Fun On this date in history...

If I may...

ON SEPTEMBER 27th:

In 1540, Pope Paul III issued a papal bull establishing the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, as a religious order.

In 1590, Pope Urban VII died 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history.

In 1777, Lancaster, PA served as the capital of the United States, for one day.

In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean passenger vessel occurred when the steamship SS Arctic sank off Newfoundland; of the more than 400 people on board, only 86 survived.

In 1917, magician/actor/comedian Carl Ballantine was born in Chicago, IL.

In 1920, actor/producer/director/voice artist William Conrad was born in Louisville, KY. Space limitations prevent a full list of his roles in TV, movies and, especially, radio drama.

In 1921, writer/producer Milton Subotsky, co-founder of Amicus Productions, was born in New York City.

In 1928, the United States said it was recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government.

In 1933, actor Greg Morris was born in Cleveland, OH. In spite of official denials, rumors persist regarding his involvement with the so-called IMF.

In 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.

Also in 1939, actor Garrick Hagon was born in London, England. For many “Star Wars” fans, the restoration of one of his scenes as Biggs was the real reason to see the Special Edition of the original film.

In 1940, the Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.

In 1942, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, prior to Miller's entry into the Army.

In 1947, actor/director Denis Lawson was born in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland. “Star Wars” fans are very familiar with his later service with Red and Rogue squadrons.

In 1952, the swashbuckling adventure “The Crimson Pirate”, starring Burt Lancaster, was released in the U.S.

In 1954, "Tonight!," hosted by Steve Allen, made its debut on NBC-TV.

In 1964, the U.S. government publicly released the report of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

In 1972, the Hammer Horror movie “Dracula, A.D. 1972”, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, was released in the UK.

In 1979, Congress gave its final approval to forming the U.S. Department of Education.

In 1993, aviator/Medal of Honor recipient Gen. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle died in Pebble Beach, CA at age 96.

In 1994, more than 350 Republican congressional candidates gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to sign the "Contract with America," a 10-point platform they pledged to try to get enacted if voters sent a GOP majority to the House.

In 1995, the government unveiled its redesigned $100 bill, featuring a larger, off-center portrait of Benjamin Franklin. (Yet another redesign, featuring a high-tech makeover aimed at thwarting counterfeiters, was announced in April 2010.)

 

Among the first of Jimmy Doolittle's many legendary accomplishments:

 

If I may...

ON SEPTEMBER 28th:

In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England to claim the English throne.

In 1542, Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived at present-day San Diego.

In 1781, American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, VA, during the Revolutionary War.

In 1787, the Congress of the Confederation voted to send the just-completed Constitution of the United States to state legislatures for their approval.

In 1850, flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the U.S. Navy.

In 1892, the first nighttime football game in the U.S. took place under electric lights. The game was between the Mansfield State Normal School and the Wyoming Seminary.

In 1901, there was a rrreally big shew when TV host/reporter/columnist Ed Sullivan was born in Harlem, New York City, NY.

In 1914, the First Battle of the Aisne during World War I ended inconclusively.

In 1918, actor/voice artist Arnold Stang was born in New York City.

In 1928, Scottish medical researcher Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first effective antibiotic.

In 1935, actor Ronald Lacey was born in Harrow, London, England. He’s best-known for the grisly fate his character suffers in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

In 1939, during World War II, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a treaty calling for the partitioning of Poland, which the two countries had invaded.

In 1955, the Hammer sci-fi movie “The Quatermass Xperiment”, starring Brian Donlevy, was released in the UK. Re-titled “The Creeping Unknown”, it would be released in the U.S. the following June.

In 1958, voters in the African country of Guinea overwhelmingly favored independence from France.

In 1964, actor/comedian/musician Harpo Marx died in Los Angles at age 75.

In 1967, Walter E. Washington was sworn in as the first mayor-commissioner of the District of Columbia (he'd been appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson).

In 1971, the comedy movie “And Now for Something Completely Different” premiered in London. The first movie from Monty Python, it mainly consisted of re-filmed sketches from the first and second seasons of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.

In 1974, first lady Betty Ford underwent a mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, following discovery of a cancerous lump in her breast.

In 1987, “Encounter at Farpoint”, the premiere episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, was broadcast in syndication.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord at the White House ending Israel's military occupation of West Bank cities and laying the foundation for a Palestinian state.

In 2008, SpaceX launched the first private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit.

 

If I may...

