February 18 -

1943 - William D. Cox buys the Philadelphia Phillies from Walter O’Reilly.  The deal almost falls apart when O’Reilly whispers to his attorney at the closing that “Cox is a sucker”.  Thinking he had been called a cocksucker, Cox storms out of the meeting.  The misunderstanding is eventually cleared up and the deal is finalized. Later, the two businessmen enjoyed cigars and aged scotch, while laughing about how good it is to be rich and white.

1954 – Actor John Travolta was born. One of Travolta’s first big roles was on the sitcom ‘Welcome Back Kotter’, where he played Vinnie Barbarino.  Tragedy struck the ‘Kotter’ set in season 3 when fellow actor Gabe Kaplan handed out cigars to all the ‘Sweathog’ actors after filming one day. The group enjoyed their cigars, but the smoke wafted to the other side of the studio where 2 children were playing. The smell of the cigar smoke dropped both kids dead on the spot, because second hand smoke is very deadly and will kill you on contact.

1965 – NFL star Frank Gifford holds an unconventional press conference wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigar.  Gifford announces his retirement from football to focus on his broadcast career, and “ho-ing around.” Nobody knew what that meant until 1997 when Gifford was found to be cheating on his wife, Kathie Lee Gifford.

1970 – Legendary cigar smoker, forum member (boomerd35/Troysephus), and founder of 'This Day in Cigar History' Troy Taormina was born. In 2006, President George W Bush issued an Executive Decree that all able bodied cigar smokers should send Troy a few of their finest cigars each year on February 18. Canadians were initially exempt from the decree, but in 2008, Canada’s Prime Minister agreed that Canadians should also honor the US decree to increase US-Canada relations.

February 8-

1922 - Radio arrives at the White House.  President Warren G. Harding would stop all business at 4:30 pm each day so that he could sit by the fireplace listening to the radio.  While listening to the radio, he would smoke a cigar and chat with his friends on the internet.  Harding’s daily routine became known as the “Fireside Chat”.

1926 - Walt Disney Studios forms.  The first Disney characters were quite different from the ones we have come to love over the years. Originally, Mickey Mouse smoked a cigar and cursed like a sailor. And Donald Duck (who has never worn pants) was originally named “Donald Dong”. Donald Dong was drawn with a large wang hanging down, but nobody noticed until the late 1950’s.

1991 - Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract. His contract had a rider provision that the Red Sox would provide one box of Cohiba Cuban cigars for each start.  Clemens’ former trainer reported that Roger would inject the cigars with steroids and shove them up his ass just before he took the mound.

1992 - "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred peaks at #1. Many music fans were pushed to the edge of suicide by the constant barrage of this shitty song on the radio.  Then in 1995, the Macarena pushed those music fans over the edge. RIP, music fans.

February 1-

1901 – Actor Clark Gable is born.  In his later years, Gable smoked cigars to keep his cigarette addiction under control.  Although Gable’s most famous movie line was “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”, this line was added in post-production of ‘Gone With The Wind’ by the studio.  The original line was originally quite different.  In the original filming, when Scarlett asks “What shall I do?”, Rhett replies,”Fuck if I know. I got 99 problems, but a bitch aint one.”

1948 – Singer Rick James is born in Chicago, Illinois.  His father, Eldon James, gave cigars to everybody in the Parkdale Hospital waiting room telling each person as he handed out the cigar, “It’s Rick James, bitch!!!”.

1974 – ‘Good Times’ (spinoff from ‘Maude’) premieres on CBS. During the first week of taping, the actor who played Bookman was busted in real life for selling counterfeit Cuban cigars.  He only appeared on the show when he could obtain a work release from jail.  ‘Good Times’ floundered in the ratings during the first season and was almost cancelled.  The show only became a hit during the second season, after an episode where little Penny’s nipple accidentally slipped out of her shirt as JJ and the gang watched the Super Bowl.

1992 - Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract - $4.7 million. Bonds’ agent Jeff Boris pulls out 2 Montecristo Habanos from his coat pocket, and hands one to Bonds to celebrate the signing. Out of habit, Bonds injects the cigar full of steroids.  That Montecristo belted 43 home runs in the 1992 season, a new world record for a cigar.