1946 - Vincent J. Schaefer produced the first artificial snow on Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts.
1968 - The Beatles movie, "Yellow Submarine", premiered in the United States while the single, "Hey Jude", topped the pop music charts in its 7th of 9 weeks at #1.
1973 - A state of emergency was declared in Britain after power workers and coal miners began industrial action.
1973 - The "cod war" between Britain and Iceland subsided when the Icelandic parliament approved terms of settlement.
1985 - In Colombia, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted; an estimated 25,000 people died.
1998 - United States President Bill Clinton agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000, without an apology or admission of guilt, to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit.
And the person who is most famous whoI share my birthday with is...
1949 (although I believe its 1955)
Whoopi Goldberg [Caryn Johnson]
actress
July 12th
1933 - The United States established a 40 cent an hour minimum wage.
1960 - On sale for the first time was the Etch-A-Sketch. For the next 25 years, over 50 million units were sold.
1982 - "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" broke all box-office records when it surpassed the $100-million mark in ticket sales for its first 31 days of opening.
1996 - Jonathan Melvoin, a 34-year-old backup musician for Smashing Pumpkins, died of a heroin overdose in a Manhattan hotel room. He was the son of Mike Melvoin, former chairman of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) and an anti-drug activist. Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, age 32, was charged with heroin possession. Police said the rockers shot heroin and passed out. Chamberlin called 911 when he couldn't rouse Melvoin. Other members of the group were questioned but not charged, and the group's shows were postponed through the month.:eek:
Born on the same day
1854
George Eastman
inventor of Kodak camera and flexible roll film
1937
Bill Cosby
Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor
and a lot more but i've never heard of them- maybe i would know them if i saw them
1492 - Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola, now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1534 - Quito, Ecuador, was founded.
1774 - Johann von Felbiger's Educational Statute came into effect in Austria, starting the world's first state education system.
1790 - The United States Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.
1792 - During the French Revolution, the Girondists decided to put King Louis XVI on trial.
1811 - The most violent earthquake in United States history occurred near New Madrid, Missouri.
1857 - Sir Colin Campbell's British troops defeated Sepoy mutineers at the Battle of Cawnpore in India.
1865 - The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution formally abolished slavery.
1873 - America’s first international soccer game was held in New Haven, Connecticut, where Yale defeated Eton from England 2-1.
1876 - The City of Anaheim, California, incorporated for a second time.
1877 - Thomas Edison made the first sound recording.
1901 - President McKinley was shot by an anarchist; he later died on September 14.
1902 - Martha Washington became the first United States woman on an U.S. stamp.
1906 - Britain granted self-government to the Transvaal and Orange River colonies in South Africa.
1907 - One of the worst coal mine disasters in United States history occurred, killing 361 at Mononagh, West Virginia.
1914 - The Polish town of Lodz fell to German troops.
1916 - The German army entered Bucharest.
1917 - An explosion in the harbor at Halifax, Nova Scotia killed 1,600 people.
1917 - Finland declared its independence from Russia.
1921 - W.L. Mackenzie King was elected Canadian Prime Minister.
1921 - An Anglo-Irish treaty created the Irish Free State after years of separatist strife.
1922 - The Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) was officially proclaimed.
1923 - The first presidential address broadcast on radio was sent from Washington, DC, when President Calvin Coolidge addressed a joint session of the United States Congress.
1944 - On Columbia Records, "Red Bank Boogie", Count Basie’s salute to his hometown, Red Bank, New Jersey.
1948 - Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, considered by many to be the original "Star Search," debuted on CBS, and was on the air for 10 years. The show was wildly popular with American viewers. Godfrey was the only television personality in television history to have two top-rated shows running simultaneously in prime time for longer than 8 seasons. Godfrey's many discoveries included Rosemary Clooney and Pat Boone, but it was reported that, after seeing their auditions, he declined having Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley on his show.
1950 - "America’s Sweetheart", Shirley Temple, became Shirley Temple Black when she married San Francisco, California socialite and business executive Charles Black.
1955 - On this date, the Motion Picture Association of America refused to grant its seal of approval to Otto Preminger's new film, The Man with the Golden Arm, starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. They refused on the grounds that it dealt with drug addiction, a subject forbidden under the M.P.A.A. Production Code. Preminger decided to release the controversial film without the Association's seal of approval, and it was a critical success.
1960 - Eileen Farrell debuted at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House in the title role of Gluck’s "Alcestis".
1961 - Ernest Davis became the first African-American to win the Heismann Memorial Trophy.
1964 - President Antonio Segni of Italy resigned due to ill health.
1965 - Capitol released The Beatles' hit single, We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper, and the album, Rubber Soul, both on this date.
1968 - The Commissioner of Baseball, William Eckert was fired after only three years of his contracted 7-years. He was replaced by Bowie Kuhn.
1969 - Musician Cab Calloway turned actor in NBC's "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "The Littlest Angel". The big band singer, known for classics like "Minnie the Moocher", would become a movie star in 1980's "The Blues Brothers" with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.
1969 - Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" reached the top 40's #1 spot, staying there for two weeks. It was the only major hit for the group.
1969 - The Rolling Stones held a free concert at the Altamont Speedway, near San Francisco. The event was marred when a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, hired to provide as security, killed a spectator.
1971 - Jack Nicklaus received $30,000 for winning the first Disney World golf tournament. His season's earnings totaled $244,490.
1971 - India recognized the Democratic Republic of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan; Pakistan responded by breaking off diplomatic relations.
1973 - Gerald Ford was sworn in as United States vice president, following Spiro Agnew's resignation.
1975 - A $2.3 billion emergency loan to save New York from bankruptcy was authorized.
1978 - A referendum in Spain approved a new constitution, providing for a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary form of government.
1984 - Martina Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak over more than 11 months ended. Helen Sukova beat the 28-year-old tennis star in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
1984 - Two former Beatles debuted in two separate film releases. Paul McCartney had "Give My Regards to Broad Street" and George Harrison had "A Private Function" finalized for theatre audiences.
1985 - John Cougar Mellencamp promised 24,000 people at a concert in New York City he would refund their $17.50 tickets when a power outage caused a 20-minute interruption during his debut concert.
1986 - Vinny Testaverde, quarterback for the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy.
1988 - Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Roy Orbison died of heart attack at age 52. he would be best-remembered for his hits Pretty Woman and Only the Lonely.
1990 - President Saddam Hussein ordered all international hostages held in Iraq and Kuwait to be freed in a major concession to head off the threat of an international attack on the Arab nation.
1992 - Hindu extremists destroyed an historic mosque at Ayodhya, India. The resulting sectarian violence killed over 400.
1992 - In a referendum, Swiss voters rejected their government's plan to join a new 19-nation European free trade zone.
1994 - Orange County, California -- one of the wealthiest counties in the United States -- filed for bankruptcy protection after investment losses of about $2 billion.
1995 - Gilbert Terrero, a 19-year-old baggage handler at New York's Kennedy Airport, was charged with theft and was released on $75,000 bail for lifting $500,000 worth of jewels belonging to HRH "Fergie," Sarah, the Duchess of York. Police arrested him after finding a damaged 12-diamond necklace in his Queens home and a diamond bracelet in a locker at the airport. The jewels disappeared two days earlier from a suitcase belonging to the Duchess's assistant. Terrero's family said he found the jewels laying loose in the airport. The FBI hinted that Terrero, who knew he was checking the Duchess's bags, bragged to fellow employees about stealing the gem
I was born in 1985, I didnt realise the riot at the European cup final between Liverpool and Juventus was the same day..
1167 - Frederick Barbarossa was decisively defeated by the combined cities of the Lombard League at the Battle of Legnano.
1453 - Constantinople, the capital of the once-powerful Christian Roman Empire, fell to the Ottoman Empire. The defense of the city was led by Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus while the attack was led by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II. The conquest of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. The siege of Constantinople lasted for almost two months.
1500 - Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Diaz, who discovered the Cape of Good Hope, drowned during a voyage.
1765 - Patrick Henry, who was to become the first U.S. state governor, introduced seven resolutions in the House of Burgesses in Virginia attacking the right of Britain to tax the colonies by the Stamp Act.
1790 - Rhode Island became the 13th state of the United States, the last of the original colonies to ratify the constitution.
1827 - The first nautical school opened in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School was the name.
1844 - The first dark horse candidate was born at the Democratic Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. With the political rush of support for James K. Polk, after just seven ballots, Mr. Polk’s name appeared to break the deadlock. Polk won the nomination on the ninth ballot and, eventually, the U.S. Presidency.
1848 - Wisconsin became the 30th state of the United States.
1910 - An airplane raced a train - and won. The race, from Albany, New York to New York City was worth a $10,000 prize for aviator Glenn Curtiss. It was sponsored by those promotion wizards at the New York "World" newspaper.
1911 - Sir William Gilbert, English librettist who collaborated with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan on many operettas, died of a heart attack after rescuing a woman from drowning.
1912 - Fifteen women were dismissed from their jobs at the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - for dancing the Turkey Trot while on the job.
1914 - The British liner Empress of Ireland carrying 1,477 passengers and crew collided with the Norwegian freighter Storstadt in the St Lawrence River in Canada. At least 1,012 people died.
1916 - The U.S. President’s flag was adopted by executive order.
1932 - WWI vets began arriving in Washington to demand cash bonuses they weren't scheduled to receive for another 13 years.
1939 - "When a Girl Marries" was first heard on CBS Radio. The serial continued for eighteen years on radio.
