Driver Lee Petty in the #42 race car battles with Johnny Beauchamp during the
final lap of the inaugural Daytona 500 held at the International Speedway in
Daytona Beach, Florida.
Lee Petty, father of NASCAR’s all-time race winner Richard Petty.
John Lennon with Chapman shortly before the assassination, Dec. 8, 1980
Mark David Chapman
NEW YORK (AP) — Letters from John Lennon’s killer detailing his
obsession with the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" to the police
officer who arrested him went on sale Monday through a Los
Angeles auction house.
The four missives from Mark David Chapman to Stephen Spiro are
for sale through Moments In Time, which specializes in historical
documents and rare autographs, at a fixed price of $75,000, auction
house owner Gary Zimet said. Zimet is selling the letters on behalf
of Spiro, who arrested Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980, shortly after he
shot Lennon outside The Dakota, the ex-Beatle’s Manhattan
apartment building.
The letters are typed and signed by Chapman. They were written
over several months in 1983, after he had pleaded guilty and been
sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Chapman, 57, was denied
parole in August for the seventh time. During the hearing, he again
expressed remorse for Lennon’s killing and spoke of his Christian
faith.
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (AP) -The bomber jacket worn by President John
F. Kennedy (above) on Air Force One sold for $665,500 on Sunday, according
to the auction house. The jacket was among hundreds of auctioned items that
belonged to David Powers, a longtime aide of the president.
The first Slinky
The toy Slinky was invented and developed by naval engineer Richard James in
the early 1940s. He demonstrated his creation in November OF 1945 at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The toy was a hit, selling its entire inventory of 400 units in ninety minutes. James and his wife Betty formed James Industries in Philadelphia to manufacture Slinky and several related toys such as
the Slinky Dog and Suzie, the Slinky Worm. In 1960, Betty became president of
James Industries, and, in 1964, moved the operation to Hollidaysburg, Pa. In
1998, she sold the company to Poof Products, Inc. Industry experts predict the
Slinky will make a comeback this year.
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Slinky inventor Richard James
Betty James
