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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Fun On this date in history...

Discussion in 'Fun and Games' started by Juliet316, Dec 26, 2012.

  1. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1520, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.

    In 1861, the Confederate Congress admitted Missouri as the 12th state of the Confederacy after Missouri's disputed secession from the Union.

    In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in which women vote in a national election.

    In 1905, Sinn Fein was founded in Dublin.

    In 1922, Captain Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force gave the first public skywriting exhibition, spelling out, "Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200" over New York's Times Square; about 47,000 calls in less than three hours resulted.

    In 1925, The Grand Ole Opry, one of the longest-lived and most popular showcases for western music, began broadcasting live from Nashville, TN.

    In 1942, nearly 500 people died in a fire that destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.

    In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt joined British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at a conference in Iran to discuss strategies for winning World War II and potential terms for a peace settlement.

    In 1946, producer/director Joe Dante was born in Morristown, NJ.

    In 1949, musician/actor Paul Shaffer was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

    In 1950, actor/director Ed Harris was born in Englewood, NJ. Years later, he’d make sure we understood that failure was not an option.

    In 1958, Chad, Gabon and Middle Congo became autonomous republics within the French community.

    In 1961, President John F. Kennedy dedicated the original permanent headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, VA.

    Also in 1961, Ernie Davis of Syracuse University became the first African-American to be named winner of the Heisman Trophy.

    In 1964, the United States launched the space probe Mariner 4 on a course toward Mars, which it flew past in July 1965, sending back pictures of the red planet.

    In 1987, actress Karen Gillian, best-known for playing Amy Pond on “Doctor Who”, was born in Inverness, Scotland.

    In 2001, Enron Corp., once the world's largest energy trader, collapsed after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion takeover deal.
     
  2. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

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    May 27, 1999
  3. CloneUncleOwen

    CloneUncleOwen Jedi Master star 4

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    Jul 30, 2009
    Hey... Purple Haze....

    Let me check iit.. hold on... Sky pilot,,..
     
  4. CloneUncleOwen

    CloneUncleOwen Jedi Master star 4

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    Jul 30, 2009
  5. CloneUncleOwen

    CloneUncleOwen Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2009
  6. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

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    Apr 27, 2005
    On This Day...


    On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson forms what will become known as the Warren Commission to investigate JFK's death.
     
  7. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, onetime adviser to England's King Henry VIII, died.

    In 1729, 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children were killed at Fort Rosalie by Natchez Native Americans, near the site of modern-day Natchez, MI.

    In 1864, a Colorado militia killed at least 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians in the Sand Creek Massacre.

    In 1895, stuntman/actor/director Yakima Canutt was born in Colfax, WA.

    In 1924, Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels before he could complete his opera "Turandot." (It was finished by Franco Alfano, based on his notes.)

    In 1929, U.S. Admiral Richard E. Byrd led the first expedition to fly over the South Pole.

    In 1942, actor Michael Craze, best-known for playing Ben Jackson on “Doctor Who” was born in Cornwall, England.

    In 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine between Arabs and Jews.

    In 1952, President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly left on a trip to Korea, keeping his campaign promise to assess the ongoing conflict first-hand.

    In 1961, Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited earth twice before returning.

    In 1964, the U.S. Roman Catholic Church instituted sweeping changes in the liturgy, including the partial use of English instead of Latin.

    In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Robert S. McNamara announced that he would resign as Secretary of Defense.

    In 1972, the coin-operated video arcade game Pong, created by Atari, made its debut at Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, CA.

    In 1981, actress Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island, CA, at age 43.

    In 1986, actor Cary Grant died in Davenport, IA, at age 82.

    In 1989, in response to a growing pro-democracy movement in Czechoslovakia, the Communist-run Parliament ended the party's 40-year monopoly on power.

    In 2001, singer/musician/producer/Beatle George Harrison died in Los Angeles at age 58.
     
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  8. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

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    May 27, 1999



    I couldn't find a clip from the McGann movie with the Doctor mentioning Puccini's passing. Can anyone else find it?
     
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  9. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

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    Apr 27, 2005
    I'll just leave this here:

    [​IMG]
     
  10. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

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    Apr 27, 2005
    On This Day...

    On Nov. 30, 1874, Winston Churchill was born.
     
  11. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.

    In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.

    In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — was born in Florida, MO.

    In 1872, the first-ever international football match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.

    In 1918, actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. was born in New York City. Years later, he’d provide the voice of the butler to a certain bat-obsessed millionaire.

    In 1928, actor Rex Reason was born in Berlin, Germany. Years later, Russell Johnson would helpfully explain to him what a bong was used for.