ON SEPTEMBER 29th:

In 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

In 1829, London's reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.

In 1907, the foundation stone was laid for the Washington National Cathedral.

In 1910, the National Urban League, which had its beginnings as The Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, was established in New York.

In 1923, author/illustrator Stan Berenstain, co-creator of the Berenstain Bears, was born in West Philadelphia, PA.

In 1935, singer/songwriter/musician Jerry Lee Lewis was born in Ferriday, LA.

In 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

In 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice aboard the British ship HMS Nelson off Malta.

In 1957, The New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds. The next year the Giants were in San Francisco, CA.

In 1962, Canada joined the space age as it launched the Alouette 1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In 1963, the sit-com “My Favorite Martian”, starring Ray Walston and Bill Bixby, premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, creating the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts; during the signing ceremony, the president said the measure would create an American Film Institute.

In 1978, Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church. It was determined that he most likely died the previous night of a heart attack.

In 1979, on “Doctor Who”, part one of “City of Death” was broadcast on BBC 1. The Paris-set story was the first “Doctor Who” serial filmed outside of the UK.

In 1982, Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with deadly cyanide claimed the first of seven victims in the Chicago area. (To date, the case remains unsolved.)

In 1990, the Washington National Cathedral, begun in 1907, was formally completed with President George H.W. Bush overseeing the laying of the final stone atop the southwest pinnacle of the cathedral's St. Paul Tower.

In 2009, cosmonaut Pavel R. Popovich, pilot of Vostok 4 and commander of Soyuz 14, died in Girzuf, Crimea in the Ukraine.

In 2012, on “Doctor Who”, the episode “The Angels Take Manhattan” was broadcast on BBC 1. It featured the last appearance of the Karen Gillian as Amy Pond, and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams.

 

If I may...

ON SEPTEMBER 30th:

In 1399, England's King Richard II was deposed by Parliament; he was succeeded by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who was crowned as King Henry IV.

In 1777, the Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, PA.

In 1791, Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" premiered in Vienna, Austria.

In 1846, Boston dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracted an ulcerated tooth from merchant Eben Frost.

In 1927, George Herman "Babe" Ruth hit his 60th homerun of the season. He broke his own record with the homerun. The record stood until 1961 when Roger Maris broke the record.

In 1938, after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said, "I believe it is peace for our time."

In 1939, the first college football game to be televised was shown on experimental station W2XBS in New York as Fordham University defeated Waynesburg College, 34-7.

In 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end.

In 1953, the sci-fi movie “Donovan’s Brain” was released in the U.S..

In 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

In 1955, actor James Dean was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, CA at age 24.

In 1960, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon “The Flintstones” premiered on ABC-TV.

In 1962, James Meredith, a black student, was escorted by federal marshals to the campus of the University of Mississippi, where he enrolled for classes the next day; Meredith's presence sparked rioting that claimed two lives.

In 1963, BBC Head of Drama Sydney Newman, after watching the original pilot episode for “Doctor Who”, rejected it and ordered it re-shot.

In 1965, the Supermarionation series “Thunderbirds” premiered in the UK over ATV.

In 1971, The Washington Senators played their last game in Washington before moving to Arlington, TX. They were forced to forfeit the game to the New York Yankees when fans stormed the field in an effort to take souvenirs.

In 1982, the sit-com “Cheers” premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1984, the mystery series “Murder She Wrote”, starring Angela Lansbury, premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev retired President Andrei A. Gromyko from the Politburo and fired other old-guard leaders in a Kremlin shake-up.

In 1997, France's Roman Catholic Church apologized for its silence during the systematic persecution and deportation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime.

Also in 1997, principal photography was completed for “Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace”.

 

Britain's great pre-war joke:

 

Oct 1, 1958, NASA becomes operational.

 

Mostly because of a former Nazi rocket scientist who fired V-2 rockets on London, but let's not quibble about that.

 

ALSO ON OCTOBER 1st:

In 1890, Congress passed the McKinley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs to a record level.

In 1908, Henry Ford introduced his Model T automobile to the market.

In 1924, Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the U.S., was born in Plains, GA.

In 1932, Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees made his supposed called shot, hitting a home run against Chicago's Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series, won by the New York Yankees 7-5 at Wrigley Field.

In 1935, actress/singer/author Julie Andrews was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England.

In 1939, Winston Churchill described Russia as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" during a radio address on the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

In 1940, the first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike — described as America's first superhighway — opened to the public, stretching 160 miles from Carlisle to Irwin.

