Friday, November 30, 2012

November 30 - Boys





Boys





This Day In History
1782
In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
1824
First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal.
1886
The Folies Bergère stages its first revue.
1934
The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman becomes the first to officially exceed 100mph.
1940
Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.
1954
In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space.
1982
Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, is released.
2004
Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings.


Famous Birthdays
1498
Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish Augustinian friar, sail-captain and explorer (d. 1568)
1508
Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (d. 1580)
1667
Jonathan Swift, Irish writer and satirist (d. 1745)
1723
William Livingston, revolutionary Governor of New Jersey (d. 1790)
1810
Oliver Winchester, American gunsmith (d. 1880)
1835
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), American writer (d. 1910)
1874
Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (d. 1942)
1906
John Dickson Carr, American author (d. 1977)
1927
Robert Guillaume, American actor
1929
Dick Clark, American television host (d. 2012)
1937
Ridley Scott, British film director
1950
Chris Claremont, British comic book writer
1952
Mandy Patinkin, American actor and singer
1957
Colin Mochrie, Scottish-born Canadian comedian
1964
Michael Cudlitz, American actor
1975
Mindy McCready, American musician
1980
Shane Victorino, American baseball player

Thursday, November 29, 2012

November 29 - Purple & Pink





Purple & Pink





Family Birthdays
Uncle Michael Ukers


This Day In History
1777
San Jose, California, is founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.
1783
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey.
1877
Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.
1929
U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole.
1944
The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
1972
Atari announces the release of Pong, the first commercially successful video game.


Famous Birthdays
1705
Michael Christian Festing, English violinist and composer (d. 1752)
1711
Laura Maria Caterina Bassi, Italian scientist, the first woman to officially teach at a university in Europe (d. 1778)
1797
Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (d. 1848)
1803
Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist (d. 1853)
1832
Louisa May Alcott, American novelist (d. 1888)
1849
Sir John Ambrose Fleming, British physicist (d. 1945)
1882
Henri Fabre, French aviator and inventor of Le Canard, the first seaplane in history (d. 1984)
1898
C. S. Lewis, Irish writer (d. 1963)
1918
Madeleine L'Engle, American author (d. 2007)
1949
Stan Rogers, Canadian folk musician and songwriter (d. 1983)
1950
Kevin O'Donnell, Jr., American author (d. 2012)
1954
Joel Coen, American film director, producer, and writer
1962
Andrew McCarthy, American actor

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

November 28 - Happy





Happy





Family Birthdays
Aunt Karen Smith



This Day In History
1520
After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
1582
In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage license.
1660
At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.
1811
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.
1814
The Times in London is for the first time printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.
1895
The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
1909
Sergei Rachmaninoff makes the debut performance of his Piano Concerto No. 3, considered to be one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.
1919
Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. (Countess Markievicz, the first to be elected, refused to sit.)
1964
NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.


Famous Birthdays
1489
Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland (d. 1541)
1628
John Bunyan, English cleric and author (d. 1688)
1700
Nathaniel Bliss, English astronomer (d. 1764)
1757
William Blake, British poet (d. 1827)
1805
John Stephens, American archeologist (d. 1852)
1810
William Froude, British naval architect (d. 1879)
1866
Henry Bacon, American architect (d. 1924)
1895
José Iturbi, Spanish pianist (d. 1980)
1931
Ed Young, children's author and illustrator
1943
Randy Newman, American composer
1944
Rita Mae Brown, American writer
1950
Ed Harris, American actor
1978
Freddie Mitchell, American football player
1987
Karen Gillan, Scottish actress

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

November 27 - Spirit





Spirit




This Day In History
1095
Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
1295
The first elected representatives from Lancashire are called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as "The Model Parliament."
1703
The first Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703.
1830
St. Catherine Laboure experiences a vision of the Blessed Virgin standing on a globe, crushing a serpent with her feet, and emanating rays of light from her hands.
1895
At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
1924
In New York City, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
1968
Penny Ann Early became the first woman to play major professional basketball, in an ABA game Kentucky Colonels vs. Los Angeles Stars.
2001
A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the Hubble Space Telescope, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.
2004
Pope John Paul II returns the relics of Saint John Chrysostom to the Eastern Orthodox Church.


