Fun On this date in history...

On This Day...

On July 12, 1862, the Medal of Honor was created

On July 12, 1984, Geraldine Ferraro was named the first female Vice - Presidential Candiate on a major US Presidential campaign ticket

On July 12, 1990, Boris Yeltsin resigned from the Communist Party, unoffically setting off a chain of events that would eventually lead to the official dissloution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.

On July 12, 1995, a deadly heatwave hit Chicago, killing nearly 1,000 people, many of them elderly.

 

In 1909, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing a federal income tax, and submitted it to the states.

Also in 1909, "Curly" Joe DeRita was born in Philadelphia, PA.

In 1948, sound designer/editor/director Ben Burtt was born in Jamesville, NY. Every time you hear a lightsaber hum or a blaster fire, that's his work.

In 1962, the Rolling Stones played their first gig at a club in London. The lineup of the band included Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Keith Richards. Drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman joined later.

In 1967, six days of race-related rioting erupted in Newark, New Jersey; the violence claimed 26 lives.

In 1973, actor Lon Chaney, Jr. died in San Clemente, CA at age 67.

 

On This Day...

On July 13, 1985, the benefit superconcert LiveAid takes place at Wembly Stadium on London.

 

In 1863, deadly rioting against the Civil War military draft erupted in New York City.

In 1923, a sign consisting of 50-foot-tall letters spelling out "HOLLYWOODLAND" was dedicated in the Hollywood Hills to promote a subdivision.

In 1926, producer/director Robert H. Justman, best-known for his work in developing the "Star Trek" TV series, was born in New York City.

In 1939, Frank Sinatra made his first commercial recording, "From the Bottom of My Heart" and "Melancholy Mood," with Harry James and his Orchestra for the Brunswick label.

In 1940, actor Sir Patrick Stewart was born in Yorkshire, England. He'd later earn a captaincy and a professorship.

In 1942, actor Harrison Ford was born in Chicago, Ill. Fans wish him a speedy recovery from his injury during filming of an as-yet untitled movie that's already generated some interest.

In 1977, a blackout lasting 25 hours hit the New York City area.

In 1978, Lee Iacocca was fired as president of Ford Motor Co. by chairman Henry Ford II.

In 2013, a jury in Sanford, Florida, cleared neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

 

On This Day...

On July 14, 1968, Baseball player Hank Aaron hits his 500th homerun.

 

In 1789, in an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

In 1798, The Sedition Act became law in the U.S. making it a Federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the U.S. Government.

In 1881, outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias "Billy the Kid," was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in present-day New Mexico.

In 1894, animator Dave Fleischer, best known for his work on the "Popeye" and "Superman" cartoon series, was born in New York City.

In 1910, producer/animator William Hanna, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera productions, was born in Melrose, NM.

In 1913, Gerald R. Ford Jr., the 38th president of the United States, was born in Omaha, Neb.

In 1914, scientist Robert H. Goddard received a U.S. patent for a liquid-fueled rocket apparatus.

In 1921, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted in Dedham, Massachusetts, of murdering a shoe company paymaster and his guard.

In 1933, all German political parties, except the Nazi Party, were outlawed.

Also in 1933, cartoon character Popeye the Sailor made his movie debut in the Fleischer Studios animated short, "Popeye the Sailor."

In 1965, the Mariner 4 flyby of Mars took the first close-up photos of another planet.

In 1989, paperwork was filed with the state of Minnesota pertaining to the creation of a new corporation, Best Brains Inc. And the rest is MSTory.

In 2012, football player/coach Frank R. Burns, best-known for his tenure as coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team 1973-1983, died in Holland, PA at age 84.

 

And...

 

And it went on to be the biggest, most memorable concert of all time that nobody has been able to top since.

 

If I may...

ON JULY 15th:

In 1799, French soldiers in Egypt discovered the Rosetta Stone, which proved instrumental in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

In 1834, the Spanish Inquisition was officially disbanded after nearly 356 years.

In 1870, Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

Also in 1870, Manitoba entered confederation as the fifth Canadian province.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon delivered a televised address in which he announced that he had accepted an invitation to visit the People's Republic of China.

In 1975, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project featured the dual launch of an Apollo spacecraft and a Soyuz spacecraft on the first joint Soviet-United States human-crewed flight. It was both the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn class of rockets.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter delivered his "malaise" speech in which he lamented what he called a "crisis of confidence" in America.