In 1955, the half-hour version of "The Honeymooners," starring Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph, premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1957, the motto "In God We Trust" began appearing on U.S. paper currency.

In 1961, Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run during a 162-game season, compared to Babe Ruth's 60 home runs during a 154-game season.

In 1962, Johnny Carson began hosting “The Tonight Show” on NBC-TV, with Ed McMahon as his announcer.

In 1964, the Free Speech Movement began at the University of California, Berkeley.

Also in 1964, Japan's first high-speed "bullet train," the Tokaido Shinkansen, went into operation between Tokyo and Osaka.

In 1965, the science-fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert was published by Chilton Books.

In 1968, the horror movie “Night of the Living Dead” was released in the U.S.

In 1971, Walt Disney World opened near Orlando, FL.

In 1975, in their third and last boxing match, Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manilla” in the Philippines.

In 1987, eight people were killed when an earthquake measuring magnitude 5.9 struck the Los Angeles area.

In 1992, Cartoon Network began broadcasting.

In 1995, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine other defendants were convicted in New York of conspiring to attack the United States through bombings, assassinations and kidnappings.

 

If I may...

ON SEPTEMBER 2nd:

In 1780, British spy John Andre, Benedict Arnold’s accomplice in the attempted surrender of West Point, was hanged in Tappan, NY during the Revolutionary War.

In 1835, the first battle of the Texas Revolution took place as American settlers fought Mexican soldiers near the Guadalupe River; the Mexicans ended up withdrawing.

In 1890, actor/comedian Groucho Marx was born in New York City.

In 1897, actor/comedian Bud Abbott was born in Asbury Park, NJ.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke at the White House that left him paralyzed on his left side.

In 1920, the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates played the only triple-header in baseball history. The Reds won 2 of the 3 games.

In 1928, actor George “Spanky” McFarland, best-known for the “Our Gang” comedies, was born in Denison, TX.

In 1942, filmmaker Steve Sabol, co-founder of NFL Films, was born in Moorestown, NJ.

In 1944, German troops crushed the two-month-old Warsaw Uprising, during which a quarter of a million people had been killed.

In 1948, actor/director/singer Avery Brooks was born in Evansville, IN. Trekkers are quite familiar with his later posting to DS-9, and his even later posting as Emissary of the Prophets.

Also in 1948, actress/model/author Persis Khambatta was born in Bombay, India. Her brief service as navigator on board the refitted NCC-1701 would come later.

In 1950, the comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles Schulz was first published.

In 1955, the suspense anthology "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1959, the science fiction/fantasy anthology “The Twilight Zone”, created & hosted by Rod Serling, premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court as the court opened its new term. He was the first African American to serve on the Court.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally welcomed Japan's Emperor Hirohito to the United States during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

In 2002, the Washington D.C.-area sniper attacks began, setting off a frantic manhunt lasting three weeks. (John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were finally arrested for 10 killings and three woundings; Muhammad was executed in 2009; Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.)

In 2006, five school girls were murdered by Charles Carl Roberts in a shooting at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, PA before Roberts committed suicide.

 

If I may...

ON OCTOBER 3rd:

In 1789, President George Washington declared November 26, 1789, a day of Thanksgiving to express gratitude for the creation of the United States of America.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day.

In 1874, actor Charles Middleton was born in Elizabethtown, KY. He’s best-known for playing Ming the Merciless in three “Flash Gordon” serials.

In 1879, actor Warner Oland was born in Nyby, Bjorholm Municipality, Vasterbotten County, Sweden. He’s best-known for playing Charlie Chan in 16 movies; my Dad liked them.

In 1922, Rebecca L. Felton, D-Ga., became the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Senate (however, she ended up serving only a day).

In 1932, Iraq became independent of British administration.

In 1935, engineer/pilot/astronaut Charles Duke, LM Pilot of Apollo 16, was born in Charlotte, NC.

In 1941, the film noir "The Maltese Falcon", starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, premiered in New York City.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. Army troops cracked the Siegfried Line north of Aachen, Germany.

In 1945, 10-year-old Elvis Presley made his first public appearance in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show, singing "Old Shep." He won second place and $5.

In 1951, the New York Giants captured the National League pennant by a score of 5-4 as Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca in the "shot heard 'round the world."

In 1954, the TV version of the sit-com "Father Knows Best" premiered on CBS.

In 1955, two classic children’s programs premiered: "Captain Kangaroo" on CBS-TV, and "The Mickey Mouse Club" on ABC-TV.