Famous Birthdays
1701
Anders Celsius, Swedish inventor and astronomer (d. 1744)
1746
Robert Livingston, negotiated the Louisiana Purchase from France (d. 1813)
1843
Elizabeth Stride, victim of Jack the Ripper (d. 1888)
1874
Chaim Weizmann, 1st President of Israel (d. 1952)
1907
L. Sprague de Camp, American writer (d. 2000)
1928
Ronald William "Josh" Kirby, British artist (d. 2001)
1940
Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (d. 1973)
1942
Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist (d. 1970)
1953
Curtis Armstrong, American actor
1955
Bill Nye (The science guy), American engineer and broadcaster
1957
Michael Stackpole, American author
1963
Fisher Stevens, American actor
1978
Jimmy Rollins, American baseball player

Monday, November 26, 2012

November 26 - Supper Time





Supper Time





This Day In History
1476
Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
1778
In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
1789
A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.
1842
The University of Notre Dame is founded.
1922
Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor.
1965
In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.
1970
In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.
2003
Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.


Famous Birthdays
1678
Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist, astronomer and chronobiologist (d. 1771)
1731
William Cowper, English poet (d. 1800)
1853
Bat Masterson, buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal, Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph (d. 1921)
1858
Katharine Drexel, Roman Catholic Saint (d. 1955)
1876
Willis Carrier, American engineer and inventor (d. 1950)
1902
Maurice McDonald, American fast food pioneer (d. 1971)
1919
Frederik Pohl, American science fiction writer
1922
Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
1924
George Segal, American Pop Sculptor (d. 2000)
1933
Robert Goulet, American singer and actor (d. 2007)
1955
Tracy Hickman, American fantasy author
1973
Kristin Bauer van Straten, American actress

Sunday, November 25, 2012

November 25 - Band





Band






This Day In History
1120
The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.
1703
The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
1783
The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
1817
First sword swallower in US performs in New York City.
1864
A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
1926
The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history strikes on Thanksgiving day. 27 twisters of great strength are reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4, that devastates Heber Springs, Arkansas
1952
Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London later becoming the longest continuously-running play in history.
1984
36 top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.


Famous Birthdays
1577
Piet Hein, Dutch naval commander (d. 1629)
1666
Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, Italian violin maker (d. c. 1740)
1752
Johann Friedrich Reichardt, German composer, writer and music critic (d. 1814)
1835
Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist (d. 1919)
1844
Karl Benz, German engineer and inventor (d. 1929)
1881
Pope John XXIII (d. 1963)
1909
P.D. Eastman, American children's author and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1914
Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 1999)
1920
Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican actor (d. 2009)
1926
Poul Anderson, American writer (d. 2001)
1941
Percy Sledge, American musician
1944
Ben Stein, American actor
1946
Marc Brown, American children's author
1951
Arturo Pérez Reverte, Spanish novelist and war reporter
1960
Amy Grant, American singer
1965
Dougray Scott, Scottish actor
1971
Christina Applegate, American actress
1976
Donovan McNabb, American football player
1986
Katie Cassidy, American singer and actress

Saturday, November 24, 2012

November 24 -





Cleaner





This Day In History
1542
The English army defeats the Scots on Solway Moss.
1642
Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).
1835
The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety).
1859
Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species.
1932
In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
1950
The "Storm of the Century", a violent snowstorm, takes shape on this date before paralyzing the northeastern United States and the Appalachians the next day, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, records 57 inches of snow.
1969
The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.
1974
Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy," in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.


Famous Birthdays
1632
Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (d. 1677)
1690
Charles Theodore Pachelbel*, German composer, organist, and harpsichordist (d. 1750)
1713
Junípero Serra, Spanish missionary (d. 1784)
1784
Zachary Taylor, American general and 12th President of the United States (d. 1850)
1812
Xavier Hommaire de Hell, French geographer, engineer and traveller (d. 1848)
1815
Grace Darling, English heroine (d. 1842)
1859
Cass Gilbert, American architect (d. 1934)
1864
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter (d. 1901)
1868
Scott Joplin, Ragtime Composer (d. 1917)
1888
Dale Carnegie, American writer (d. 1955)
1912
Charles Schneeman, American science-fiction illustrator (d. 1972)
1925
William F. Buckley Jr., American writer (d. 2008)
1947
Dwight Schultz, American actor
1948
Spider Robinson, science fiction author
1957
Denise Crosby, American actress
1978
Katherine Heigl, American actress



* - Not that one.

Friday, November 23, 2012

November 23 - Holiday





Holiday




Overheard
E: This is the best Thanksgiving ever!



This Day In History
1499
Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He had invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.
1644
John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.
1876
Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
1889
The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1936
Life magazine is reborn as a photo magazine and enjoys instant success.
1963
The BBC broadcasts the first episode of Doctor Who (starring William Hartnell), the world's longest running science fiction drama.
1990
The first all female expedition to the South Pole (3 Americans, 1 Japanese and 12 Russians) sets off from Antarctica on the 1st leg of a 70 day, 1287 kilometre ski trek.
1992
The IBM Simon, the first Smartphone, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas.