    In 1929, screenwriter/producer Joan Ganz Cooney, co-creator of “Sesame Street”, was born in Phoenix, AZ.

    In 1934, the LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph.

    In 1936, London's famed Crystal Palace, constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was destroyed in a fire.

    In 1939, the Winter War began as Soviet troops invaded Finland. (The conflict ended the following March with a Soviet victory.)

    In 1940, actress/comedienne Lucille Ball married musician/singer/band leader Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, CT.

    In 1949, Chinese communist troops captured Chongqing.

    In 1954, Ann Elizabeth Hodges of Oak Grove, Alabama, was slightly injured when an 8-1/2-pound chunk of meteor crashed through the roof of her house, hit a radio cabinet, then hit her as she lay napping on a couch.

    In 1955, actor Kevin Conroy was born in Westbury, NY. Years later, he’d provide the voice of the previously mentioned bat-obsessed millionaire.

    In 1963, “An Unearthly Child”, the first episode of “Doctor Who”, was given a rare (for the time) rebroadcast on BBC 1, followed by “The Cave of Skulls”, the series’ next episode.

    In 1966, the former British colony of Barbados became independent.

    In 1977, the TV special “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas” was broadcast on CBS-TV. It featured Crosby and David Bowie singing a duet of “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy”.

    In 1982, the Michael Jackson album "Thriller" was released by Epic Records.

    Also in 1982, the motion picture "Gandhi," starring Ben Kingsley as the Indian nationalist leader, had its world premiere in New Delhi.

    In 1991, the short “Mr. B Natural” was first shown on “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, paired with the movie “War of the Colossal Beast”.

    In 1993, during a White House ceremony attended by James S. Brady, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady handgun-control bill into law.

    In 2004, "Jeopardy!" fans saw Ken Jennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent Nancy Zerg.

    In 2013, actor Paul Walker was killed in a car accident near Los Angeles at age 40.
     
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  12. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

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    May 27, 1999
  13. Commander Krix

    Commander Krix Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2013
    On This Day...

    1835 - Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales.

    1909 - The Pennsylvania Trust Company, of Carlisle, PA, became the first bank in the in the U.S. to offer a Christmas Club account.

    1913 - Ford Motor Co. began using a new movable assembly line that ushered in the era of mass production.

    1913 - The first drive-in automobile service station opened, in Pittsburgh, PA.

    1919 - Lady Astor was sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament.

    1925 - The Locarno Pact finalized the treaties between World War I protagonists.

    1934 - Sergei M. Kirov, a collaborator of Joseph Stalin, was assassinated at the Leningrad party headquarters.

    1941 - In the U.S., the Civil Air Patrol was created. In April 1943 the Civil Air Patrol was placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Forces.

    1942 - In the U.S., nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect.

    1943 - In Teheran, leaders of the United States, the USSR and the United Kingdom met to reaffirm the goal set on October 30, 1943. The previous meeting called for an early establishment of an international organization to maintain peace and security.

    1952 - In Denmark, it was announced that the first successful sex-change operation had been performed.

    1955 - Rosa Parks, a black seamstress in Montgomery, AL, refused to give up her seat to a white man. Mrs. Parks was arrested marking a milestone in the civil rights movement in the U.S.

    1959 - 12 countries, including the U.S. and USSR, signed a treaty that set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, which would be free from military activity.

    1965 - An airlift of refugees from Cuba to the United States began.

    1969 - The U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.

    1984 - A remote-controlled Boeing 720 jetliner was deliberately crashed into California's Mojave Desert to test an anti-flame fuel additive. The test proved to be disappointing.

    1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan said he would welcome an investigation of the Iran-Contra affair if it were recommended by the Justice Department.

    1987 - NASA announced four companies had been given contracts to help build a space station. The companies were Boeing Aerospace, G. E.'s Astro-Space Division, McDonnell Douglas Aeronautics, and Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International.

    1989 - Dissidents in the Philippine military launched an unsuccessful coup against Corazon Aquino's government.

    1989 - East Germany's Parliament abolished the Communist Party's constitutional guarantee of supremacy.

    1990 - Iraq accepted a U.S. offer to talk about resolving the Persian Gulf crisis.

    1990 - British and French workers digging the Channel Tunnel finally met under the English Channel.

    1991 - Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union.

    1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin survived an impeachment attempt by hard-liners at the opening of the Russian Congress.

    1994 - The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval to the 124-nation General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

    1998 - Exxon announced that it was buying Mobil for $73.7 billion creating the largest company in the world to date.
     
  14. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1824, the presidential election was turned over to the U.S. House of Representatives when a deadlock developed between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. (Adams ended up the winner.)

