September 18

Scott Winters September 18, 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:

1769 – It was reported, by the Boston Gazette, that the first piano had been built in North America. The instrument was called the spinet and was made by John Harris.

1789 – Alexander Hamilton negotiated and secured the first loan for the United States for $19,608.81. The Temporary Loan of 1789 was repaid on June 8, 1790.

1793 – The first cornerstone of the Capitol building was laid by President George Washington.

1830 – The first locomotive built in America, the “Tom Thumb”, raced a horse on a nine-mile course. The horse won when the locomotive had some mechanical difficulties.

1851 – The first publication of “The New York Daily Times”, which later becomes “The New York Times”.

1870 – Old Faithful Geyser was observed and named by Henry D. Washburn during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition to Yellowstone.

1895 – Daniel David Palmer gave the first chiropractic adjustment.

1927 – The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System debuted with a network of 16 radio stations. The named was later changed to just CBS.

1946 – The toy company Mound Metalcraft was founded in Mound, MN. The company changed its named to Tonka Toys Inc. on November 23, 1955.

1947 – The United States Air Force was established as a separate military branch by the National Security Act.

1955 – The “Ed Sullivan Show” began on CBS-TV. The show had been called “The Toast of the Town” since it debuted in 1948.

1956 – Play-Doh was invented. Over 900 million pounds have been sold since!

1963 – TV’s “The Patty Duke Show” premiered on ABC.

1964 – The TV show “The Adams Family” premiered. The show only ran for 2 seasons.

1965 – The TV show “Get Smart” debuted on NBC.

1965 – The first episode of “I Dream of Jeannie”, starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, was shown on NBC-TV. The show continued until September 1, 1970.

1969 – Tiny Tim announced to Johnny Carson, on “The Tonight Show”, his engagement to Miss Vicki Budinger. Carson asked the two to be married on the show. They made TV history with their wedding on December 17, 1969.

1975 – Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco. She had been kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army 19 months earlier.

1977 – Voyage 1 took it’s first photograph of the Earth and the Moon together.

1981 – The Ford Presidential Museum, honoring former President Gerald R. Ford, was dedicated in Grand Rapids, MI. Read more about it here.

1983 – The members of KISS appeared on MTV without their makeup.

1984 – Joe Kittinger completed the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic.

1985 – The TV show “Late Night with David Letterman” presented its first “Top Ten List” — Things That Almost Rhyme With Peas.

1987 – “DuckTales” debuted on TV.

1987 – The movie “Fatal Attraction”, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, premiered in theaters.

1998 – Reba McEntire received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 – The FDA approved a once-a-day, easier-to-swallow, medication for AIDS patients.

1998 – The movie “Rush Hour” debuted with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.

1999 – Sammy Sosa, of the Chicago Cubs, becomes the first player in Major League baseball history to hit 60 home runs in two seasons.

2001 – First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, NJ, in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

2003 – Robert Duvall received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2006 – The CW Television Network launched.

2009 – The animated movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” premiered in theaters.

2009 – The soap opera “The Guiding Light” aired its final episode and ended it’s 72 year run.

2022 – The State Funeral for Queen Elizabeth II was held.

BIRTHDAYS:

Frankie Avalon – 84 years old (1940) – Singer

Kerry Livgren – 75 years old (1949) – Musician (Kansas)

Anna Deavere Smith – 74 years old (1950) – Actress (TV’s “The West Wing”, “Nurse Jackie”)

Dr. Ben Carson – 73 years old (1951) – Ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, retired neurosurgeon, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2017-present). Born in Detroit, MI.

Joanne Catherall – 62 years old (1962) – Singer (The Human League)

Holly Robinson Peete – 60 years old (1964) – Actress (TV’s “21 Jump Street”, “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper”, “For Your Love”, co-host “The Talk”)

Aisha Tyler – 54 years old (1970) – Actress (TV’s “Ghost Whisperer”, “Archer”, “Criminal Minds”, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, “Talk Soup”, co-host of “The Talk”, host of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”)

Lance Armstrong – 53 years old (1971) – Cyclist (Disgraced in 2012 as a longtime user of steroids and other banned performance enhancers. The winner of seven consecutive Tour de France races.)

Jada Pinkett Smith – 53 years old (1971) – Actress (“The Women”, “Collateral”, “The Nutty Professor”, “Menace II Society”, TV’s “Hawthorne”, “A Different World”)

James Marsden – 51 years old (1973) – Actor (TV’s “Saved by the Bell: The New Class”, “Touched by an Angel”, “Party of Five”, movies “X-Men” film series, “Superman Returns”)

Jason Sudeikis – 49 years old (1975) – Comedian, actor (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”, movies “Horrible Bosses”, “Hall Pass”, “We’re the Millers”)

Alison Lohman – 45 years old (1979) – Actress (“White Oleander, “Matchstick Men”, “Where the Truth Lies”, “The Big White”, “Flicka”, “Drag Me to Hell”)