January 6

We have finished our first week back at the Shop. It was a short four day week but it doesn’t feel like it. The crew roll a mix of pipes and angles. One job for J and J Iron has to match a full size layout. This tightens our tolerance which makes the job trickier. My brother did give me the blow by blow of a Capitals game he and his family attended with Alex Ovechkin scoring several goals. I always get a kick out of Jack talking about hockey and the Caps. He’s the most passionate sports fan I know. As the day and week end, I’m looking forward to Saturday. That will be our first taste of Conquerors League Bowling.

January 7

We drive to AMF in Towson just off Providence Road for bowling. Both our boys have a great time and so does everyone else. It only took a few minutes to realize this is fun for the whole family. It’s also a chance to socialize more than baseball and soccer. You are indoors out of the heat and there’s more time to talk. Kim and I are both very happy we decided to try it. Joe gives it a thumbs up. 

January 18

It’s a drizzly morning on Lynhurst Road but not very cold for January. We’ve started off the year busy and stayed that way so far. A couple loads of big angles and plates for construction projects are completed today.

January 27

It’s Friday and everyone’s mind is on the weekend and mine is no different. I’m looking forward to another day of bowling with my boys. We finish a few pipe jobs today including another one rolled to an oddball template. These are a challenge but nothing we can’t handle.

February 5

I spend Super Bowl Sunday watching the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21 – 10. I know there is a big celebration going on in Catonsville. My sister Nancy’s husband Jim is a huge Steelers fan. He’s from Pittsburgh. Their girls are big fans too so I know it’s probably crazy over there. My boys don’t pay much attention to the game. Mostly, I set up blocks and things for Joe while racing cars with A.J.

February 10

Tonight the Winter Olympics start in Turin, Italy. As we do every year, Kim and I are watching. We always check out the opening ceremonies, then most nights we’re tuned in. We talk about the games and of course, I mention the Shop. A few interesting jobs were finished. Some fancy brass tubes, some high tolerance aluminum tubes that needed to be inspected and some tubes that took the long trip to Ocean City. 

February 12

It’s a surprisingly snowy Sunday. Joe and A.J. are excited but I am much less so. It becomes a full blown blizzard and we get about a foot of snow by the time it stops in the afternoon. I’m on the phone with Ann and Jack. We agree to close tomorrow. Everyone can concentrate on digging their cars out. We’ll convene at the Shop on Tuesday and start digging it out.  

February 17

The snow has mostly melted away by this Friday. Today the temperature gets over 60 degrees. That certainly helps with the rest of it. I can’t say we got a lot done this week as we were closed one day and shoveling another. Some channels and tubes are rolled for some of our local customers and one for a customer in West Virginia. I’m looking forward to bowling tomorrow and thankfully, the snow won’t affect the drive. 

February 24

Another week is in the books and this one was much busier. We had some rush jobs come in and out as well as some work for the Du Val School. Missing two days of work is a good way to build up your backlog. The good news is our customers have gone through the same thing.

February 28

Since the snow, it has warmed up a bit. That’s a good thing because February can be brutally cold sometimes. We do more work for the Du Val School. This time it’s for a Music Room and I like that kind of thing. My brother and sister and I chat about the Olympics. The Canadians won gold in hockey much to my brother’s chagrin but it was an exciting tournament.

March 7

Today a job is picked up that Jack was very excited to do. It’s for Piney Orchard Ice Rink where the Capitals practice. Vince Rice called us from there last year and now we’ve bent some pipes and tubes for the nets. I love doing anything for Oriole Park but for my brother, this is even better. The Shop is very busy right now with lots of work coming in and out. I talk to Ann and Jack about the World Baseball Classic. It’s the inaugural season for this international tournament. Basically, it’s the baseball equivalent of the World Cup. Games are played in Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere. It sounds like fun and it’s extra baseball. I know I’ll love it.

March 14

The volume of work has stayed strong as we barrel toward Spring. We work on a wide range of structural and ornamental items including some angles for a church, some support rings and several handrails. The Conquerors League bowling finished on Sunday and we loved it. Kim, the boys and I really had fun. We made some new friends too as there is a little more time to socialize at bowling than baseball or soccer. Also I would be remiss if I didn’t mention, there are fries.