    In 1886, author Rex Stout, creator of Nero Wolfe, was born in Noblesville, IN.

    In 1913, actress/singer Mary Martin was born in Weatherford, TX. The wire work would come later.

    In 1923, actor/comedian Dick Shawn was born in Buffalo, NY. Years later, he’d be instrumental in derailing Bialystock & Blume’s scheme.

    In 1940, actor/comedian Richard Pryor was born in Peoria, IL.

    In 1941, Japan's Emperor Hirohito approved waging war against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands after his government rejected U.S. demands contained in the Hull Note.

    In 1974, TWA Flight 514, a Washington-bound Boeing 727, crashed in Virginia after being diverted from National Airport to Dulles International Airport; all 92 people on board were killed.

    Also in 1974, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, a Boeing 727, crashed near Stony Point, New York, with the loss of its three crew members (the plane had been chartered to pick up the Baltimore Colts football team in Buffalo, New York).

    In 1979, the recording of the musical score for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, composed & conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, was completed, five days before the movie’s scheduled premiere.

    In 2013, A New York City commuter train rounding a riverside curve derailed, killing four people and injuring more than 70 (federal regulators later said a sleep-deprived engineer had nodded off at the controls just before taking the 30 mph curve at 82 mph, causing the derailment).

    Also in 2013, Edward J. "Babe" Heffron, 90, whose World War II service as a member of Easy Company was recounted in the book and television miniseries "Band of Brothers," died in Stratford, New Jersey.
     
  15. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1763, the Touro Synagogue was dedicated in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States.

    In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.

    In 1823, President James Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

    In 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October.

    In 1927, Ford Motor Co. unveiled its Model A automobile that replaced its Model T.

    In 1939, New York Municipal Airport-LaGuardia Field (later LaGuardia Airport) went into operation as an airliner from Chicago landed at one minute past midnight.

    In 1942, during the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi demonstrated, for the first time, an artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago.

    In 1954, the U.S. Senate passed, 67-22, a resolution condemning Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., saying he had "acted contrary to senatorial ethics and tended to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."

    In 1961, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would eventually lead Cuba to Communism.

    In 1970, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency began operations.

    In 1982, in the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived 112 days with the device.

    In 2001, the Enron Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court, sparking one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history.
     
  16. DantheJedi

    DantheJedi Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 2009
    Also on this day....

    1984: A gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India results in the largest industrial disaster in history. Over 500,000 people were exposed to toxic substances, which also affected the nearby soil. 8,000 people die within two weeks of the disaster. with another 8,000 having died since. Others suffer from severe and permanent injuries.
     
  17. Commander Krix

    Commander Krix Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2013
    On This Day...

    1818 - Illinois was admitted as the 21st state of the union.

    1828 - Andrew Jackson was elected president of the UnitedStates.

    1833 - Oberlin College in Ohio opened as the first truly coeducational school of higher education in the United States.

    1835 - In Rhode Island, the Manufacturer Mutual Fire Insurance Company issued the first fire insurance policy.

    1910 - The neon lamp was displayed for the first time at the Paris Motor Show. The lamp was developed by French physicist Georges Claude.

    1917 - The Quebec Bridge opened for traffic after almost 20 years of planning and construction. The bridge suffered partial collapses in 1907 (August 29) and 1916 (September 11).

    1931 - Alka Seltzer was sold for the first time.

    1947 - The Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire" opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theater.

    1948 - The "Pumpkin Papers" came to public light. The House Un-American Activities Committee announced that former Communist spy Whittaker Chambers had produced microfilm of secret documents hidden inside a pumpkin on his Maryland farm.

    1950 - Paul Harvey began his national radio broadcast.

    1950 - Tom Fears (Los Angeles Rams) caught an NFL-record 18 passes against the Green Bay Packers. Terrell Owens (San Francisco 49ers) broke the record with 20 catches for 283 yards and a touchdown against the Chicago Bears on December 17, 2000.

    1967 - In Cape Town, South Africa, a team of surgeons headed by Dr. Christian Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky. Washkansky only lived 18 days.

    1967 - The famed luxury train, "20th Century Limited," completed its final run from New York to Chicago.

    1968 - The rules committee of Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that in 1969 the pitcher's mound would be lowered from 15 to 10 inches. This was done in order to "get more batting action."

    1973 - Pioneer 10 sent back the first close-up images of Jupiter. The first outer-planetary probe had been launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, on March 2, 1972.

    1982 - Doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center removed the respirator of Barney Clark. The retired dentist had become the world's first recipient of a permanent artificial heart only one day before.

    1983 - 3-foot-high concrete barriers were installed at two White House entrances.

