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:
1843 – Michigan’s first Governor, Stephens T. Mason, died (in New York, NY) of pneumonia at the age of 31.
1885 – Dr. William Grant performed the first successful appendectomy. The patient was Mary Gartside.
1896 – Utah became the 45th U.S. state.
1936 – The first pop music chart based on national sales was published by “Billboard” magazine.
1950 – RCA Victor announced that it would manufacture long-playing (LP) records.
1952 – The C & O Railroad car ferry “The Spartan” launched along with “The Badger”. There were the largest, best equipped, and last coal fired passenger carrying steamships built in the United States. “The Badger” still sails from Ludington, MI to Manitowac, WI.
1953 – Tufted plastic carpeting was introduced by Barwick Mills.
1958 – The Soviet satellite Sputnik I, which was launched into Earth orbit on October 4th, 1957, fell back to earth.
1962 – New York, NY introduced a train that operated without conductors and motormen.
1965 – The Fender Guitar Company was sold to CBS for $13 million.
1974 – President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1974 – NBC-TV presented hockey in prime time. The Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers were the teams that played in the National Hockey League (NHL) game.
1981 – The Broadway show “Frankenstein” lost an estimated $2 million, when it opened and closed on the same night.
1982 – Bryant Gumbel moved from NBC Sports to the anchor desk where he joined Jane Pauley as co-host of the “Today” show on NBC.
1984 – The TV show “Night Court” debuted on NBC.
1988 – The cable network Nickelodeon launched it’s Nick Jr. programming block which introduced audiences to “Eureka’s Castle”, “David the Gnome” and many more.
1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota’s 37th governor.
2004 – The NASA Mars rover, Spirit, successfully landed on Mars.
2006 – Queen Latifah became the first female hip hop artist to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2007 – Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman to hold the position.
2010 – In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Burj Khalifa (Dubai Tower) opened as the world’s tallest structure at 2,722 feet. (That’s more than half a mile!)
BIRTHDAYS:
Dyan Cannon – 89 years old (1937) – Actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
Jim Downing – 84 years old (1942) – Race car driver and inventor
Doris Kearns Goodwin – 83 years old (1943) – Historian and author
Richard R. Schrock – 81 years old (1945) – Chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Tina Knowles – 72 years old (1954) – Fashion designer, founded House of Deréon
Ann Magnuson – 70 years old (1956) – Actress and performance artist
Patty Loveless – 69 years old (1957) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Matt Frewer – 68 years old (1958) – American-Canadian actor
Michael Stipe – 66 years old (1960) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Sidney Green – 65 years old (1961) – Basketball player and coach
Cliff Levingston – 65 years old (1961) – Basketball player and coach
Joe Kleine – 64 years old (1962) – Basketball player and coach
Dot-Marie Jones – 62 years old (1964) – Actress and athlete
Deana Carter – 60 years old (1966) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
David Toms – 59 years old (1967) – Golfer and philanthropist
Corie Blount – 57 years old (1969) – Basketball player
Josh Stamberg – 56 years old (1970) – Actor
Shane Carwin – 51 years old (1975) – Mixed martial artist and wrestler
Ted Lilly – 50 years old (1976) – Baseball player
D'Arcy Carden – 46 years old (1980) – Actress and comedian
Will Bynum – 43 years old (1983) – Basketball player
Al Jefferson – 41 years old (1985) – Basketball player
Charlyne Yi – 40 years old (1986) – Actor, comedian, musician, and writer
Marissa Coleman – 39 years old (1987) – Basketball player
Kevin Pillar – 37 years old (1989) – Baseball player
Graham Rahal – 37 years old (1989) – Race car driver
Charles Melton – 35 years old (1991) – Actor
Kris Bryant – 34 years old (1992) – Baseball player
James Michael McAdoo – 33 years old (1993) – Basketball player
Derrick Henry – 32 years old (1994) – Football player
Coco Jones – 28 years old (1998) – Singer-songwriter and actress
Collin Sexton – 27 years old (1999) – Basketball player
Jaeden Martell – 23 years old (2003) – Actor
Rob Dillingham – 21 years old (2005) – Basketball 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.
