Today's Puzzle
What is always in front of you, but can't be seen?
What Happened On
First African-American in Space
August 30, 1983
Lt. Col. Guion Bluford, Jr. aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
Bluford was also the first black American astronaut (1982) and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame (1997) and into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame (2010).
Washington-Moscow Hotline
August 30, 1963
The famous "hotline" direct communications line between Washington D.C. and Moscow opens. It provided emergency communication in the event of a crisis. The need for the line was realized during the Cuban Missile Crisis when it could take up to six hours to deliver diplomatic messages. It took the United States nearly twelve hours to receive and decode Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's 3,000-word initial settlement message. By that time, Moscow had sent a tougher message. The belief was that a faster reply could have avoided this.
Although it became known as the "Red Phone", it was never actually a telephone line, and no red phones were ever used. The first implementation used Teletype equipment, and then fax machines in 1986. In 2008 it became a secure computer link over which email messages are sent.
Len Tau (left) and Yamasani
Len Tau (left) and Yamasani
First Black Africans to Compete in the Olympics
August 30, 1904
Two Tswana tribesmen, Len Tau (Len Taunyane) and Yamasani (Jan Mashiani), become the first black Africans to compete in the modern Olympics when they run in the 1904 Summer Olympics men's marathon held in St. Louis. They had been in a St. Louis Exposition side show and decided to enter the marathon at the last minute. Tau finished ninth and Mashiani came in twelfth. Tau could have done better, but he was chased nearly a mile off course by aggressive dogs.
The following day on August 31, African-American George C. Poage won bronze in the 400-meter hurdles becoming the first black person to win a medal in the modern Olympics. He went on to win another bronze medal in the 200-meter hurdle the following day.
Second Temple of Jerusalem Destroyed
August 30, A.D. 70
The Second Temple of Jerusalem is destroyed by Roman legions during the siege of Jerusalem. It had been completed in 515 BCE.
Late Show with David Letterman
August 30, 1993
The Late Show with David Letterman debuts on CBS. Many thought that David Letterman would take over for Johnny Carson when he retired in 1992. However, NBC gave Carson's job to Jay Leno and Letterman moved from NBC to CBS, changing the name of the show from Late Night with David Letterman to Late Show with David Letterman. The show ran until 2015.
Atomic Energy Bill
August 30, 1954
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the bill allowing private ownership of nuclear reactors for the production of electricity.
Revenue Act
August 30, 1935
Revenue Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, raising inheritance and gift taxes.
Civil War - Fremont Emancipation
August 30, 1861
General John C. Fremont frees the slaves of Missouri. He decreed that all property of those bearing arms in rebellion would be confiscated and that confiscated slaves would be declared free. For this, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln relieved him of his command for insubordination.
Gabriel's Rebellion
August 30, 1800
Virginian slave Gabriel Prosser organizes an army of about 1,000 slaves in an attempt to take over Richmond. However, their plans were postponed by rain, and two slaves told their owner of the plans, who then warned Virginia's Governor, who called out the state militia. Prosser escaped, but was turned in by another slave who hoped to use the reward money to buy his own freedom. Twenty-five slaves, including Prosser, were executed for the rebellion. The two slaves who informed on the rebellion plans were freed.
Birthdays
R. Crumb (Robert Dennis Crumb)
Born August 30, 1943
American Hall of Fame underground cartoonist. R. Crumb is the creator of Fritz the Cat (1965), Mr. Natural (1967), and the Keep On Truckin' drawing (1968). He was a founder of the first successful underground comix publication, Zap Comix (1968). Crumb had difficulty finding retailers who would stock Zap Comix, so his wife began selling the first run herself out of a baby carriage until the comix gained popularity.
The documentary Crumb (1994) was about his life.
Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here
Jack Swigert (John Leonard Swigert, Jr.)
Born August 30, 1931 d. 1982
American astronaut. During the Apollo 13 mission he proclaimed, "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here." Jim Lovell repeated the sentiment a few seconds later.
Note: The actual phrase was "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here", spoken by Swigert. After being asked to repeat the transmission Jim Lovell responded with "Uh, Houston, we've had a problem". In the 1995 movie Apollo 13, the line was shortened to the more dramatic, "Houston, we have a problem".
