On this day

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JAN 25

Events

1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.

1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.

1995 – The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile. Norwegian rocket incident - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Births

1759 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet

1954 – Richard Finch, American bass player (KC and the Sunshine Band)

Deaths

1947 – Al Capone, American organized crime figure

1990 – Ava Gardner, American actress

 

[yoda]

Nice job keeping up on an interesting thread, John

 

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JAN 26

Events

1905 – The Cullinan Diamond is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.

1907 – The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the oldest military rifle still in official use.

1911 – Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.

1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.

1978 – The Great Blizzard of 1978, a rare severe blizzard with the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the US, strikes the Ohio – Great Lakes region with heavy snow and winds up to 100 mph (161 km/h).

Births

1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general and Medal of Honor recipient

1922 – Michael Bentine, British comedian

1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, philanthropist, race car driver and race team owner

1941 – Scott Glenn, American actor

1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch musician (Van Halen)

Deaths

1973 – Edward G. Robinson, American actor

 

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JAN 27

Events

1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31. Gunpowder Plot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

1943 – World War II: The VIII Bomber Command United States Army Air Forces - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia dispatched ninety-one B-17s and B-24s to attack the U-Boat construction yards at Wilhemshafen, Germany. The first American bombing attack on Germany

1967 – Apollo program: Apollo 1 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center.

Births

1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer

1850 – Edward J. Smith, English captain of the RMS Titanic

1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American newspaper magnate

1933 – Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman

1944 – Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)

1946 – Nedra Talley, American singer (Ronettes)

1951 – Brian Downey, Irish musician (Thin Lizzy)

1957 – Janick Gers, British guitarist (Iron Maiden)

1957 – Frank Miller, American comic book author and film director

1957 – Frank Skinner, English writer and comedian

Deaths

1595 – Sir Francis Drake, English explorer

1967 – Roger Chaffee – Crew of Apollo 1

1967 – Virgil "Gus" Grissom – Crew of Apollo 1

1967 – Edward White – Crew of Apollo 1

1989 – Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer

 

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JAN 28

Events

1887 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.

1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).

1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).

1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission – Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.

Births

1864 – Charles W. Nash, American automobile entrepreneur

1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, writer, and director

1943 – Dick Taylor, English musician (The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things)

Deaths

1547 – King Henry VIII of England

2006 – Henry McGee, English comedian

 

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JAN 29

Events

1856 – Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross Victoria Cross - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

Births

1943 – Tony Blackburn, English disc jockey

1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English rock and roll producer

1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor, screenwriter and film producer

1954 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host and actress

Deaths

1964 – Alan Ladd, American actor

1980 – Jimmy Durante, American actor and comedian

 

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JAN 30

Events

1790 – The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.

1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.

1911 – The destroyer USS Terry (DD-25) makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.

1969 – The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.

1971 – Carole King's Tapestry album is released, it would become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide.

Births

1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian

1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor

1947 – Steve Marriott, English musician (Humble Pie, The Small Faces)

Deaths

1948 – Orville Wright, American aviator

1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian automotive engineer

1958 – Ernst Heinkel, German aviation engineer

1982 – Lightnin' Hopkins, American musician

1984 – Luke Kelly, Irish singer (The Dubliners)

2001 – Johnnie Johnson, British fighter pilot [B]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Johnson_(RAF_officer)[/B]

 

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FEB 4

Events

1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.

1810 – The Royal Navy seizes Guadeloupe.

1966 – All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 jet plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.

1997 – En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.

Births

1877 – Eddie Cochems, Father of the Forward Pass in American football

1902 – Charles Lindbergh, American pilot

1905 – Hylda Baker, English comedy actress

1941 – John Steel, British musician (The Animals) - l used to live approx 1/4 mile from this guy.

1948 – Alice Cooper, American musician

1951 – Phil Ehart, American musician (Kansas)

1952 – Jerry Shirley, drummer of rock band Humble Pie

1972 – Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian

Deaths

1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish musician

1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (The Carpenters)

2000 – Doris Coley, American singer (Shirelles)

 

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FEB 5

Events

1900 – The United States and the United Kingdom sign a treaty for the Panama Canal

1913 – Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis performed the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane.

1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane. It is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military

1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists.

1958 – A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.

Births

1878 – André Citroën, French automobile pioneer

1942 – Cory Wells, American singer (Three Dog Night)

1947 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver

1964 – Duff McKagan, American musician (Guns N' Roses)

Deaths

1976 – Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley and His Comets)

1991 – Dean Jagger, American actor

1995 – Doug McClure, American actor

 

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FEB 7

Events

1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales

1935 – The classic board game Monopoly is invented.

1940 – The second full length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.

