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:
1798 – David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patented the nut and bolt machine.
1819 – Alabama became the 22nd U.S. state.
1836 – Michigan traded Ohio the Toledo strip for the Upper Peninsula.
1903 – Orville Wright made the first attempt at powered flight, but the engine stalled during take-off. The plane, the Wright Flyer, was damaged in the attempt. Repairs were made and three days later the modern aviation age was born when the plane stayed aloft for 12 seconds and flew 102 feet in Kitty Hawk, NC.
1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole. He reached the destination 35 days ahead of Captain Robert F. Scott.
1929 – The Kalamazoo Airport became the first municipal airport in the state of Michigan.
1946 – The U.N. General Assembly voted to establish the United Nation’s headquarters in New York, NY.
1962 – The U.S. space probe Mariner II became the first spacecraft to fly by Venus. It transmitted information about the planet’s atmosphere and surface temperature.
1964 – I-196 opened in Grand Rapids, MI. The city became the first in the nation to have two freeways intersect its downtown.
1969 – The Jackson 5 made their first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”.
1977 – The movie “Saturday Night Fever”, starring John Travolta, premiered in New York, NY.
1984 – Howard Cosell retired from the NFL’s “Monday Night Football”.
1984 – David Lynch’s film adaptation of Frank Hebert’s novel, “Dune”, premiered in theaters.
1986 – The experimental aircraft Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from California on the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. The trip took nine days to complete.
1987 – Chrysler pleaded no contest to federal charges of selling several thousand vehicles as new when Chrysler employees had driven the vehicles with the odometer disconnected.
1987 – “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” cartoon debuted.
1988 – CBS won the exclusive rights to major league baseball’s 1990-94 seasons for $1.1 billion.
1988 – The first transatlantic underwater fiber-optic cable went into service.
1996 – Mario Kart 64, the first 3D game of the series, debuted.
1999 – Charles M. Schulz announced his retirement. The last original “Peanuts” comic strip was published on February 13, 2000.
2004 – The Martin Scorsese film, “The Aviator”, starring Leonard DiCarprio, premiered in theaters. It would be nominated for 11 Oscars.
2008 – Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at then President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
2011 – Fireworks became legal again in Michigan. The Michigan legislature passed a ban on the sale of fireworks back in 1927. That ban was lifted in 2011.
2012 – Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, CT.
2015 – The Star Wars movie sequel “Episode Seven: The Force Awakens” premiered in Los Angeles, CA.
2015 – The city of Flint, Michigan, declared a State of Emergency over contaminated water supplies.
2017 – The Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion
BIRTHDAYS:
Abbe Lane – 92 years old (1932) – Singer, actress (TV’s “Toast of the Town”)
Hal Williams – 90 years old (1934) – Actor (TV’s “Sanford and Son”, “227”, “Private Benjamin”, movies “Hardcore”, “Private Benjamin”, “The Rookie”)
Michael Ovitz – 78 years old (1946) – Walt Disney Co. president (October 1995 to January 1997)
Joyce Vincent-Wilson – 78 years old (1946) – Singer (Tony Orlando, Dawn). Born in Detroit, MI.
Dee Wallace-Stone – 76 years old (1948) – Actress (“The Hills Have Eyes”, “The Howling”, “Cujo”, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”, “The Stepford Wives”, “10”, “Critters”, TV’s “General Hospital”)
Cliff Williams – 75 years old (1949) – Singer, bass player (AC/DC)
Cynthia Gibb – 61 years old (1963) – Actress (TV’s “Fame”, “The Karen Carpenter Story”, movies “Salvador”, “Modern Girls”, “Short Circuit 2”)
Vanessa Hudgens – 36 years old (1988) – Actress, singer (“High School Musical”, “Bandslam”)
TODAY IS:
Sustainable Entrepreneurship Day
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.