ENIAC
ENIAC
John William Mauchly
Born August 30, 1907 d. 1980
American computer pioneer. He and John Presper Eckert, Jr. invented the first digital general-purpose computer (1945, ENIAC). He and Eckert also started the first computer company (1947).
Huey Long, the Kingfish
Huey P. Long
Born August 30, 1893 d. 1935
Louisiana governor (1928-31), U.S. Senator (1931-35), known as the "Kingfish." He ran for the 1936 U.S. Presidency under his "Share the Wealth" plan with the slogan, "Every Man a King." He expanded educational institutions, created a system of charity hospitals to provide health care for the poor, highway construction and free bridges to help end rural isolation, and provided textbooks to schoolchildren. He was assassinated by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss, Jr. Long had just moments before pushed through a redistricting bill that would remove Weiss' father-in-law from the bench. Weiss was killed at the scene by Long's bodyguards, who shot him more than 60 times.
Automobile Safety Pioneer
Claire Straith
Born August 30, 1891 d. 1958
American cosmetic surgeon, safety pioneer. After witnessing the injuries and disfigurements of his patients from automobile crashes, he promoted the use of padded dashes, recessed dash knobs, and seat belts. With the notable exceptions of Chrysler and Tucker, most manufacturers rejected his suggestions, opting for style over safety.
Father of Nuclear Physics
Ernest Rutherford
Born August 30, 1871 d. 1937
British Nobel-winning physicist, "Father of Nuclear Physics." Rutherford was the first to split the atom (1917). He discovered the concept of radioactive half-life, the radioactive element radon, differentiated and named alpha and beta radiation, discovered the alpha particle and the proton, and pioneered the Rutherford model of the atom (1911, Most of an atom's mass is contained in a small charged nucleus that is orbited by low-mass electrons). The chemical element rutherfordium (element 104) is named after him.
After splitting the atom, Rutherford is reported to have exclaimed, "I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter."
Creator of Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Born August 30, 1797 d. 1851
English author. Creator of Frankenstein. During the rainy, cold volcanic summer of 1816, known as the "Year Without Summer," caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora, 18-year-old Mary was challenged to write a horror story. Shortly afterwards, she had a waking dream of a corpse brought back to life. "I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world." She expanded her dream into the classic novel.
She was the wife of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Writings: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).
Peggy Lipton (Margaret Ann Lipton)
Born August 30, 1946 d. 2019
American actress. TV: The Mod Squad (1969-73, Julie Barnes) and Twin Peaks (1990-91, Norma Jennings). She was married to music producer Quincy Jones (1974-90).
Elizabeth Ashley
Born August 30, 1939
American Tony-winning actress. TV: Evening Shade (Aunt Frieda).
John Phillips
Born August 30, 1935 d. 2001
American folk singer, with The Mamas and the Papas. Music: California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday.
Kitty Wells (Ellen Muriel Deason)
Born August 30, 1919 d. 2012
American country singer, "Queen of Country Music." She was the first woman to hit #1 on the country charts with It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (1952).
Many radio stations refused to play It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels because the lyrics were considered controversial at the time. Especially troubling were the lines, "It's a shame that all the blame is on us women" and "It brings back memories of when I was a trustful wife". Wells changed one of the lines from "trustful" to "trusting" to get the ban lifted.
Wells was among the hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Ted Williams
Born August 30, 1918 d. 2002
American baseball Hall of Famer, American League's MVP (1946, 49). He served as a pilot in WWII and the Korean War. An avid fisherman, he hosted a TV fishing show and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.
Fred MacMurray
Born August 30, 1908 d. 1991
American actor. Film: The star of numerous Disney movies, such as The Shaggy Dog (1959) and The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). TV: My Three Sons (1960-72, dad Steve Douglas). His face served as the model for Captain Marvel in the comic books (1939).
Blondell's banned 1932 publicity photo
Blondell's banned 1932 publicity photo
Joan Blondell
Born August 30, 1906 d. 1979
American actress. She was known for playing wise cracking, gold digging blondes. Her 1932 publicity photo was later banned by the Motion Picture Production Code. Film: The Public Enemy (1931), Blonde Crazy (1931), Grease (1978).
