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:
1793 – “The American Minerva” was published for the first time. It was the first daily newspaper in New York City and was founded by Noah Webster.
1803 – The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by Congress. With the amendment Electors were directed to vote for a President and for a Vice-President rather than for two choices for President.
1851 – The first YMCA in North America was established in Montreal.
1879 – Thomas Edison organized the Edison Ore Milling Company.
1884 – Levant M. Richardson received a patent for the ball-bearing roller skate.
1907 – Christmas Seals went on sale for the first time, in the Wilmington, DE, post office.
1926 – The United States Golf Association legalized the use of steel-shafted golf clubs.
1914 – The Edison Phonograph Works was destroyed by fire.
1935 – The Detroit Lions won their first NFL Championship by beating the New York Giants 26-7.
1940 – The Longines Watch Company signed the first FM radio advertising contract with experimental station W2XOR in New York, NY.
1960 – Sperry Rand Corporation unveiled a new computer known as “Univac 1107.”
1962 – The Petrified Forest National Park was established in Arizona.
1965 – The first Peanuts TV special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, aired for the first time on CBS. It was the first television special based on the “Peanuts” comic strip.
1965 – A fireball was seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania. Witnesses reported something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh, PA. In 2005 NASA admitted that they examined the object.
1968 – Douglas Engelbart debuted the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).
1972 – The #1 song in the United States was “I Am Woman“, by Helen Reddy.
1975 – President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York, NY, from having to default.
1978 – The first game of the Women’s Pro Basketball League was played between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does.
1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus was certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.
1983 – The movie “Scarface”, starring Al Pacino, debuted in theaters.
1984 – The Jacksons played their last show together in Los Angeles, CA.
1988 – The movie “Twins”, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, premiered in theaters.
1990 – The first American hostages to be released by Iran began arriving in back in the United States.
1992 – Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation.
1993 – The U.S. Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos that were marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
1993 – Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor completed repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope.
1994 – President Bill Clinton fired Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after learning she has told a conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as part of human sexuality.
2002 – United Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing $4 billion in the previous two years. It was the sixth largest bankruptcy filing.
2005 – The movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, based on a series of novels by C. S. Lewis, premiered in theaters.
2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rob Blagojevich, was arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barak Obama’s being elected President.
2008 – NBC announced that Jay Leno would stay with the network, to host a weekday prime time show in 2009.
2013 – AMR Corporation and US Airways Group completed a merger to become the American Airlines Group, Inc.
BIRTHDAYS:
Cliff Hagan – 94 years old (1931) – Basketball player-coach
Beau Bridges – 84 years old (1941) – Actor, director, and producer
Kenny Vance – 82 years old (1943) – Singer-songwriter and music producer
Michael Nouri – 80 years old (1945) – Actor
Dennis Dunaway – 79 years old (1946) – Bass player and songwriter
Tom Daschle – 78 years old (1947) – Soldier, academic, and politician
Tom Kite – 76 years old (1949) – Golfer and architect
Michael Dorn – 73 years old (1952) – Actor and voice artist
World B. Free – 72 years old (1953) – Basketball player
John Malkovich – 72 years old (1953) – Actor and producer
Otis Birdsong – 70 years old (1955) – Basketball player and radio host
Sylvia – 69 years old (1956) – Country singer-songwriter
Donny Osmond – 68 years old (1957) – Singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
Steve Taylor – 68 years old (1957) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Mario Cantone – 66 years old (1959) – Comedian, actor, and writer
Stefen Fangmeier – 65 years old (1960) – Visual effects designer and director
David Anthony Higgins – 64 years old (1961) – Actor and screenwriter
Joe Lando – 64 years old (1961) – Actor
Felicity Huffman – 63 years old (1962) – Actress and producer
Roxanne Swentzell – 63 years old (1962) – Santa Clara Pueblo (Native American) ceramic sculptor
Michael Foster – 61 years old (1964) – Drummer
Joe Ausanio – 60 years old (1965) – Baseball player and coach
Kirsten Gillibrand – 59 years old (1966) – Lawyer and politician
Joshua Bell – 58 years old (1967) – Violinist and conductor
Kurt Angle – 57 years old (1968) – Freestyle and professional wrestler
Brian Bell – 57 years old (1968) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Brent Price – 57 years old (1968) – Basketball player
Jakob Dylan – 56 years old (1969) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Lori Greiner – 56 years old (1969) – Businesswoman and television personality
Allison Smith – 56 years old (1969) – Actress
Kara DioGuardi – 55 years old (1970) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Lance Krall – 55 years old (1970) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Nick Hysong – 54 years old (1971) – Pole vaulter and coach
Reiko Aylesworth – 53 years old (1972) – Actress
Tré Cool – 53 years old (1972) – German-American drummer and songwriter
Michael Corcoran – 53 years old (1972) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Stacey Abrams – 52 years old (1973) – Politician and activist
Bárbara Padilla – 52 years old (1973) – Mexican-American soprano
David Akers – 51 years old (1974) – Football player
Canibus – 51 years old (1974) – Jamaican-American rapper
Wendy Dillinger – 51 years old (1974) – Soccer player, coach, and manager
Mona Hanna-Attisha – 49 years old (1976) – Pediatrician, professor, and public health advocate
Shayne Graham – 48 years old (1977) – Football player
Jesse Metcalfe – 47 years old (1978) – Actor and musician
Olivia Lufkin – 46 years old (1979) – Japanese-American singer-songwriter
Simon Helberg – 45 years old (1980) – Actor, comedian, and musician
Mardy Fish – 44 years old (1981) – Tennis player
Ryan Grant – 43 years old (1982) – Football player
Jim Slater – 43 years old (1982) – Ice hockey player
Jolene Purdy – 42 years old (1983) – Actress
Leon Hall – 41 years old (1984) – Football player
Gerald Henderson Jr. – 38 years old (1987) – Basketball player
Mat Latos – 38 years old (1987) – Baseball player
Hikaru Nakamura – 38 years old (1987) – Japanese-American chess player
Jeff Petry – 38 years old (1987) – Ice hockey player
Eric Bledsoe – 36 years old (1989) – Basketball player
Langston Galloway – 34 years old (1991) – Basketball player
McKayla Maroney – 30 years old (1995) – Gymnast
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 30 years old (1995) – Basketball player
Kyle Connor – 29 years old (1996) – Ice hockey player
MyKayla Skinner – 29 years old (1996) – Gymnast
AleXa – 29 years old (1996) – Singer based in South Korea
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.