1940 - German forces captured Ostend and Ypres in Belgium and Lille in France.
1942 - "White Christmas", the biggest selling record of all time was recorded by Bing Crosby for Decca Records. The song was written for the film "Holiday Inn". More than 30-million copies of Crosby’s most famous, hit song have been sold and a total of nearly 70-million copies, including all versions of the standard, have been sold.
1943 - "The Million Dollar Band" was heard for the first time on NBC radio. Charlie Spivak was the first leader of the band that featured Barry Wood as vocalist. The unusual feature of the show was the awarding each week of five diamond rings!
1944 - A German submarine sank the Block Island, a U.S. aircraft carrier, near Madeira. She was the only U.S. carrier lost in the Atlantic in World War II.
1951 - Baseball pitcher Billy Joe Davidson of Marion, North Carolina signed with the Cleveland Indians for a record bonus that was said to be $120,000.
1953 - The summit of Mount Everest was reached for the first time. Everest is the highest mountain in the world, with a summit altitude of 29,028 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level. The summit was reached by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary. Sherpa culture was changed as a result of Norgay's feat.
1961 - Ricky Nelson reached the top spot on the "Billboard" singles chart with "Travelin’ Man". It was was Nelson’s second chart-topping hit. "Poor Little Fool" made it to the top in August of 1958.
1962 - Buck (John) O’Neil became the first black coach in major-league baseball. He accepted the job with the Chicago Cubs. O’Neil had previously been a scout with the Cubs organization.
1965 - Ralph Boston set a world record in the broad jump at 27-feet, 4-3/4 inches, at a meet held in Modesto, California.
1968 - The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution imposing mandatory sanctions on white-ruled Rhodesia.
1970 - Mike Cuellar of Baltimore became one of just 11 major-league hurlers since 1900 to strike out four batters in one inning -- because the catcher dropped the third strike of the third out.
1972 - The Osmonds received a gold record for the album, "Phase III".
1973 - Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles.
1974 - The British government brought Northern Ireland under direct rule from Westminster one day after the collapse of the Northern Ireland executive. A crippling general strike in the province ended.
1977 - Car racer Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for and participate in the prestigious Indy 500 race. Although she had to abandon the race after the 27th lap due to mechanical problems, the following year she participated again and finished ninth, defeating some of the best car racers in the world.
1978 - The 13-cent postage stamp became the 15-cent postage stamp when new U.S. rates to mail letters went into effect.
1979 - Bishop Abel Muzorewa was sworn in as first black prime minister of "Zimbabwe Rhodesia," as the country was briefly known prior to independence.
1982 - Pope John Paul II, in the first papal visit to Britain since 1531, prayed alongside the archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, in Canterbury Cathedral.
1985 - The Philadelphia Phillies moved Golden Glove third baseman Mike Schmidt to first base. He was replaced at third base with rookie Rick Schu.
1985 - Death and hundreds of injuries resulted from a riot at a soccer match in Brussels, Belgium. The European Cup Final at Heysel stadium between Liverpool and Juventus of Turin was televised throughout Europe. Just before the match was to begin, soccer fans rioted killing 39 and injuring 400 or more. 26 British soccer fans identified from the video tapes were extradited to Belgium to stand trial. The riot prompted increased security at later British soccer games.
1990 - Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic in the third round of balloting by the Russian parliament.
1997 - Laurent Kabila took office as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Zaire, promising to hold elections in April 1999 and bury the legacy of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
1437 - King James I of Scotland was assassinated by conspirators led by Walter of Atholl after his efforts to break the influence of the Scottish nobility.
1513 - Pope Julius II died after a 10-year reign. History knows him as a supreme patron of the arts for commissioning Bramante to design the new St. Peter's basilica, Michelangelo to execute the Sistine Chapel frescoes and Raphael to decorate his private apartments.
1613 - Michael Romanov was elected czar of Russia, beginning the Romanov imperial line.
1828 - Cherokee Phoenix, the first Indian-language newspaper in the United States, launched from Oklahoma.
1842 - The sewing machine was patented by John J. Greenough of Washington, DC.
1849 - In the second British-Sikh war, the British defeated a force of 50,000 Sikhs under Shir Singh at the battle of Gujerat.
1866 - Lucy Hobbs was the first woman to graduate from dental school.
1878 - In the United States, the first telephone directories issued were distributed to residents of New Haven, Connecticut. At that time, only 50 subscribers’ names were listed.
1885 - The Monument to the first president was dedicated at Washington, DC.
1904 - In Ishpeming, Michigan, the National Ski Association was formed.
1911 - Japan and the United States signed a commercial treaty limiting the flow of Japanese workers to the United States.
1915 - In World War I the Germans under Hindenberg heavily defeated the Russians under Baron Siever at the Winter Battle of Masuria which ended on this day. More than 200,000 Russians were lost.
1916 - WWI's single longest battle at Verdun, France. An estimated one million men were killed, decimating both the French and German armies.
1918 - The Australian cavalry captured the city of Jericho in Jordan.
1925 - "The New Yorker's" firt issue was published.
1932 - The camera exposure meter was patented by William N. Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey.
1943 - "Free World Theatre" made its debut on the NBC Blue network, which is now ABC radio. Arch Oboler produced and directed the program.
1944 - Japanese Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama was replaced as Chief of the Imperial Army General Staff by General Hideki Tojo, the prime minister.
1945 - "The Lion and the Mouse" debuted on "Brownstone Theatre", which was also debuting on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
1947 - In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrated a new gadget to the Optical Society of America, the first camera to take, develop and print a black and white picture on photo paper, in about a minute. He named his invention the Polaroid Land Camera.
1950 - In Liberal, Kansas, the first International Pancake Race was held. The annual event, scheduled on Shrove Tuesday, has the women of Liberal competing against the women of Olney, Bucks, England; in a contest that has them wearing dresses and aprons, with their heads covered by scarves, while running a 415-yard, ‘S’ shaped course. Each woman carries a pancake in a skillet which must be tossed three times. The fastest time ever was 58.5 seconds in 1975, set by Liberal’s Sheila Turner.
1965 - Black nationalist leader Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) was murdered in New York as he was about to address a meeting of his Afro-American Unity Organization.
1968 - An agreement between baseball players and club owners increased major league players' minimum salary to $10,000 a year.
1969 - Random House published Philip Roth's novel, Portnoy's Complaint.
1970 - A Palestine commando group claimed responsibility for blowing up a Swiss airliner which crashed in Baden, killing 47 passengers.
1971 - Ruth Jensen won the richest women’s golf event, the $60,000 Sears Women’s World Classic.
1972 - The group, Climax, was awarded a gold record for their only hit, "Precious and Few". The Los Angeles, California-based group was led by Sonny Geraci, from the The Outsiders of "Time Won’t Let Me" fame.
1972 - Richard Nixon became the first serving United States president to visit China.
1973 - A Libyan Boeing 727 was shot down over an Israeli military airfield, killing 104 passengers.
1975 - Three aides of United States ex-president Richard Nixon, former attorney general John Mitchell, former chief of staff H.R. Haldeman and domestic adviser John Ehrlichman, were jailed for obstructing the course of justice in the Watergate affair.
1981 - Dolly Parton reached #1 on the pop music charts with "9 to 5", from the same named movie, which starred Dolly, Lili Tomlin and Jane Fonda. The song stayed at #1 for a week, until Eddie Rabbitt’s "I Love a Rainy Night" booted it out. It did come back two weeks later for one more week at Number One.
1982 - In Los Angeles, California, legendary disc jockey, Murray The K died of cancer. He had been one of rock radio’s first DJs and a famous, New York City, radio personality for years.
1983 - In the Indian state of Assam, more than 800 lives were lost in ethnic rioting following state elections.
1984 - In New York City, the Toy Manufacturers of America met to display the top toys of the year, including: Menudo, Michael Jackson whose accessories sold separately, Mr. T. and Judy Garland from "The Wizard of Oz".
1988 - Television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart announced tearfully in front of a crowd of 6,000, and while on national television, that he would relinquish the pulpit because of publicized photographs of him visiting a prostitute. Only a year earlier, Swaggart had denounced his rival evangelist Jim Bakker after a sex scandal had destroyed Bakker's PTL ministry. Swaggart was quoted, "I have sinned against you, and I beg your forgiveness." Swaggert claimed he did not engage in intercourse with the woman, but "paid her to perform pornographic acts".
1989 - Czechoslovak dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was jailed by Prague's Communist authorities for incitement and obstruction.
1989 - Two members of Winnie Mandela's guard were charged with the murder of 14-year-old Stompie Seipei in Soweto, South Africa.
1992 - A judge in Little Rock, Arkansas, followed a jury's recommendation and ordered the Sun supermarket tabloid to pay $1.5 million to a 96-year-old woman it falsely identified in 1990 as a pregnant 101-year-old newspaper carrier. The jury found that the Sun had invaded the privacy of Nellie Mitchell when it published that she had quit her newspaper route because she had become pregnant by a millionaire customer.
1994 - The Togolese opposition claimed victory in elections to the country's first multi-party parliament.
1994 - Pakistani commandos stormed the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, killing three Afghan gunmen who had been holding hostage five schoolboys and a teacher.
1994 - Aldrich Hazen Ames and his wife, Maria del Rosario Casas Ames were arrested. Ames had worked as a counterintelligence officer for the CIA. Prosecutors said the pair had been paid approximately $2.5 million for their spy activities. Ames was sentenced to life in prison. Rosario Ames was sentenced to a 63 month prison term in return for her husband's promise to cooperate with authorities.