March 24

It’s a cool Friday in Dundalk reminding us that winter/spring and the other seasons can be deceptive in Maryland. The boys finish a large order of angles, over 100 lengths. That’s a great job for labor. Next week we will bend and assemble a heat exchanger for Mercy Hospital. There was a time when we had an exchanger to retube or replace every month. Now, we get them once or twice a year. They remind me of working at the Shop in my youth and at the old building.

April 3

It’s Opening Day and the Orioles beat the Devil Rays 9 – 6. We close a little early so everyone can see at least some of the game. I’m hoping the Birds can change things up and have a winning year but I’ve grown accustomed to the futility of their last few seasons. Tomorrow we have some heavy wall tubes to roll for DTE Energy and some big angles.

April 21

There is some torch work to do at the Shop today. We have some tubes which were filled and after rolling, they will be melted out. I’m glad it’s not 90 degrees. We also have some pipes to roll and channel the hard way. We don’t do a lot of channel the hard way. It’s tough to do and have the legs not buckle. Jack, Ann and I talk about the Caps. They finished their season this week with a win but will miss the playoffs. Jack is confident we have a serious chance of a Stanley Cup because we have Ovechkin now.

April 28

An old friend and customer stops in today to pick up, Bob Machovec, welder and sculptor. Bob worked for his Dad and we did work for them and now, he’s on his own. He makes ornamental furniture and some really cool animal sculptures from found objects. He’s also a guitar player and I’ve known him a long time. It’s a nice visit to break up the day. The crew are busy rolling our usual steel structurals, rings and a few other things. One job for Scriba Welding is for a local Hampton Inn. 

May 3

It’s Hump Day and though we’re still busy, things have slowed down a tick or two. That’s not such a bad thing as long as it doesn’t last. We have jobs to do including a strange irregular curve for an angle. I’m looking forward to Conquerors’ League baseball which starts this Saturday. I signed up to be an assistant coach. This way I can help out and play with the kids including my Joe.

May 10

Our schedule has gotten busier with the arrival of real spring weather. It gets into the upper 70s  in Dundalk with both garage doors open on Lynhurst Road. I stare out the front door as I did on Central Avenue. It’s not the same but across the parking lot I can see Old North Point Road and a fairly steady stream of traffic. I’m thinking of baseball and how much fun I have playing with and now coaching these kids. Joe is making more friends and I know he likes being part of a team though often his interest is difficult to discern. There is often a distance between Joe and what’s going on around him. This is typical for him. A.J. has fun with the other kids, playing and chatting with them. We let him take a couple of swings in the box though technically he can’t play yet. He’s not quite four and five is the minimum age. As far as the Shop goes, the crew finish several sets of angles and some plates come in for next week.

May 24

There’s a lot of activity at the Shop today as a slew of jobs are completed. We finish some more tubes for DTE Energy, some sign work, some ornamental bars for Epiphany Church and some Hammered Rods for a new customer. His name is Lawrence Weisgal and hammered bars are steel which has a weathered or worked look. Lawrence is a welder who’s helping rehab someone’s home. He is an interesting guy and a guitarist. He made an aluminum guitar and brings it in to show me. It’s very cool and I’m impressed by the workmanship.

May 29

We spend Memorial Day with my in-laws in Catonsville. It’s a beautiful day and Anthony cooks on the grill. We enjoy some hamburgers and hot dogs and all the usual barbecue treats. The kids have a blast. Anthony and Linda’s new house has a big yard with a pool. My boys love the pool. We have a nice holiday then head home. I watch the Birds beat Tampa 6 – 5 in 11 innings. The Orioles are hovering right around .500 so far. That’s not terrible but not particularly impressive either. We’ll see how the season goes.

June 13

June has arrived with some sunny weather and more work. Today we bend some parts for a company that makes rock climbing walls. That’s a new one for us and we finish a job for some construction at the Georgetown University. I’m thinking of tomorrow. It’s Kim’s birthday and the boys and I will try to do something nice for her. I think dinner at Squire’s might be in order. We love that restaurant. In fact, our wedding rehearsal dinner was there.

June 21

Ann, Jack and I are having lunch in the office and discussing the Stanley Cup Finals. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 3 games to 1. It’s the first championship for the state of North Carolina in any professional sport. It’s bitter for us long time Capitals fans but Jack remains confident. He thinks we have the superstar we need in Alexander Ovechkin to put us over the top eventually. In the Shop, we have a mix of rolling for fabricators, some channel rails, sign work and some structural pieces for a Johns Hopkins University Cancer Research building.