    1984 - In Bhopal, India, more than 2,000 people were killed after a cloud of poisonous gas escaped from a pesticide plant. The plant was operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary.

    1987 - U.S. President Reagan said there was a good chance of progress toward a treaty on long-range weapons with Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

    1992 - The UN Security Council unanimously approved a U.S.-led military mission to help starving Somalians.

    1992 - The Greek tanker "Aegean Sea" ran aground at La Coruna, Spain and spilled 21.5 million gallons of crude oil.

    1993 - Britain's Princess Diana announced she would be limiting her public appearances because she was tired of the media's intrusions into her life.

    1993 - Angola's government and its rebel enemies agreed to a cease-fire in their 18-year war.

    1994 - Rebel Serbs in Bosnia failed to keep a pledge to release hundreds of UN peacekeepers.

    1995 - Former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan was arrested for his role in a 1979 coup.

    1997 - Pierce Brosnan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

    1997 - In Ottawa, Canada, more than 120 countries were represented to sign a treaty prohibiting the use and production of anti-personnel land mines. The United States, China and Russia did not sign the treaty.

    1997 - South Korea received $55 billion from the International Monetary Fund to bailout its economy.

    1999 - Tori Murden became the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone. It took her 81 days to reach the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.

    1999 - The World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded a four-day meeting in Seattle, WA, without setting an agenda for a new round of trade talks. The meeting was met with fierce protests by various groups.

    1999 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) lost radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander as it entered Mars' atmosphere. The spacecraft was unmanned.

    2010 - The Boeing X-37 returned to Earth on successfully after its first orbital mission. It launched on April 22, 2010.
     
  18. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1960, the Lerner and Loewe musical "Camelot" opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theater. The cast included Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews as Guenevere, Robert Goulet as Lancelot, and Roddy McDowall as Mordred.

    In 1964, police arrested some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley, a day after the students stormed the administration building and staged a massive sit-in.

    In 1968, “Elvis”, a musical special now referred to by fans as the “’68 Comeback Special” was broadcast on NBC-TV.

    In 1976, Pink Floyd released a 40-foot helium-filled pig at Battersea Power Station in England so they could photograph it for their "Animals" album cover. The pig broke loose, and authorities had to alert pilots to watch for a flying pig.

    Also in 1976, an assassination attempt was made on singer/musician Bob Marley. He was shot twice, and played a concert only two days later.

    In 1979, 11 people were killed in a crush of fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum, where the British rock group The Who was performing.

    In 1991, the movie “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” premiered in Hollywood.

    In 1994, AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser, who along with her two children were infected with HIV because of a blood transfusion, died in Santa Monica, California, at age 47.
     
  19. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
  20. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Virginia, where they held a service thanking God for their safe arrival.

    In 1783, Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.

    In 1816, James Monroe of Virginia was elected the fifth president of the United States.

    In 1872, the Dei Gratia, a small British brig under Captain David Morehouse, spotted the Mary Celeste, an American vessel, sailing erratically but at full sail near the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was seaworthy, its stores and supplies were untouched, but not a soul was onboard.

    In 1909, in Canadian football, the first Grey Cup game was played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26–6.

    In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson left Washington on a trip to France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference.

    In 1930, actor/comedian Ronnie Corbett, best-known for his work with Ronnie Barker, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

    In 1945, the Senate approved U.S. participation in the United Nations by a vote of 65-7.

    In 1949, actor Jeff Bridges was born in Los Angeles. No, he wasn’t born within the ENCOM computer system, nor was he born IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!

    In 1952, heavy smog began to hover over London. It persisted for four days, leading to the deaths of at least 4,000 people.

    In 1954, the first Burger King stand was opened in Miami by James McLamore and David Edgerton.

    In 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins made a series of impromptu recordings in Memphis at Sun Records. They were released 25 years later under the title "The Million Dollar Quartet."

    In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 on a 14-day orbital mission, with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James A. Lovell aboard.

    In 1978, San Francisco got its first female mayor as City Supervisor Dianne Feinstein was named to replace the assassinated George Moscone.

    In 1980, the bodies of four American churchwomen slain in El Salvador two days earlier were unearthed. (Five Salvadoran national guardsmen were later convicted of murdering nuns Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel, and lay worker Jean Donovan.)

    Also in 1980, English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbanded, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25.

    In 1984, a five-day hijack drama began as four armed men seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran, where the hijackers killed American passenger Charles Hegna. (A second American, William Stanford, also was killed during the siege before Iranian security seized control of the plane.)

    In 1993, musician/singer/songwriter Frank Zappa died in Los Angeles at age 52.
     
