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:
1653 – New Amsterdam was incorporated. We now know it as New York, NY.
1802 – The first leopard to be exhibited in the United States was shown in Boston, MA by Othello Pollard.
1846 – Regular scheduled passenger rail service began in Michigan between Detroit and Kalamazoo.
1848 – The Mexican War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty turned over portions of land to the U.S., including Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The United States gave Mexico $15,000,000 and assumed responsibility of all claims against Mexico by American citizens. Texas had already entered the U.S. on December 29, 1845.
1863 – Samuel Langhorne Clemens used the pseudonym Mark Twain for the first time.
1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (known as the National League) was formed in New York, NY. The teams included were the Chicago White Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Mutual of New York, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Louisville Grays.
1887 – The beginning of the yearly Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, PA.
1892 – The bottle cap was patented by William Painter.
1900 – Six cities — Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis — formed baseball’s American League.
1913 – Grand Central Terminal, in New York, NY, officially opened at 12:01 am. Even though construction was not entirely complete, more than 150,000 people visited the new terminal on opening day.
1935 – Leonard Keeler conducted the first test of the polygraph machine, in Portage, WI. He gave the test to two murder suspects. It was the first time polygraph evidence was admitted in U.S. courts.
1946 – The Mutual Broadcasting System aired the game show “Twenty Questions” for the first time on radio. The show moved to television in 1949.
1949 – The first 45 RPM record was released.
1950 – The television game show “What’s My Line” debuted on CBS.
1964 – Hasbro’s G.I. Joe action figures were released.
1972 – The Stanley Kubrick film, “A Clockwork Orange”, was released in the United States.
1973 – The late night television show “Midnight Special” debuted on NBC.
1988 – Auntie Anne’s was founded by Anne F. Beiler in Lancaster, PA.
1993 – Willie Nelson and the IRS settled their longstanding tax feud. The U.S. government kept $3.6 million in assets it had already seized and Nelson would have to pay $5.4 million of the $13.1 million balance.
1998 – President Bill Clinton introduced the first balanced federal budget in 30 years.
2004 – It was reported that a white powder had been found in an office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later confirmed that the powder was the poison ricin.
2007 – The U.S. Senate agreed to the first minimum wage hike in a decade. The measure would move the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over a two year period.
2020 – The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in a stunning Super Bowl comeback.
BIRTHDAYS:
Judith Viorst – 95 years old (1931) – Journalist and author
Don Buford – 89 years old (1937) – Baseball player and coach
Remak Ramsay – 89 years old (1937) – Actor
Mary-Dell Chilton – 87 years old (1939) – Chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
Wayne Fontes – 86 years old (1940) – Football player and coach
Graham Nash – 84 years old (1942) – English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Ursula Oppens – 82 years old (1944) – Pianist and educator
Blake Clark – 80 years old (1946) – Comedian and actor
Ina Garten – 78 years old (1948) – Chef and author
Al McKay – 78 years old (1948) – Guitarist, songwriter, and producer
Jack McGee – 77 years old (1949) – Actor
Brent Spiner – 77 years old (1949) – Actor and singer
Ross Valory – 77 years old (1949) – Bass player and songwriter
Dave Casper – 74 years old (1952) – Football player
John Cornyn – 74 years old (1952) – Lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
Ralph Merkle – 74 years old (1952) – Computer scientist and academic
Duane Chapman – 73 years old (1953) – Bounty hunter
Christie Brinkley – 72 years old (1954) – Actress, model, and businesswoman
John Tudor – 72 years old (1954) – Baseball player
Bob Schreck – 71 years old (1955) – Author
Michael Talbott – 71 years old (1955) – Actor
Kim Zimmer – 71 years old (1955) – Actress
Dexter Manley – 67 years old (1959) – Football player
Lauren Lane – 65 years old (1961) – Actress and academic
Paul Kilgus – 64 years old (1962) – Baseball player
Michael T. Weiss – 64 years old (1962) – Actor
Robert DeLeo – 60 years old (1966) – Bass player, songwriter, and producer
Adam Ferrara – 60 years old (1966) – Actor and comedian
Kenny Albert – 58 years old (1968) – Sportscaster
Sean Elliott – 58 years old (1968) – Basketball player and sportscaster
Scott Erickson – 58 years old (1968) – Baseball player and coach
Jennifer Westfeldt – 56 years old (1970) – Actress and singer
Rockwilder – 55 years old (1971) – Rapper and producer
Marissa Jaret Winokur – 53 years old (1973) – Actress and singer
Donald Driver – 51 years old (1975) – Football player
Rich Sommer – 48 years old (1978) – Actor
Lance Allred – 45 years old (1981) – Basketball player and activist
Kelly Mazzante – 44 years old (1982) – Basketball player
Jason Vargas – 43 years old (1983) – Baseball player
Brian Cage – 42 years old (1984) – Wrestler
Morris Almond – 41 years old (1985) – Basketball player
Mimi Page – 39 years old (1987) – Singer-songwriter and composer
Javon Ringer – 39 years old (1987) – Football player
Martin Spanjers – 39 years old (1987) – Actor and producer
JuJu Chan – 38 years old (1988) – Hong Kong-American actress, martial artist, singer, and writer
Zosia Mamet – 38 years old (1988) – Actress
Brad Peacock – 38 years old (1988) – Baseball player
Harrison Smith – 37 years old (1989) – Football player
Southside – 37 years old (1989) – Record producer
Christian Dvorak – 30 years old (1996) – Ice hockey player
Jeff Okudah – 27 years old (1999) – Football 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.
