Today in History 12/09

1603: William Watson, a Catholic priest is executed. He tried unsuccessfully a couple of times to overthrow Elizabeth I and once against James I. That last time was when he got caught.
1641: Speaking of the Stuarts, Anthony Van Dyck died on this day. He did these fabulous portraits of the Stuart clan (mostly James I and Charles I).
1608: John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, is born. He was one of the guys who was on the wrong side of the restoration of the English monarchy. He had to hide out until Charles II decided to pardon him.
1854: Alfred Lord Tennyson published "The Charge of the Light Brigade."
1886: Clarence Birdseye is born. He invented frozen food as we know it.
1897: Hermione Gingold is born. She played Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn, the mayor's snotty wife, in the original movie version of "The Music Man."
1898: Emmit Kelly, clown is born.
1902: Margaret Hamilton is born. She played the Wicked Witch of the "West in The Wizard of Oz." Here she is with Witchie-Poo on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special circa 1976.
1905: Dalton Trumbo, author of Johnny Got His Gun is born.
1906: Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper is born. She was a pioneer in the field of computer science and is best known for developing the first compiler for a computer language.
1906: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is born. How did he do such fantastic stunts with such little feet?
1911: Broderick Crawford is born. He originated the role of Lenny in "O Mice and Men" on Broadway, but I remember him best as Chief Dan Matthews in Highway Patrol.
1912: Tip O'Neil is born.
1916: Kirk Douglas is born.
1922: Red Foxx is born.
1926: Benny Goodman records his first solo in "He's the Last Word."
1930: Buck Henry, comedy legend is born.
1933: Morton Downey, Jr is born.
1937: Japanese troops launch an attack on the Chinese city of Nanjing.
1952: Michael Dorn is born. He, of course, played Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also did the voice of Thailog, Golaith's evil clone on the old Gargoyles cartoon.
1958: John Birch Society founded. John Birch is considered by some to be the first casualty of the Cold War.
1961: Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of crimes against humanity.
1966: Toby Huss is born. He does the voices of Cotton Hill and Kahn Souphanousinphone on King of the Hill. No videos of Khan online!
1990: Lech Walesa elected president of Poland.
1992: Charles and Diana announce their separation. No one wept more than me.
1992: Vincent Gardenia, who played Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors dies.
1992: US Marines land in Mogadishu, Somalia.
1996: Patty Donahue, who sang I Know What Boys like with the 80's pop band The Waitresses dies of lung cancer. I was very attracted to her when I was a kid.



Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.