April 30 - Having a Ball

Having a Ball

Overheard

[D has just gotten out a bag of pretzels]

E: Ooh! My favorite!

[beat]

What are those?

This Day In History

1006

SN 1006, the brightest supernova in recorded history, appears in the constellation Lupus.

1492

Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.

1789

On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.

1803

The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.

1812

The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.

1900

Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.

1904

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in St. Louis, Missouri.

1927

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1939

NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.

1943

Operation Mincemeat: HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.

1967

The Aldene Connection opens in Roselle Park, NJ, shutting down the CNJ's Jersey City waterfront terminal and transferring commuters to Newark Penn Station.

1980

Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

1993

CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.

Famous Birthdays

1651

Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French educational reformer, Catholic saint (d. 1719)

1662

Queen Mary II of England (d. 1694)

1770

David Thompson, Canadian explorer (d. 1857)

1777

Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician (d. 1855)

1812

Kaspar Hauser, German mystery boy (d. 1833)

1870

Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (d. 1948)

1896

Hans List, Austrian inventor (d. 1996)

1908

Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)

1916

Claude E. Shannon, American engineer and mathematician (d. 2001)

1933

Willie Nelson, American musician

1938

Larry Niven, American science fiction author

1961

Isiah Thomas, American basketball player

1982

Kirsten Dunst, American actress