Famous Birthdays
1616
John Wallis, English mathematician (d. 1703)
1749
Edward Rutledge, American statesman (d. 1800)
1804
Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869)
1859
Billy the Kid, American outlaw (d. 1881)
1887
Boris Karloff, British actor (d. 1969)
1888
Harpo Marx, American comedian (d. 1964)
1892
Erté, French artist (d. 1990)
1928
Jerry Bock, American musical theatre composer (d. 2010)
1936
Robert Barnard, British mystery writer
1941
Franco Nero, Italian actor
1949
Alan Paul, one of the founding members of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer
1954
Bruce Hornsby, American musician
1955
Steven Brust, American science fiction and fantasy author
1967
Salli Richardson, American actress

Thursday, November 22, 2012

November 22 - Happy Thanksgiving





Happy Thanksgiving



We're thankful for Miss Melanie.


This Day In History
1574
Discovery of the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.
1718
Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
1869
In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched – one of the last clippers ever built, and the only one still surviving today.
1928
The premier performance of Ravel's Boléro takes place in Paris.
1935
The China Clipper, the first transpacific mail and passenger service, takes off from Alameda, California for its first commercial flight. It reaches its destination, Manila, a week later.
1977
British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
1987
Two Chicago television stations are hijacked by an unknown pirate dressed as Max Headroom.
1991
Beauty and the Beast is released in theaters.
1995
Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.


Famous Birthdays
1709
Franz Benda, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1786)
1744
Abigail Adams, First Lady of the United States (d. 1818)
1808
Thomas Cook, British travel entrepreneur (d. 1892)
1819
Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot), English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era (d. 1880)
1898
Wiley Post, American pilot (d. 1935)
1909
Mikhail Mil, Russian aviation designer (d. 1970)
1913
Benjamin Britten, British composer (d. 1976)
1932
Robert Vaughn, American actor
1940
Terry Gilliam, American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe
1943
Billie Jean King, American tennis player
1956
Richard Kind, American actor
1973
Chad Trujillo, American astronomer
1984
Scarlett Johansson, American actress

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

November 21 - Water





Water





This Day In History
1620
Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.).
1783
In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.
1877
Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.
1905
Albert Einstein's paper Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content? is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².
1922
Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
1953
The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.
1964
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opens to traffic (at the time it is the world's longest suspension bridge).
1969
The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI.


Famous Birthdays
1567
Anne de Xainctonge, French saint (d. 1621)
1643
René-Robert Cavelier de LaSalle French explorer (d. 1687)
1694
Voltaire, French philosopher (d. 1778)
1729
Josiah Bartlett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1795)
1787
Samuel Cunard, Canadian-born shipping magnate (d. 1865)
1818
Lewis H. Morgan, American anthropologist (d. 1881)
1852
Francisco Tárrega, father of modern classical guitar (d. 1909)
1898
René Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter (d. 1967)
1902
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish American author, Nobel laureate (d. 1991)
1924
Christopher Tolkien, British author
1944
Harold Ramis, American actor, director, and writer
1955
Rev. Fr. Peter Noel Lamont, Chief of the Name and Arms of Lamont
1965
Alexander Siddig, British actor

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

November 20 - Sweater





Sweater





This Day In History
284
Diocletian is chosen as Roman Emperor.
1789
New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1820
An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story).
1923
Rentenmark replaces the Papiermark as the official currency of Germany at the exchange rate of one Rentenmark to One Trillion (One Billion on the long scale) Papiermark.
1947
The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
1974
The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.
1985
Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.
1998
The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.


Famous Birthdays
1620
Peregrine White, first English child born in the Plymouth Colony (d. 1704)
1660
Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (d. 1741)
1765
Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval captain (d. 1819)
1866
Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American judge and baseball commissioner (d. 1944)
1889
Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (d. 1953)
1892
James Collip, Canadian biochemist, co-discoverer of insulin (d. 1965)
1921
Jim Garrison, American attorney and judge (d. 1992)
1924
Benoît Mandelbrot, Polish-born French mathematician (d. 2010)
1947
Joe Walsh, American musician (Eagles, James Gang)
1956
Bo Derek, American actress
1961
Jim Brickman, American pianist and songwriter
1963
Ming-Na Wen, Macau actress
1970
Sabrina Lloyd, American actress
1975
Dierks Bentley, American country singer and songwriter