Births

1906 – Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer

1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor

1956 – Mark St. John, American musician (Kiss)

1962 – David Bryan, American musician (Bon Jovi)

Deaths

1938 – Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer

1980 – Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer

1985 – Matt Monro, English singer

 

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FEB 8

Events

1855 – The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.

1918 – The Stars and Stripes newspaper is published for the first time.

1952 – Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the UK

1989 – An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain in Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal, killing 144.

Births

1921 – Lana Turner, American actress

1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor and film director

1948 – Ron Tyson, American singer (The Temptations)

Deaths

1990 – Del Shannon, American entertainer (suicide)

2005 – Keith Knudsen, American drummer, vocalist and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers)

 

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FEB 9

Events

1960 – Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.

1965 – Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.

1969 – First test flight of the Boeing 747.

Births

1897 – Charles Kingsford Smith, Australian pilot

1939 – Barry Mann, American singer

1940 – Brian Bennett, British musician (The Shadows)

1942 – Carole King, American singer

1943 – Joe Pesci, American actor

Deaths

1977 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian aircraft designer

1981 – Bill Haley, American musician (Bill Haley & His Comets)

1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish singer (Sweet)

2006 – Freddie Laker, British airline entrepreneur

2008 – Scot Halpin, American musician, temporary drummer for (The Who)

 

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FEB 12

Events

1914 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

1924 – Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio.

1976 – Actor Sal Mineo is stabbed to death in West Hollywood

2002 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.

2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.

Births

1934 – Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress

1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer

1936 – Joe Don Baker, American actor

1950 – Steve Hackett, English guitarist (Genesis)

1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish musician (Thin Lizzy and Motörhead)

Deaths


1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (Iron Butterfly)

2000 – Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American musician

2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American comics author

 

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FEB 13

Events

1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: About 78 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.

1945 – World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.

1970 – Black Sabbath, arguably the very first heavy metal album, is released

2000 – The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appears in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz dies.

Births

1903 – Georgy Beriev, Russian aircraft designer

1920 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter

1923 – Chuck Yeager, American fighter and test pilot

1933 – Kim Novak, American actress

1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor

1942 – Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees)

1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress

Deaths

2002 – Waylon Jennings, American musician

2007 – Richard Gordon Wakeford, Air Marshal, Royal Air Force

 

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FEB 14

Events

1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

1929 – Saint Valentine's Day massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago, Illinois

1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony.

1962 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.

Births

1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and comedian

1922 – Murray the K, American impresario and disk jockey

1950 – Roger Fisher, American musician (Heart)

1970 – Simon Pegg, British comedian and actor

Deaths

2010 – Doug Fieger, American musician The Knack

 

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FEB 15

Events

1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits its first patient.

1944 – World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins.

1965 – A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

2005 – YouTube, the Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States.

Births

1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist

1874 – Sir Ernest Shackleton, Irish Antarctic explorer

1918 – Hank Locklin, American country music singer and songwriter

1929 – Graham Hill, English race car driver

1944 – Mick Avory, British drummer (The Kinks)

1945 – John Helliwell, British musician (Supertramp)

1947 – David Brown, American musician (Santana)

1954 – Matt Groening, American cartoonist

Deaths

1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and musician

1970 – Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain

 

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FEB 17

Events

1867 – The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.

1972 – Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.

Births

1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver

1939 – John Leyton, British singer

1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer

1951 – Rashid Minhas, Pilot officer in Pakistan Air Force during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

1954 – Rene Russo, American actress

1971 – Denise Richards, American actress

Deaths

1909 – Geronimo, Apache leader

 

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FEB 18

Events

1797 – Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.

1885 – Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.

1901 – Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot series.

2001 – Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident in the final turn of the final lap of the Daytona 500. If Dale had worn a Full Face Helmet Motorcycle helmet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia & HANS device - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia might he have survived this accident?

Births

1919 – Jack Palance, American actor

1947 – Dennis DeYoung, American musician (Styx)

1948 – Keith Knudsen, American drummer and songwriter (The Doobie Brothers)

1953 – Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (Bachman–Turner Overdrive)

1954 – John Travolta, American actor

Deaths

1981 – John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer

2001 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver

 

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FEB 19

Events

1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.

1985 – Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.

1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.

Births

1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor

1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer

1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist (Black Sabbath)

1964 – Doug Aldrich, American musician (Whitesnake)

Deaths

1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general and military aviation pioneer

1980 – Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC)

 

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FEB 20

Events

1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

1944 – World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

Births

1919 – James O'Meara, British Battle of Britain Spitfire Flying Ace

1927 – Sidney Poitier, American actor

1946 – J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)

1954 – Jon Brant, American musician (Cheap Trick)

1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model

Deaths

1994 – Burt Lancaster, American actor

2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress