Today in History 5/16

622: The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
1054: The East-West Schism begins between the Western and Eastern Christian churches.
1790: The signing of the Residence Bill establishes a site along the Potomac River as the District of Columbia.
1862: During the Civil War, David C. Farragut becomes the first US Navy rear admiral.1872: Roald Amundsen is born. He led the first expedition to reach the South Pole.1888: Shoeless Joe Jackson is born.1903: Mary Philbin is born. She played Christine Daae in the 1925 version of Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney.

1907: Orville Redenbacher, popcorn magnate, is born. Are they still running those horrible commercials with a zombified Redenbacher? Man, those were high-octane nightmare fuel.

1907: Barbara Stanwyck is born.1911: Ginger Rogers is born.1931: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.1941: The New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio gets a hit in his 56th consecutive game.1945: The Atomic Age begins when the US successfully detonates a plutonium-based nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamagordo, NM.
1951: J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye is published.
1952: Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police is born. Hey, look at this - I didn't even realize there was a Synchronicity II video. Isn't that the set for the Wild Boys video?

1955: The original Disneyland park opens in Anaheim, CA.
1957: US Marine Major John Glenn flies a F8U Crusader supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes, 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record.
1963: Phoebe Cates is born. Damn you, Kevin Kline!

1964: In accepting the Republican presidential nomination in San Francisco, Barry M. Goldwater says "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" and "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

1965: The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France with Italy opens.
1967: Will Ferrell is born. Here he his brainwashing Ben Stiller in Zoolander.

1969: Apollo 11 is launched from Cape Kenendy, FL and will becomes the first manned space mission to land on the moon.
1979: Iraqi President Hasad al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by his cousin, Saddam Hussein.
1994: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collides with Jupiter. Impacts will continue through July 22nd.