1994 - British members of parliament voted overwhelmingly to reduce the age of consent for homosexual men from 21 to 18.
1997 - Jeanne Calment, believed to be the world's oldest person, celebrated her 122nd birthday in France.
1997 - North Korean Vice Premier Hong Song Nam was named acting premier in place of Kang Song San, one of the most powerful figures in the secretive Stalinist state.
1622 - Indians killed nearly 350 settlers in the James River area of Virginia.
1630 - The first legislation prohibiting gambling was enacted in Boston, Massachusetts.
1841 - Englishman Orlando Jones patented corn starch, which today can be found in most deodorants. It also heals diaper rash and thickens gravy.
1848 - After an insurrection, the Venetian Republic declared its independence from Austria.
1859 - The first political party dedicated to the working class, the Political Labour League of Victoria, was founded in Melbourne.
1888 - The first meeting took place at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, aimed at setting up the English Football League.
1895 - Auguste and Louis Lumiere gave the first demonstration of motion pictures using celluloid film in Paris.
1911 - At the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, Herman Jadlowker became the first opera singer to perform two major roles in the same day.
1915 - The Russians captured the Austrian fortress of Przemysl, Poland.
1917 - The United States became the first country to recognize the provisional government of Russia, following the collapse of the monarchy.
1919 - The first international airline service was instituted between Paris and Brussels on a weekly schedule.
1935 - The first High Definition Television service was officially inaugurated by the director-general of German broadcasting in Berlin.
1944 - Germany announces its occupation of Hungary and the formation of a new government under Dome Sztojay.
1945 - The Arab League was formed in Cairo by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
1946 - Britain recognized the independence of the protectorate of Transjordan.
1948 - "The Voice of Firestone" became the first commercial radio program carried simultaneously on AM and FM radio stations.
1956 - In New York City, Sammy Davis, Jr. starred in the play, "Mr. Wonderful". The critics said they didn’t care for the production, but audiences liked it, and the show went on to become one of Broadway’s more popular musicals, taking Davis to fame as an actor. His father already launched him to the vaudeville spotlight at the age of 3. By the time Sammy was "Mr. Wonderful", he had played vaudeville and the nightclub circuit singing and dancing his way to the top over a 28 year period. He entertained for sixty-two years.
1956 - Perry Como became the first major variety-show host on television to book a rock and roll act on his show, when he signed Carl Perkins to sing "Blue Suede Shoes".
1958 - Movie producer Mike Todd and three other passengers were killed when the Lockheed Lodestar aircraft they were in exploded while in midair. Mike Todd was Elizabeth Taylor's third husband, and she took his untimely death very hard. It was reported that Taylor had planned to be on board as well, but her husband discouraged her from the trip due to an illness she was getting over. Todd produced the Oscar-winning movie from two years earlier, Around the World in 80 Days, and introduced innovative methods of filming to the industry.
1962 - The play, "I Can Get It For You Wholesale", opened on Broadway, featuring 19-year-old Barbara Streisand as Miss Marmelstein. Audiences kept came back for 300 performances.
1964 - Ron Clarke, of Australia shattered the world 3 mile (4.8km) indoor record with a time of 13 minutes 18.4 seconds at an athletic meet in New York. From 1963-1970, Clarke set 17 world records in races from 2 to 12 miles; however he never won an Olympic gold medal.
1969 - UCLA won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball championship after defeating Purdue 92-72. The Bruins were the first team to win three consecutive championships, while under head coach John Wooden. Until the 1973 season, UCLA went on to dominate the college basketball title.
1977 - Comedian Lily Tomlin debuted on Broadway, as "Lily Tomlin on Stage" opened.
1978 - Karl Wallenda, the 73-year-old patriarch of the famous "Flying Wallendas" high-wire act, fell to his death while attempting to walk a cable in Puerto Rico.
1979 - Sir Richard Sykes, Britain's Ambassador to the Netherlands, was shot dead by Irish terrorists in the Hague.
1980 - Pink Floyd began a 4-week run in the #1 spot on the pop charts with, "Another Brick in the Wall". When they open their gold record and palyed it, they heard "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers. Rumor has it they ordered pizza and played it for hours.
1981 - United States Postage rates climbed from 15-cents to 18-cents an ounce.
1981 - RCA put its Selectra Vision laser disc players on the market, only to have them called “the Edsel of the entertainment field.” Costing $500, with the videodisks running around $15 each, it failed to catch on with consumers.
1983 - Chaim Herzog, Labor's candidate, was elected president of Israel.
1984 - The Israeli government was defeated in a parliamentary vote, forcing it into early general elections.
1985 - Clara Peller, who said, “Where’s the Beef?” in Wendy’s hamburger ads severed her relationship with Dave Thomas and company when she found the beef for a spaghetti sauce company. The hamburger chain claimed it made her “lose credibility.” (This was the day I was born.)
1987 - A 3,100-ton pile of rotting garbage left Islip, New York to look for a landfill willing to take its contents. Later it was submerged at sea.
1994 - South Africa's Ciskei black homeland collapsed as Brigadier Oupa Gqozo resigned after hundreds of police rebelled.
1996 - Gunmen massacred 11 people in a political attack in South Africa's Zulu heartland, hours after President Nelson Mandela visited the province.
1999 - Actor David Strickland, age 28, spent time with a prostitute and acted oddly hours in the hours before he apparently hung himself with bedsheets in a Las Vegas motel room, the motel's owner said. Peter Napoli, owner of the Oasis Motel, said Strickland, who played rock music critic Todd on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan, also drank several beers into the early hours apparently committing suicide later that morning.
[highlight]On The Way To Today... May 2nd[/highlight]
1519 - Leonardo da Vinci died near Amboise, France. An Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer, his genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal.
1670 - The Hudson's Bay Company was chartered by the English crown and given a monopoly of the trade into Hudson Bay, Canada.
1813 - During the Leipzig campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, the French won the Battle of Lutzen.
1853 - Franconi’s Hippodrome opened at Broadway and 23rd Street in New York City. The 4,000-seat facility opened in grand style for a hippodrome (an arena for a circus or games) with a chariot-and-ostrich race.
1863 - During the American Civil War, the Battle of Chancellorsville started. It was during this battle that Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men, dying shortly afterwards.
1885 - A new magazine for homemakers went on sale - and it remains very popular today. The magazine is "Good Housekeeping".
1885 - The Congo Free State was established by King Leopold II of Belgium. Considered the king's personal territory, it occupied most of the Congo River basin. In 1908 the Congo Free State was abolished and became the Belgian Congo, a colony controlled by the Belgian parliament. In 1966, the country was named Zaire, but was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997.
1887 - Hannibal W. Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey applied for a patent for celluloid photographic film - the stuff from which movies are shown.
1932 - NBC radio introduced an entertainert. The comic genius started working for a salary of $1,400 a week at NBC. His name: Jack Benny.
1933 - Adolf Hitler continued his crackdown in Germany, banning trade unions.
1936 - Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie and his family fled Addis Ababa, three days before its capture by the Italians.
1938 - Pioneer jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald recorded one of her biggest hits, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," which was a swing version of a popular nursery rhyme. That song ignited a musical career that spanned six decades. Fitzgerald's mastery of scat singing became her trademark, and her improvisations and interpretations of famous songs are legendary. She became affectionately known as "The First Lady of Song".
1939 - Lou Gehrig established a new major-league baseball record as he played in his 2,130th game. ‘The Iron Horse’ had played in every Yankee game since June 1, 1925. It would take 57 years until Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles would shatter that long-standing record in the summer of 1995.
1941 - The Federal Communications Commission agreed to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV stations begin on July 1, 1941. It was the start of what would become network television.
1945 - Berlin surrendered to the 1st White Russian and 1st Ukrainian armies; hostilities in Italy ceased as the surrender terms took effect; Hamburg opened negotiations for the surrender of the city.
1946 - The film-noir drama, The Postman Always Rings Twice, opened in American theaters. Starring Lana Turner and John Garfield, the film deviated somewhat from James M. Cain's original novel, primarily for censorship reasons. However, Turner and Garfield turned in steamy performances as the doomed lovers who kill off Turner's husband.
1951 - The Council of Europe admitted Germany as a full member.
1951 - The Shah of Persia signed decrees approving the nationalization of its oil industry.
1952 - The first scheduled jet airliner passenger service began with a BOAC Comet, which flew from London to Johannesburg carrying 36 passengers.
1953 - In Jordan, King Hussein formally acceded to the throne after his father, King Talal, was deposed. In Iraq, King Feisal II assumed power.
1953 - Dark Star defeated the heavily favored Native Dancer to win the Kentucky Derby. A $2 wager to win on this dark horse would have put some change in your pocket. Dark Star was a 25-1 long shot.
1954 - Stan ‘The Man’ Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals smacked five home runs in a twin bill against the New York Giants - establishing a major-league record.
1960 - Harry Belafonte presented his second Carnegie Hall concert in New York City.
1964 - Northern Dancer, with jockey Bill Hartack, won the Kentucky Derby. Hartack had been on quite a win streak, completing four major victories in six months. The racing legend was atop Iron Liege, Venetian Way, Decidedly and Northern Dancer (not all at the same time). Hartack then rode Northern Dancer to a win in the Preakness Stakes in Maryland. Interesting aside: In 1964 another jockey had ridden Northern Dancer three times then suddenly switched to Hill Rose for the Run for the Roses in Louisville. He was Willie Shoemaker.
