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:
1825 – The U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President. No candidate had received a majority of electoral votes.
1847 – The city of Holland, MI was founded when Dutch immigrants fled religious persecution and economic distress and followed their leader Rev. Albertus VanRaalte to West Michigan.
1870 – The United States Weather Bureau was authorized by Congress. The bureau is officially known as the National Weather Service (NWS).
1884 – Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny executed a patent application for a chemical recording stock quotation telegraph (U.S. Pat. 314,115).
1895 – William G. Morgan created a game called Mintonette, which soon would be called Volleyball.
1932 – America entered the 2-man bobsled competition for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games held at Lake Placid, NY.
1934 – Lowest temperature ever recorded in the state of Michigan… -51 at Vanderbilt (just north of Gaylord).
1942 – Production of civilian automobiles stopped when all manufacturers in Detroit shifted to wartime production and made Detroit the “Arsenal of Democracy”.
1942 – Year-round Daylight Saving Time was re-instated as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
1951 – Trying to dodge the draft by being guilty of a small crime, Richard Shay sets fire to the Michigan State Offices in Lansing. The fire caused $5 million in damage.
1964 – The Beatles made the first of three record-breaking appearances on TV’s “The Ed Sullivan Show” before a record breaking audience of 73 million television viewers.
1969 – The first test flight of the Boeing 747.
1971 – Satchel Paige became the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1971 – The Apollo 14 spacecraft returned to Earth after the third crewed Moon landing.
1975 – Cher’s television variety show debuted on CBS with Elton John, Bette Midler and Flip Wilson as guest stars.
1979 – The movie “The Warriors” opened in theaters.
1986 – Halley’s Coment last appeared in the inner Solar System.
1997 – With their 167th episode, “The Simpsons” became the longest-running prime-time animated series, taking the record previously held by “The Flintstones”. The show still holds the record.
1999 – A California jury awarded the largest judgment ever reached in a smoking related case. A woman said that her inoperable lung cancer was caused by decades of smoking cigarettes, primarily the Philip Morris Marlboro brand. She was awarded $51.5 million.
1999 – The Reverend Jerry Falwell insisted that “Tinky Winky”, the purple Teletubby, was gay.
2001 – The movie “Hannibal,” the sequel to “Silence of the Lambs,” opened in theaters.
2002 – Conan O’Brien signed an $8 million a year deal to stay at his Late Night desk for another four years.
2004 – Diana Ross pleaded guilty to DUI charges in Tucson, AZ, and was ordered to spend two days in jail.
2014 – Scientists at the Australian National University observed the oldest star in the universe for the first time. The star is 6,000 light years from Earth and is believed to be 13.7 billion years old.
2018 – The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics took place in Pyeongchang County in South Korea.
2021 – The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump began.
BIRTHDAYS:
Barry Mann – 87 years old (1939) – Pianist, songwriter, and producer
Kermit Gosnell – 85 years old (1941) – Abortionist and serial killer
Sheila Kuehl – 85 years old (1941) – Actress, lawyer, gay rights activist, and politician
Carole King – 84 years old (1942) – Singer-songwriter and pianist
Barbara Lewis – 83 years old (1943) – Singer-songwriter
Joe Pesci – 83 years old (1943) – Actor
Joseph Stiglitz – 83 years old (1943) – Economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Alice Walker – 82 years old (1944) – Novelist, short story writer, and poet
Mia Farrow – 81 years old (1945) – Actress, activist, and model
Carol Wood – 81 years old (1945) – Mathematician and academic
Bob Eastwood – 80 years old (1946) – Golfer
Vince Papale – 80 years old (1946) – Football player and sportscaster
Jim Webb – 80 years old (1946) – Captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of the Navy
Judith Light – 77 years old (1949) – Actress
Richard F. Colburn – 76 years old (1950) – Sergeant and politician
David Pomeranz – 75 years old (1951) – Singer, musician, and composer
Danny White – 74 years old (1952) – Football player and sportscaster
Gabriel Rotello – 73 years old (1953) – Journalist and author, founded OutWeek
Jo Duffy – 72 years old (1954) – Author
Chris Gardner – 72 years old (1954) – Businessman and philanthropist
Jerry Beck – 71 years old (1955) – Historian and author
Phil Ford – 70 years old (1956) – Basketball player and coach
Mookie Wilson – 70 years old (1956) – Baseball player and coach
Terry McAuliffe – 69 years old (1957) – Businessman and politician, 72nd Governor of Virginia
Chris Nilan – 68 years old (1958) – Ice hockey player, coach, and radio host
David Simon – 66 years old (1960) – Journalist, author, screenwriter, and television producer
Peggy Whitson – 66 years old (1960) – Biochemist and astronaut
John Kruk – 65 years old (1961) – Baseball player and sportscaster
Brian Greene – 63 years old (1963) – Physicist
Travis Tritt – 63 years old (1963) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Debrah Miceli – 62 years old (1964) – Italian-American wrestler and manager
Julie Warner – 61 years old (1965) – Actress
Venus Lacy – 59 years old (1967) – Basketball player
Todd Pratt – 59 years old (1967) – Baseball player and coach
Derek Strong – 58 years old (1968) – Basketball player and race car driver
Jimmy Smith – 57 years old (1969) – Football player
Sharon Case – 55 years old (1971) – Actress and model
Matt Gogel – 55 years old (1971) – Golfer
Jason Winston George – 54 years old (1972) – Actor and model
Colin Egglesfield – 53 years old (1973) – Actor
Brad Maynard – 52 years old (1974) – Football player
Amber Valletta – 52 years old (1974) – Model
John Wallace – 52 years old (1974) – Basketball player and coach
Vladimir Guerrero – 51 years old (1975) – Dominican-American baseball player
Charlie Day – 50 years old (1976) – Actor, producer, and screenwriter
Margarita Levieva – 46 years old (1980) – Russian-American actress
Manu Raju – 46 years old (1980) – Journalist
John Walker Lindh – 45 years old (1981) – Taliban member
Jameer Nelson – 44 years old (1982) – Basketball player
Maurice Ager – 42 years old (1984) – Basketball player, singer, and producer
David Gallagher – 41 years old (1985) – Actor
Michael B. Jordan – 39 years old (1987) – Actor
Camille Winbush – 36 years old (1990) – Actress
Logan Ryan – 35 years old (1991) – Football player
K. J. McDaniels – 33 years old (1993) – Basketball player
Jimmy Bennett – 30 years old (1996) – Actor
Kelli Berglund – 30 years old (1996) – Actress
Jaire Alexander – 29 years old (1997) – Football player
Saquon Barkley – 29 years old (1997) – Football player
Isabella Gomez – 28 years old (1998) – Colombian-American actress
Jalen Green – 24 years old (2002) – Basketball player
Cooper DeJean – 23 years old (2003) – Football player
Ryan Williams – 19 years old (2007) – 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.
