Today In History

[GiGi]

September 3, 1189 - Following the death of his father Henry II, Richard the Lionheart was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey in London. Before his coronation he knew little of England since he had spent most of his life in France. Even while King of England he spent the vast majority of his ten-year reign abroad, devoting himself to the Crusades.

September 3, 1895 - In Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the first professional football game was played. With the score 12-0, the Latrobe YMCA defeated the Jeannette Athletic Club. Decades later, Latrobe became the home for the Pittsburgh Steelers' training camp.

September 3, 1951 - Television's longest-running daytime drama, Search for Tomorrow, debuted on CBS. The first show was a 15-minute live broadcast from New York's Liederkranz Hall. Twenty-nine years later, the soap opera began airing on NBC.

September 3, 1973 - Race car driver David Pearson became the first to earn career earnings of one million dollars. In the Southern 500 stock-car race in Darlington, South Carolina, Pearson finished second. Other drivers to make the big earnings at the time were Richard Petty, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Sr. and Mario Andretti.

September 3, 1991 - Wanda Holloway of Channelview, Texas, was convicted on this date of trying to hire a hit man to kill the mother of her daughter's cheerleader rival in junior high school. Holloway felt that if the mother of Amber Heath was killed, the girl would be so distraught that Shanna, Holloway's daughter, would replace her on the school cheer squad. The verdict came after five days of testimony in the bizarre case. The incident was soon made into a made-for-television movie, and Holly Hunter earned an Emmy award and Beau Bridges received a Golden Globe award for their performances in The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom. The case was later thrown out and Holloway won a new trial in 1996.

[Peri]

Thanks, enjoy reading these.

[GiGi]

You're Welcome!

September 10, 1547 - The Scots were defeated by the English at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Edinburgh. The battle was sparked by English demands that Edward VI, aged 10, should marry 5-year-old Mary Queen of Scots.


September 10, 1608 - Explorer, adventurer, writer and cartogropher, John Smith, assumed the Presidency of the Jamestown settlement, In December 1607, Smith was captured and brought before Algonquin Chief Powhatan. Smith alleged, in a book written much later, that Pocahontas, the chief's young daughter, had saved his life by throwing herself between him and his would-be executioners.


September 10, 1846 - Farmer Elias Howe patented the first practical sewing machine. Howe's machine, with a two thread and lock stitch, could stitch five times faster than by hand. It eventually helped to establish mass production of clothing and other sewn goods.


September 10, 1935 - "Popeye" was heard for the first time on NBC radio. The show was based on the Elzie Crisler Segar comic strip, which featured Popeye, Olive Oyl, Brutas, Wimpy and Sweepea.


September 10, 1955 - The most popular Western in television history, Gunsmoke, starring James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon, premiered on CBS.

[Peri]

Other Notable Events, Sept. 11

In 1777, troops commanded by Gen. George Washington were defeated by the British under Gen. William Howe in the Battle of Brandywine.

In 1841, all members of U.S. President John Tyler's Cabinet except Secretary of State Daniel Webster resigned in protest of Tyler's veto of a banking bill.

In 1847, Stephen Foster's first hit, "Oh! Susanna," had its debut at a concert in a Pittsburgh saloon and soon became standard for minstrel troupes.

In 1921, Fatty Arbuckle, one of the foremost comedians of the silent movie days, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of a starlet in an alleged sexual assault during a wild drinking party. Arbuckle eventually was cleared but his career had been ruined.

In 1959, Congress passed a bill authorizing food stamps for low-income Americans.

In 1973, the elected Socialist government of Salvador Allende of Chile was toppled in a right-wing military coup supported by the CIA. Allende died, reportedly by his own hand.

In 1985, Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit broke Ty Cobb's 57-year-old career Major League Baseball record. He finished his career with 4,256 hits.

In 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced negotiations to withdraw 11,000 Soviet military advisers from Cuba and eliminate a $2 billion annual subsidy.

In 1996, the Iraqis fired at -- but missed -- two U.S. warplanes patrolling the no-fly zone. Washington ordered U.S. forces to the region.

In 1997, Mother Teresa received the first state funeral accorded a private citizen of India since the death of Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1948.

In 1998, as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to release to the public the text of the Starr report, U.S. President Bill Clinton told religious leaders that he had sinned.

In 2001, Islamic terrorists attacked the United States, crashing two hijacked airliners into the twin towers at New York's World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania, apparently en route to Washington, when passengers jumped their captors. A reported 2,974 people were killed, most of them in the trade center towers, which collapsed.

