Today in History, 11/5

1605: The Gunpowder Plot, a plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament, is thwarted when Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, finds Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the Parliament building. At the time, the cellars below Parliament were basically a self storage facility - you paid your rent and kept what you like in your locker down there. In this case, it was kegs and kegs of gunpowder.
1688: The Glorious Revolution begins as William of Orange lands at Brixham.
1831: Nat Turner, American slave leader, is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in Virginia.
1855: Eugene V. Debs, American socialist leader, is born.1862: Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army for the second and final time.
1872: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100.
1885: Will Durant, historian, is born. His multi-volume The Story of Civilization used to be required reading, but it's fallen out of favor these days.1895: George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
1900: Natalie Schafer is born. She is best known for playing Lovey Howell on Gilligan's Island. Now, where did they get the paint to make a "Jail" sign?

1911: Roy Rogers is born.

1913: Vivien Leigh is born. She played Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind and Blanch DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.1916: The Everett Massacre takes place in Everett, Washington as political differences lead to a shoot-out between IWW organizers and local police.
1919: Myron Floren, accordionist for The Lawrence Welk Show, is born.

1931: Ike Turner is born. History hasn't been kind to him, but he really was a very good singer.

1937: Adolf Hitler holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people.
1940: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected to a third term.
1941: Art Garfunkel is born.

1942: The Second Battle of El Alamein is won by the British in El Alamein, Egypt.
1949: Armin Shimerman is born. He played the grasping Ferengi bartender Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He took what was one of Gene Roddenberry's usual one-note canary alien races and made it interesting and deep (and funny), all while wearing a big old Star Trek forehead prothesis.

1958: Robert Patrick is born. He is best known for playing the liquid metal T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but he also was great as Agent Dogget in the post-David Duchovney episodes of The X-Files.

1959: Bryan Adams is born. Oh, everybody like to sneer at Bryan Adams these days but how many of us weren't pumping our fists and shaking our feathered hair to this back in 1984? Plus he spells his name right. This is another weird 80's video - he's in the snow, he's in the leaves, he's wearing he sunglasses at night (so he can keep track of the visions in his eyes). It's all over the map.

1963: Tatum O'Neal is born.1964: Tim Blake Nelson is born. He played Delmar in O Brother Where Art Thou, and is the only one of the principal leads (the other two being John Turturro and George Clooney) to do his own signing.

1965: Famke Janssen is born. She is a supermodel, but I remember her as the international cat bugler caught up with Treat William's rag-tag team of whatevers in a race to beat the deep sea critter that's eating a cruise ship in Deep Rising.1968: Sam Rockwell is born. He played the CIA assassin Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Zaphod Beeblebrox in the deeply disapointing movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.1971: Corin Nemec is born. He played the title character in the old teen sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Mental note: see if Parker Lewis has been released on DVD.

1973: Johnny Damon is born. If the Red Sox Nation is Oceania, Damon is Emmanuel Goldstein.

GEICO is so easy, a caveman could do it!

1974: Ella Grasso is elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband. She was given the ultimate of Connecticutian honors: having a turnpike named after her.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, 11/4

1501: Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's wife) meets Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother - they would later marry. When Arthur died, Henry married Cathy (it was a politcal marriage) and Henry felt that the whole icky "marrying your sister-in-law" thing caused his marriage to be cursed to not have a son.1677: The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later be known as William and Mary. In the late 1600's England was getting pretty sick of being run by the Stuarts, but they were willing to wait for James II to die and see who came next (I forget who was next). But when James's wife bore him a son, who went straight to the front of the line and the son was baptized as a Catholic, Parliament said "Enough!" and invited William of Orange to come over and run the place in what was called The Glorious Revolution. The problem was that it was Mary, and not William who had the legitimate claim on the throne so the crown had to descend to him through her. That's why they're frequently referred to as William and Mary and why the College of William and Mary in Virginia is named that way.1791: The Western Confederacy of American Indians win a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.
1825: The Erie Canal is completed with Governor DeWitt Clinton performing the Wedding of The Waters ceremony in New York Harbor.1842: Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, IL.
1864: At the Battle of Johnsonville, during the Civil War, Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material.
1879: Will Rogers is born. He said, "The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. The one that's out always looks the best." There's a page with more of his quotes here.
1880: The first cash register is patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
1890: The City & South London Railway, London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell. As I understand it, the bedrock under London is quite deep, necessitating a deep subway system. This oddity would come in handy during the Blitz, when the subways were used as bomb shelters for civilians. Now, Wikipedia says it opened today, but while looking for a picture, I found this site that says it didn't open until December 18th. So maybe it started running today but didn't open to the public for another month.1916: Walter Cronkite is born. Here he is at the 1956 Democratic National Convention:

1918: Art Carney is born.

1918: Cameron Mitchell is born. He went from playing Hap Loman in the original film version of Death of A Salesman at the beginning of his career to playing Commander Alex Jansen in the MST3K episode Space Mutiny.
1919: Another MST3K alumnus, Martin Balsam, is born. He played the wicked drug kingpin harassed by Joe Don Baker in Joel Hodgson's last episode, Mitchell.
1921: The Sturmabteilung or SA is formally formed by Adolf Hitler.
1922: In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.1937: Loretta Swit is born.

1939: The United States modifies its neutrality stance in World War II to allow "cash and carry" purchases of arms by belligerents, a policy favoring Britain and France.
1950: Markie Post is born.

