June 17

Scott Winters June 17, 2024 1 Comment

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:

1837 – Charles Goodyear received his first patent. The patent was for a process that made rubber easier to work with.

1856 – The Republican Party opened its first national convention in Philadelphia, PA.

1861 – President Abraham Lincoln witnessed Dr. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrate the use of a hydrogen balloon.

1872 – George M. Hoover began selling whiskey in Dodge City, KS. It had been a dry town up until this point.

1876 – Under the leadership of Crazy Horse, General George Crook’s command was attacked and defeated on the Rosebud River by 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne Indians.

1879 – Thomas Edison received an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the trustees of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, NJ.

1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York, NY aboard the French ship Isere.

1901 – The College Board introduced it’s first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.

1928 – Amelia Earhart began the flight that made her the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

1930 – The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill became law. It placed the highest tariff on imports to the U.S.

1941 – WNBT-TV in New York City, NY, was granted the first construction permit to operate a commercial TV station in the U.S.

1942 – “Yank”, a weekly magazine for the U.S. armed services, began publication. The term “G.I. Joe” was first used in a comic strip by Dave Breger.

1950 – Dr. Richard H. Lawler performed the first kidney transplant in a 45-minute operation in Chicago, IL.

1962 – Jack Nicklaus defeated Arnold Palmer to win his first professional tournament, the U.S. Open, and won $15,000.

1963 – The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Abington School District v. Schempp that no locality may require recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or Bible verses in public schools.

1971 – President Richard Nixon declared the U.S. War on Drugs.

1972 – Five White House operatives were arrested inside Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate building in Washington DC. It was an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.

1982 – Former President Richard M. Nixon was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on “The CBS Morning News.”

1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow became extinct.

1988 – The movie “The Great Outdoors”, starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, premiered in theaters.

1994 – After a low speed police pursuit, O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

2002 – Terry Barton, an employee of the Forest Service, was charged with setting the largest wildfire in Colorado history.

2005 – Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful person in showbiz by “Forbes” magazine.

2007 – Nearly a decade after a civil jury ordered O.J. Simpson to pay more than $33 million for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, a judge handed the rights to “If I Did It”, Simpson’s aborted book about the murders, to the Goldman family.

2016 – The Pixar animated film, “Finding Dory”, debuted in theaters. It also released the computer-animated short film “Piper”, which went won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

2021 – The Juneteenth National Independence Day, was signed into law by President Joe Biden. It would become the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

BIRTHDAYS:

Peter Lupus – 92 years old (1932) – Bodybuilder, actor (TV’s “Mission: Impossible”)

Newt Gingrich – 81 years old (1943) – Politician, 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1995-1999)

Barry Manilow – 81 years old (1943) – Singer

Joe Piscopo – 73 years old (1951) – Comedian, actor (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”, movies “Wise Guys”, “Johnny Dangerously”)

Mark Linn-Baker – 70 years old (1954) – Actor (“My Favorite Year”, TV’s “Perfect Strangers”)

Bobby Farrelly – 66 years old (1958) – Writer, director

Thomas Haden Church – 64 years old (1960) – Actor (TV’s “Wings”, movies “Sideways”, “Spider-Man 3”)

Greg Kinnear – 61 years old (1963) – Actor, television personality (TV’s “Later”, “Talk Soup”, “Movieline”, “Rake”, movies “As Good As It Gets”, “Green Zone”, “Baby Mama”, “Bad News Bears”, “Stuck on You”, “AutoFocus”, “You’ve Got Mail”, “Sabrina”)

Dan Jansen – 59 years old (1965) – Olympic speed skater

Jason Patric – 58 years old (1966) – Actor (“The Alamo”, “Narc”, “Rush”, “The Lost Boys”)

Eric Stefani – 57 years old (1967) – Musician, animator (No Doubt, TV’s “The Simpsons”)

Will Forte – 54 years old (1970) – Actor, comedian (TV’s “Saturday Night Live,” “MacGruber”, “The Last Man on Earth”, “Nebraska”, “Beerfest”)

Venus Williams – 44 years old (1980) – Tennis player

Marie Avgeropoulos – 38 years old (1986) – Actress (TV’s “The 100,” “Cult”)

Kendrick Lamar – 37 years old (1987) – Rapper