TODAY IN HISTORY

JANUARY 26

1988:Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera opens in New York. The musical becomes Broadway’s longest-running show—and it’s still playing.

1961: Janet Travell is appointed the president’s physician, becoming the first woman to hold the position .

TUNE IN TONIGHT

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: WYATT EARP

PBS, 9 p.m. ET

This hour, to its credit, avoids corny recreations, relying instead on enthusiastic historians and a well-researched narrative to tell the tale of lawman Wyatt Earp – including a lot of things you won’t have picked up by watching Western movies. His early years are quite a revelation, and so are his final ones. Highly recommended.

2010-11 ROTARY THEME INTRODUCED

BAD, BAD, BAD

You've heard about the bed bugs, the dirty sheets and grimy carpets, but have you actually stayed in one of these hotels? Thanks for your fellow travelers you can avoid sharing bed sheets with the guests before you (and before them, and before them). TripAdvisor announced the top 10 dirtiest hotels in America, based on comments from customers and travelers on the popular travel review site.

Grab your antibacterial gel, hold your nose and watch where you step - these 10 hotels are sure to gross out even the most carefree traveler (there's a reason health codes exist, folks). These hotels just make you just want to scream, eewwwwwwwww and run for the showers (which are hopefully clean, wherever you are).

Here are the 2010 Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in America, and a few comments from the guests who stepped foot inside the rooms:

1. Heritage Marina Hotel, San Francisco, California: "This hotel is like in a horrible horror movie! The bed was a nightmare. It smelled like urine and had strange spots."
2. Days Inn Eureka/Six Flags, Eureka, Missouri: "If Hell had a hotel it would be something like this."
3. Tropicana Resort Hotel, Virginia Beach, Virginia: "We called the Virginia Beach health department and filed a complaint. We do not recommend this Place to any human being."
4. Super 8 Virginia Beach/At the Ocean, Virginia Beach, Virginia: "I am still recovering from my stay in this hell-hole."
5. Quality Inn, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania: "Our room looked like something from a very bad horror movie. I was scared to sleep in the bed. Just looking at it made me want to itch."
6. New York Inn, New York City, New York: "We were greeted on our arrival by a cleaner sitting on our bed smoking and watching TV."
7. Parisian Hotel & Suites, Miami Beach, Florida: "I had been bitten on my chin several times, my hands, forearms, legs and feet. At least 15% of my body was covered in red, burning, bites."
8. Capistrano Seaside Inn, Capistrano Beach, California: "We spilled water on the floor and cleaned it, and the towel turned brown from all the dirt on the ground."
9. Desert Lodge, Palm Springs, California: "Mold smell and bugs! Unavailable staff. Dirty sheets and bath tub was gross."
10. Continental Oceanfront Hotel South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida: "I felt more dirty getting out of the shower than getting in."

GET READY FOR THE A,B,C,D SHUFFLE

TODAY IN HISTORY

JANUARY 25

1915:Telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell makes the first transcontinental call from New York to San Francisco.

1971: Charles Manson and three “family” members are found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1969 massacre of Sharon Tate and six others.

1998: Pope John Paul II urges Cuba to reform its ways during an official visit to the communist country.

TIME TO RELAX

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

Slaughtering of beef and pork at Alton, Illinois. Nov. 17, 1841

TODAY IN HISTORY

JANUARY 24

1848:James Marshall discovers gold in northern California. The find leads to the gold rush of 1849.

1908: Robert Baden-Powell establishes the first Boy Scout troop in England.

1943: President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill end their Casablanca conference after mapping strategy for the Axis Alliance’s unconditional surrender.

AND I QUOTE

"Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people." – William Butler Yeats

A NEW MINUTE