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:
1789 – A regular army was established by the U.S. War Department with a strength of several hundred men.
1916 – John D. Rockefeller became the first billionaire.
1930 – Lowell Thomas made his debut on CBS Radio. He was in the radio business for the next 46 years.
1950 – Bell Laboratories introduced the first telephone answering machine.
1953 – The television show “Make Room for Daddy” debuted on ABC.
1960 – The TV show “My Three Sons” premiered on ABC.
1963 – TV’s “My Favorite Martian” premiered on CBS.
1966 – The Chevrolet Camaro — originally named Panther — was introduced.
1978 – Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
1982 – Seven people died in Chicago, IL, after taking capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide. The company recalled 264,000 bottles. This led to the use of safety seals on most consumer products.
1985 – The TV show “MacGyver” debuted on ABC.
1986 – The TV show “Designing Women” debuted on CBS.
1988 – The Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-26) blasted off from Cape Canaveral, in Florida, marking America’s return to manned space flight following the Challenger disaster.
1989 – Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of battery for slapping a Beverly Hills police officer who had pulled over her Rolls Royce for expired license plates. (Gabor served three days in jail.)
1992 – Magic Johnson announced that he was returning to professional basketball. The comeback ended in November, 1993.
1994 – The Pointer Sisters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1995 – The O.J. Simpson trial was sent to the jury.
1996 – The Nintendo 64 gaming system debuted.
2000 – The movie “Remember the Titans” premiered in theaters.
2001 – New York mayor Rudy Giuliani opened the first “Saturday Night Live” episode after the 9-11 attacks. Paul Simon, a longtime friend of SNL producer Lorne Michaels, sings “The Boxer.”
2008 – Following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points — the largest single day point loss in its history.
2013 – The TV series “Breaking Bad” aired it’s last episode.
BIRTHDAYS:
Tom McKeown – 88 years old (1937) – Poet and educator
Oscar H. Ibarra – 84 years old (1941) – Filipino-American theoretical computer scientist
Robert Lieber – 84 years old (1941) – Writer and academic
Bill Nelson – 83 years old (1942) – Politician
Mike Post – 81 years old (1944) – Composer and producer
Lella Cuberli – 80 years old (1945) – Soprano
Arturo Lindsay – 79 years old (1946) – Panamanian-American artist
Mark Farner – 77 years old (1948) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Bryant Gumbel – 77 years old (1948) – Journalist and sportscaster
John M. McHugh – 77 years old (1948) – Politician
Douglas Frantz – 76 years old (1949) – Investigative journalist and author
Pete Hautman – 73 years old (1952) – Author
Max Sandlin – 73 years old (1952) – Lawyer, judge, and politician
Janis F. Kearney – 72 years old (1953) – Author, lecturer and publisher
Marshall Holman – 71 years old (1954) – Bowler and sportscaster
Harry E. Johnson – 71 years old (1954) – Lawyer and public servant
Geoffrey Marcy – 71 years old (1954) – Astronomer
Ann Bancroft – 70 years old (1955) – Explorer and author
Joe Donnelly – 70 years old (1955) – Politician and lawyer
Susanne Antonetta – 69 years old (1956) – Poet and author
Suzzy Roche – 69 years old (1956) – Singer-songwriter and actress
Andrew Dice Clay – 68 years old (1957) – Comedian and actor
Joel Gallen – 68 years old (1957) – Director, producer and screenwriter
Pete Fromm – 67 years old (1958) – Author
Andy Straka – 67 years old (1958) – Author
Karen Young – 67 years old (1958) – Actress
Marissa Moss – 66 years old (1959) – Author
Rob Deer – 65 years old (1960) – Baseball player
John Paxson – 65 years old (1960) – Basketball player and executive
Roger Bart – 63 years old (1962) – Actor
Les Claypool – 62 years old (1963) – Bass player, singer, songwriter, and producer
Francis Jue – 62 years old (1963) – Actor and singer
PJ Manney – 61 years old (1964) – Writer
Suzanne Kamata – 60 years old (1965) – Author and educator
Robert F. Worth – 60 years old (1965) – Journalist
Hersey Hawkins – 59 years old (1966) – Basketball player and coach
Ken Norton Jr. – 59 years old (1966) – Football player and coach
Jill Whelan – 59 years old (1966) – Actress
Darius de Haas – 57 years old (1968) – Stage actor and singer
Adam Segal – 57 years old (1968) – Cybersecurity expert
Erika Eleniak – 56 years old (1969) – Model and actress
Robert Kurzban – 56 years old (1969) – Author and professor
Carlos Watson – 56 years old (1969) – Entrepreneur, journalist and television host
Natasha Gregson Wagner – 55 years old (1970) – Actress
Joanna Brooks – 54 years old (1971) – Author and professor
Ray Buchanan – 54 years old (1971) – Football player
Theodore Shapiro – 54 years old (1971) – Composer
Alexis Cruz – 51 years old (1974) – Actor
Dedric Ward – 51 years old (1974) – Football wide receiver
Stephanie Klein – 50 years old (1975) – Author
Heath Bell – 48 years old (1977) – Baseball player
Nathan West – 47 years old (1978) – Actor, musician, and singer
Zachary Levi – 45 years old (1980) – Actor and singer
Chrissy Metz – 45 years old (1980) – Actress
Kelly McCreary – 44 years old (1981) – Actress
Calvin Johnson – 40 years old (1985) – Football player
Inika McPherson – 39 years old (1986) – Track and field athlete
Josh Farro – 38 years old (1987) – Musician
Kevin Durant – 37 years old (1988) – Basketball player
Doug Brochu – 35 years old (1990) – Voice actor
Jordan Schroeder – 35 years old (1990) – Ice hockey player
Halsey – 31 years old (1994) – Singer
Sasha Lane – 30 years old (1995) – Actress
Jaden McDaniels – 25 years old (2000) – Basketball player
TODAY IS:
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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
