. In one of her pockets was a suicide note stating that ‘I am afraid. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this years ago, I could have saved a lot of pain. PE[ii]’
[i] The sign had originally read HOLLYWOODLAND and was an advertisement for a rather tawdry real estate development.
[ii] In a stunning bit of irony, two days after Entwistle committed suicide, her uncle opened a letter, post marked the day before she died, that had been mailed to her by the Beverly Hills Playhouse; in it was an offer for her to play the lead role in a stage production—in which her character would commit suicide in the final act.