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Whilst Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are rightly hailed as being the first men to step on the moon, it was a stray mongrel named Laika who propelled the space race into new territory. On November 3, 1957, the little part-husky dog – who was also known as Curly – became the first animal to orbit Earth when she flew out of the atmosphere in the Soviet Union's Sputnik 2 spacecraft. At the time, the Russians told the world that, until her air supply ran out, the dog had survived for six days inside a capsule which provided her with...

Jerome Lester Horwitz (October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), known professionally as Curly Howard, was an American vaudevillian actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of the American  farce comedy team the Three Stooges, which also featured his elder brothers Moe and Shemp Howard and actor Larry Fine. Curly Howard was generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. He was well known for his high-pitched voice and vocal expressions ("nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!", "woob-woob-woob!", "soitenly!" [certainly], and barking like a dog), as well as his physical comedy (e.g., falling on the ground and pivoting on his shoulder as he "walked" in circular motion), improvisations, and athleticism.

Curly Haugland loves the rules..... North Dakota’s top Republican gadfly, its rule-mongering crank, its official state pain in the ass. On the national GOP’s standing rules committee, he’s been the pedantic curmudgeon, the stubborn speed bump who for years has raised points of order only to watch establishment Republicans stampede over him. ... Haugland has become one of the most dangerous men in politics: He’s the mainstream GOP’s last hope to deny Donald Trump the Republican nomination in Cleveland. It would take a miracle—and almost certainly lead to a historic split in the party—but there is still a way, buried...

"Curly's trademark excited yelps of 'woob woob woob,” his dog barks, his compliant “Soitenly,” and his brisk face washes (where he is excited and smooths his hands up and down over his face, briskly, over and over) were loved- and happily expected- by his legions of fans. Curly was what Moe called a "slow study,” meaning he simply couldn't remember lines very well. One day, Moe watched as Curly forgot his line in a scene. As Moe recalled, "his eyes rolled back, he fell on the floor and started spinning around like a top." And thus, the “Curly spin" was...

The pole, which is covered in grease and soap suds, is mounted on a barge in a bay so that it hangs at an angle over the water. The contest, which dates back to the Middle Ages, is over when a contestant manages to snag a flag situated at the tip of the 10-meter (32-foot) pole.

On Monday in New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised that Israel will be "eliminated," a variation on his previous threats to the nation's existence. He was in town for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, a gathering that reliably sees leaders issuing pronouncements that, even if not new, at least are given a bigger stage. On Tuesday, the first day of the gathering, President Obama delivered a speech that also struck familiar notes, including the statement that "a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained." He moved no closer to giving a signal of...

Did anyone hear Shep Smith tear the McCain spokesman a new one for bringing up Bill Ayers on his program this afternoon.

BELLEVUE, WA – Following almost a year of silence on the gun control issue, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske recently came back into the spotlight, supporting yet another piece of gun legislation, while authorities still haven’t found the chief’s semiautomatic pistol, stolen from his car in 2004. During a press conference in Seattle earlier this week, Kerlikowske observed, “It’s important to me to do whatever I can to keep illegal guns out of our communities.” That remark brought a quick response from Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, based in Bellevue. “If the chief really wants to make...

....snip...... Based on Margaret Mitchell's hugely popular novel, producer David O. Selznick's four-hour epic tale of the American South during slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction is the all-time box-office champion. .......snip........ Considering its financial success and critical acclaim, "Gone With the Wind" may be the most famous movie ever made. It's also a lie. ......snip......... Along with D.W. Griffith's technically innovative but ethically reprehensible "The Birth of a Nation" (from 1915), which portrayed the Ku Klux Klan as heroic, "GWTW" presents a picture of the pre-Civil War South in which slavery is a noble institution and slaves are content...

The Thunder Run'Are you kidding, sir?': Fewer than 1,000 soldiers were ordered to capture a city of 5 million Iraqis. Theirs is a story that may become military legend.By David ZucchinoNine hundred and seventy-five men invading a city of 5 million sounded audacious, or worse, to the U.S. troops assigned the mission outside Baghdad last April 6. Ten years earlier, in Mogadishu, outnumbered American soldiers had been trapped and killed by Somali street fighters. Now some U.S. commanders, convinced the odds were far better in Iraq, scrapped the original plan for taking Baghdad with a steady siege and instead ordered...

OFFSTAGE, MOE HOWARD, the head-knocking bully of the Three Stooges comedy team, is a small, quiet man who dreads the day the Stooges may be pitied instead of laughed at. Hilarious violence has always been the Stooges' stock in trade. Howard has punched, slapped, gouged and poked partners Curly (Joe de Rita) and Larry (Larry Fine) and their predecessors since the act began as The Three Lost Soles back in Prohibition days. Moe's fist rattles like a snare drum on Curly's bald forehead and booms like a bass drum as it thumps Larry's midriff. Both Saturday matinee audiences and sophisticated...

...Freerepublic.com will collapse under the sheer weight of the stupidity generated there daily. It will be reborn as Fascists-R-Us.com....

Hi everybody! I'm new to Free Republic and I really love the site!! Its so refreshing to find like minded people on the internet. I am from rural Oregon. Anyway, I just want to say " I love Bush!" He is incredible. I can't wait to get my next tax cut in the mail... I only got 150 or so dollars back the first time, but its nice to know I'm getting money back AND we've got the BIGGEST military machine in the history of the planet! I am excited about the next six years. Hopefully we can end this...

Here's one for you. Imagine that the gravel-voiced, 1930s-era screen star Wallace Beery and one of New York mobster Lucky Luciano's top henchmen beat and stomped to death one of the country's most famous comedians outside a Hollywood nightclub in 1937. Imagine that a participant in the fighting and eyewitness to the murder was the man who later would go on to produce the James Bond movies. Now imagine that the famous victim was the man who founded the Three Stooges, and that the Stooges -- particularly Shemp Howard, brother of Moe and Curly -- knew who committed the murder...