Today in History, 5/31

1279 BC: Ramses II becomes pharaoh of Egypt.1669: Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.1759: The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theatrical productions. (except, for some reason, The Fantasticks)
1790: The US enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
1819: Walt Whitman is born.1889: Over 2,200 people die after a dam breaks and sends a 60-foot wall of water over the town of Johnstown, PA.
1898: Dr. Norman Vincent Peale is born. He wrote The Power of Positive Thinking.1908: Don Ameche is born.

1916: The largest naval battle of WWI takes place at Jutland. The outcome is inconclusive.
1922: Denholm Elliott is born.

1930: Clint Eastwood is born.

1932: Jay Miner "The Father of the Amiga" is born.1938: Johnny Paycheck is born.

1938: Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, is born.

1942: Japanese midget submarines begin an attack on Sydney, Australia.
1943: Sharon Glass is born. She played Cagney on Cagney & Lacey.1943: Joe Namath is born.1960: Chris Elliott is born. He was in the underapreciated Get A Life TV show and the movie Cabin Boy.

1961: Lea Thompson is born. Here she is in Howard the Duck.

1962: Corey Hart is born. He was like a Canadian Paul Anka for the 1980's.

1965: Brooke Shields is born. Interesting to note that both Brooke Shields and Lea Thompson were on lame NBC sitcoms about single girls in the city simultaneously in the late 20th Century. Suddenly Susan and Caroline in the City, respectively.1971: Congress moves Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, rather than May 30.
1976: Colin Farrell is born. He's pretty much a soccer hooligan, but he's a good actor too. I was bummed because I couldn't find a picture of Joe Namath in his infamous "netted slingshot briefs" for the ladies, so here's a picture of Colin with a look that just says, "What?" 1977: The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.1977: The Confederation Bridge opens, Linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick.
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.

Today in History, 5/30

Too much video today. But I was having fun watching it.

1431: Joan of Arc gets burned at the stake.
1536: King Henry VIII marries his third wife, Jane Seymour. She would later die from complications arising from the birth of the future King Edward IV.1642: From this date, all honors granted by Charles I are annulled by Parliament. I would assume that they were all given back once Charles II was restored.1806: Future president Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after the man had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.
1868: The predecessor of Memorial Day, Decoration Day is celebrated for the first time.
1879: New York City's Gilmore's Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden.
1883: Also in New York, rumors that the Brooklyn Bridge is in danger of collapsing cause a stampede that kills 12 people.
1896: Howard Hawks is born. He did so many great movies I can't name them all, but The Thing From Another World is one of them.

1902: Stepin Fetchit is born.

1908: Mel Blanc is born.

1909: Benny Goodman is born.

1913: The Treaty of London, 1913 ends the First Balkan War and Albania becomes an independent nation.

1920: Franklin J. Schaffner is born. He directed the original Planet of the Apes along with Patton and The Boys From Brazil.
1922: The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated. I always wanted to climb up on his lap and get my picture taken like a kid with Santy Claus!1926: Christine Jorgensen, early transexual and subject of the film Glen or Glenda? is born.1944: Meredith McRae is born. She played Bille Jo on Petticoat Junction. She also played Animal (the easy girl) in the Beach Party movies. This is her in more innocent times.

1948: Michael Piller is born. He's one of the people who made Star Trek: Deep Space Nine such a classic series.1951: Stephen Tobolowsky is born. He played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day.

1953: Colm Meany is born. He played Miles O'Brien on Deep Space Nine and is also one of the people responsible for making DS9 such a kick-ass show.

1958: The remains of two soldiers, one from WWII and one from Korea, are interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.1958: Ted McGinley is born. He played Stan "The Man" Gable, the evil head jock in Revenge of The Nerds. He's also been the Angel of Death for many TV shows.1962: Kevin Eastman is born. He is the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The original comic book was a lot more adult, but some guys offered him a ton of money to soften it up for kids. And that's why we're plagued with Ninja Turtles junk forever.1982: Cal Ripken, Jr. plays the first of a record 2,632 consecutive major league ball games. I thought he did a good job co-anchoring the World Series last year.1989: During the Tiananmen Square protests, the 33-foot high Goddess of Democracy statue is unveiled.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.

Today in History, 5/29

It's a big day for people who have their birthdays today.

1660: On his birthday (1630), Charles II is restored to the English throne and his reign is backdated to January 30, 1649 - the day his father was beheaded.

Separated at birth?

1677: The Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Indians.
1727: Peter II becomes Tsar of Russia.1765: In a speech denouncing the Stamp Act, Patrick Henry says "If this be treason, make the most of it!" (It's his birthday - 1736)1790: Rhode Island becomes the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the US Constitution.
1903: Bob Hope is born. In England! This video is the weirdest thing I've seen all day.

1913: Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring premieres in Paris. It was so controversial there was rioting in the streets.

1917: John F. Kennedy is born.

1932: World War I veterans begin to assemble in Washington, DC in the Bonus Army to request the cash bonuses promised to them in 1945.1932: Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, is born.1942: Bing Crosby records White Christmas, the best selling Christmas song in history.

1948: Wisconsin becomes the 30th state in the Union.
1953: Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay becomes the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. (It's Norgay's birthday - 1914)1953: Danny Elfman is born. Here is the theme to the old Flash TV show.

1954: First annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group. This is heavy boogie for conspiracy theorists.
1957: Ted Levine is born. He is best known for playing the serial killer Jamie Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs.

1958: Annette Benning is born. I've only ever seen her in The Grifters, but she was great in it.

1963: Lisa Whelchel is born. She played Blair on The Facts of Life. Boy, we've been hitting a run of Facts of Life birthdays lately!1982: Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit Canterbury Cathedral.
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.