July 31

Scott Winters July 31, 2024 0 Comments

A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1790 – The first U.S. patent was issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

1792 – The cornerstone of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, PA, was laid. It was the first building to be used only as a government building.

1923 – The State of Michigan began a ferry service from Mackinac City to St. Ignace to connect the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The service continued until the Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957.

1928 – MGM’s “Leo the Lion” roared for the first time to introduced MGM’s first talking picture, “White Shadows on the South Seas.”

1931 – Experimental television station W2XAB (now WCBS) began broadcasting in New York, NY.

1948 – President Harry Truman helped dedicate New York International Airport at Idlewild Field. It was later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in December of 1963.

1955 – Marilyn Bell of Toronto, Canada, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel at the age of 17.

1964 – The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon’s surface. The images were 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.

1971 – Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a vehicle on the moon in a lunar rover vehicle.

1981 – The seven-week baseball players’ strike came to an end when the players and owners agreed on the issue of free agent compensation.

1984 – Leeza Gibbons made her first appearance on TV’s “Entertainment Tonight”.

1988 – The last American Playboy Club closed in Lansing, MI.

1989 – The Game Boy handheld video game was released in the U.S.

1991 – President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

1995 – The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion.

1998 – Nicolas Cage received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1999 – The spacecraft Lunar Prospect crashed into the moon. It was on a mission to detect frozen water on the moon’s surface. The craft had launched on January 6, 1998.

2006 – Cuba’s Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother, Raul.

2007 – The iTunes Music Store reached 3 billion songs sold and 2 million feature length films sold.

2007 – The Boston Celtics obtained former MVP and 10-time All-Star Kevin Garnett in a 7-for-1 deal with Minnesota Timberwolves. It was the NBA’s biggest ever trade for one player.

2012 – Michael Phelps broke the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.

2016 – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a play by Jack Thorne with contributions by J.K. Rowling, was published worldwide at midnight.

BIRTHDAYS:

Susan Flannery – 85 years old (1939) – Actress (Played Stephanie Forrester on TV’s “The Bold and the Beautiful”, played Dr. Laura Spencer Horton on TV’s “Days of Our Lives”)

Lobo – 81 years old (1943) – Singer, songwriter

Geraldine Chaplin – 80 years old (1944) – Actress (“Dr. Zhivago”, “Nashville”, “Welcome to LA”, “Chaplin”)

Gary Lewis – 79 years old (1945) – Musician (Gary Lewis and the Playboys)

Karl Green – 77 years old (1947) – Bass guitarist, backup signer (Herman’s Hermits)

Evonne Goolagong Cawley – 73 years old (1951) – Tennis player

Barry Van Dyke – 73 years old (1951) – Actor (Played Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan on TV’s “Diagnosis: Murder”)

Alan Autry – 72 years old (1952) – Actor (TV’s “In the Heat of the Night”)

Michael Biehn – 68 years old (1956) – Actor (“The Rock”, “Tombstone”, “The Abyss”, “Aliens”, “Terminator”, TV’s “Hill Street Blues”)

Bill Berry – 66 years old (1958) – Drummer (R.E.M.)

Wesley Snipes – 62 years old (1962) – Actor (“Blade” series, “Unstoppable”, “7 Seconds”, “White Men Can’t Jump”, “Demolition Man”, “The Fan”)

Fatboy Slim – 61 years old (1963) – Musician

J.K. Rowling – 59 years old (1965) – Author and one of the richest women in England (“Harry Potter” series)

Dean Cain – 58 years old (1966) – Actor (“Out of Time”, TV’s “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”, TV host “Ripley’s Believe It or Not”). Born in Mount Clemens, MI.

Ben Chaplin – 55 years old (1969) – Actor (“The Truth About Cats and Dogs”, “Birthday Girl”, “Murder by Numbers”)

Loren Dean – 55 years old (1969) – Actor (“Enemy of the State”)

Annie Parisse – 49 years old (1975) – Actress (TV’s “Law and Order”)

Will Champion – 46 years old (1978) – Drummer, backup vocalist (Coldplay)

B.J. Novak – 45 years old (1979) – Actor (TV’s “The Office”, “The Newsroom”)