  21. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2005
    Wow, so that's how Diane Feinstein got her start.
     
  22. CloneUncleOwen

    CloneUncleOwen Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2009
    [​IMG]
     
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  23. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    In 1776, the first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

    In 1782, Martin Van Buren, the eight President of the U.S., was born in Kinderhook, NY; he was the first chief executive to be born after American independence.

    In 1791, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria, at age 35.

    In 1831, former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

    In 1848, President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.

    In 1876, the Brooklyn Theater Fire killed at least 278 people in Brooklyn, NY.

    In 1901, filmmaker/studio executive Walt Disney was born in Chicago. Fans are still waiting to see how his company handles the STAR WARS Saga.

    In 1932, German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States.

    In 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.

    In 1945, five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 took off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. They never returned. (Reports that the crew were sighted in late 1977 near Devil’s Tower in Wyoming remain unconfirmed.)

    In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO under its first president, George Meany.

    In 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union announced a bilateral space agreement on exchanging weather data from satellites, mapping Earth's geomagnetic field and cooperating in the experimental relay of communications.

    In 1964, the first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for action in Vietnam was presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, NY, for his heroic action earlier in the year.

    In 1974, the final episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (called simply “Monty Python”, by that time) aired on BBC 2.

    In 1980, the movie “Flash Gordon”, starring Sam J. Jones as Flash and Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, was released in the U.S.

    In 1984, the movie "Beverly Hills Cop," starring Eddie Murphy, went into general release in the U.S.

    In 1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.

    In 2012, jazz pioneer Dave Brubeck died of heart failure on his way to a cardiology appointment in Hartford, CT, one day short of his 92nd birthday.

    In 2013, Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, died in Johannesburg, South Africa at age 95.
     
  24. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
  25. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    If I may...

    ON DECEMBER 6th:

    In 1768, the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was published.

    In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.

    In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified.

    In 1884, Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument by setting an aluminum capstone atop the obelisk.

    In 1886, author/poet/soldier Joyce Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, NJ.

    In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.

    In 1900, actress Agnes Moorhead was born in Clinton, MA. Years later, one of her characters would be most unpleasant towards both Darrins.

    In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia.

    In 1917, some 2,000 people died when an explosives-laden French cargo ship collided with a Norwegian vessel at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the city.

    In 1922, the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which established the Irish Free State, came into force one year to the day after it was signed in London.

    In 1924, actor Wally Cox was born in Detroit, MI. Kids of my generation probably best remember him as the voice of Underdog.

    In 1932, actor Declan Mulholand was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. STAR WARS fans may know him as the original Jabba the Hutt, though it would be a long while after the original film’s release that they would see the footage.

    In 1940, SPFX cinematographer Richard Edlund was born in Fargo, ND. He did Oscar-winning work on the STAR WARS OT, as well as distinguished work on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Poltergeist”.

    In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman.

    In 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing down and exploding.

    In 1958, director/animator Nick Park, creator of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, was born in Preston, Lancashire, England.

    In 1964, the animated puppet special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," now a Christmas perennial, first aired on NBC-TV.

    In 1969, four people died at a Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, CA, including one victim who was stabbed by a Hell's Angel while attempting to rush the stage with a pistol.

    In 1970, on the first anniversary of the Altamont Speedway concert, the documentary "Gimme Shelter" premiered in New York. It was about the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour, and included footage of the aforementioned concert and stabbing.

    In 1971, the original Auto-Train, which carried rail passengers and their motor vehicles from Lorton, Virginia, to Sanford, Florida, went into operation.

    In 1973, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice-President of the U.S.

    In 1975, actor/screenwriter/director Noel Clarke was born in London. He’s known to Whovians for playing Mickey Smith during the Eccleston and Tennant eras.

    In 1979, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” premiered in Washington, D.C. Reportedly, due to the film’s hectic post-production, the print used was still wet from being developed when it was delivered to the theater.

    In 1986, part two of the “Doctor Who” serial “The Ultimate Foe”, featuring the last regular appearance of Colin Baker as the Doctor, was broadcast on BBC 1.

    In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

    Also in 1989, the third episode of the “Doctor Who” serial “Survival”, the final episode of the show’s original run, was broadcast on BBC 1. It would mark the last regular appearances of Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, Sophia Aldred as Ace, and Anthony Ainley as the Master.

    In 2004, Ohio certified President George W. Bush's 119,000-vote victory over Democratic nominee John Kerry, even as the Kerry campaign and third-party candidates prepared to demand a statewide recount.

    In 2006, NASA revealed photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars. Whovians would later learn that this might not necessarily be a good thing.
     
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