June 30

It’s a Friday night and I’m watching the Orioles lose to the Braves. The Birds are 37 – 44 now and hopes for a good year are slipping away. That’s okay. We had a great season with the Conquerors League. I had so much fun with those kids. We can’t wait for the Awards Banquet next month. The Shop is doing well so far this year and working closer to home in the new building is great.

July 4

It’s Independence Day and we celebrate at the new Casa Dalfonzo in Catonsville. It’s different because when my in-laws lived in the City, we had a great view of the Inner Harbor fireworks from their backyard. The boys loved that but this place has the big yard and the pool. It does get hot and the pool pays dividends. We feast on all those cookout favorites then watch the Orioles pound the White Sox 13 – 0. It was a fun day.

July 14

Today I am writing out a lot of delivery tickets. Quite a few orders are finished and I make a lot of calls to arrange pickups. We are heading toward our vacation in August and with that in mind, one of our jobs is for a Fitness Center in Ocean City. I’ll have to mention it to my Dad. There’s also a few handrails and some work for the Du Val School. We tend to get work for schools in the summer. Usually small replacements or repairs but sometimes more.

July 20

The heat has really been on us this week. Temperatures got close to 100 a couple of days. It’s humid and stifling. Still, there is work to do and Kavanagh’s and crew do it. This week we finished some tubes for American Iron Works for a GSA Federal Building and we rolled a beam for the Marshall Ruby Company which will be used for a sign for Frostburg State University.

July 28

It’s the end of a hot week and we have a big thunderstorm in the afternoon. I’m happy to see it. It cools things down quickly. Kim, the boys and I attended the baseball banquet this week and it was great to see everyone. We’ve made some new friends and so have our kids. I love seeing Joe get his trophy and the food is good too. The American Legion Hall holds this affair each year and they do a wonderful job. The crew are anxious for vacation the week after next. They are knocking jobs out left and right. 

August 4

The day is here and the Joseph Kavanagh Company will be closed next week. Today is primarily a truck day and B & B Welding, R & R Fabrication, Beltway Iron and Brassworks all pick up. We lock the gate and we are off home. I will stop in one day next week to check for phone messages.

August 16

After work, I drive up to Jack’s house, leave my car and he drives us to Ripken stadium for the New York-Penn League All-Star Game. My sister Mary got the tickets from her boss and passed them on. They are really good seats with a banquet of fruit and assorted food in the back. We eat well and watch the home run derby. A young Orioles prospect, Nolan Reimold, wins it. It’s my first in person Home Run Derby. I love it and so does Jack. During the game, I talk to Jack about work. I have a meeting next week. A fellow from General Dynamics Robotic Systems called me about bending some weird aluminum extrusions. He says it’s for a robotic mail sorter and it’s going to be a pretty big project. I’m very skeptical because extrusions are complicated. We rarely have the proper tools.

            “I don’t know about this extrusion job. The tools are always a problem and I don’t know how we can adapt what we got.” I say staring at the field as a ball is grounded foul down the third base line.

            “Well, talk to the guy. See if he can bring a sample of the extrusion. That will be better to work off than any sketches. We can go through some old flat dies and clamps and see what tools we find that might work. If we can’t find anything, we can’t do it. It’s as simple as that.” Jack answers.

            “I’ll talk to him. I just am a little nervous about it. This is a big big project that runs over several years. It’s of a pretty big scope. Might be too much for the Shop.” I say as I sit back in my seat.

            Jack slides back in his chair too and says, “So if it’s too big, we won’t bid it. We won’t really know until you get all the details from him. Yeah, it could just be too much for us but if it’s not, we want a chance at the job. It’s work and lots of it. We want it, right?” He looks over at me with a grin.

            “Yeah, we want it. That’s right.” I answer with a smile of my own. “Who am I kidding? It’s probably too much for us or our price will be too high. It doesn’t sound like a job we would ever get.”

            “There you go. Don’t worry about it then.” He plops a grape in his mouth and returns his attention to the game. I do the same.