1952: The United States government establishes the National Security Agency.
1956: Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
1961: Ralph Macchio, The Karate Kid, is born.

1969: Matthew McConaughey is born.

1979: The Iranian hostage crisis began as militants storm the United States Embassy in Tehran.

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, 11/3

1783: John Austin, a highwayman, is the last person to be publicly hanged at London's Tyburn gallows.
1783: The American Continental Army is disbanded.
1816: Jubal Early, Confederate general, is born.1839: The first Opium War between China and Britain breaks out.
1903: With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent from Colombia. US President Theodore Roosevelt had wanted the United States to build the Panama Canal, but was not willing to pay what Colombia asked.
1908: Bronko Nagurski is born.1913: The United States introduces an income tax.
1946: Tom Savini is born. He is one of the pioneers of the "gore" effect in modern horror.1948: Lulu is born. She is best known for the song "To Sir, With Love."

1953: Kate Capshaw is born.

1953: Dennis Miller is born.

1954: Adam Ant is born.

1956: Kevin Murphy is born. He was Tom Servo for eleven years on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit: a dog named Laika.1957: Dolph Lundgren is born. Was he the Muscles From Brussels? I always get him an Jean Claude Van Damme mixed up. Anyway, he was in that terrible Masters of the Universe movie.

1964: Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.

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, 11/2

1570: A tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1,000 people.
1675: A combined attack by the Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies attacks the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansetts during King Philip's War.
1783: In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".
1795: James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States is born.1865: Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States is born.1889: North and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
1895: The first gasoline-powered race in the United States. First prize: $2,000.
1913: Burt Lancaster is born. Here he is in the famous kissing-on-the-beach scene in From Here to Eternity. I can never watch this and not think of Airplane!

1898: Cheerleading is started at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team.
1917: British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expresses support for a national home for the Jews of Palestine in what became known as the Balfour Declaration.1920: KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920. KDKA is still on the air and is one of the four remaining stations west of the Mississippi to have call letters beginning with K. The other three are KQV, also in Pittsburgh, KYW in Philadelphia and KFIZ in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

1927: Steve Ditko is born. He is the co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. He's who Dr. Byron Orpheus is based on in The Venture Bros.

Dr. StrangeDr. Orpheus

1928: Paul Johnson, cranky British conservative historian is born. He wrote A History of the American People, Modern Times and Intellectuals. He said, "The cruelty of ideas lies in the assumption that human beings can be bent to fit them."
1930: Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.1936: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is formed. Back when I lived in the woods in far northern Vermont, the only TV we could get was the CBC. That's where I picked up my taste for The Red Green Show.

1936: Jack Starret is born. He played Gabby Johnson in Blazing Saddles.

1936: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.
1942: Stefanie Powers is born. She played the winsome Jennifer Hart on the 80's detective show Hart to Hart.1947: In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built. It flew at an altitude of 70 feet for about a mile. These days, it's on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

1948: President Harry S. Truman narrowly wins re-election over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey.1959: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.1959: After being struck in the face with a puck, goalkeeper Jacques Plante returns to play wearing a protective mask for the first time in professional hockey.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, 11/1

1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.1520: The Strait of Magellan is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage.1604: William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.
1765: The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the 13 colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.
1790: Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster.1800: US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).
1859: The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse is lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for about 19 miles, in good conditions.1861: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott.1870: In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast.1871: Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage and The Open Boat, is born.
1896: A picture showing the bare breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time. Millions of teenage boys discover an interest in anthropology.
1915: Parris Island is officially designated a Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
1922: The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, abdicates.
1929: Betsy Palmer is born. She is best known to people of my generation as Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason, in the first Friday the 13th movie. Should I spoil the ending? Dare I eat a peach? Ah, the Hell with it - she's the killer! And she's taking revenge on the counselors who let her son drown because they were too busy making out and smoking the marihuana. Actually, she's punishing the counselors who had nothing to do with her son's death, but what do you want - she's a nut. (Clip is NSFM - Not Safe For Mom).

1938: Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing.

1939: The first rabbit born after artificial insemination is exhibited to the world.
1940: Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler is born. He sang the unapologetic patriotic anthem The Ballad of the Green Berets.

1941: Photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.1942: Larry Flynt, pornographer, is born.1942: Marcia Wallace is born. She played the sassy secretary Carol on the old Bob Newhart Show and these days voices the alluring Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons.

1946: Lynne Russell, ex-CNN anchor is born. I knew a guy in college who was obsessed with her - he had hours of her on tape and would watch them constantly. No, it wasn't me, I'm more of a Christiane Amanpour guy.1947: Jim Steinman is born. He writes the operatic rock ballads for Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler and a bunch of other people. Here's Bonnie Tyler doing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" which is archetypal Steinman. What is the deal with the kids from Village of the Damned in this video?

1951: American soldiers are exposed to an atomic explosion for training purposes in Desert Rock, Nevada. Participation was not voluntary.
1952: The US explodes the first hydrogen bomb in a test in the Marshall Islands.
1957: The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.1960: While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.
1963: Dana Plato is born. She played Kimberly Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes before descending to a life of crime.

1968: The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X.
1979: Coco Crisp, center fielder for the Boston Red Sox, is born.1982: Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of their factory in Marysville, Ohio. The Honda Accord is the first car produced there.

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.