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:
1817 – Mississippi became the 20th state.
1845 – British civil engineer Robert Thompson patented the first pneumatic tires.
1869 – Women were granted the right to vote in the Wyoming Territory.
1884 – Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published.
1901 – The first Nobel prizes were awarded.
1906 – President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
1927 – The Grand Old Opry made its first radio broadcast from Nashville, TN.
1931 – Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, she was the first American woman to do so.
1953 – Hugh Hefner published the first “Playboy” magazine with an investment of $7,600.
1955 – The cartoon “Mighty Mouse Playhouse” premiered on television.
1958 – The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the United States when 111 passengers flew from New York, NY, to Miami, FL, on a National Airlines Boeing 707.
1962 – The movie “Lawrence of Arabia” debuted in theaters and went on to win an Oscar for Best Picture.
1963 – President Lyndon Johnson called on Congress to pass civil rights legislation without delay, saying “the issue cannot be ignored for another 100 years or even another 100 days.”
1963 – Donny Osmond made his debut with the Osmonds on the NBC television show “The Andy Williams Show.”
1965 – Sugar Ray Robinson permanently retired from boxing. By winning the middleweight title five times, he had more successful title bouts to his credit than any fighter in history.
1978 – The film, “Superman: The Movie”, starring Christopher Reeves premiered in theaters. The film cost $55 million to make, and was the most expensive movie ever made at that time.
1984 – The single “Do They Know It’s Christmas” was released by Band-Aid. The group was assembled to aid in famine relief.
1990 – The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the long-acting contraceptive implant Norplant.
1991 – Alan Freed, the legendary disc jockey who coined the term “rock and roll,” got a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1993 – The crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor deployed the repaired Hubble Space Telescope into Earth’s orbit.
1994 – Advertising executive Thomas Mosser of North Caldwell, NJ, was killed by a mail bomb that was blamed on the Unabomber.
1998 – 250 miles above the Earth, six astronauts opened the doors to the new International Space Station.
1999 – The movie “The Green Mile”, starring Tom Hanks, premiered in theaters.
2001 – The movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” premiered in theaters.
2008 – Gary Sinise, who played the fictional Lieutenant Dan in “Forrest Gump”, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George Bush in the Oval Office.
2009 – James Cameron’s sci-fi movie “Avatar” premiered in theaters in London, becoming the highest grossing movie ever at the time.
2016 – The movie “Rogue One: The Star Wars Story” debuted in theaters.
2017 – Detroit Tigers Alan Trammell and Jack Morris were elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2021 – A widespread, deadly, and violent tornado outbreak slammed the Central, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States. Eighty-nine people were killed by the tornadoes, with most of the fatalities occurring in Kentucky, where a single tornado killed 57 people, and injured hundreds of others.
BIRTHDAYS:
Dick Bavetta – 86 years old (1939) – Basketball player and referee
Steve Renko – 81 years old (1944) – Baseball player
David Perdue – 76 years old (1949) – Politician
John Boozman – 75 years old (1950) – Football player, lawyer, and politician
Susan Dey – 73 years old (1952) – Actress
Greg Laurie – 73 years old (1952) – Author and pastor
Chris Bury – 72 years old (1953) – Journalist and academic
Price Cobb – 71 years old (1954) – Race car driver and manager
Rod Blagojevich – 69 years old (1956) – Lawyer and politician, 40th Governor of Illinois
Prem Rawat – 68 years old (1957) – Indian-American guru and educator
Cornelia Funke – 67 years old (1958) – German-American author
Mark Aguirre – 66 years old (1959) – Basketball player and coach
Udi Aloni – 66 years old (1959) – American-Israeli director and author
Nia Peeples – 64 years old (1961) – Singer and actress
Bobby Flay – 61 years old (1964) – Chef and author
J Mascis – 60 years old (1965) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Penelope Trunk – 59 years old (1966) – Writer
Bryant Stith – 55 years old (1970) – Basketball player and coach
Donavon Frankenreiter – 53 years old (1972) – Surfer, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
Rusty LaRue – 52 years old (1973) – Basketball player and coach
Meg White – 51 years old (1974) – Drummer
Summer Phoenix – 47 years old (1978) – Actress
Matt Bentley – 46 years old (1979) – Wrestler
Sarah Chang – 45 years old (1980) – Violinist
Patrick Flueger – 42 years old (1983) – Actor
JTG – 41 years old (1984) – Wrestler
Matt Forte – 40 years old (1985) – Football player
Raven-Symoné – 40 years old (1985) – Actress, singer, and dancer
Kahlil Bell – 39 years old (1986) – Football player
Wil Myers – 35 years old (1990) – Baseball player
Teyana Taylor – 35 years old (1990) – Singer, songwriter, choreographer, and actress
KiKi Layne – 34 years old (1991) – Actress
Eric Reid – 34 years old (1991) – Football player
Dion Waiters – 34 years old (1991) – Basketball player
Carlos Rodón – 33 years old (1992) – Baseball player
Melissa Roxburgh – 33 years old (1992) – Canadian-American actress
Joe Burrow – 29 years old (1996) – Football 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.