We also discuss bringing in a tenant. We were approached by a man named John Alban who owns a container or dumpster company, Container Services. He talked to Ann when he stopped in and we showed him around the place. Taking on a tenant means some other people will be on the property and have keys to the gate. It’s a big change for us but we are giving serious thought to it.  We will talk to Ann about it further. The game ends with a victory by the AL all-stars 4 – 1. We have a great time and I make a point to thank Mary. It was good to see a ballgame with my brother.

August 22

It’s a busy Tuesday at the Shop. We’re just a week back from vacation and we always have a glut of work to do when we return. It’s a mix of jobs but my focus is my meeting with Doug Green from General Dynamics Robotic Systems. This robotic mail sorter is based off a French machine and it’s a multi-year project. I tell him we’d have to make tools or adapt what we have and that’s a complicated and expensive process. Surprisingly, he convinces me they have no other option but to deal with us. Sometimes being an old company and seemingly the only game in town has its advantages. I tell him to send me drawings and there are many. I will think about it and try to come up with something that will work.

August 29

It’s another hot and sticky day in Dundalk. The crew are hammering out a mess of jobs including work for the Rockville Town Center and the Morgan State Library. John Alban from Container Services  comes in and signs a lease with us. This will help offset our mortgage and make use of the outside of the property and the trailer which will serve as their offices. John and his wife who runs the office are good people and we’re confident this is a good move. 

September 1

It rains all afternoon this Friday. I am wondering if Joe will have soccer tomorrow. A wet field almost always is a cancellation. I don’t think Joe enjoys it as much as baseball or bowling anyway but we shall see. The boys in the Shop are happy for the cooling rain. It won’t even reach 70 degrees today and we’re thankful for the change. We have also received an order from GDRS(General Dynamics Robotic Systems) for some prototype parts for the mail sorter. We’ve made a lot of prototypes in our time so we’ll see if anything happens after this phase. Still, it’s an order. As I drive home, I’m thinking about the Orioles. They are well under .500 and on their way to another losing season.

September 12

The first parts for the USPS FSS (Flat Sorting System) are picked up today. They are just a small fraction of the job if it actually happens but they look good. We manage to use some flat dies and adjust some other tools to make the bends from these extrusions. We’ll see what they say. Meanwhile, the crew are bending pipes, channels and angles including some for the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. The crew are also focused on the return of football. The Ravens beat the Buccaneers 27 – 0 to start the season. You can’t begin much better than that. Also, the weather finally cooperated this weekend and Joe played soccer with the Conquerors League. It’s always good to see the other families. It gives me perspective for one. Some kids have multiple disabilities. It also makes me feel good to see these kids playing and making friends. Things that most parents take for granted.

September 22

The Shop received another order for samples for GDRS. The first parts were accepted so we were able to stay within their tolerance which is a good sign for future orders. Next year is when the FSS job is supposed to really take off. I’m hopeful. The crew have some tubes to melt out today so they are happy it’s a cool day. We are also visited by Lee Badger today. Lee is an old friend and customer. We don’t see him much as he’s moved to West Virginia. Once in a while, he still needs something rolled. It’s good to see him. It reminds me of the old days and my father and mother. My parents always liked Lee and his partner, Steve.

October 1

After a heavy rain on this Sunday morning, I’m watching the Orioles lose the final game of the season 9 – 0 to the Red Sox. They finish the season 22 games under .500. In the past, this would bother me more but now, I’m focused on other things. Yesterday, Joe played soccer with the Conquerors League and that season will end in a couple of weeks too. I think about the Shop. This week was busy and fortunately, cool, because we threw around a lot heat. We had some tubes to fill, roll and melt out for TSI Architectural and for Ackerman and Baynes. We also rolled some aluminum tee bars. You don’t see tee’s in aluminum often but these seem to have some aeronautical application. At least, that’s my suspicion. This week is the birthday week for our boys. Joe’s is tomorrow and A.J.’s is next Saturday. We’ll make it a good week for sure. Next Saturday, we’ll have a combined party after soccer at my in-laws.

October 5

Another set of samples for GDRS is picked up today and we have received an order from a Canadian company, Seimens, for the same project. Apparently, they have part of the contract. It seems odd to me but more work is good. No matter where it comes from. Shipping to Canada will complicate things though. In addition to the FSS work, we bend and roll our usual variety of things including a tube for a Wine Cellar Entrance. That may be a first here at the Joseph Kavanagh Company. Ann, Jack and I are excited about the start of the Washington Capitals season tonight. Unfortunately, they lose to the NY Rangers 5 – 2 but it still means hockey is back.

