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:
1846 – The first issue of the “Daily News,” edited by Charles Dickens, was published.
1853 – Dr. Russell L. Hawes patented the envelope folding machine.
1865 – An oil well was drilled by torpedoes for the first time.
1908 – In New York, NY, the Sullivan Ordinance was passed. It made smoking in public places by women illegal. Two weeks later, the measure was vetoed by Mayor George B. McClellan Jr.
1915 – Kiwanis International was founded in Detroit, MI.
1953 – Arthur Summerfield of Pinconning, MI, became the U.S. Postmaster General in President Eisenhower’s cabinet.
1954 – The Nautilus was launched in Groton, CT. It was the first atomic-powered submarine. U.S. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower broke the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow.
1954 – The gas turbine automobile was introduced in New York, NY.
1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifted off from Wallops Island, VA, with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
1970 – The Boeing 747 made its first commercial flight from New York, NY to London for Pan American.
1970 – “The Johnny Cash Show”, which began airing on ABC during the summer of 1969, returned to primetime television for the first of what would be just six more shows.
1976 – Air France and British Airways begin regular Concorde SST commercial service. The jets could travel at twice the speed of sound.
1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft dodgers who had emigrated to Canada.
1980 – Gold was valued at $850 an ounce.
1981 – Production of the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car began in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. Only 9,000 DeLoreans would be manufactured.
1987 – Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. She was the first woman to be inducted.
1990 – MTV’s “Unplugged” made its debut with Squeeze as the first performers.
1991 – CBS News reporter Bob Simon was captured by Iraqis while covering the Persian Gulf.
1994 – A jury in Manassas, VA, acquitted Lorena Bobbitt by reason of temporary insanity of maliciously wounding her husband John, whose penis she cut off with a pair of scissors. She accused him of sexually assaulting her.
1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 395-28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
1998 – A former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, said on tape that she had an affair with President Bill Clinton. On TV, the President angrily denied that he had sex with “that woman”.
1999 – The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a ship headed for Houston, TX, that had over 9,500 pounds of cocaine aboard. It was one of the largest drug busts in U.S. history.
2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceased communication with mission control. The problem was in the management of its flash memory and the problem was fixed remotely from Earth on February 6th.
2009 – The TV show “Lost” premiered on ABC.
2010 – Season one of “Jersey Shore” ended with 4.8 million viewers tuning in.
2013 – Barack Obama took the oath of office and was inaugurated for his second term as President.
2017 – On the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, over 400 cities across the U.S., and more than 160 countries worldwide, participated in a large-scale women’s march.
2020 – The very first case of COVID-19 was confirmed. A Washington State man who had travelled from the city of Wuhan in China, where is all started tested positive.
BIRTHDAYS:
Audrey Dalton – 90 years old (1934) – Actress (TV’s “Wagon Train”)
Jack Nicklaus – 84 years old (1940) – Golf legend
Plácido Domingo – 83 years old (1941) – Opera tenor
Jill Eikenberry – 77 years old (1947) – Actress (TV’s “LA Law”, movies “Young Adult”, “Arthur”)
Billy Ocean – 74 years old (1950) – Singer
Robby Benson – 68 years old (1956) – Actor (“Modern Love”, “Ice Castles”, “The Chosen”, “Ode to Billy Joe”, “Jeremy”)
Geena Davis – 68 years old (1956) – Actress (“An Accidental Tourist”, “Thelma and Louise”, “The Long Kiss Goodnight”, “Hero”, “A League of Their Own”, “Beetlejuice”, “The Fly”, TV’s “The Geena Davis Show”)
Charlotte Ross – 56 years old (1968) – Actress (TV’s “Days of Our Lives”, “NYPD Blue”)
Karina Lombard – 55 years old (1969) – Actress (“The L Word”, “Rescue Me”, “Legends of the Fall”)
Ken Leung – 54 years old (1970) – Actor (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, XMen: The Last Stand”, “Saw”, “Rush Hour”, TV’s “Lost”, “The Night Shift”)
Emma Lee Bunton – 48 years old (1976) – Singer (The Spice Girls “Baby Spice”)
Phil Stacey – 46 years old (1978) – Singer (Tied for 6th place on TV’s “American Idol: Season 6”)
TODAY IS:
National Squirrel Appreciation Day
National Use Your Gift Card 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.