1965 - The first communications satellite for relaying television pictures went into operation; the "Early Bird" transmitted to 24 countries.
1965 - Ed Sullivan had said he would not have this British rock group on his CBS-TV Sunday night show again. However, Ed softened up - and allowed Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones to make a second appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show".
1967 - The Bertrand Russell International War Crimes Tribunal began in Stockholm, later to find the United States guilty of aggression in Vietnam.
1968 - Neil Simon's classic comedy The Odd Couple, about two diverse, divorced men trying to live together under the same roof, hit the big screen. Starring Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon as Felix Unger, the film was a box office smash. Matthau and Lemmon were both nominated for Golden Globe awards. The film inspired a successful TV sitcom a few years later.
1969 - The British passenger liner Queen Elizabeth 2 left on her maiden voyage to New York.
1974 - Filming got underway for the motion picture, "Jaws", in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. What was to be a 58-day shooting schedule for the film inspired by the Peter Benchley novel soon gave way to 120 days. Costs soared from what was to be a $3.5 million project to $8 million. The director, Steven Spielberg, was able to explain away the rise in costs and the picture did very well at the box office and, later, on video cassette.
1981 - Scottish singer, Sheena Easton, made it to the top spot on the pop music charts for her first - and only - time. "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" knocked "Kiss on My List" by Daryl Hall and John Oates out of the top of the music charts. "Morning Train" pulled into the top spot for a two-week stay. Easton had been an actress, appearing as a singer in the 1980 BBC TV documentary "The Big Time"; and this time she made it to the big time, winning the 1981 Best New Artist Grammy Award. On U.S. TV, she is remembered as Sonny Crockett’s wife in five episodes of "Miami Vice" in the 1980s and for singing the title song in the James Bond flick, "For Your Eyes Only". Easton scored 14 hits on the charts between 1981 and 1991. Seven of those hits made it to the top ten. "The Lover in Me" in 1988 was the closest she ever came to having another number one hit - it stopped climbing at number two.
1982 - In the Falklands War, a British submarine sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano with the loss of more than 350 lives.
1985 - The General Motors X-Cars rolled off the assembly line in Detroit, Michigan for the final time. The cars were a dismal failure, despite being a hit in the beginning. The X-Cars were subject to massive recalls which cost G.M. many millions of dollars.
1986 - The photo essay, "A Day in the Life of America", began as two hundred photojournalists covered the USA to take 350,000 pictures. For publication of the beautiful coffee table book, only 350 pictures were selected. Several spin-off books such as "A Day in the Life of Hawaii", etc. have joined it on coffee tables throughout the world.
1990 - In the Soviet city of Andizhan, hundreds of soccer fans rioted after a match was canceled in eastern Usbekitan, setting fire to buildings, homes and stores before order was restored. At least thirty-four people were injured. The match was called off when the visiting squad defaulted.
1992 - The Yugoslav Army seized Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic after fierce fighting in Sarajevo.
1994 - Pres. F.W. de Klerk conceded victory to Nelson Mandela in the country's historic first all-race elections.
1995 - Serb missiles exploded in the heart of Zagreb, killing six people.
1997 - Austin Powers: International Spy of Mystery, starring Mike Myers as a hip 1960's British spy who was cryogenically frozen and then thawed in the 1990's, opened in U.S. theaters. Myers also wrote the screenplay. The film did surprisingly well at the box office, and spawned a sequel.
1492 - Navigator Christopher Columbus set sail before sunrise from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, at the head of three ships (Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria) and a crew of about 90 men. They were headed to "Cathay" (Asia) but found instead the Caribbean. About two months after the ships' departure, they arrived at Guanahani (also known as San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas). Columbus sailed to the American continent a total of four times:
1750 - Christopher Dock finished the first book on teaching methods. It was called "A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management".
1861 - The pay of Army nurses was raised from $8 per month, plus one ration per day, to $12 per month; it had been $8 per month since 1777.
1880 - At Lake George, New York, The American Canoe Association was formed.
1911 - Charles I.D. Looff delivered what is now considered the classic carousel ride to the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk.
1914 - Germany declared war on France.
1921 - Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the "Black Sox" scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.
1922 - Radio's first full-length melodrame was presented on WGY radio in Schenectady, New York. Written by Eugene Walter, the melodrama was "The Wolf".
1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, following the death of Warren G. Harding.
1933 - With Lefty Grove as pitcher, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Yankees, 7-0. Until then, the Yankees had gone 308 games with no shutouts.
1933 - The now famous Mickey Mouse Watch debuted; selling for $2.75. A Mickey Mouse Clock sold for $1.50. Today, a new model sells for around $25 or more, while the original watches and clocks are priced in the hundreds of dollars.
1936 - The State Department urged Americans in Spain to leave because of that country's civil war.
1943 - Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice. Patton was later ordered by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to apologize for this and a second, similar episode.
1948 - Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist, publicly accused former State Department official Alger Hiss of having been part of a Communist underground, a charge Hiss denied.
1949 - The National Basketball Association was formed, combining the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.
1954 - For that time, a record divorce settlement was awarded to Mrs. Barbara (Bobo) Rockefeller when her ex, Winthrop Rockefeller, was ordered to pay $5,500,000 to his ex-wife.
1958 - The submarine USS Nautilus began the first crossing of the Arctic Ocean under ice cap. With a crew of 116 men, the Nautilus was commanded by William R. Anderson. The Nautilus was the world's first nuclear powered submarine.
1963 - The college football all-stars beat the Green Bay Packers 20-17. It was a huge upset as the college team had been underdogs with odds of 50-1.
1963 - It was the final appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England for The Beatles as they weres about to leave thier hometown for world fame and fortune.
1963 - Capitol Records released The Beach Boys’ song, "Surfer Girl". It became one of their biggest hits, making it to number seven on the hit music charts on September 14, 1963.
1963 - Warner Brothers Records released comedian Allan Sherman’s summer camp parody, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp)". The song would go to number two on the pop charts on August 14, 1963.
1966 - At the age of 41, comedian Lenny Bruce died today of acute morphine poisoning in Hollywood, California.
1968 - "Hello, I Love You," recorded by The Doors, jumped into the top spot on Billboard's hit record charts, and stayed there for 2 weeks.
1971 - Wings, Paul McCartney's new band was formed. McCartney was joined by Denny Laine, formerly of The Moody Blues, Denny Seilwell and McCartney’s wife, Linda.
1979 - "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson, appeared on the cover of the Burbank, California telephone directory.
1979 - Jai-alai player Jose Ramon Areitio threw the fastest ball ever recorded at a speed of 188 mph (301 kph). Jai-alai is a sport that originated in the Basque region of Spain and France, and it consists of throwing a ball with a long, curved basket against a wall.
1981 - United States air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan that they would be fired.
1983 - After 14 years at his job, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn resigned. He had originally been asked to take the job for about six months.
1984 - To that time, Wall Street ended its best week with a jump in the Dow Jones blue-chip average of 87.46. A record for one-day volume was set as 236.57 million shares changed hand. In the first hour alone, a total of 72.9 million shares were traded.
1984 - At the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, American Mary Lou Retton won gold in all-around gymnastics.
1985 - Mail service was reinstated to Paradise Lake, Florida, a nudist colony, after residents promised they would wear clothes or at least stay out of sight when the mailperson came to deliver.
1987 - Joe Niekro got a 10 day suspension for for throwing scuffed baseballs. At first he denied the charge made by the home plate umpire, but changed his tune when an emery board fell out of his pocket during an inspection.
1987 - The Iran-Contra congressional hearings ended, with none of the 29 witnesses tying President Ronald Reagan directly to the diversion of arms-sales profits to Nicaraguan rebels.
1988 - The Soviet Union released Mathias Rust, the young West German pilot who had landed a light plane in Moscow's Red Square in May 1987.
1989 - The ABC news magazine "Primetime Live" debuted.
1994 - Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, and Anne Archer starred in the masterful thriller, "Clear and Present Danger," which opened in United States theaters. The film was based on Tom Clancy's best-selling novel, and was directed by Phillip Noyce.
1997 - Iran's new president, moderate Muslim cleric Mohammad Khatami, took office with a message of peace to the world.
1997 - On this date, it was reported that the following United States grosses had been accumulated for films playing in United States theaters: the blockbuster hit "Jurassic Park: The Lost World" was Number 1 with $223,886,079 to date in box office receipts, "Men in Black", starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, had brought in $208,122,305, and Jim Carrey's "Liar Liar" was at $178,958,005.
1998 - The film "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," based on Terry McMillan's novel and starring Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, and Whoopi Goldberg, debuted in United States theaters. The film later won the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Motion Picture, Lead Actress, and Supporting Actress.
1461 - The bloodiest battle of the English Wars of the Roses took place at Towton, near York. Some 36,000 Yorkists defeated 40,000 Lancastrians and secured the English throne for Yorkist Edward IV.
1917 - Famous race horse, Man o’ War, was born. (never heard of it )
1985 - After 21, The Porkettes changed their name to The National Pork Council of Women. :eek::eek::eek: (I dread to think what that is)
Comments
In 1927 The film, The Jazz Singer was released. Very apt for me...
Not much really happens on the 6th of October.
And I don't have anyone famous born or pass away either, other than Gerry Adams, I suppose (I had to look that one up on Wikipedia)
There is one exicting event that happened on October 6th:
1983 tghe-retford, the DS cupid is born. Everyone agrees he looks cute.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was signed.
