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:
1858 – Roland Macy opened Macy’s Department Store on 6th Avenue in New York, NY. It was Macy’s eighth business adventure (the other seven failed).
1904 – The New York subway system, the IRT, officially opened. It was the first rapid-transit subway system in the United States. It would become the biggest system in the United States and one of the biggest in the world.
1925 – Fred Waller received a patent for his water skis.
1927 – The first newsreel featuring sound was released in New York, NY.
1938 – DuPont announced “nylon” was the new name for its new synthetic fiber.
1947 – “You Bet Your Life,” the radio show starring Grouch Marx, premiered on ABC. It was later shown on NBC television.
1954 – The first Walt Disney television show, “Disneyland”, premiered on ABC.
1955 – The movie “Rebel Without a Cause”, starring James Dean, premiered in theaters.
1961 – NASA tested the first Saturn I rocket in Mission Saturn-Apollo 1.
1966 – The animated Halloween classic “It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” debuted on TV.
1967 – The heaviest October snowstorm on record across Michigan occurred. On October 26, 1967, the snow began falling and by the next day, Grand Rapids had 8.4 inches, Lansing 7.5 inches and Muskegon had 4.9 inches. In the Upper Peninsula, Ironwood had a whopping 26.7 inches of new snow.
1975 – Bruce Springsteen was simultaneously on the cover of “Time” and “Newsweek.” This was the first time this happened for a rock star.
1989 – Tom Petty released “Free Fallin” from his debut solo album “Full Moon Fever”.
1994 – The U.S. Justice Department announced that the U.S. prison population had exceeded one million for the first time in American history.
1996 – VH1 added fun facts to music videos with “pop-up” bubbles — officially called “info nuggets” — and called the program “Pop-Up Video”.
1997 – Stock markets around the world crashed because of fears of a global economic meltdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 554.26 points to 7,161.15. The stock market was shut down for the first time since the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
2001 – In Washington, DC, the search for anthrax widened to thousands of businesses and 30 mail distribution centers.
2003 – Bank of America Corp. announced it had agreed to buy FleetBoston Financial Corp. The deal created the second largest banking company in the U.S.
2004 – The Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years.
2014 – The new Grand Rapids passenger train station (named for Vernon Ehlers) opened for service.
BIRTHDAYS:
Maxine Hong Kingston – 85 years old (1940) – Author and academic
Lee Greenwood – 83 years old (1942) – Singer-songwriter
J. A. Jance – 81 years old (1944) – Author and poet
Garry Tallent – 76 years old (1949) – Bass player and record producer
Fran Lebowitz – 75 years old (1950) – Author
Nancy Jacobs – 74 years old (1951) – Politician
Jayne Kennedy – 74 years old (1951) – Model, actress, and sportscaster
Francis Fukuyama – 73 years old (1952) – Political scientist, economist, and author
Robert Picardo – 72 years old (1953) – Actor, director, and screenwriter
Jan Duursema – 71 years old (1954) – Illustrator
Debra Bowen – 70 years old (1955) – Lawyer and politician, 31st Secretary of State of California
Patty Sheehan – 69 years old (1956) – Golfer
Peter Marc Jacobson – 68 years old (1957) – Actor, director, and producer
David Hazeltine – 67 years old (1958) – Pianist and composer
Rick Carlisle – 66 years old (1959) – Basketball player and coach
Tom Nieto – 65 years old (1960) – Baseball player, coach, and manager
Marla Maples – 62 years old (1963) – Model and actress
Mary T. Meagher – 61 years old (1964) – Swimmer
Steve Almond – 59 years old (1966) – Author and educator
Evan Coyne Maloney – 53 years old (1972) – Director, producer, and screenwriter
Brad Radke – 53 years old (1972) – Baseball player
Jason Johnson – 52 years old (1973) – Baseball player
Aron Ralston – 50 years old (1975) – Mountaineer and engineer
Bobby Fish – 49 years old (1976) – Professional wrestler
Maneet Chauhan – 49 years old (1976) – Indian-American chef and author
Sheeri Rappaport – 48 years old (1977) – Actress
Patrick Fugit – 43 years old (1982) – Actor and producer
Brent Clevlen – 42 years old (1983) – Baseball player
Brady Quinn – 41 years old (1984) – Football player
Alex Soros – 40 years old (1985) – Investor and philanthropist
Chris Butler – 39 years old (1986) – Ice hockey player
Christine Evangelista – 39 years old (1986) – Actress
Crystal Langhorne – 39 years old (1986) – Basketball player
Jon Niese – 39 years old (1986) – Baseball player
Lou Williams – 39 years old (1986) – Basketball player
Andrew Bynum – 38 years old (1987) – Basketball player
Brady Ellison – 37 years old (1988) – Archer
Evan Turner – 37 years old (1988) – Basketball player
Mark Barron – 36 years old (1989) – Football player
Alex Bentley – 35 years old (1990) – American-Belarusian basketball player
Emily Hagins – 33 years old (1992) – Director, producer, and screenwriter
Brandon Saad – 33 years old (1992) – Ice hockey player
Troy Gentile – 32 years old (1993) – Actor
Lonzo Ball – 28 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.