October 7

We spend the day in Catonsville with Kim’s parents and her grandmother. Joe turned 9 on Monday and A.J. is four today. We celebrate with cake and lots of presents. Both boys are doing okay at school. A.J. is still in Pre-K and Joe is in 3r^d grade. Joe has his issues some days with going to school or Kim picks him up early. He’ll tell Kim he has a sore throat or a sniffle or he says this to his teacher. He’s not angry or belligerent. That would never be Joe. He simply doesn’t want to go. He cries or pouts and then turns completely calm if Kim agrees to let him stay home. If he does go, he seems fine and gets on the bus but some days, we get a call from school. Kim will pick him up as he was not exactly misbehaving but causing stress in the classroom. I’ve been in his classroom. It’s pretty stressful so any more would be a bad thing. It’s complicated but Kim handles it well. Joe isn’t able to articulate what his problem with school is. I feel it’s that distance or lack of interest again. Not boredom but not interested in what’s going on in class as he so often is at home. Maybe it’s just a phase. A.J. on the other hand, is very gregarious as a little boy. He didn’t speak for almost 3 years and he seems to be making up for it now. We have a very nice day with Kim’s family then head home.

October 16

It’s a cloudy Monday and the talk of the Shop is the Ravens. My crew are all rabid fans and after winning the first 4 games, they have dropped 2 in a row. Confidence is still high this will be a successful season. As far as actual work goes, we roll some structural pieces including several for American Iron Works which are part of a project at Liberty Center in DC.

October 27

I watch the Cardinals beat the Tigers in the World Series on this Friday night. I dream of some day watching my Birds win one with my boys. It’s been over twenty years. We’re way past due to win a Series but that’s not how it works. The Shop had another good week. We did some set work for Imagination Stage and we shipped out our first set of FSS samples to Siemens in Canada. I will find out next week if they are acceptable.

October 31

It is Halloween and Dundalk is decorated to the nines as always. I take my boys trick or treating and they get lots of sweet treats. Kim stays at the house and hands out goodies to the many kids who stop by. As someone who never really celebrated Halloween as a kid, it still seems strange to me but the kids love it. Not just mine but all kids.

November 9

It’s a nice sunny day on Lynhurst Road and the crew spend most of the day rolling some angles and flat bars for a large tank. Stiffeners, supports or railings around tanks are pretty standard fare for us. We also roll some more pipes for Imagination Stage. These are more set pieces and we do this work for a variety of local theaters. 

November 17

We are heading toward the end of the year and the work has kept up strong. Today, some big structural angles are rolled as well as an aluminum shoe channel. These are used to hold panes of glass. The glass slips into the space between the legs of the channel. They are tricky because you have to curve it and not have the legs close together. We also melt out a tube we rolled for Action Fabrication. We built a platform just outside of the back door for filling and melting out tubes. This helps keep the heat out of the Shop and it’s safer.

November 23

Kim, the boys and I spend Thanksgiving with Kim’s family. The food is bountiful and we have a nice holiday together. I watch football with Anthony and talk about the Ravens. After losing those 2 in a row, they’ve won 4. They are on a roll and there’s a big game against the Super Bowl Champions and our rivals, the Steelers, this Sunday. We had decided to spend the night to prolong the holiday and so we stay until Friday afternoon.

November 30

Tomorrow is December 1^st and that usually starts a mad rush of work until the end of the year. It’s been a strong year so far and a strong finish would be great. We have some tubes to melt out and some work for R & R Fabrication. They are one of our best fabrication customers. They stay busy usually so that helps us to do the same. The crew also roll some pipes for Center Stage. They are also a good customer. We’ve been doing occasional set work for them since I worked in the Shop, probably longer.

December 5

It’s a sunny cool Tuesday and I am going over our schedule. With a short month and an influx of work  before the holiday, we have to pay close attention to the order of the jobs. We try to line up similar orders in order to minimize the set up times for each machine. It we have five pipe jobs, I try to do them together. If they are all the same size? That’s even better. We also have to choose a day to stop taking work. If I didn’t do that, we’d have customers sending in things right up until the holiday. Since we close for a week between Christmas and New Year’s, we have to have a point where we say, “no more.” Today a recurring pipe order is bent for Turnbull Enterprises and we have some tubes to melt out. I’m glad we built that platform. The process of filling and melting out is working much better than at the old building.