In 2006, Twitter was launched, becoming one of the largest social media platforms in the world.

 

One I forgot:

In 1956, the film "It Conquered the World" was released in the U.S.



Fast-forward to approx. 5:20 for the best scene from the movie.

 

On This Day...

On July 16, 1935, the first parking meter is installed.

On July 16, 1945, the atom bomb is successfully tested in New Mexico

On July 16, 1951, Catcher in the Rye is published

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 departs Earth on it's mission to the moon.

On July 16, 1991, JFK Jr, his wife and sister - in - law are killed in a plane crash near Martha's Vineyard.

 

In 1790, a site along the Potomac River was designated the permanent seat of the United States government; the area became Washington, D.C.

In 1907, farmer/businessman Orville Redenbacher was born in Brazil, Indiana.

In 1918, Czar Nicholas II and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks.

In 1941, Joe DiMaggio hit safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as a Major League Baseball record.

In 1946, actor/screenwriter Richard LeParmentier was born in Pittsburgh, PA. He'd later become the first recipient of the Force Choke.

In 1950, during the Korean War, the Chaplain-Medic Massacre occurs, when American POW's are killed by soldiers of the North Korean Army.

In 1956, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, PA, and due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows would be held in arenas.

Also in 1956, actor/radio host Jerry Doyle was born in Brooklyn, NY. He'd later serve with Earthforce and the Resistance against President Clark.

In 1959, TV executive Doug Herzog was born. He'd later move to erase all traces of MST3K from Comedy Central.

In 1979, Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq.

In 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter.

In 2009, in an embarrassing acknowledgment, NASA admitted that in all likelihood, it had recorded over the original videotapes of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

 

Once I read that this is Orville Redenbacher's birthday, I had to post this...

 

On This Day...

On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opens for the very first time in Anahiem, California.

 

In 1889, lawyer/author Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of lawyer/detective Perry Mason, was born in Malden, MA.

In 1899, actor James Cagney was born in New York City.

In 1928, composer/musician Vince Guaraldi, best-known for his jazz scores for the "Peanuts" TV specials, was born in San Francisco, CA.

In 1938, aviator Douglas Corrigan took off from New York, saying he was headed for California; he ended up in Ireland, supposedly by accident, earning the nickname "Wrong Way Corrigan."

In 1940, actor/comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor was born in Buxton, England. He'd later be one of the original Four Yorkshiremen, and one-third of the Goodies.

In 1944, during World War II, 320 men, two-thirds of them African-Americans, were killed when a pair of ammunition ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California.

Also in 1944, actress Catherine Schell was born in Budapest, Hungary. He alleged part in the attempted thefts of both the Pink Panther and the Mona Lisa are still being investigated, and her tenure on Moonbase Alpha is classified.

In 1945, the main three leaders of the Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin, met in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.

In 1954, the two-day inaugural Newport Jazz Festival, billed as "The First American Jazz Festival," opened in Rhode Island.

Also in 1954, writer/producer J. Michael Straczynski was born in Paterson, NJ. He'd later switch off the lights on the last of the Babylon stations.

In 1967, Jimi Hendrix dropped out as the opening act for The Monkees.

In 1968, the film "Yellow Submarine", featuring the Beatles, was released in the U.K.

In 1975, an Apollo spaceship, crewed by Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and (finally!) Deke Slayton, docked with a Soyuz spacecraft, crewed by Alexey Leonov and Valeri Kubasov, in Earth orbit.

In 1996, TWA Flight 800, a Europe-bound Boeing 747, exploded and crashed off Long Island, New York, shortly after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 230 people aboard.

In 1998, Nicholas II, last of the Romanov czars, was formally buried in Russia 80 years after he and his family were slain by the Bolsheviks.

In 2009, broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite died in New York City at the age of 92. And that's the way it was.

 

The anniversary of the TWA tragedy is eerie in light of what happened today.

I was settling down to dinner when CBS broke into their usual programming for news of Cronkite's death. CBS only broke into their primetime programming for what they consider the 'big' stuff, so it said so much for how much Cronkite was valued at CBS.

 

R.I.P

 

On This Day...


On July 18, 64, Rome burns while Nero fiddles.

On July 18, 1925, Adolf Hitler publishes his book Mein Kampf

On July 18, 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is nominated for an unprecedented third term as US president.

