October 11

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:

1811 – The first steam-powered ferryboat, “The Juliana”, was put into operation by inventor John Stevens. The ferry went between New York, NY, and Hoboken, NJ.

1869 – Thomas Edison filed for a patent on his electric machine that was used for counting votes for the U.S. Congress. Congress, however, did not buy it.

1881 – The first roll film for cameras was patented by David Henderson Houston.

1890 – The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, DC.

1899 – Augustes Moore Herring, of St. Joseph, MI, flew a powered “glider” at Dune Park, IN. His flight, powered by a compressed air motor, was before the Wright Brothers flight in 1903.

1899 – The Western League was renamed the American League.

1907 – The Chicago Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 in the very first World Series game ever played in Detroit. The game was played at Bennett Park with 11,036 people in attendance. The Tigers lost the series the next day.

1910 – President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane. He flew for all of four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright brothers at Kinloch Field (now Lambert-St. Louis International Airport) in St. Louis, MO.

1929 – J.C. Penney opened store #1252 in Milford, DE, which made it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 states.

1932 – In New York, NY the first telecast of a political campaign was aired.

1939 – President Theodore Roosevelt was presented with a letter from Albert Einstein that urged him to develop the U.S. atomic program rapidly.

1950 – CBS’s mechanical color system was the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

1958 – Pioneer 1 was launched toward the Moon. Two days later, because of a trajectory error, it fell back to Earth and burned up.

1968 – The first manned Apollo mission, Apollo 7, was launched. It sent live television pictures to Earth. Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham were the astronauts aboard.

1971 – Hugh Downs left the “Today” show and “Concentration”. He later became the host of ABC’s “20/20”.

1975 – On NBC, “Saturday Night Live” debuted with George Carlin as guest host. Janis Ian performed “At Seventeen” and “In the Winter.” Billy Preston played “Nothing from Nothing” and “Fancy Lady”. The show really took off the following week when host Paul Simon reunited with his former partner, Art Garfunkel.

1975 – Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham were married in Fayetteville, AR.

1983 – The last hand-cranked telephones in the United States were removed from service. The 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, ME switched to direct-dialed service.

1984 – Mario Lemieux made his debut in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored a goal on his first shot.

1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to perform a space walk.

1987 – The world’s largest pizza was made. It had 94,248 slices.

1991 – Anita Hill testified that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas made sexually explicit remarks to her when they worked together.

1999 – The world’s population reached six billion.

2000 – NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission, using Space Shuttle Discovery.

2001 – The Polaroid Corporation filed for federal bankruptcy protection.

2002 – The sniper preying upon the Washington, DC, suburbs killed his eighth victim, a driver pumping gas in Fourmile Fork, VA.

2006 – The TV show “30 Rock” debuted on NBC.

BIRTHDAYS:

James M. McPherson – 89 years old (1936) – Historian and author

Gene Watson – 82 years old (1943) – Singer-songwriter and producer

Daryl Hall – 79 years old (1946) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Thomas Boswell – 78 years old (1947) – Journalist and author

Lawrence Tanter – 76 years old (1949) – Basketball player and sportscaster

Catlin Adams – 75 years old (1950) – Actress

William R. Forstchen – 75 years old (1950) – Historian and author

Patty Murray – 75 years old (1950) – Educator and politician

Bruce Bartlett – 74 years old (1951) – Economist, historian, and author

Jon Miller – 74 years old (1951) – Sportscaster

Paulette Carlson – 73 years old (1952) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

David Morse – 72 years old (1953) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

David Michaels – 71 years old (1954) – Epidemiologist and politician

Norm Nixon – 70 years old (1955) – Basketball player and sportscaster

Stephen Spinella – 69 years old (1956) – Actor

Randy Breuer – 65 years old (1960) – Basketball player

Curt Ford – 65 years old (1960) – Baseball player and manager

Steve Young – 64 years old (1961) – Football player and sportscaster

Joan Cusack – 63 years old (1962) – Actress

Michael J. Nelson – 61 years old (1964) – Actor, director, and screenwriter

Sean Patrick Flanery – 60 years old (1965) – Actor and producer

Todd Snider – 59 years old (1966) – Singer-songwriter

Jay Grdina – 58 years old (1967) – Businessman and pornographic actor

Artie Lange – 58 years old (1967) – Actor and comedian

David Starr – 58 years old (1967) – Race car driver

Peter Thiel – 58 years old (1967) – German and American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist

Jane Krakowski – 57 years old (1968) – Actress and singer

Brett Salisbury – 57 years old (1968) – Football player and author

Chidi Ahanotu – 55 years old (1970) – Football player

Vanessa Harding – 55 years old (1970) – Wrestler

MC Lyte – 55 years old (1970) – Rapper, DJ, and actress

Constance Zimmer – 55 years old (1970) – Actress

Petra Haden – 54 years old (1971) – Violinist and singer

Justin Lin – 54 years old (1971) – Film director

Brendan B. Brown – 52 years old (1973) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Dmitri Young – 52 years old (1973) – Baseball player and radio host

Rachel Barton Pine – 51 years old (1974) – Violinist and educator

Emily Deschanel – 49 years old (1976) – Actress and producer

Matt Bomer – 48 years old (1977) – Actor and producer

Desmond Mason – 48 years old (1977) – Basketball player and sportscaster

Rhett McLaughlin – 48 years old (1977) – YouTuber

Ty Wigginton – 48 years old (1977) – Baseball player

Carl Bussey – 47 years old (1978) – Soccer player

Trevor Donovan – 47 years old (1978) – Actor

Jamar Beasley – 46 years old (1979) – Football player

Andy Douglas – 46 years old (1979) – Wrestler

Jeff Larish – 43 years old (1982) – Baseball player

Terrell Suggs – 43 years old (1982) – Football player

Martha MacIsaac – 41 years old (1984) – Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter

Tony Beltran – 38 years old (1987) – Soccer player

Mike Conley Jr. – 38 years old (1987) – Basketball player

Omar Gonzalez – 37 years old (1988) – Soccer player

Ricochet – 37 years old (1988) – Wrestler

Michelle Wie – 36 years old (1989) – Golfer

Joel Bitonio – 34 years old (1991) – Football player

Toby Fox – 34 years old (1991) – Video game developer and composer

Cardi B – 33 years old (1992) – Rapper

Brandon Flynn – 32 years old (1993) – Actor

T. J. Watt – 31 years old (1994) – Football player

Keldon Johnson – 26 years old (1999) – 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.