I share my birthday with Robert Downey Junior and Heath Ledger.
1940 - Disneys Fantastia was released.
1946 - Vincent J. Schaefer produced the first artificial snow on Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts.
1968 - The Beatles movie, "Yellow Submarine", premiered in the United States while the single, "Hey Jude", topped the pop music charts in its 7th of 9 weeks at #1.
1973 - A state of emergency was declared in Britain after power workers and coal miners began industrial action.
1973 - The "cod war" between Britain and Iceland subsided when the Icelandic parliament approved terms of settlement.
1985 - In Colombia, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted; an estimated 25,000 people died.
1998 - United States President Bill Clinton agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000, without an apology or admission of guilt, to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit.
And the person who is most famous whoI share my birthday with is...
1949 (although I believe its 1955)
Whoopi Goldberg [Caryn Johnson]
actress
1963-John F Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas
1980-Mae West died
1989-Pup100 was born
1990-Thatcher resigned as PM
1992 - Bill Clinton was elected as the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President Bush.
1970 - Film actress Jane Fonda was charged with smuggling pills and kicking a police officer in Cleveland.
1493 - Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Dominica. Also on this day, the country became independent in 1978.
And born on this day
Lulu
Adam Ant
Roseanne Barr
Dolph Lundgren
1933 - The United States established a 40 cent an hour minimum wage.
1960 - On sale for the first time was the Etch-A-Sketch. For the next 25 years, over 50 million units were sold.
1982 - "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" broke all box-office records when it surpassed the $100-million mark in ticket sales for its first 31 days of opening.
1996 - Jonathan Melvoin, a 34-year-old backup musician for Smashing Pumpkins, died of a heroin overdose in a Manhattan hotel room. He was the son of Mike Melvoin, former chairman of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) and an anti-drug activist. Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, age 32, was charged with heroin possession. Police said the rockers shot heroin and passed out. Chamberlin called 911 when he couldn't rouse Melvoin. Other members of the group were questioned but not charged, and the group's shows were postponed through the month.:eek:
Born on the same day
1854
George Eastman
inventor of Kodak camera and flexible roll film
1937
Bill Cosby
Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor
and a lot more but i've never heard of them- maybe i would know them if i saw them
1492 - Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola, now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1534 - Quito, Ecuador, was founded.
1774 - Johann von Felbiger's Educational Statute came into effect in Austria, starting the world's first state education system.
1790 - The United States Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.
1792 - During the French Revolution, the Girondists decided to put King Louis XVI on trial.
1811 - The most violent earthquake in United States history occurred near New Madrid, Missouri.
1857 - Sir Colin Campbell's British troops defeated Sepoy mutineers at the Battle of Cawnpore in India.
1865 - The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution formally abolished slavery.
1873 - America’s first international soccer game was held in New Haven, Connecticut, where Yale defeated Eton from England 2-1.
1876 - The City of Anaheim, California, incorporated for a second time.
1877 - Thomas Edison made the first sound recording.
1901 - President McKinley was shot by an anarchist; he later died on September 14.
1902 - Martha Washington became the first United States woman on an U.S. stamp.
1906 - Britain granted self-government to the Transvaal and Orange River colonies in South Africa.
1907 - One of the worst coal mine disasters in United States history occurred, killing 361 at Mononagh, West Virginia.
1914 - The Polish town of Lodz fell to German troops.
1916 - The German army entered Bucharest.
1917 - An explosion in the harbor at Halifax, Nova Scotia killed 1,600 people.
1917 - Finland declared its independence from Russia.
1921 - W.L. Mackenzie King was elected Canadian Prime Minister.
1921 - An Anglo-Irish treaty created the Irish Free State after years of separatist strife.
1922 - The Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) was officially proclaimed.
1923 - The first presidential address broadcast on radio was sent from Washington, DC, when President Calvin Coolidge addressed a joint session of the United States Congress.
1944 - On Columbia Records, "Red Bank Boogie", Count Basie’s salute to his hometown, Red Bank, New Jersey.
1948 - Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, considered by many to be the original "Star Search," debuted on CBS, and was on the air for 10 years. The show was wildly popular with American viewers. Godfrey was the only television personality in television history to have two top-rated shows running simultaneously in prime time for longer than 8 seasons. Godfrey's many discoveries included Rosemary Clooney and Pat Boone, but it was reported that, after seeing their auditions, he declined having Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley on his show.
1950 - "America’s Sweetheart", Shirley Temple, became Shirley Temple Black when she married San Francisco, California socialite and business executive Charles Black.
1955 - On this date, the Motion Picture Association of America refused to grant its seal of approval to Otto Preminger's new film, The Man with the Golden Arm, starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. They refused on the grounds that it dealt with drug addiction, a subject forbidden under the M.P.A.A. Production Code. Preminger decided to release the controversial film without the Association's seal of approval, and it was a critical success.
1960 - Eileen Farrell debuted at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House in the title role of Gluck’s "Alcestis".
1961 - Ernest Davis became the first African-American to win the Heismann Memorial Trophy.
1964 - President Antonio Segni of Italy resigned due to ill health.
1965 - Capitol released The Beatles' hit single, We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper, and the album, Rubber Soul, both on this date.
1968 - The Commissioner of Baseball, William Eckert was fired after only three years of his contracted 7-years. He was replaced by Bowie Kuhn.
1969 - Musician Cab Calloway turned actor in NBC's "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of "The Littlest Angel". The big band singer, known for classics like "Minnie the Moocher", would become a movie star in 1980's "The Blues Brothers" with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.
1969 - Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" reached the top 40's #1 spot, staying there for two weeks. It was the only major hit for the group.
1969 - The Rolling Stones held a free concert at the Altamont Speedway, near San Francisco. The event was marred when a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, hired to provide as security, killed a spectator.
1971 - Jack Nicklaus received $30,000 for winning the first Disney World golf tournament. His season's earnings totaled $244,490.
1971 - India recognized the Democratic Republic of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan; Pakistan responded by breaking off diplomatic relations.
1973 - Gerald Ford was sworn in as United States vice president, following Spiro Agnew's resignation.
1975 - A $2.3 billion emergency loan to save New York from bankruptcy was authorized.
1978 - A referendum in Spain approved a new constitution, providing for a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary form of government.
1984 - Martina Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak over more than 11 months ended. Helen Sukova beat the 28-year-old tennis star in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
1984 - Two former Beatles debuted in two separate film releases. Paul McCartney had "Give My Regards to Broad Street" and George Harrison had "A Private Function" finalized for theatre audiences.
1985 - John Cougar Mellencamp promised 24,000 people at a concert in New York City he would refund their $17.50 tickets when a power outage caused a 20-minute interruption during his debut concert.
1986 - Vinny Testaverde, quarterback for the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy.
1988 - Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Roy Orbison died of heart attack at age 52. he would be best-remembered for his hits Pretty Woman and Only the Lonely.
1990 - President Saddam Hussein ordered all international hostages held in Iraq and Kuwait to be freed in a major concession to head off the threat of an international attack on the Arab nation.
1992 - Hindu extremists destroyed an historic mosque at Ayodhya, India. The resulting sectarian violence killed over 400.
1992 - In a referendum, Swiss voters rejected their government's plan to join a new 19-nation European free trade zone.
1994 - Orange County, California -- one of the wealthiest counties in the United States -- filed for bankruptcy protection after investment losses of about $2 billion.
1995 - Gilbert Terrero, a 19-year-old baggage handler at New York's Kennedy Airport, was charged with theft and was released on $75,000 bail for lifting $500,000 worth of jewels belonging to HRH "Fergie," Sarah, the Duchess of York. Police arrested him after finding a damaged 12-diamond necklace in his Queens home and a diamond bracelet in a locker at the airport. The jewels disappeared two days earlier from a suitcase belonging to the Duchess's assistant. Terrero's family said he found the jewels laying loose in the airport. The FBI hinted that Terrero, who knew he was checking the Duchess's bags, bragged to fellow employees about stealing the gem
Love his books
1167 - Frederick Barbarossa was decisively defeated by the combined cities of the Lombard League at the Battle of Legnano.
1453 - Constantinople, the capital of the once-powerful Christian Roman Empire, fell to the Ottoman Empire. The defense of the city was led by Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus while the attack was led by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II. The conquest of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. The siege of Constantinople lasted for almost two months.
1500 - Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Diaz, who discovered the Cape of Good Hope, drowned during a voyage.
1765 - Patrick Henry, who was to become the first U.S. state governor, introduced seven resolutions in the House of Burgesses in Virginia attacking the right of Britain to tax the colonies by the Stamp Act.
1790 - Rhode Island became the 13th state of the United States, the last of the original colonies to ratify the constitution.
1827 - The first nautical school opened in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School was the name.
1844 - The first dark horse candidate was born at the Democratic Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. With the political rush of support for James K. Polk, after just seven ballots, Mr. Polk’s name appeared to break the deadlock. Polk won the nomination on the ninth ballot and, eventually, the U.S. Presidency.
1848 - Wisconsin became the 30th state of the United States.
1910 - An airplane raced a train - and won. The race, from Albany, New York to New York City was worth a $10,000 prize for aviator Glenn Curtiss. It was sponsored by those promotion wizards at the New York "World" newspaper.
1911 - Sir William Gilbert, English librettist who collaborated with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan on many operettas, died of a heart attack after rescuing a woman from drowning.
1912 - Fifteen women were dismissed from their jobs at the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - for dancing the Turkey Trot while on the job.