U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to destroy the responsible terrorist organizations and the regimes that supported them. Osama bin Laden, a wealthy anti-American Saudi exile operating out of Afghanistan and leader of al-Qaida, a shadowy, far-flung terrorist organization, was identified as the ringleader of the attacks.

In 2002, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, under German indictment on 3,000 charges of murder stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was arrested in Pakistan with others allegedly linked to al-Qaida.

In 2003, the Israeli government decided "in principle" to deport Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat but said it would hold off taking such action "for now."

In 2004, a powerful Hurricane Ivan pounded Jamaica, popping roofs off houses, downing hundreds of trees and sending 23-foot waves ashore. The storm's death toll stood at 37 as it headed toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

In 2006, in a series of speeches commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, U.S. President George Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq which he said had made the United States safer and likened the fight against terrorism to conflicts with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

In 2007, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's campaign said it would begin "vigorous" criminal background checks on its major fundraisers, a response to revelations about Norman Hsu, a fundraiser once convicted of fraud.

[Peri]

This Day in History, September 12

On September 12th, 1992, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Endeavour, marking the 50th space shuttle mission.

[GiGi]

September 14, 1262 - Cadiz was captured by Alfonso X of Castille, ending a 500-year occupation of the city by the Moors.

September 14, 1741 - After only 23 days, George Frederick Handel completed his "Messiah". Some consider it a timeless musical treasure linked forever with the Christmas holiday season.

September 14, 1814 - An attorney in Washington, DC, Frances Scott Key, was aboard a warship that was bombarding Fort McHenry, the outpost guarding the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Key wrote what would become famous words to express his emotions. Those words would become "The Star-Spangled Banner", which officially became the natinal anthem of the United States by an act of Congress in 1931.

September 14, 1939 - The first successful helicopter, Igor Sikorsky's VS-300, made its first flight.

September 14, 1972 - The Waltons, a post-Depression era drama about family life on Walton's Mountain in Virginia and narrated by Earl Hamner, Jr., premiered on CBS. Hamner was the creator of the series, which was based on reminiscences of his own childhood. Over the years, the series won many awards, including an Emmy for Best Drama Series, and acting Emmys for Richard Thomas, Michael Learned, Will Geer, and Ellen Corby.

September 14, 1975 - Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized by Pope Paul VI in Rome, becoming the first Catholic saint born in the US. Originally Episcopalian, Seton founded a society for poor widows. After she herself was widowed and left with five children in 1803, she converted to Catholicism and established an elementary school. She also founded the US first religious order, the Sisters of Charity.

[Peri]

This Day in History, September 15

On September 15th, 1835, Charles Darwin, aboard the HMS Beagle, reached the Galapagos Islands.

[GiGi]

September 16, 1620 - The Mayflower ship departed from England, bound for America with 102 passengers and a small crew. The ship weathered dangerous Atlantic storms and reached Provincetown, Massachusetts on November 21. The Pilgrims disembarked at Plymouth on December 26.

September 16, 1908 - General Motors was founded. The man responsible for the beginning of auto-manufacturing company which makes: Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Chevrolet vehicles was William Crapo "Billy" Durant.

September 16, 1963 - The Beatles recorded "She Loves You" on the Swan label. It was the first record the Beatles recorded, but the group's second single to hit #1. The first hit was "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which was a million seller on Capitol. It beat "She Loves You" to the top spot by a few weeks. Other Beatles hits were also recorded on the Capitol, who had rejected "She Loves You", and Swan labels; but the Beatles preferred variety and recorded with these labels as well: Vee-Jay, MGM, Tollie, United Artists, Atco, E.M.I., Parlaphone and Apple.

September 16, 1968 - "The Andy Griffith Show" aired for the last time on CBS-TV. Sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith), Opie (Ron Howard), Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), Barney Fife (Don Knotts), Goober Pyle (George Lindsey), Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear) and the rest of the citizens of Mayberry, North Carolina, can still be seen on television reruns.

September 16, 1987 - The "Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" was signed. The Montreal Protocol, amended in 1990 and 1992, stipulates that the production and consumption of most compounds that deplete ozone in the stratosphere, such as chlorofluorocarbons, are to be phased out by 2000.

[GiGi]

September 17, 1683 - Dutch scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek became the first to report the existence of bacteria. He made the discovery by looking at the plaque between his own teeth, in which he found microscopic living animalcules. His research opened up an entire world of microscopic life to science.

September 17, 1911 - The first transcontinental airplane flight, departing from New York City to land in Pasadena, California, was successfully finished. It took C.P. Rogers 82 hours to fly across the United States.

September 17, 1954 - Rocky Marciano kept the world heavyweight boxing title when he knocked out Ezzard Charles in the eighth round of their championship match.

September 17, 1972 - The first episode of the sitcom M*A*S*H aired on CBS. The show, which earned 14 Emmies, was the first anti-war sitcom in television history. The first season starred Alan Alda, propelling him into super-stardom, and co-starred Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville, Loretta Swit, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, and William Christopher. The final episode, which aired as a 2½-hour special titled Good-bye, Farewell and Amen, was seen by an unprecedented 125 million viewers. M*A*S*H was on the air for eleven seasons, and 251 episodes were made.

September 17, 1984 - It was seventeen years to the day after his first major-league home run, that Reggie Jackson of the California Angels hit the 500th homer of his career in a game against the Kansas City Royals.

[Peri]

This Day in History, September 26

On September 26th, 1934, the RMS Queen Mary was launched.
Other Notable Events, Sept. 26

In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia.

In 1950, U.N. troops took the South Korean capital of Seoul from North Korean forces.

In 1960, the first televised presidential debate aired from a Chicago TV studio. It featured presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.

In 1983, the yacht Australia II won the America's Cup from the United States, ending the longest winning streak in sports -- 132 years.

In 1984, China and Britain initialed an accord to return Hong Kong to Chinese control when Britain's lease expires in 1997.

In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America, under pressure from legitimate filmmakers, adopted the "NC-17" rating -- no children under 17 allowed -- to replace the "X" rating exploited by the porn industry.

In 1991, four men and four women entered the huge, airtight greenhouse Biosphere II in Arizona. They remained inside for two years, emerging on this date in 1993.

In 1994, the high-profile double murder trial of football legend O.J. Simpson, accused of killing his ex-wife and a friend, began in Los Angeles. He eventually was acquitted.

In 1996, the space shuttle Atlantis landed, bringing astronaut Shannon Lucid to Earth. Her six-month tour aboard the Mir space station set a record for a woman in space, as well as a record stay for any U.S. astronaut.

In 2005, emergency officials say Hurricane Rita heavily damaged every house in several coastal Louisiana towns. Widespread flooding left Cameron Parish near the Texas border 15 feet under water and Iberia Parish officials said 3,000 houses were flooded.

Also in 2005, U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie England, photographed in widely distributed pictures with inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted of conspiracy and prisoner abuse. She was sentenced to three years in prison two days later.

In 2006, the Bush administration released portions of a U.S. intelligence report that concluded the war in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism. The report said that although U.S. efforts had "seriously damaged" the leadership of al-Qaida, terrorists are emerging in a global jihadist movement.

In 2007, ending a walkout that lasted less than two days, the United Auto Workers union and General Motors reached a deal in which GM agreed to create a $38.5 billion trust to administer health benefits for retirees.

[GiGi]

November 15

1777 - The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, precursor to the U.S. Constitution.

1806 - Explorer Zebulon Pike spotted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak.

1864 - Civil War General Sherman burned Atlanta, Georgia.

1869 - Free postal delivery was formally inaugurated.

1881 - In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada was formed. The organization would become the American Federation of Labor (AFL) five years later.

1884 - New York's Samuel Sidney McClure started the first newspaper chain.

1889 - Brazil became a republic.

1901 - Miller Reese of New York, patented the first hearing-aid. Unlike the hearing aids that we know today - this original was not portable.

1904 - The first razor with disposable blades was patented by King Camp Gillette.

1904 - One of Broadway’s most famous phrases was first spoken when Ethel Barrymore, appearing in the play, "Sunday", said the line, "That’s all there is. There isn’t any more," as the curtain fell.

1907 - The comic strip, "Mutt and Jeff," created by Bud Fisher, debuted in United States newspapers.

1920 - The League of Nations met for the first time.

1926 - NBC began operations.

1937 - Congress enjoyed air conditioning in both the House and Senate chambers for the first time as the second session of the 75th United States Congress convened.

1938 - Television’s first on-the-scene news telecast took place as a fire on Ward’s Island, New York was caught on tape by the cameras of NBC’s W2XBT. The unexpected fire was taped as it broke out.

1939 - The New York Giants, once opposed to night baseball, made plans to install a lighting system at the Polo Grounds for the 1940 season.

1939 - President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

1940 - The first 75,000 men were called to United States Armed Forces duty under peacetime conscription.

1950 - Arthur Dorrington became the first black player in organized hockey when he signed on this date with the Atlantic City Seagulls of the Eastern Amateur League.

1954 - CBS-TV's "Studio One", had Joan Weber singing "Let Me Go, Lover". The song enjoyed a bit of popularity before the television show aired, but skyrocketed to fame after.

1956 - Elvis Presley's first film, "Love Me Tender", premiered.

1958 - Screen actor Tyrone Power died at age 44 on this date.

1962 - Irene, the executive designer at MGM who had created beautiful gowns for Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland and many others, jumped to her death from the window of a 14th floor room at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles. She had been secretly in love with actor Gary Cooper who had died the previous year, and had been overcome with depression.

1964 - Len Dawson of Kansas City set an NFL record for number of fumbles by a single player in a single game. On this date, he fumbled seven times.

1965 - Craig Breedlove, set a world speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats with a speed of 600.601 mph.

1966 - The flight of Gemini 12 ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic.

1968 - The Queen Elizabeth (the largest passenger ship ever built to this time) completed her final voyage.

1969 - A quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington, D.C., against the Vietnam War.

1969 - Bird's Eye frozen peas were the subject of the first color television advertisement in Britain.

1969 - Someday We'll Be Together, recorded by Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations, debuted on Billboard's Top 40 pop charts, hitting Number 1 for a week and staying on the charts for 15 weeks.

1969 - The first album featuring musical brother and sister act Karen and Richard Carpenter, "Offering", was released by A&M Records. While this Carpenter's tune was not a big seller, a single on the album, a remake of The Beatles’ "Ticket to Ride", gained national attention. Their next album, would establish them as international stars with "Close to You".

1969 - Rock singer Janis Joplin was accused of vulgar and indecent language and was arrested in Tampa, Florida. She was later released on a fifty-dollar bond.

1974 - On Casablanca Records, the most expensive 2-record album was released, the comedy disc titled, "Here’s Johnny - Magic Moments from the Tonight Show".

1974 - The group, Faces, released their longest titled tune: "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog for a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)".

1979 - The British government publicly identified Sir Anthony Blunt as the "fourth man" of a Soviet spy ring that included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby.

1980 - Kenny Rogers got his first #1 solo song after years of success on the charts with the New Christy Minstrels and First Edition. The song was "Lady", written by Lionel Richie, which stayed at the top for six weeks.

1980 - West Germany has its first papal visit in 200 years.

1982 - Funeral services were held in Moscow's Red Square for the late Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev.

1983 - The Equal Rights Amendment failed in the House.

1985 - Britain and Ireland signed an accord giving Dublin an official consultative role in governing Northern Ireland.

1986 - The first major operetta in 20 years to be written by Gian Carlo Menotti was presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. "Goya", starring tenor Placido Domingo, was said by critics to be only "intermittently good."

1986 - A government tribunal in Nicaragua convicted American Eugene Hasenfus of charges related to his role in delivering arms to Contra rebels, and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. He was pardoned a month later.

1986 - Ivan F. Boesky, reputed to be the highest-paid person on Wall Street, faced penalties of $100 million for insider stock trading. This was the highest penalty ever imposed by the SEC. Read the original AP story

1988 - The Palestine National Council, the legislative body of the PLO, proclaimed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state at the close of a four-day conference in Algiers.

1990 - Rumors were confirmed by the press that Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, the dreadlocked singer of Milli Vanilli, did not do any of the singing on the duo's hit debut album, Girl You Know It's True. Later that same week, the pair were stripped of its Grammy award, which they had won for best new artist. Pilatus and Morvan said they wanted to give up the Grammy and return it to the artists that actually sang on their hit album.

1991 - Cheyenne Brando, the 21-year-old daughter of actor Marlon Brando, was arrested in France and ordered returned to Tahiti as part of an investigation into the slaying of her 26-year-old lover, Dag Drollet. Drollet was shot to death in Marlon Brando's mansion in southern California. Before leaving the country to avoid testifying against Christian, Cheyenne told authorities that her brother had talked about killing Drollet for some time. In January, 1995, her half-brother Christian Brando pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the May, 1990 death of Drollet, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Christian was released on January 10, 1996, after serving five years of his sentence. In 1995, four years after Drollet was murdered, Cheyenne committed suicide.

1993 - A judge in Mineola, New York, sentenced Joey Buttafuoco to six months in jail for the statutory rape of Amy Fisher, who served seven years of a 5- to 15-year sentence for first-degree assault in the shooting and wounding Buttafuoco's wife, Mary Jo.

1995 - Lee Jee-yung of South Korea, became the first woman to bungee-jump from a flying paraglider.

1998 - The most "Useless" site on the internet was launched - www.UselessKnowledge.com became a fixture for Triviots worldwide.