December 1

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:

1824 – No candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the Presidential election, so the U.S. House of Representatives was given the task of deciding the winner in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. John Quincy Adams became our 6th President, defeating Andrew Jackson. The 1824 Presidential election was the first election in which the winner of the election lost the popular vote.

1866 – The Michigan Home for Veterans was established in Grand Rapids, MI. It was originally opened for veterans of the Mexican War, Civil War, and Spanish-American War who were disabled by wounds or disease and were not able to earn a living. It was originally called the Michigan Soldiers Home.

1885 – Dr. Pepper was served for the first time at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, TX.

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.

1941 – The Civil Air Patrol was created. In April 1943 the Civil Air Patrol was placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Forces.

1942 – Nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect.

1952 – The first successful sex-change operation was performed in Denmark.

1953 – Hugh Hefner published the first edition of “Playboy” with Marilyn Monroe on the front cover.

1955 – A black seamstress in Montgomery, AL, named Rosa Parks, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. She was arrested marking a milestone in the civil rights movement in the U.S. Her arrest sparks a yearlong bus boycott by blacks and a Supreme Court ruling against segregation on public transportation.

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

1969 – The government held its first draft lottery since World War II.

1973 – The #1 song was “Top of the World” by the Carpenters.

1982 – The movie “Tootsie”, starring Dustin Hoffman, premiered in theaters.

1984 – NASA conducts the Controlled Impact Demonstration where a remote-controlled Boeing 720 jetliner was deliberately crashed into California’s Mojave Desert. The plan was to test technologies and gather data to help improve survival rates in crashes.

1984 – The movie “Beverly Hills Cop”, starring Eddie Murphy, premiered in theaters.

1987 – Construction began on the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France.

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 – Sylvester Stallone was sentenced to 55 days in jail for driving under the influence of cocaine.

1989 – The movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, and Randy Quaid, premiered in theaters.

1990 – British and French workers digging the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed “The Chunnel”) finally met under the English Channel. Workers started digging from opposite ends and met in the middle.

1994 – The cable channel HGTV debuted. It is now one of the most watched cable channels.

1994 – The Game Show Network debuted.

1997 – Kenny G set a record when he held a note on his saxophone for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. The record has since been broken by Geovanny Escalante who held a note for 1 hour, 30 minues and 45 seconds.)

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

2001 – Captain Bill Compton landed Trans World Airlines Flight 200, and MD-83, at St. Louis International Airport bringing an end to 76 years of TWA operations after TWA’s purchase by American Airlines.

2013 – Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos revealed “Amazon Prime Air” on “60 Minutes.” The service planned to use unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver packages to customers.

BIRTHDAYS:

Lee Trevino – 86 years old (1939) – Golfer and sportscaster

John Crowley – 83 years old (1942) – Author and academic

Eric Bloom – 81 years old (1944) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

John Densmore – 81 years old (1944) – Drummer and songwriter

Michael Hagee – 81 years old (1944) – General

Lyle Bien – 80 years old (1945) – Vice admiral in the United States Navy

Bette Midler – 80 years old (1945) – Singer-songwriter, actress and producer

Jonathan Katz – 79 years old (1946) – Comedian and actor

George Foster – 77 years old (1948) – Baseball player and radio host

John Roskelley – 77 years old (1948) – Mountaineer and author

Jan Brett – 76 years old (1949) – Author and illustrator

Richard Keith – 75 years old (1950) – Actor and drummer

Gary Panter – 75 years old (1950) – Illustrator and painter

Obba Babatundé – 74 years old (1951) – Actor, director, and producer

Karen Tumulty – 70 years old (1955) – Journalist

Chris Poland – 68 years old (1957) – Guitarist and songwriter

Candace Bushnell – 67 years old (1958) – Journalist and author

Gary Peters – 67 years old (1958) – Politician

Charlene Tilton – 67 years old (1958) – Actress and singer

Carol Alt – 65 years old (1960) – Model and actress

Safra Catz – 64 years old (1961) – Israeli-American businesswoman and boss of Oracle

Raymond E. Goldstein – 64 years old (1961) – Biophysicist and academic

Pamela McGee – 63 years old (1962) – Basketball player and coach

Katherine LaNasa – 59 years old (1966) – Actress, ballet dancer, and choreographer

Nestor Carbonell – 58 years old (1967) – Actor

Reggie Sanders – 58 years old (1967) – Baseball player

Richard Carrier – 56 years old (1969) – Author and blogger

Golden Brooks – 55 years old (1970) – Actress

Jonathan Coulton – 55 years old (1970) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Kirk Rueter – 55 years old (1970) – Baseball player

Sarah Silverman – 55 years old (1970) – Comedian, actress, and singer

Tisha Waller – 55 years old (1970) – High jumper and educator

Mika Pohjola – 54 years old (1971) – Finnish-American pianist and composer

John Schlimm – 54 years old (1971) – Author and educator

Stanton Barrett – 53 years old (1972) – Race car driver and stuntman

Bart Millard – 53 years old (1972) – Singer-songwriter

Matt Fraction – 50 years old (1975) – Author

Laura Ling – 49 years old (1976) – Journalist and author

Brad Delson – 48 years old (1977) – Guitarist and producer

Nate Torrence – 48 years old (1977) – Actor and comedian

Mat Kearney – 47 years old (1978) – Musician

Stephanie Brown Trafton – 46 years old (1979) – Discus thrower

Ryan Malone – 46 years old (1979) – Ice hockey player

Charles Michael Davis – 41 years old (1984) – Actor

Philip DeFranco – 40 years old (1985) – Media host and YouTube personality

Ilfenesh Hadera – 40 years old (1985) – Actress

Janelle Monáe – 40 years old (1985) – Singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

DeSean Jackson – 39 years old (1986) – Football player

Tyler Joseph – 37 years old (1988) – Musician and singer

Zoë Kravitz – 37 years old (1988) – Actress, singer, and model

Dan Mavraides – 37 years old (1988) – Greek-American basketball player

Rakeem Christmas – 34 years old (1991) – Basketball player

Gary Payton II – 33 years old (1992) – Basketball player

TODAY IS:

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.