1914 - The British liner Empress of Ireland carrying 1,477 passengers and crew collided with the Norwegian freighter Storstadt in the St Lawrence River in Canada. At least 1,012 people died.
1916 - The U.S. President’s flag was adopted by executive order.
1932 - WWI vets began arriving in Washington to demand cash bonuses they weren't scheduled to receive for another 13 years.
1939 - "When a Girl Marries" was first heard on CBS Radio. The serial continued for eighteen years on radio.
1940 - German forces captured Ostend and Ypres in Belgium and Lille in France.
1942 - "White Christmas", the biggest selling record of all time was recorded by Bing Crosby for Decca Records. The song was written for the film "Holiday Inn". More than 30-million copies of Crosby’s most famous, hit song have been sold and a total of nearly 70-million copies, including all versions of the standard, have been sold.
1943 - "The Million Dollar Band" was heard for the first time on NBC radio. Charlie Spivak was the first leader of the band that featured Barry Wood as vocalist. The unusual feature of the show was the awarding each week of five diamond rings!
1944 - A German submarine sank the Block Island, a U.S. aircraft carrier, near Madeira. She was the only U.S. carrier lost in the Atlantic in World War II.
1951 - Baseball pitcher Billy Joe Davidson of Marion, North Carolina signed with the Cleveland Indians for a record bonus that was said to be $120,000.
1953 - The summit of Mount Everest was reached for the first time. Everest is the highest mountain in the world, with a summit altitude of 29,028 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level. The summit was reached by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary. Sherpa culture was changed as a result of Norgay's feat.
1961 - Ricky Nelson reached the top spot on the "Billboard" singles chart with "Travelin’ Man". It was was Nelson’s second chart-topping hit. "Poor Little Fool" made it to the top in August of 1958.
1962 - Buck (John) O’Neil became the first black coach in major-league baseball. He accepted the job with the Chicago Cubs. O’Neil had previously been a scout with the Cubs organization.
1965 - Ralph Boston set a world record in the broad jump at 27-feet, 4-3/4 inches, at a meet held in Modesto, California.
1968 - The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution imposing mandatory sanctions on white-ruled Rhodesia.
1970 - Mike Cuellar of Baltimore became one of just 11 major-league hurlers since 1900 to strike out four batters in one inning -- because the catcher dropped the third strike of the third out.
1972 - The Osmonds received a gold record for the album, "Phase III".
1973 - Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles.
1974 - The British government brought Northern Ireland under direct rule from Westminster one day after the collapse of the Northern Ireland executive. A crippling general strike in the province ended.
1977 - Car racer Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for and participate in the prestigious Indy 500 race. Although she had to abandon the race after the 27th lap due to mechanical problems, the following year she participated again and finished ninth, defeating some of the best car racers in the world.
1978 - The 13-cent postage stamp became the 15-cent postage stamp when new U.S. rates to mail letters went into effect.
1979 - Bishop Abel Muzorewa was sworn in as first black prime minister of "Zimbabwe Rhodesia," as the country was briefly known prior to independence.
1982 - Pope John Paul II, in the first papal visit to Britain since 1531, prayed alongside the archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, in Canterbury Cathedral.
1985 - The Philadelphia Phillies moved Golden Glove third baseman Mike Schmidt to first base. He was replaced at third base with rookie Rick Schu.
1985 - Death and hundreds of injuries resulted from a riot at a soccer match in Brussels, Belgium. The European Cup Final at Heysel stadium between Liverpool and Juventus of Turin was televised throughout Europe. Just before the match was to begin, soccer fans rioted killing 39 and injuring 400 or more. 26 British soccer fans identified from the video tapes were extradited to Belgium to stand trial. The riot prompted increased security at later British soccer games.
1990 - Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic in the third round of balloting by the Russian parliament.
1997 - Laurent Kabila took office as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Zaire, promising to hold elections in April 1999 and bury the legacy of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
1437 - King James I of Scotland was assassinated by conspirators led by Walter of Atholl after his efforts to break the influence of the Scottish nobility.
1513 - Pope Julius II died after a 10-year reign. History knows him as a supreme patron of the arts for commissioning Bramante to design the new St. Peter's basilica, Michelangelo to execute the Sistine Chapel frescoes and Raphael to decorate his private apartments.
1613 - Michael Romanov was elected czar of Russia, beginning the Romanov imperial line.
1828 - Cherokee Phoenix, the first Indian-language newspaper in the United States, launched from Oklahoma.
1842 - The sewing machine was patented by John J. Greenough of Washington, DC.
1849 - In the second British-Sikh war, the British defeated a force of 50,000 Sikhs under Shir Singh at the battle of Gujerat.
1866 - Lucy Hobbs was the first woman to graduate from dental school.
1878 - In the United States, the first telephone directories issued were distributed to residents of New Haven, Connecticut. At that time, only 50 subscribers’ names were listed.
1885 - The Monument to the first president was dedicated at Washington, DC.
1904 - In Ishpeming, Michigan, the National Ski Association was formed.
1911 - Japan and the United States signed a commercial treaty limiting the flow of Japanese workers to the United States.
1915 - In World War I the Germans under Hindenberg heavily defeated the Russians under Baron Siever at the Winter Battle of Masuria which ended on this day. More than 200,000 Russians were lost.
1916 - WWI's single longest battle at Verdun, France. An estimated one million men were killed, decimating both the French and German armies.
1918 - The Australian cavalry captured the city of Jericho in Jordan.
1925 - "The New Yorker's" firt issue was published.
1932 - The camera exposure meter was patented by William N. Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey.
1943 - "Free World Theatre" made its debut on the NBC Blue network, which is now ABC radio. Arch Oboler produced and directed the program.
1944 - Japanese Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama was replaced as Chief of the Imperial Army General Staff by General Hideki Tojo, the prime minister.
1945 - "The Lion and the Mouse" debuted on "Brownstone Theatre", which was also debuting on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
1947 - In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrated a new gadget to the Optical Society of America, the first camera to take, develop and print a black and white picture on photo paper, in about a minute. He named his invention the Polaroid Land Camera.
1950 - In Liberal, Kansas, the first International Pancake Race was held. The annual event, scheduled on Shrove Tuesday, has the women of Liberal competing against the women of Olney, Bucks, England; in a contest that has them wearing dresses and aprons, with their heads covered by scarves, while running a 415-yard, ‘S’ shaped course. Each woman carries a pancake in a skillet which must be tossed three times. The fastest time ever was 58.5 seconds in 1975, set by Liberal’s Sheila Turner.
1965 - Black nationalist leader Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) was murdered in New York as he was about to address a meeting of his Afro-American Unity Organization.
1968 - An agreement between baseball players and club owners increased major league players' minimum salary to $10,000 a year.
1969 - Random House published Philip Roth's novel, Portnoy's Complaint.
1970 - A Palestine commando group claimed responsibility for blowing up a Swiss airliner which crashed in Baden, killing 47 passengers.
1971 - Ruth Jensen won the richest women’s golf event, the $60,000 Sears Women’s World Classic.
1972 - The group, Climax, was awarded a gold record for their only hit, "Precious and Few". The Los Angeles, California-based group was led by Sonny Geraci, from the The Outsiders of "Time Won’t Let Me" fame.
1972 - Richard Nixon became the first serving United States president to visit China.
1973 - A Libyan Boeing 727 was shot down over an Israeli military airfield, killing 104 passengers.
1975 - Three aides of United States ex-president Richard Nixon, former attorney general John Mitchell, former chief of staff H.R. Haldeman and domestic adviser John Ehrlichman, were jailed for obstructing the course of justice in the Watergate affair.
1981 - Dolly Parton reached #1 on the pop music charts with "9 to 5", from the same named movie, which starred Dolly, Lili Tomlin and Jane Fonda. The song stayed at #1 for a week, until Eddie Rabbitt’s "I Love a Rainy Night" booted it out. It did come back two weeks later for one more week at Number One.
1982 - In Los Angeles, California, legendary disc jockey, Murray The K died of cancer. He had been one of rock radio’s first DJs and a famous, New York City, radio personality for years.
1983 - In the Indian state of Assam, more than 800 lives were lost in ethnic rioting following state elections.
1984 - In New York City, the Toy Manufacturers of America met to display the top toys of the year, including: Menudo, Michael Jackson whose accessories sold separately, Mr. T. and Judy Garland from "The Wizard of Oz".
1988 - Television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart announced tearfully in front of a crowd of 6,000, and while on national television, that he would relinquish the pulpit because of publicized photographs of him visiting a prostitute. Only a year earlier, Swaggart had denounced his rival evangelist Jim Bakker after a sex scandal had destroyed Bakker's PTL ministry. Swaggart was quoted, "I have sinned against you, and I beg your forgiveness." Swaggert claimed he did not engage in intercourse with the woman, but "paid her to perform pornographic acts".
1989 - Czechoslovak dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was jailed by Prague's Communist authorities for incitement and obstruction.
1989 - Two members of Winnie Mandela's guard were charged with the murder of 14-year-old Stompie Seipei in Soweto, South Africa.
1992 - A judge in Little Rock, Arkansas, followed a jury's recommendation and ordered the Sun supermarket tabloid to pay $1.5 million to a 96-year-old woman it falsely identified in 1990 as a pregnant 101-year-old newspaper carrier. The jury found that the Sun had invaded the privacy of Nellie Mitchell when it published that she had quit her newspaper route because she had become pregnant by a millionaire customer.
