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:
1787 – At the Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, PA, debate began on the first draft of the U.S. Constitution.
1890 – At Auburn Prison in New York, NY, murderer William Kemmler became the first person to be executed by electric chair.
1926 – At the age of 19, Gertrude Ederle became the first American woman to swim the English Channel. The swim took 14-1/2 hours. She was sometimes referred to a the “Queen of the Waves”.
1926 – Warner Brothers premiered its Vitaphone system in New York, NY with the movie was “Don Juan,” starring John Barrymore.
1945 – The American B-29 bomber, known as the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb was dropped over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb killed an estimated 140,000 people.
1952 – “Mad” magazine was published for the first time.
1952 – Satchel Paige, at age 46, became the oldest pitcher to complete a major league baseball game.
1965 – The Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1981 – Firefighters in Indianapolis, IN, answered a false alarm. When they returned to their station, it was ablaze due to a grease fire.
1986 – William J. Schroeder died. He lived 620 days with the Jarvik-7 man-made heart. He was the world’s longest surviving recipient of a permanent artificial heart.
1986 – Timothy Dalton became the fourth actor to be named “James Bond.”
1991 – Tim Berners-Lee released files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuted as a publicly available service on the internet.
1993 – The U.S. Senate confirmed Louis Freeh to be the director of the FBI.
1993 – The movie “The Fugitive”, starring Tommy Lee Jones, opened in theaters.
1996 – NASA announced that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contained evidence of primitive life-forms.
1997 – Apple Computer and Microsoft agreed to share technology in a deal giving Microsoft a stake in Apple’s survival.
1998 – Monica Lewinsky testified before a grand jury about her affair with President Bill Clinton. She spent 8½ hours testifying.
1999 – The movie “The Sixth Sense”, starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment, premiered in theaters.
2003 – Republican movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” that he planned to run for governor in California’s recall election.
2007 – The Crandall Canyon Mine in Huntington, Utah collapsed, trapping six miners. The mine’s operator says that the collapse was due to an earthquake. Despite frantic efforts, the miners were never rescued. In late November, the mine was permanently closed, entombing the miners’ remains.
2009 – Bronx, NY native Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in to become the third woman — and first Latina — to sit on the United States Supreme Court.
2012 – NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on the surface of Mars.
BIRTHDAYS:
Peter Bonerz – 86 years old (1938) – Actor, director (Played Dr. Jerry Robinson on TV’s “The Bob Newhart Show”, “9 to 5”)
Ray Buktenica – 81 years old (1943) – Actor (TV’s “Rhoda”, “Life Goes On”)
Dorian Harewood – 74 years old (1950) – Actor (Played Simon Haley in the ABC miniseries “Roots: The Next Generations”, movies “Full Metal Jacket”, “The Jesse Owens Story”, and TV’s “Strike Force”)
Catherine Hicks – 73 years old (1951) – Actress (Played Annie Camden on TV’s “7th Heaven”)
Stephanie Kramer – 68 years old (1956) – Actress (Played detective Sgt. Dee Dee McCall on TV’s “Hunter”)
Randy DeBarge – 66 years old (1958) – Singer, bass guitarist (DeBarge). Born in Detroit, MI.
Jeremy Ratchford – 59 years old (1965) – Actor (TV’s “Cold Case”)
M. Night Shyamalan – 54 years old (1970) – Writer, producer, director, actor (“The Last Airbender”, “The Village”, “Signs”, “The Sixth Sense”)
Merrin Dungey – 53 years old (1971) – Actress (TV’s “Summerland”, “Alias”, “The King of Queens”)
Geri Halliwell – 52 years old (1972) – Singer (Ginger Spice in the Spice Girls)
Vera Farmiga – 51 years old (1973) – Actress (“Up in the Air”, “The Conjuring”, “Source Code”, “Safe House”, “The Manchurian Candidate”)
Soleil Moon Frye – 48 years old (1976) – Actress (TV’s “Punky Brewster”, “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, “The Proud Family”)
Melissa George – 48 years old (1976) – Actress (“The Amityville Horror”, “30 Days of Night”, TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy”)
TODAY IS:
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.
3 Comments
So cool! Thanks Scott! I love it and enjoyed reading through!
ty very cool