December 13

It’s a day with lots of torch work at the Shop. We have several sets of structural tubes to be melted out. We lined these up together to make it easier and quicker. One set is for the Capitol Visitors Center in DC. These are the last of our filling and melting out jobs. That’s one thing I can scratch off my list. The schedule is still running tight but I’m sure we’ll get it all done.

December 22

It’s the last work day of the year on Lynhurst Road. It’s entirely a truck day with pick ups all day including some big beams and channels. These take a bit longer to load because of the weight and the care that must be taken. Finally, the last truck pulls off the lot and the holiday is here. The Kavanagh’s and crew head home for Christmas.

December 25

Kim, the boys and I celebrate Christmas in Catonsville with my in-laws. We drove over yesterday and spent the night. I watched the Ravens beat the Steelers with my father-in-law. We both enjoyed that. This morning, the boys were very excited to find out that Santa Claus knew we were sleeping here and made his appointed rounds. There is a bit of bedlam in the morning as Joe and A.J. tear through mounds of presents. A.J. is older and he knows about gifts now. Joe has become an expert at ripping wrapping paper away and his younger brother follows suit. It’s a wonderful holiday with a lot of food and fun. Kim’s grandmother is there and her brother and his family come over. Later in the day, we visit my family who are celebrating at my sister Nancy’s house on Birch Drive. It’s more Yule fun and music courtesy of my father and my brother-in-law, Jim. Of course, the Kavanagh’s sing along. After we return to my in-laws, Anthony and I watch some Christmas Monday Night Football since we’re staying until tomorrow. The Jets beat the Dolphins 13 – 10. It wasn’t a particularly exciting game but it was a nice quiet way to finish the day. The boys had a great holiday. That means we all had a great holiday.

December 31

It’s New Year’s Eve and Kim and I are watching the Twilight Zone Marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. We did this last year and enjoyed it so I suspect it will become a holiday tradition. We both love the Zones and have our favorites. For me, it’s a Stop at Willoughby. Something about that episode takes me back to my grandmother’s and watching the Twilight Zone on an old black and white TV. The Ravens won their final game of the regular season earlier today. They beat the Bills 19 – 7 and will get a first round bye in the playoffs. Postseason football will make the return to work a little more palatable. The Shop had a strong year. That was good to see in the first full year in our new home. The place is working out well and I love the eight minute commute. Kim and I are so happy to see A.J. talking and walking so much more. In fact, he’s thriving. Whether it’s the speech therapy at school or just getting older, he’s doing really well. It seems in a little over a year, he’s almost caught up with Joe in some ways. He’s gone from not speaking or walking to good luck keeping him quiet or sitting still in less than two years. It’s been wonderful but it highlights how things are for Joe. A.J. is catching up and Joe seems to be lagging behind. We’re learning autism is about many things. One is a very honest disinterest in many things most people care about greatly. He’s not bored. No, that’s not it. He’s uninterested. When he’s watching something on TV with us, he’s sometimes completely focused on some small detail. If you ask him what a show is about, he’ll be able to describe the show and the characters in it. Don’t expect even a cursory description of the plot or narrative. It’s not that he can’t understand or imagine it. He’s paying attention to something else. The issues with going to school and his quiet mannerisms make us wonder. In the years since Joe was diagnosed, we trusted things would work out for him and we still hope that’s true. Still, by now the reality has set in. Joe will likely be limited in some way behaviorally for his whole life. It’s a big thing to accept and it’s much easier to deny or at least not face it. He’ll be ten next year and we hold fast to the hope that changes will come but we won’t expect any miracles. Perhap we should. A.J. is testament to this. His about face is nothing short of miraculous to us. We’ll go with hope and see where it takes us in the New Year.

George W. Bush is the president of the United States. A Maryland judge strikes down a state law banning same sex marriage. The Blu-Ray disc and Nintendo’s Wii are released in the U.S. Social Media website Twitter is created. The Dow Jones passes 12,000 for the first time. Pluto is downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet. The films “The Da Vinci Code,” “V for Vendetta” and “Cars” premier. James Brown, Coretta Scott King, Darrin McGavin, Buck O’Neil and Jeanne Kirkpatrick die.

There are 50 states in the Union.