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:
1848 – James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California. The discovery led to the gold rush of ’49. Roughly 750,000 pounds of gold was unearthed.
1899 – Humphrey O’Sullivan patented the rubber heel.
1908 – In England, the first Boy Scout troop was organized by Robert Baden-Powell.
1922 – Eskimo Pie, the chocolate-covered ice cream treat, was patented by Christian K. Nelson of Onawa, IA. It was originally called the “I-Scream Bar”.
1935 – Krueger Brewing Company placed the first canned beer on sale in Richmond, VA. Krueger Cream Ale was the first beer sold in cans.
1955 – The rules committee of Major League Baseball announced a plan to strictly enforce the rule that required a pitcher to release the ball within 20 seconds after taking his position on the mound.
1964 – CBS TV acquired the rights to televise the National Football League’s 1964-1965 regular season. The move cost CBS $14.1 million a year. The NFL stayed on CBS for 30 years.
1982 – Super Bowl XVI was held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, MI.
1984 – The first apple Macintosh went on sale. The computer had a 7.8336 microprocessor, 128 KB of RAM, and a 9″ display.
1985 – Penny Harrington became the first woman police chief of a major city. She assumed the duties as head of the Portland, Oregon, force of 940 officers and staff.
1986 – The Voyager 2 space probe flew past Uranus. The probe came within 50,679 miles of the seventh planet of the solar system.
1989 – Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was put to death in Florida’s electric chair for the 1978 kidnap-murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
1995 – The prosecution gave its opening statement at the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
1999 – The president of the International Olympic Committee expelled six members for taking improper benefits in the Salt Lake City bidding scandal.
2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Missouri law that limited the contributions that individuals could donate to a candidate during a single election.
2002 – Congress began hearings on the collapse of Enron. Lawyers investigating the company’s demise reported that Enron’s auditor, Arthur Andersen, shredded important documents in anticipation of a lawsuit.
2003 – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began operations under Tom Ridge.
2005 – The iTunes Music Store reached 250 million songs sold.
2006 – Disney purchased Pixar for $7.4 billion.
2018 – Former doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced up to 175 years in prison after being found guilty of using his position to sexually abuse female gymnasts.
BIRTHDAYS:
Doug Kershaw – 90 years old (1936) – Fiddle player and singer
Ray Stevens – 87 years old (1939) – Singer-songwriter and actor
Neil Diamond – 85 years old (1941) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Aaron Neville – 85 years old (1941) – Singer
David Gerrold – 82 years old (1944) – Science fiction screenwriter and author
John Garamendi – 81 years old (1945) – Football player and politician, 1st United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Michio Kaku – 79 years old (1947) – Physicist and academic
Bart Gordon – 77 years old (1949) – Lawyer
Yakov Smirnoff – 75 years old (1951) – Ukrainian-American comedian and actor
Jim Montgomery – 71 years old (1955) – Swimmer
Alan Sokal – 71 years old (1955) – Physicist and author
Lynda Weinman – 71 years old (1955) – Businesswoman and author
Nastassja Kinski – 65 years old (1961) – German-American actress and producer
Carlos Saldanha – 61 years old (1965) – Brazilian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Phil LaMarr – 59 years old (1967) – Actor and comedian
Antony Garrett Lisi – 58 years old (1968) – Theoretical physicist
Mary Lou Retton – 58 years old (1968) – Gymnast
Matthew Lillard – 56 years old (1970) – Actor
Beth Hart – 54 years old (1972) – Singer-songwriter and musician
Ed Helms – 52 years old (1974) – Actor, producer, and screenwriter
Kristen Schaal – 48 years old (1978) – Actress, voice artist, comedian and writer
Tatyana Ali – 47 years old (1979) – Actress and singer
Nik Wallenda – 47 years old (1979) – Acrobat
Carrie Coon – 45 years old (1981) – Actress
Daveed Diggs – 44 years old (1982) – Actor, rapper and singer
Scott Speed – 43 years old (1983) – Race car driver
Justin Baldoni – 42 years old (1984) – Actor, director, and producer
Scott Kazmir – 42 years old (1984) – Baseball player
Trey Gilder – 41 years old (1985) – Basketball player
Mischa Barton – 40 years old (1986) – English-American actress
Tyler Flowers – 40 years old (1986) – Baseball player
Sean McVay – 40 years old (1986) – Football coach
Ricky Ullman – 40 years old (1986) – Israeli-American actor
Brian Cushing – 39 years old (1987) – Football player
Kia Vaughn – 39 years old (1987) – American-Czech basketball player
DaJuan Summers – 38 years old (1988) – Basketball player
Whit Merrifield – 37 years old (1989) – Baseball player
Tristan Wirfs – 27 years old (1999) – Football player
TODAY IS:
No events found for this date.
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.
