Today's Trivia and What Happened on May 26

Today's Puzzle

Today's Puzzle

Transform one word into another by changing one letter at a time and always making valid words. Example: East to West — east, vast, vest, west. Now change Dog to Cat in 3 moves.

Dog to Cat — dog, cog, cot, cat.

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Quote: Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue - to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak. - Greek Proverb

Quote: Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue - to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak. - Greek Proverb Close Large View

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What Happened On

Presidential Impeachment

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Presidential Impeachment

May 26, 1868

U.S. President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by one vote. The Senate voted 35-19 in favor of impeachment, one vote short of the necessary two-thirds majority.

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Jesuit Priest Converting Indians Jesuit Priest Converting Indians

Jesuit Priest Converting Indians Jesuit Priest Converting Indians
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Death to Jesuit Priests in Massachusetts

May 26, 1647

Roman Catholic Jesuit priests are forbidden by law from entering Massachusetts territory under Puritan jurisdiction. This was punishable by banishment, and by death for a second offense. However, no priests were ever executed by this law. The English Puritans believed the Pope was the Antichrist and his followers were in league with the Devil. They were also concerned that Jesuit missionaries had converted large numbers of Indians in Canada to Catholicism, making the Indian converts potential allies of France and enemies of the English. Ironically, the Catholic population would grow in Massachusetts due largely to Irish immigration starting in the 1800s. John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts citizen and descendant of these immigrants, would become the first Roman Catholic president of the U.S.

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First War Between the Settlers and Indians

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First War Between the Settlers and Indians

May 26, 1637

The first battle of the Pequot War (the first war between the New England settlers and Indians) begins, near present-day New Haven, Connecticut. The war ended in 1638 with the defeat of the Pequot and the extinction of their tribe. About 700 Pequots were killed or taken into captivity and hundreds were sold into slavery to colonists in Bermuda or the West Indies.

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Tom Cruise Criticizes Brooke Shields

May 26, 2005

Tom Cruise criticizes Brooke Shields' use of Paxil to treat her postpartum depression. He would later personally apologize to her.

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Taliban

May 26, 1997

The Saudi government becomes the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan. Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates will follow suit, making them the only countries to officially recognize the Taliban as of September 11, 2001.

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Michael Jackson

May 26, 1994

The King of Pop Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley (Elvis Presley's daughter) in the Dominican Republic.

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Genetically-Altered Food

May 26, 1992

The U.S. announces it will allow the sale of many genetically altered foods without government testing and the first genetically altered wheat is announced (by professor Indra Vasil of the Univ. of Florida).

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Dodge Viper

May 26, 1992

The first production models roll off the assembly line; they are capable of 165 mph.

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Birthdays

Sally Kristen Ride

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First U.S. Woman In Space

Sally Kristen Ride

Born May 26, 1951 d. 2012

American astronaut. First U.S. woman in space (1983). She is still the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32.
She was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982).

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James Arness

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James Arness (James Aurness)

Born May 26, 1923 d. 2011

American 6′ 7″ (2.01 m) tall actor. He received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart during WWII. TV: Gunsmoke (1955-75, Marshal Matt Dillon). Film: The Thing from Another World (1951, The Thing).
He was the older brother of actor Peter Graves.

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Jay Silverheels

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Jay Silverheels (Harold J. Smith)

Born May 26, 1912 d. 1980

Canadian-born Mohawk Indian, actor. TV: The Lone Ranger (1949-57, Yes Kemosabe, it's Tonto).
Jay earned the nickname Silverheels while playing Lacrosse during the 1930s with the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association and was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997. He also placed 2nd in the 1938 Middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament.

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John Wayne

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John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison)

Born May 26, 1907 d. 1979

American Oscar-winning actor. Film: True Grit (1969, Oscar win), The Shootist (1976). Some attribute his death to radiation exposure received from an A-bomb test near the filming of a movie in 1953.

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Al Jolson

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Al Jolson (Asa Yoelson)

Born May 26, 1886 d. 1950

Russian-born American jazz singer, comedian, actor. Called "The World's Greatest Entertainer", he was the highest paid entertainer of the 1920s. He is now seen as controversial for his use of blackface while performing traditional African-America music for American and European audiences that weren't receptive to black performers. He was the first star to entertain U.S. troops overseas after the outbreak of WWII. Film: The Jazz Singer (1927) and The Jolson Story (1946, in which Larry Parks played Jolson, with the Jolson dubbing for Parks).

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Isadora Duncan

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Isadora Duncan (Dora Angela Duncan)

Born May 26, 1877 d. 1927

American dancer, pioneer of interpretative dance. Her emphasis on "free dance" made her a precursor of modern dance. She died when her scarf got caught in the spokes of the automobile she was riding in and broke her neck.

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William Barton

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William Barton

Born May 26, 1748 d. 1831

American Revolutionary officer. Famous for his capture of the British general Robert Prescott in 1777. He also helped design the Great Seal of the U.S. It bore a spread eagle with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one).

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Philip Michael Thomas

Born May 26, 1949

American actor. TV: Miami Vice (Det. Tubbs).

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Hank Williams, Jr.

Born May 26, 1949

American Grammy-Emmy-winning, country singer. Music: Long Gone Lonesome Blues (1964), Eleven Roses (1972, #1), and Dixie on My Mind (1981, #1),

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Stevie Nicks

Born May 26, 1948

American singer, with Fleetwood Mac. Music: Rumours (1977) and Bella Donna (1982).

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Peggy Lee

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Peggy Lee (Norma Egstrom)

Born May 26, 1920 d. 2002

American singer, actress. Music: Somebody Else Is Taking My Place (1942, #1). Film: Pete Kelly's Blues (1955).