In 1960, the sit-com “The Andy Griffith Show” premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1961, the sit-com “The Dick Van Dyke Show” premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra became the fifth American to fly in space as he blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the Sigma 7 on a 9-hour flight.

In 1964, the Western “Cheyenne Autumn”, the last Western directed by John Ford, was released in the U.S.

In 1974, Frank Robinson was named major league baseball's first black manager as he was placed in charge of the Cleveland Indians.

In 1981, Irish nationalists at the Maze Prison near Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended seven months of hunger strikes that had claimed 10 lives.

In 1985, the NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis made its maiden flight.

In 1989, Art Shell became the first African-American head coach in the modern NFL when he took over the Los Angeles Raiders.

In 1990, West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a reunified country.

In 1995, the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles found the former football star not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman (however, Simpson was later found liable for damages in a civil trial).

In 2008, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room. (Simpson was later sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison.)

Also in 2008, the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” premiered on Cartoon Network.

In 2014, an Internet video was released showing an Islamic State group militant beheading British hostage Alan Henning, the fourth such killing carried out by the terrorist group.

 

October 3rd 1942, first successful test flight of the V-2 rocket.

1967, X-15 rocket powered airplane sets speed record of 4520 mph.

1991, Marta Bohm-Meyer becomes the first woman crew member of the SR-71 Blackbird.

 

I always remember that today is Alicia Silverstone's birthday, because the date is similar to another birthday I know.

 

ALSO ON OCTOBER 4th:


In 1535, the first complete English-language Bible (the Coverdale Bible) was printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.

In 1777, Gen. George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, PA, resulting in heavy American casualties.

In 1822, Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the U.S., was born in Delaware, OH.

In 1862, author/publisher Edward Stratemeyer was born in Elizabeth, NJ. He created several juvenile book series, including “The Hardy Boys”, “Tom Swift” and “Nancy Drew”.

In 1895, actor/comedian/filmmaker Buster Keaton was born in Piqua, KS.

In 1918, an explosion killed more than 100 and destroyed the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, NJ. Fires and explosions continued for three days forcing massive evacuations and spreading ordnance over a wide area, pieces of which were still being found as of 2007.

In 1922, composer Dudley Simpson was born in Melbourne, Australia. He’s best-known for his extensive work on the original “Doctor Who” series.

In 1924, author Donald J. Sobol was born in New York City. He’s best-known as the creator of Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective. Your humble correspondent read books from this series a lot when he was younger…and today, as well.

In 1931, the comic strip "Dick Tracy," created by Chester Gould, made its debut.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps.

Also in 1940, the biopic "Knute Rockne All American," starring Pat O'Brien as Rockne and featuring Ronald Reagan as George Gipp, premiered in South Bend, IN.

In 1956, the TV anthology series “Playhouse 90” premiered on CBS. The first production was “Forbidden Area”, adapted by Rod Serling and starring Charlton Heston.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit.

Also in 1957, the television series "Leave It to Beaver" premiered on CBS.

In 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 3, a space probe which transmitted images of the far side of the moon.

In 1960, an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-188A Electra crashed on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing all but 10 of the 72 people on board.

In 1962, the film “The Longest Day”, based on Cornelius Ryan’s book on the D-Day invasion of Normandy, was released in the U.S.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI, making the first-ever papal visit to the Western Hemisphere, addressed the U.N. General Assembly, where he urged delegates to adopt as their solemn oath: "No more war, war never again."

In 1970, singer/songwriter Janis Joplin died in Los Angeles at age 27.

In 1972, the horror movie “Night of the Lepus” was released in the U.S. The trailer and ads made sure not to mention that the movie featured killer, mutant rabbits.

In 1985, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had killed American hostage William Buckley. (Fellow hostage David Jacobsen later said he believed Buckley had died of torture injuries four months earlier.)

In 1988, a full-color reconstruction of “The Cage”, the original pilot film for “Star Trek”, was broadcast in syndication.

In 1989, actor/comedian/author/Python Graham Chapman died in Maidstone, Kent, England at age 48. His passing occurred the day before the anniversary of the premiere of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”; fellow Python Terry Jones called it, “the worst case of party-pooping in all history”.

In 1990, for the first time in nearly six decades, German lawmakers met in the Reichstag for the first meeting of reunified Germany's parliament.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II arrived in the United States for a five-day visit.

 

Be advised: contains adult language