1994 - The Togolese opposition claimed victory in elections to the country's first multi-party parliament.
1994 - Pakistani commandos stormed the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, killing three Afghan gunmen who had been holding hostage five schoolboys and a teacher.
1994 - Aldrich Hazen Ames and his wife, Maria del Rosario Casas Ames were arrested. Ames had worked as a counterintelligence officer for the CIA. Prosecutors said the pair had been paid approximately $2.5 million for their spy activities. Ames was sentenced to life in prison. Rosario Ames was sentenced to a 63 month prison term in return for her husband's promise to cooperate with authorities.
1994 - British members of parliament voted overwhelmingly to reduce the age of consent for homosexual men from 21 to 18.
1997 - Jeanne Calment, believed to be the world's oldest person, celebrated her 122nd birthday in France.
1997 - North Korean Vice Premier Hong Song Nam was named acting premier in place of Kang Song San, one of the most powerful figures in the secretive Stalinist state.
I was born in 1992.
looking at the latter, i'm starting to think my birthday is cursed :eek:
forgot i'd posted in this old thread.
1622 - Indians killed nearly 350 settlers in the James River area of Virginia.
1630 - The first legislation prohibiting gambling was enacted in Boston, Massachusetts.
1841 - Englishman Orlando Jones patented corn starch, which today can be found in most deodorants. It also heals diaper rash and thickens gravy.
1848 - After an insurrection, the Venetian Republic declared its independence from Austria.
1859 - The first political party dedicated to the working class, the Political Labour League of Victoria, was founded in Melbourne.
1888 - The first meeting took place at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, aimed at setting up the English Football League.
1895 - Auguste and Louis Lumiere gave the first demonstration of motion pictures using celluloid film in Paris.
1911 - At the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, Herman Jadlowker became the first opera singer to perform two major roles in the same day.
1915 - The Russians captured the Austrian fortress of Przemysl, Poland.
1917 - The United States became the first country to recognize the provisional government of Russia, following the collapse of the monarchy.
1919 - The first international airline service was instituted between Paris and Brussels on a weekly schedule.
1935 - The first High Definition Television service was officially inaugurated by the director-general of German broadcasting in Berlin.
1944 - Germany announces its occupation of Hungary and the formation of a new government under Dome Sztojay.
1945 - The Arab League was formed in Cairo by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
1946 - Britain recognized the independence of the protectorate of Transjordan.
1948 - "The Voice of Firestone" became the first commercial radio program carried simultaneously on AM and FM radio stations.
1956 - In New York City, Sammy Davis, Jr. starred in the play, "Mr. Wonderful". The critics said they didn’t care for the production, but audiences liked it, and the show went on to become one of Broadway’s more popular musicals, taking Davis to fame as an actor. His father already launched him to the vaudeville spotlight at the age of 3. By the time Sammy was "Mr. Wonderful", he had played vaudeville and the nightclub circuit singing and dancing his way to the top over a 28 year period. He entertained for sixty-two years.
1956 - Perry Como became the first major variety-show host on television to book a rock and roll act on his show, when he signed Carl Perkins to sing "Blue Suede Shoes".
1958 - Movie producer Mike Todd and three other passengers were killed when the Lockheed Lodestar aircraft they were in exploded while in midair. Mike Todd was Elizabeth Taylor's third husband, and she took his untimely death very hard. It was reported that Taylor had planned to be on board as well, but her husband discouraged her from the trip due to an illness she was getting over. Todd produced the Oscar-winning movie from two years earlier, Around the World in 80 Days, and introduced innovative methods of filming to the industry.
1962 - The play, "I Can Get It For You Wholesale", opened on Broadway, featuring 19-year-old Barbara Streisand as Miss Marmelstein. Audiences kept came back for 300 performances.
1964 - Ron Clarke, of Australia shattered the world 3 mile (4.8km) indoor record with a time of 13 minutes 18.4 seconds at an athletic meet in New York. From 1963-1970, Clarke set 17 world records in races from 2 to 12 miles; however he never won an Olympic gold medal.
1969 - UCLA won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball championship after defeating Purdue 92-72. The Bruins were the first team to win three consecutive championships, while under head coach John Wooden. Until the 1973 season, UCLA went on to dominate the college basketball title.
1977 - Comedian Lily Tomlin debuted on Broadway, as "Lily Tomlin on Stage" opened.
1978 - Karl Wallenda, the 73-year-old patriarch of the famous "Flying Wallendas" high-wire act, fell to his death while attempting to walk a cable in Puerto Rico.
1979 - Sir Richard Sykes, Britain's Ambassador to the Netherlands, was shot dead by Irish terrorists in the Hague.
1980 - Pink Floyd began a 4-week run in the #1 spot on the pop charts with, "Another Brick in the Wall". When they open their gold record and palyed it, they heard "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers. Rumor has it they ordered pizza and played it for hours.
1981 - United States Postage rates climbed from 15-cents to 18-cents an ounce.
1981 - RCA put its Selectra Vision laser disc players on the market, only to have them called “the Edsel of the entertainment field.” Costing $500, with the videodisks running around $15 each, it failed to catch on with consumers.
1983 - Chaim Herzog, Labor's candidate, was elected president of Israel.
1984 - The Israeli government was defeated in a parliamentary vote, forcing it into early general elections.
1985 - Clara Peller, who said, “Where’s the Beef?” in Wendy’s hamburger ads severed her relationship with Dave Thomas and company when she found the beef for a spaghetti sauce company. The hamburger chain claimed it made her “lose credibility.” (This was the day I was born.)
1987 - A 3,100-ton pile of rotting garbage left Islip, New York to look for a landfill willing to take its contents. Later it was submerged at sea.
1994 - South Africa's Ciskei black homeland collapsed as Brigadier Oupa Gqozo resigned after hundreds of police rebelled.
1996 - Gunmen massacred 11 people in a political attack in South Africa's Zulu heartland, hours after President Nelson Mandela visited the province.
1999 - Actor David Strickland, age 28, spent time with a prostitute and acted oddly hours in the hours before he apparently hung himself with bedsheets in a Las Vegas motel room, the motel's owner said. Peter Napoli, owner of the Oasis Motel, said Strickland, who played rock music critic Todd on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan, also drank several beers into the early hours apparently committing suicide later that morning.
1519 - Leonardo da Vinci died near Amboise, France. An Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer, his genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal.
1670 - The Hudson's Bay Company was chartered by the English crown and given a monopoly of the trade into Hudson Bay, Canada.
1813 - During the Leipzig campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, the French won the Battle of Lutzen.
1853 - Franconi’s Hippodrome opened at Broadway and 23rd Street in New York City. The 4,000-seat facility opened in grand style for a hippodrome (an arena for a circus or games) with a chariot-and-ostrich race.
1863 - During the American Civil War, the Battle of Chancellorsville started. It was during this battle that Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men, dying shortly afterwards.
1885 - A new magazine for homemakers went on sale - and it remains very popular today. The magazine is "Good Housekeeping".
1885 - The Congo Free State was established by King Leopold II of Belgium. Considered the king's personal territory, it occupied most of the Congo River basin. In 1908 the Congo Free State was abolished and became the Belgian Congo, a colony controlled by the Belgian parliament. In 1966, the country was named Zaire, but was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997.
1887 - Hannibal W. Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey applied for a patent for celluloid photographic film - the stuff from which movies are shown.
1932 - NBC radio introduced an entertainert. The comic genius started working for a salary of $1,400 a week at NBC. His name: Jack Benny.
1933 - Adolf Hitler continued his crackdown in Germany, banning trade unions.
1936 - Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie and his family fled Addis Ababa, three days before its capture by the Italians.
1938 - Pioneer jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald recorded one of her biggest hits, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," which was a swing version of a popular nursery rhyme. That song ignited a musical career that spanned six decades. Fitzgerald's mastery of scat singing became her trademark, and her improvisations and interpretations of famous songs are legendary. She became affectionately known as "The First Lady of Song".
1939 - Lou Gehrig established a new major-league baseball record as he played in his 2,130th game. ‘The Iron Horse’ had played in every Yankee game since June 1, 1925. It would take 57 years until Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles would shatter that long-standing record in the summer of 1995.
1941 - The Federal Communications Commission agreed to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV stations begin on July 1, 1941. It was the start of what would become network television.
1945 - Berlin surrendered to the 1st White Russian and 1st Ukrainian armies; hostilities in Italy ceased as the surrender terms took effect; Hamburg opened negotiations for the surrender of the city.
1946 - The film-noir drama, The Postman Always Rings Twice, opened in American theaters. Starring Lana Turner and John Garfield, the film deviated somewhat from James M. Cain's original novel, primarily for censorship reasons. However, Turner and Garfield turned in steamy performances as the doomed lovers who kill off Turner's husband.
1951 - The Council of Europe admitted Germany as a full member.
1951 - The Shah of Persia signed decrees approving the nationalization of its oil industry.
1952 - The first scheduled jet airliner passenger service began with a BOAC Comet, which flew from London to Johannesburg carrying 36 passengers.
1953 - In Jordan, King Hussein formally acceded to the throne after his father, King Talal, was deposed. In Iraq, King Feisal II assumed power.
1953 - Dark Star defeated the heavily favored Native Dancer to win the Kentucky Derby. A $2 wager to win on this dark horse would have put some change in your pocket. Dark Star was a 25-1 long shot.
1954 - Stan ‘The Man’ Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals smacked five home runs in a twin bill against the New York Giants - establishing a major-league record.
