Play Monopoly Day

November 19

Play Monopoly Day
When I was 17, I had a couple of friends who lived about an hour away, that either I would go to their house for a weekend, or they would come to mine. On alot of those weekends, we had Monopoly Marathons, we would literally start the game Friday night, and finally finish it sometime either Sunday or Monday, (Depending on if it was a three day weekend or not). I don't remember winning, I was never much of a player, but it was being able to spend time with my two best friends that was the bonus.
Today is Play Monopoly Day, Monopoly was created in 1935, as a way to act as tho the Depression wasn't going on, and pretending that people actually HAD money.
These are some facts straight from the official site:
More than 275 million games have been sold worldwide and it’s available in 111 countries, in 43 languages.
The longest MONOPOLY game in history lasted for 70 straight days.
The most expensive version of the game was produced by celebrated San Francisco jeweler Sidney Mobell. Valued at $2 million, the set features a 23-carat gold board and diamond-studded dice.
Many specialized editions of the classic game have been produced featuring your favorite sports teams, brands, television shows, cartoons and more.
The character locked behind the bars is called Jake the Jailbird. Officer Edgar Mallory sent him to jail.
Children play MONOPOLY all over the world, but where they live may determine what they call the highest rent property on the game board. In the U.S., it is named “Boardwalk” after a street in Atlantic City. In Spain, it is named “Paseo del Prado” after a street in Barcelona and in France, “Rue de la Paix” is the name of the most coveted property space.
Escape maps, compasses and files were inserted into MONOPOLY game boards smuggled into POW camps inside Germany during World War II. Real money for escapees was slipped into the packs of MONOPOLY money.
Every few years, national champions from around the globe meet for the MONOPOLY World Championship tournament. World Champions have hailed from 10 different countries, including: United States, Ireland, Singapore, Italy, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Japan and Spain.
More than six billion little green houses and 2.25 billion red hotels have been “constructed” since 1935.
Since 1935, more than one billion people have played the game.
Over 20 tokens have been cast since the MONOPOLY game was introduced in 1935 such as the horse, dog, car, elephant, purse and lantern.
Our beloved tokens! In the early 1950s, the lantern, purse and rocking horse were removed from the game. They were replaced by the dog, horse and rider, and wheelbarrow.
In the 1970’s, a Braille edition of the MONOPOLY game was created for the visually impaired.
In 1972, the Commissioner of Public Works in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the real life model for the game,, threatened to change the names of the real Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues, but public outcry vetoed the bill.
In 1978, the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog offered a chocolate version of the game priced at $600.
In 2008, MONOPOLY fans around the world united to set the world record for the most people playing MONOPOLY at the same time to commemorate the launch of MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World edition. Nearly 3,000 people “passed GO” at events around the world.
“Best Mobile Game Award” at the 2008 Mobile Excellence Awards (MONOPOLY Here & Now on feature phone)
“Best Dice Game” at the 2009 Best App Ever Awards (MONOPOLY Classic on iPhone)
“Best Game inspired by a Board Game” at the 2009 AppAdvice App Awards (MONOPOLY Here & Now on iPhone)
In 2009, MONOPOLY and Google partner to launch MONOPOLY City Streets. The 3 month game had more than 1.4MM registered players, from across the world generating 17 million visits and nearly a billion page views while purchasing nearly 9 million streets and constructing more than 175 million buildings.
MONOPOLY’s most recent extensions: Apple iPhone - February 2010

National Day of Play
Going along with Monopoly, it is National Day of Play. When I was a kid, I really wasn't much one for going outside and playing, although I do remember playing with my friends outside. Riding bikes, and sometimes we would make up stories, and act them out. Also, I lived across the street from the public pool, and I love swimming, so I did go there quite often. But I am more the type of person, I would rather sit in the house reading a book, or now a days, playing online.

Today in History:
0498 - Anastasius II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1493 - Christopher Columbus discovers Puerto Rico, on his 2nd voyage
1620 - Mayflower reaches Cape Cod & explores the coast
1621 - Rabbi Isaiah b Abraham aha-Levi Horowitz arrives in Israel
1644 - 1st protestant ministry society in New England
1794 - Jay Treaty, 1st US extradition treaty, signed with Great Britain
1863 - Lincoln delivers his address in Gettysburg; "4 score & 7 years..."
1874 - William Marcy "Boss" Tweed, of Tammany Hall (NYC) convicted of defrauding city of $6M, sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment
1911 - NY receives 1st Marconi wireless transmission from Italy
1919 - US Senate rejects (55-39) Treaty of Versailles & League of Nations
1928 - 1st issue of Time magazine, Japanese Emperor Hirohito on cover
1932 - Shaft & Thyssen demand Hitler become German chancellor
1933 - Women allowed to vote in Spain (helps right wing)
1940 - German air raid on Birmingham fails
1942 - Joseph Goebbels visits "German Theatre in the Niederlanden"
1942 - Russia launches winter offensive against Germans along Don front
1943 - U-536 sinks in Atlantic Ocean
1950 - US General Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of NATO-Europe
1959 - Ford cancels Edsel
1965 - Kellogg's Pop Tarts pastries created
1970 - Golden Gate Park Conservatory becomes a Cal state historical landmark
1976 - Patty Hearst is freed on $15 million bail
1979 - Chuck Berry released from prison on income tax evasion

Births:
1831 - James A Garfield, Ohio, gen/(R) 20th Pres (March 4-Sept 19, 1881)
1905 - Tommy Dorsey, Mahanoy Plane Pa, orch leader
1917 - Indira Gandhi, Allahabad India, Indian PM (1966-77, 1980-84)
1936 - Dick Cavett, Kearney Neb, talk show host
1938 - Ted Turner, broadcasting mogul/owns (Atlanta Braves)
1949 - Mickey Lee Davis Jr, Tenn, murderer (FBI Most Wanted List)
1954 - Kathleen Quinlan, Calif, actress
1961 - Meg Ryan, Bethel Ct, actr
1962 - Jodie Foster, Bronx NYC, actress
1963 - Terry Farrell, Cedar Rapids, actress
1973 - Savion Glover, dancer/choreographer
1977 - Lady Davina EAB Windsor, daughter of English prince Richard
1997 - Alexis May McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (2)
1997 - Brandon James McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (5)
1997 - Joel Steven McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (7)
1997 - Kelsey Ann McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (4)
1997 - Kenneth Robert McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (1)
1997 - Natalie Sue McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (3)
1997 - Nathaniel Roy McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (6)

Deaths:
0498 - Anastasius II, Pope (496-9)8 (Dante Inferno XI, 8-9), dies
1703 - Man in the Iron Mask, prisoner in Bastille prison in Paris, dies
1988 - Christine Onassis, heiress, dies of heart failure at 37
1992 - Dorothy Walker Bush, mother of Pres George Bush, dies at 91
1997 - Walter Stewart, murderer, executed at 42
1997 - Durlyn Eddmonds, murderer, executed at 45
2010 -Byron Duckenfield, 93, British air force pilot, World War II veteran