Shirley Booth (Thelma Booth Ford)
Born August 30, 1898 d. 1992
American Oscar-Tony-Emmy-winning actress. TV: Hazel (1961-66, title role).
Raymond Massey
Born August 30, 1896 d. 1983
Canadian actor. Film: Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940, title role). TV: Dr. Kildare (Dr. Gillespie).
Deaths
Franco Columbu (Francesco Columbu)
Died August 30, 2019 b. 1941
Italian bodybuilder, actor, powerlifter, chiropractor. Mr. Olympia (1976, 1981). He was considered the strongest man in the world after setting numerous powerlifting world records. In 1969, with a stipend of $65 per week from Joe Weider, he and Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the U.S. and started a bricklaying business together and competing in bodybuilding. Columbu was Schwarzenegger's best man at his wedding to Maria Shriver.
Columbu drowned after suffering a heart attack while swimming.
Film: Pumping Iron (1976), Conan the Barbarian (1982, Pictish Scout), and The Terminator (1984, future terminator).
Charles Bronson (Charles Buchinsky)
Died August 30, 2003 b. 1921
American actor. He claimed he was so poor growing up that, at one time, he had to wear his sister's dress to school for lack of clothing. After enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces, he served as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress aerial gunner and conducted combat missions against the Japanese home islands during World War II. He flew 25 missions and received a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle.
Film: House of Wax (1953, deaf-mute sculptor Igor), The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Dirty Dozen (1967) Once Upon a Time in the West (1969), and Death Wish (1974).
Dunn as Dr. Loveless
Dunn as Dr. Loveless
Michael Dunn (Gary Neil Miller)
Died August 30, 1973 b. 1934
American dwarf (3 ft. 10 in. - 117 cm) actor. He was reported to have an IQ of 178. Film: Ship of Fools (1964). TV: The Wild Wild West (1965-68, the evil Dr. Loveless), and Star Trek episode Plato's Stepchildren (1968, the court jester).
He died of medical issues related to his dwarfism.
Note: The episode Plato's Stepchildren also included the infamous Star Trek Kiss.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Died August 30, 2022 b. 1931
Russian politician, Communist Party Leader (1985-91).
Valerie Harper
Died August 30, 2019 b. 1939
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77, Rhoda Morgenstern), Rhoda (1974-78, Rhoda), and Valerie (1986-87, Valerie Hogan).
Harper and Dennis Weaver founded L.I.F.E. in 1983, a charity that fed thousands of needy in Los Angeles.
Dr. Oliver Sacks
Died August 30, 2015 b. 1933
English physician, author. His book Awakenings (1973), describing his work in the 1960s with sleeping sickness patients, was made into the 1990 movie starring Robin Williams. He himself had prosopagnosia ("face blindness"), which prevented him from recognizing faces - even his own reflection. Writings: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985).
Bradley Jay Anderson
Died August 30, 2015 b. 1924
American cartoonist. Creator of Marmaduke (1954).
Glenn Ford (Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford)
Died August 30, 2006 b. 1916
Canadian-American actor. Film: Gilda (1946) and Blackboard Jungle (1955), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and Superman (1978, Clark Kent's adoptive father). TV: Cade's County (Sam Cade).
Quote: On being rushed, "I've only got one other speed, and it's slower."
Abraham Zapruder
Died August 30, 1970 b. 1905
American clothing manufacturer. He made the famous film of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas.
William Talman (right) as Hamilton Burger
William Talman (right) as Hamilton Burger
William Talman, Jr.
Died August 30, 1968 b. 1915
American actor. TV: Perry Mason (1957-66, D.A. Hamilton Burger).
Charles Coburn
Died August 30, 1961 b. 1877
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and The More the Merrier (1943, Oscar).
Joseph John Thomson
Died August 30, 1940 b. 1856
English physicist. He discovered the electron (1897).
Louis XI
Died August 30, 1483 b. 1423
King of France (1461-83).
Alexander III
Died August 30, 1181 b. circa 1105
Italian religious leader, 170th Pope (1159-81).