1960 - Harry Belafonte presented his second Carnegie Hall concert in New York City.
1964 - Northern Dancer, with jockey Bill Hartack, won the Kentucky Derby. Hartack had been on quite a win streak, completing four major victories in six months. The racing legend was atop Iron Liege, Venetian Way, Decidedly and Northern Dancer (not all at the same time). Hartack then rode Northern Dancer to a win in the Preakness Stakes in Maryland. Interesting aside: In 1964 another jockey had ridden Northern Dancer three times then suddenly switched to Hill Rose for the Run for the Roses in Louisville. He was Willie Shoemaker.
1965 - The first communications satellite for relaying television pictures went into operation; the "Early Bird" transmitted to 24 countries.
1965 - Ed Sullivan had said he would not have this British rock group on his CBS-TV Sunday night show again. However, Ed softened up - and allowed Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones to make a second appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show".
1967 - The Bertrand Russell International War Crimes Tribunal began in Stockholm, later to find the United States guilty of aggression in Vietnam.
1968 - Neil Simon's classic comedy The Odd Couple, about two diverse, divorced men trying to live together under the same roof, hit the big screen. Starring Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon as Felix Unger, the film was a box office smash. Matthau and Lemmon were both nominated for Golden Globe awards. The film inspired a successful TV sitcom a few years later.
1969 - The British passenger liner Queen Elizabeth 2 left on her maiden voyage to New York.
1974 - Filming got underway for the motion picture, "Jaws", in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. What was to be a 58-day shooting schedule for the film inspired by the Peter Benchley novel soon gave way to 120 days. Costs soared from what was to be a $3.5 million project to $8 million. The director, Steven Spielberg, was able to explain away the rise in costs and the picture did very well at the box office and, later, on video cassette.
1981 - Scottish singer, Sheena Easton, made it to the top spot on the pop music charts for her first - and only - time. "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" knocked "Kiss on My List" by Daryl Hall and John Oates out of the top of the music charts. "Morning Train" pulled into the top spot for a two-week stay. Easton had been an actress, appearing as a singer in the 1980 BBC TV documentary "The Big Time"; and this time she made it to the big time, winning the 1981 Best New Artist Grammy Award. On U.S. TV, she is remembered as Sonny Crockett’s wife in five episodes of "Miami Vice" in the 1980s and for singing the title song in the James Bond flick, "For Your Eyes Only". Easton scored 14 hits on the charts between 1981 and 1991. Seven of those hits made it to the top ten. "The Lover in Me" in 1988 was the closest she ever came to having another number one hit - it stopped climbing at number two.
1982 - In the Falklands War, a British submarine sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano with the loss of more than 350 lives.
1985 - The General Motors X-Cars rolled off the assembly line in Detroit, Michigan for the final time. The cars were a dismal failure, despite being a hit in the beginning. The X-Cars were subject to massive recalls which cost G.M. many millions of dollars.
1986 - The photo essay, "A Day in the Life of America", began as two hundred photojournalists covered the USA to take 350,000 pictures. For publication of the beautiful coffee table book, only 350 pictures were selected. Several spin-off books such as "A Day in the Life of Hawaii", etc. have joined it on coffee tables throughout the world.
1990 - In the Soviet city of Andizhan, hundreds of soccer fans rioted after a match was canceled in eastern Usbekitan, setting fire to buildings, homes and stores before order was restored. At least thirty-four people were injured. The match was called off when the visiting squad defaulted.
1992 - The Yugoslav Army seized Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic after fierce fighting in Sarajevo.
1994 - Pres. F.W. de Klerk conceded victory to Nelson Mandela in the country's historic first all-race elections.
1995 - Serb missiles exploded in the heart of Zagreb, killing six people.
1997 - Austin Powers: International Spy of Mystery, starring Mike Myers as a hip 1960's British spy who was cryogenically frozen and then thawed in the 1990's, opened in U.S. theaters. Myers also wrote the screenplay. The film did surprisingly well at the box office, and spawned a sequel.
1492 - Navigator Christopher Columbus set sail before sunrise from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, at the head of three ships (Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria) and a crew of about 90 men. They were headed to "Cathay" (Asia) but found instead the Caribbean. About two months after the ships' departure, they arrived at Guanahani (also known as San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas). Columbus sailed to the American continent a total of four times:
1750 - Christopher Dock finished the first book on teaching methods. It was called "A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management".
1861 - The pay of Army nurses was raised from $8 per month, plus one ration per day, to $12 per month; it had been $8 per month since 1777.
1880 - At Lake George, New York, The American Canoe Association was formed.
1911 - Charles I.D. Looff delivered what is now considered the classic carousel ride to the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk.
1914 - Germany declared war on France.
1921 - Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the "Black Sox" scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.
1922 - Radio's first full-length melodrame was presented on WGY radio in Schenectady, New York. Written by Eugene Walter, the melodrama was "The Wolf".
1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, following the death of Warren G. Harding.
1933 - With Lefty Grove as pitcher, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Yankees, 7-0. Until then, the Yankees had gone 308 games with no shutouts.
1933 - The now famous Mickey Mouse Watch debuted; selling for $2.75. A Mickey Mouse Clock sold for $1.50. Today, a new model sells for around $25 or more, while the original watches and clocks are priced in the hundreds of dollars.
1936 - The State Department urged Americans in Spain to leave because of that country's civil war.
1943 - Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice. Patton was later ordered by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to apologize for this and a second, similar episode.
1948 - Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist, publicly accused former State Department official Alger Hiss of having been part of a Communist underground, a charge Hiss denied.
1949 - The National Basketball Association was formed, combining the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.
1954 - For that time, a record divorce settlement was awarded to Mrs. Barbara (Bobo) Rockefeller when her ex, Winthrop Rockefeller, was ordered to pay $5,500,000 to his ex-wife.
1958 - The submarine USS Nautilus began the first crossing of the Arctic Ocean under ice cap. With a crew of 116 men, the Nautilus was commanded by William R. Anderson. The Nautilus was the world's first nuclear powered submarine.
1963 - The college football all-stars beat the Green Bay Packers 20-17. It was a huge upset as the college team had been underdogs with odds of 50-1.
1963 - It was the final appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England for The Beatles as they weres about to leave thier hometown for world fame and fortune.
1963 - Capitol Records released The Beach Boys’ song, "Surfer Girl". It became one of their biggest hits, making it to number seven on the hit music charts on September 14, 1963.
1963 - Warner Brothers Records released comedian Allan Sherman’s summer camp parody, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp)". The song would go to number two on the pop charts on August 14, 1963.
1966 - At the age of 41, comedian Lenny Bruce died today of acute morphine poisoning in Hollywood, California.
1968 - "Hello, I Love You," recorded by The Doors, jumped into the top spot on Billboard's hit record charts, and stayed there for 2 weeks.
1971 - Wings, Paul McCartney's new band was formed. McCartney was joined by Denny Laine, formerly of The Moody Blues, Denny Seilwell and McCartney’s wife, Linda.
1979 - "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson, appeared on the cover of the Burbank, California telephone directory.
1979 - Jai-alai player Jose Ramon Areitio threw the fastest ball ever recorded at a speed of 188 mph (301 kph). Jai-alai is a sport that originated in the Basque region of Spain and France, and it consists of throwing a ball with a long, curved basket against a wall.
1981 - United States air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan that they would be fired.
1983 - After 14 years at his job, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn resigned. He had originally been asked to take the job for about six months.
1984 - To that time, Wall Street ended its best week with a jump in the Dow Jones blue-chip average of 87.46. A record for one-day volume was set as 236.57 million shares changed hand. In the first hour alone, a total of 72.9 million shares were traded.
1984 - At the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, American Mary Lou Retton won gold in all-around gymnastics.
1985 - Mail service was reinstated to Paradise Lake, Florida, a nudist colony, after residents promised they would wear clothes or at least stay out of sight when the mailperson came to deliver.
1987 - Joe Niekro got a 10 day suspension for for throwing scuffed baseballs. At first he denied the charge made by the home plate umpire, but changed his tune when an emery board fell out of his pocket during an inspection.
1987 - The Iran-Contra congressional hearings ended, with none of the 29 witnesses tying President Ronald Reagan directly to the diversion of arms-sales profits to Nicaraguan rebels.
1988 - The Soviet Union released Mathias Rust, the young West German pilot who had landed a light plane in Moscow's Red Square in May 1987.
1989 - The ABC news magazine "Primetime Live" debuted.
1994 - Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, and Anne Archer starred in the masterful thriller, "Clear and Present Danger," which opened in United States theaters. The film was based on Tom Clancy's best-selling novel, and was directed by Phillip Noyce.
1997 - Iran's new president, moderate Muslim cleric Mohammad Khatami, took office with a message of peace to the world.
1997 - On this date, it was reported that the following United States grosses had been accumulated for films playing in United States theaters: the blockbuster hit "Jurassic Park: The Lost World" was Number 1 with $223,886,079 to date in box office receipts, "Men in Black", starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, had brought in $208,122,305, and Jim Carrey's "Liar Liar" was at $178,958,005.
1998 - The film "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," based on Terry McMillan's novel and starring Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, and Whoopi Goldberg, debuted in United States theaters. The film later won the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Motion Picture, Lead Actress, and Supporting Actress.
1917 - Famous race horse, Man o’ War, was born. (never heard of it
1985 - After 21, The Porkettes changed their name to The National Pork Council of Women. :eek::eek::eek: (I dread to think what that is)