A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
1794 – President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union.
1854 – Anthony Faas was granted the first U.S. patent for the accordion. He made improvements to the keyboard and enhanced the sound.
1888 – The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, DC.
1906 – Hugh Gernsback, of the Electro Importing Company, advertised radio receivers for sale for the price of just $7.50 in “Scientific American” magazine.
1910 – Lee De Forest, the American inventor of the vacuum tube, broadcasted the first ever live radio performance of Enrico Caruso from the Metropolitan Opera. The broadcast could only be heard by a small number of electronics hobbyists who had radio receivers
1928 – Ernst F. W. Alexanderson gave the first public demonstration of television. Experimental television sets were installed in three homes in Schenectady, NY. The RCA and General Electric sets had a 1.5″ square picture.
1942 – Henry Ford patented the “Soybean Car”. It was a plastic automobile. The car was 30% lighter than the average car.
1957 – Wham-O produced the first Frisbee.
1966 – Elizabeth Montgomery’s character, Samantha, on the television show “Bewitched,” had a baby. The baby was named Tabitha.
1966 – Robert C. Weaver became the first black Cabinet member when he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon Johnson.
1968 – Dr. K.C. Pollack, of the University of Florida, reported that noise levels at rock concerts are harmful to teenage ears.
1968 – Johnny Cash performed live at Folsom State Prison.
1979 – The Village People were sued by the YMCA, because the organization was not pleased that its name is the title of the group’s hit song. The organization soon dropped the lawsuit.
1982 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashed into Washington DC’s 14th Street Bridge and fell into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
1982 – Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1989 – Bernhard H. Goetz was sentenced to one year in prison for possession of an unlicensed gun, which he used to shoot four youths he believed were about to rob him on a New York subway.
1993 – Bobby Brown was arrested in Augusta, GA, for simulating a sex act onstage. It was the second time that he had been arrested by the Augusta police department for the same offense.
1993 – The Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-54) headed for space for the third time when it was launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
1997 – Debbie Reynolds received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1998 – NBC agreed to pay almost $13 million for each episode of the TV show “E.R.”. It was the highest amount ever paid for a TV show at the time.
1998 – ABC and ESPN negotiated to keep “Monday Night Football” for $1.15 billion a season.
1998 – One of the 110 missing episodes of the British TV show “Doctor Who” was found in New Zealand.
1999 – Michael Jordan, of the Chicago Bulls, announced his retirement from the NBA.
2002 – President George W. Bush fainted after he choked on a pretzel.
2012 – After more than 11,000 episodes, the television soap opera “One Life to Live” ended a nearly 44 year run on daytime television.
2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sank off the cost of Italy due to the captain’s negligence and irresponsibility. There were 32 confirmed deaths among the 4,232 passengers and crew.
2018 – A false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike in Hawaii caused widespread panic in the state.
2020 – The Thai Ministry of Public Health confirmed the first case of COVID-19 outside China.
2021 – Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump was impeached for a second time on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the storming of the Capitol one week earlier.
BIRTHDAYS:
Charlie Brill – 88 years old (1938) – Actor, voice artist, and comedian
Billy Gray – 88 years old (1938) – Actor, competitive motorcycle racer and inventor
Trevor Rabin – 72 years old (1954) – South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Jay McInerney – 71 years old (1955) – Novelist and critic
Lorrie Moore – 69 years old (1957) – Author
Mark O'Meara – 69 years old (1957) – Golfer
Kevin Anderson – 66 years old (1960) – Actor
Eric Betzig – 66 years old (1960) – Physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
Wayne Coyne – 65 years old (1961) – Singer-songwriter and musician
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – 65 years old (1961) – Actress, comedian, and producer
Trace Adkins – 64 years old (1962) – Singer-songwriter and actor
Kevin Mitchell – 64 years old (1962) – Baseball player
Penelope Ann Miller – 62 years old (1964) – Actress
Patrick Dempsey – 60 years old (1966) – Actor and race car driver
Suzanne Cryer – 59 years old (1967) – Actress
Traci Bingham – 58 years old (1968) – Actress, model, and television personality
Keith Coogan – 56 years old (1970) – Actor
Shonda Rhimes – 56 years old (1970) – Actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
Nicole Eggert – 54 years old (1972) – Actress
Jason Sasser – 52 years old (1974) – Basketball player
Andrew Yang – 51 years old (1975) – Entrepreneur, founder of Venture for America , and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate
Michael Peña – 50 years old (1976) – Actor
James Posey – 49 years old (1977) – Basketball player and coach
Nate Silver – 48 years old (1978) – Journalist and statistician, developed PECOTA
Jack Johnson – 39 years old (1987) – Ice hockey player
Josh Freeman – 38 years old (1988) – Football player
Morgan Burnett – 37 years old (1989) – Football player
Heath Hembree – 37 years old (1989) – Baseball player
Beau Mirchoff – 37 years old (1989) – Canadian-American actor
Austin Watson – 34 years old (1992) – Ice hockey player
Natalia Dyer – 31 years old (1995) – Actress
Henry Ellenson – 29 years old (1997) – Basketball player
TODAY IS:
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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