And for the Formula 1 fans on the boards (Ender Sai, etc.,): On July 18, 1948, Juan Manuel Fangio - known as "The Maestro", makes his debut in Formula One.

 

You're forgetting something.

On July 18, 1918, Nelson Mandela is born.

72 years later, so was I.

 

Happy Birthday!

 

In 1848, cricketer W.G. Grace was born in Downend, England.

In 1863, one of the first formal African-American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempted an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner.

In 1913, actor/comedian Red Skelton was born in Vincennes, IN.

In 1921, astronaut/former U.S. Senator John H. Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, was born in Cambridge, OH.

In 1926, actor/screenwriter Robert Sloman was born in Oldham, England. He's best-known for writing four "Doctor Who" serials during the Third Doctor era, including "The Green Death" (Jo Grant's departure story) and "Planet of the Spiders" (Jon Pertwee's departure story).

In 1930, actor Burt Kwouk was born in Warrington, England. He'd later end up working for Inspector...sorry, Chief Inspector Clouseau.

In 1933, artist/designer Syd Mead, best-known for his work on science fiction films including "Blade Runner" and "Aliens", was born in St. Paul, MN.

In 1938, producer/director/screenwriter Paul Verhoeven was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act which placed the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.

In 1964, nearly a week of rioting erupted in New York's Harlem neighborhood following the fatal police shooting of a black teenager, James Powell, two days earlier.

In 1966, Gemini 10, crewed by John W. Young and Michael Collins, was launched from Cape Kennedy.

In 1969, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., left a party on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard with Mary Jo Kopechne, 28; some time later, Kennedy's car went off a bridge into the water. (Kennedy was able to escape, but Kopechne drowned.)

In 1976, at the Montreal Olympics, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci received the first-ever perfect score of 10 with her routine on uneven parallel bars. (Comaneci would go on to receive six more 10s at Montreal.)

In 2013, Detroit became the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy.

 

On This Day...

On July 19, 1989, Actress Rebecca Schaffer is murdered outside her Los Angeles home by a mentally unstable stalker. Her death spurs anti - stalking legislation. Her killer, Robert John Bardo was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life without the possiblility of parole.

*footnote here: The prosecutor in the Bardo case was Marcia Clark. Who would later go on to be the lead prosecutor in the OJ Simpson murder trial.

 

Ummmm....yay?

 

At least she was able to win the Bardo case.

 

In 1553, King Henry VIII's daughter Mary was proclaimed Queen of England after pretender Lady Jane Grey, who reigned for nine days, was deposed.

In 1814, inventor/industrialist Samuel Colt, best-known for founding the firearms company that bears his name, was born in Hartford, CT.

In 1883, producer/director/animator Max Fleischer, best-known for the "Popeye" and "Superman" cartoon series, was born in Krakow, Austria-Hungary.

In 1921, evangelist/broadcaster Harold Camping was born in Boulder, CO. He'd later be known for his interpretations of Scripture leading to incorrect predictions of the date of the start of the End Times.

In 1924, producer/director/screenwriter Arthur Rankin, Jr. was born in New York City. He's best-known for his work in animation with partner Jules Bass, particularly their "Animagic" films and TV specials.

In 1961, TWA became the first airline to begin showing regularly scheduled in-flight movies as it presented "By Love Possessed" to first-class passengers on a flight from New York to Los Angeles.

In 1963, Joe Walker flew an X-15 rocket plane to a record altitude of 106, 010 meters. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualified as a human spaceflight under international convention.

In 1965, filming began on "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second pilot film for the original "Star Trek" TV series.

In 1968, make-up artist Jack Pierce, best-known for his work on the classic Universal monster movies, died in Hollywood at age 79.

In 1976, actor Benedict Cumberbatch was born in Hammersmith, England. His portrayal of Sherlock Holmes has been acclaimed, while his work in the most recent "Star Trek" movie is still a matter of some debate among Trekkers.

In 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations, including the U.S., that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

In 1989, 111 people were killed when United Air Lines Flight 232, a DC-10 which suffered the uncontained failure of its tail engine and the loss of hydraulic systems, crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 185 other people survived.

In 1997, the Provisional IRA resumed a ceasefire to end their 25-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

In 2013, actor/director/comedian Mel Smith died in London at age 60.