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Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin

Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
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Peter Cushing

Born May 26, 1913 d. 1994

English-born American actor. Film: Star Wars (1977, Grand Moff Tarkin) and numerous portrayals of Baron Frankenstein and Dracula.

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Ben Alexander

Born May 26, 1911 d. 1969

American actor. TV: Dragnet (1952-59, Officer Frank Smith).

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Eugenie Anderson

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First Woman U.S. Ambassador

Eugenie Anderson

Born May 26, 1909 d. 1997

American diplomat. She was the first woman U.S. Ambassador, appointed by U.S. President Harry S. Truman as ambassador to Denmark (1949-53).
She was later appointed by U.S. President John F. Kennedy as ambassador to Bulgaria (1962-1964).

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Heinrich Geissler

Born May 26, 1814 d. 1879

German inventor. He invented an electric light in 1858 - 21 years before Edison's incandescent bulb. Now known as the Geissler tube, it consisted of a gas-filled vacuum tube which would light up when electricity was applied.

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William Petty

Born May 26, 1623 d. 1687

English statistician. He co-wrote the first book of statistics.

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Clement VII

Born May 26, 1478 d. 1534

Italian religious leader, 219th Pope (1523-34). He was the illegitimate son of Giuliano de Medici. Just days before his death, he commissioned Michelangelo's painting of The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.

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Deaths

Bart Starr

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Bart Starr

Died May 26, 2019 b. 1934

American Hall of Fame football player. He was the winning quarterback and MVP for the first two Super Bowls (1967-68, Green Bay Packers).

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Bean on the Moon Bean on the Moon

Bean on the Moon Bean on the Moon
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Alan L. Bean

Died May 26, 2018 b. 1932

American astronaut. The fourth man to walk on the Moon (1969).

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Art Linkletter

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Art Linkletter (Gordon Arthur Kelly)

Died May 26, 2010 b. 1912

Canadian-born American Emmy-winning TV personality. Linkletter was a major investor in Milton Bradley's Game of Life and his picture is on its $100,000 bill. Linkletter was also a major investor in the Hula Hoop. TV: House Party (1952-69) and People are Funny (1954-60).

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Sydney Pollack

Died May 26, 2008 b. 1934

American Oscar-winning director. Film: Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Out of Africa (1985, Oscar)

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Eddie Albert (Edward Albert Heimberger)

Died May 26, 2005 b. 1906

American actor. TV: Green Acres (Oliver Wendell Douglas).

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Gerald S. Hawkins

Died May 26, 2003 b. 1928

English astronomer and mathematician. He showed that Stonehenge was an ancient astronomical observatory (1963).

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Isadore "Friz" Freling

Died May 26, 1995 b. 1906

Oscar-Emmy winning animator. His works include Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Pink Panther, Sylvester and Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, Yosemite Sam, and Krazy Kat.

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George Ball

Died May 26, 1994 b. 1909

American lawyer, economist, presidential advisor. In 1961, as U.S. President John F. Kennedy's undersecretary of state, he advised that if 15,000 troops were sent to Vietnam, it would take another 300,000 to bring them back home.

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Phineas Newborn Jr.

Died May 26, 1989 b. 1931

American jazz pianist.

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Jacques Lipchitz

Died May 26, 1973 b. 1891

Lithuanian-born American sculptor. Considered one of greatest sculptures of the 20th century, known for his bronze statues of humans and animals.

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Lionel Conacher

Died May 26, 1954 b. 1900

Canadian athlete. Considered Canada's greatest all-around athlete. He excelled in: hockey (2 Stanley Cups, Hockey Hall of Fame), CFL Football (Grey Cup, Canadian Football Hall of Fame), Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, minor-league baseball, soccer, track, and amateur boxing champion. He was also a member of Parliament (1949-54).

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Lincoln Ellsworth

Died May 26, 1951 b. 1880

American explorer. He led the first trans-arctic flights (1926) and the first trans-Antarctic flights (1935).

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John R. Brinkley

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John R. Brinkley (John Romulus Brinkley)

Died May 26, 1942 b. 1885

American quack. Although he had no properly accredited medical training and bought his medical degree from a "diploma mill", Brinkley became rich and famous as the "goat-gland doctor". He would transplant goat testicles into humans for the purpose of improving virility and sexual performance. At the height of his career he had amassed millions of dollars, but died nearly penniless as a result of the large number of malpractice, wrongful death, and fraud suits brought against him. At least 42 of patients died shortly after treatment.
Brinkley was born to a poor North Carolina mountain man who practiced medicine and served as a medic for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Brinkley himself yearned to be a doctor, but dropped out of medical school due to inability to pay his tuition, and eventually bought a certificate from a diploma mill known as the Kansas City Eclectic Medical University.
In 1918, he opened a clinic in Milford, Kansas, initially treating victims of the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Soon after, he began implanting goat testicular glands, which Brinkley claimed would restore male virility and fertility. The cost was $750 ($11,000 in current dollars). He began a marketing campaign based on the birth of a child from one of his goat gland patients.
He would go on to build a radio station in Kansas to promote his medical practice, but the Federal Radio Commission refused to renew his station's broadcasting license. He then built the 50,000-watt border-blaster radio station XER in Mexico in 1931. Its signal was strong enough to be picked up in Kansas. But in 1932, Congress passed the Brinkley Act outlawing this practice. After a series of lawsuits, he declared bankruptcy in 1941 and died penniless in 1942.

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Charles Horace Mayo

Died May 26, 1939 b. 1865

American surgeon. He and his brother, William James Mayo, co-founded the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (1915).

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John Jacob Abel

Died May 26, 1938 b. 1857

American physiological chemist. He was the first to produce insulin in its crystalline form, and the first to isolate (1926) the pituitary hormone.

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