This Week In #History ... December 13 - 19
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @UlaVovk
Dec 13
1759 1st music store in America opens in Philadelphia
1816 Patent for a dry dock issued to John Adamson, Boston
1903 Wright brothers make 1st flight at Kittyhawk
1920 League of nations establishes International Court of Justice in The Hague
1928 Clip-on tie designed
1950 James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial
1978 Susan B. Anthony dollar, 1st U.S. coin to honor a woman, issued
2000 Al Gore concedes presidential election, George W. Bush named president
Happy birthday to Henry IV, William Drummond, Heinrich Heine, Clark Mills, E Werner von Siemens, Mary Todd Lincoln, Emily Carr, Lambertus J van Apeldoorn, Marc Connelly, Harold Guinzburg, Georg M Rimski-Korssakov, Talcott Parsons, John Piper, Van Heflin, Lillian Roth, George "Tiger" Haynes, Kenneth Millar, Dave Street, George P Schultz, Dick Van Dyke, Richard Darryl Zanuck, John Davidson, Ted Nugent, Thomas Vilsack, Robert Lindsay, Steve Forbert, Phillip Gregory Hubbard, Steve Buscemi, Karen Witter, Jamie Foxx, Amy Lee
Dec 14
1819 Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state
1901 1st table tennis tournament is held (London Royal Aquarium)
1911 South Pole 1st reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen
1915 Jack Johnson is 1st black world heavyweight boxing champion
1967 DNA created in a test tube
1982 Marcel Dionne, LA, becomes 9th NHLer to score 500 goals
1986 Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards AFB, California on 1st non-stop, non-refueled flight around world
Happy birthday to Nostradamus, Henri IV the Bourbon, Thomas Cochrane, Maria Agata Szymanowska, Salvador Diaz Miron, Morihei Ueshiba, King George VI, James H Doolittle, Paul I, Henri Cochet, Guy Middleton, Edward Lawrie Tatum, Ota Adler, Elyse Knox, Shirley Jackson, Albertus Meintser, Sully Boyar, Raj Kapoor, George Furth, Leo N Wright, Barbara Leigh-Hunt,Robert Alan Ridley Parker, Hal Williams, Charlie Griffith, Ernest Davis, Frank Allen, Dee Wallace Stone, Vicki Michelle, Vijay Amritraj, Joe Toplyn, Catherine G Coleman, Noelle Beck, Vanessa Hudgens
Dec 15
1664 English colonizing Connecticut
1791 Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval
1877 Thomas Edison patents phonograph
1891 James Naismith invents basketball (Canada)
1925 1st hockey game at Madison Square Garden, Mont Candiens 3, New York Americans 1
1964 Canada adopts maple leaf flag
1995 Playboy goes back on sale after 36 year ban in Ireland
Happy birthday to Gregory King, Ludwig Ernst, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, Paul Painleve, James Schneider, Helena Rubinstein, Jose Maria Castro, Frank Vosper, Betty Smith, Maurice Wilkins, Ake Seyffarth, Bobby Todd, Bobby Todd, John Sladek, Geoffrey Davies, David Gwillim, Alex Cox, Helen Slater, Garrett Wang, Stuart Townsend, Tammy Melinda Pearman, Catherine Fox, Adam Brody
Dec 16
1897 1st submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
1905 "Variety," covering all phases of show business, 1st published
1912 1st U.S. postage stamp picturing an airplane, 20 cent parcel post, issued
1953 1st White House Press Conference (President Eisenhower and 161 reporters)
1965 Pioneer 6 launched into solar orbit
1969 "War is Over! If You Want It, Happy Christmas from John and Yoko" posters begin appearing
1970 1st successful landing on Venus (U.S.S.R.)
1993 Shannen Doherty (Brenda) is fired from Beverly Hills 90210
Happy birthday to Catherine of Aragon, Ludwig van Beethoven (?), Jane Austen, John A. C. Oudemans, John Beatty, Edward E. Barnard, John Berry Hobbs, Harlan Sanders, Noel Coward, Hardie Albright, Piet Hein, Arthur C. Clarke, G Randall P D Garrett, Liv Ullman, Tony Hicks, Benny Andersson, Vincent Matthews, Billy Gibbons, Joslyn Y Hoyte-Smith, Jon Tenney, Melanie Smith, Heike Drechsler, Kristie Boogert
Dec 17
1791 New York City traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street
1895 George Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine
1954 1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana)
1959 "On The Beach," is 1st film to premiere on both sides of Iron Curtain
1979 Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 kph
1991 Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
2004 President Bush signs the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act of 2004 which reorganizes intelligence agencies and creates position of national security director
Happy birthday to Gabrielle Chatelet, Ludwig van Beethoven (?), Johann Friedrich Schubert, John Kerr, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Fritz Volbach, Ford Madox Ford, Hu Shih, Hans [Henry] Kramers, David Butler, Joseph Heifitz, Willard Libby, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Patrice Wymore, Dave Dee, Marilyn Hassett, Jim Bonfanti, Carlton Barrett, Barry Livingston, Bill Pullman, Patrick Murray, Jeff Grayer, Tracy Byrd, Sean Patrick Thomas, Giovanni Ribisi, Milla Jovovich
Dec 18
1839 1st celestial photograph (of Moon) made in U.S., John Draper, New York City
1898 Automobile speed record set - 63 kph (39 mph)
1920 1st U.S. postage stamps printed without the words United States or US
1958 1st voice from space: recorded Christmas message by Eisenhower
1964 "The Pink Panther" cartoon series premieres
1972 U.S. begins its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam
1979 Stanley Barrett 1st to exceed land sonic speed (739.666 MPH)
1996 Television industry executives agree to adopt a ratings system
Happy birthday to Charles Du Fresne Du Cange, Lyman Abbott, Karl Schroder, Hector Hugh Munro, Andres Randolf, Ty Cobb, Gladys Cooper, Kam Tong, Christopher Fry, Mona Barrie, Lynn Bari, Dario Mangiarotti, Ossie Davis, Peggy Cummins, Henrica M L "Wiesje" Backer, Keith Richards, Bobby Keyes, Carolyn Wood, Joni Flynn, Andrew S Thomas, Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt, Gianluca Pagliuca, Jason Williams, Katie Holmes, Christina Aguilera
Dec 19
1910 1st city ordinace requiring white and black residential areas (Baltimore)
1917 1st NHL game played on artificial ice (Toronto)
1928 1st autogiro (predecessor of helicopter) flight in US
1941 Hitler takes complete command of German Army
1972 Apollo 17, last of Apollo Moon landing series, returns to Earth
1988 NASA unviels plans for lunar colony and manned missions to Mars
1998 House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment, charging President Clinton with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice
Happy birthday to Philip V, William Parry, Thomas Andrews, Mary Ashton Livermore, Henry Clay Frick, Albert A. Michelson, Carter G Woodson, Ralph Richardson, George D. Snell, Cyril Dean Darlington, Ragnild Hveger, Edmund Purdom, James Booth, Maurice White, Elaine Joyce, Alice Barrett, Daryl Hannah, Beatrice Dalle, Jessica Steen, Chuckii Booker, Kristy Swanson, Amy Locane, Amy Locane, Jake Gyllenhaal