What Happened On
Marijuana Legalization
September 10, 1980
The U.S. approves the use of the drug marijuana for medical purposes such as to ease nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients.
Gunsmoke
September 10, 1955
The TV show Gunsmoke debuts on CBS. James Arness was cast as marshal Matt Dillon, Milburn Stone as Doc Galen Adams, and Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty. The show was based on the radio series which ran from 1952-61, although the radio version had a completely different cast.
The series ran until 1975, making it the longest-running primetime live-action television series at 20 seasons, until Law & Order: Special Victims Unit broke that record in 2019.
Our Gang Little Rascals
September 10, 1922
The first release of the Our Gang Little Rascals comedy shorts, One Terrible Day, debuts in theaters. It was the fourth film produced in the series, but the first to be released. The comedy shorts were produced by Hal Roach and starred Sunshine Sammy Morrison, Jackie Condon, and Mickey Daniels.
The films would later add Alfalfa, Darla, Spanky, Buckwheat, and others.
Photo Credit: 1897 London Electric Cab
Photo Credit: 1897 London Electric Cab
First Drunk Driving Offense
September 10, 1897
Twenty-five-year-old London taxi-driver George Smith is arrested and convicted the same day. He had driven his electric cab into a building after having "a few" beers. He pleaded guilty and was fined 25 shillings.
We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours
September 10, 1813
Oliver Hazard Perry defeats the British and makes his famous quote "We have met the enemy and they are ours," during the War of 1812, Battle of Lake Erie. Nine vessels of the United States Navy captured six vessels of the British Royal Navy. This gave the U.S. control of the lake for the rest of the war. It was one of the biggest naval battles of the war.
Hungary Lifts Restrictions On Its Border to the West
September 10, 1989
East Germans flooded through Hungary seeking the freedoms of the West.
World War II - Canada Declares War on Germany
September 10, 1939
Canada declares war on Germany. Great Britain and France had declared war on Germany a week earlier, after the Germans invaded Poland.
First Coast-To-Coast Paved U.S. Highway
September 10, 1913
The Lincoln Highway opens.
American Forestry Association
September 10, 1875
American Forestry Association is established, in Chicago.
First Practical Sewing Machine
September 10, 1846
Elias Howe receives a patent for his sewing machine.
Birthdays
Rin Tin Tin
Born September 10, 1918 d. 1932
German-born American dog actor. American soldier Lee Duncan found Rin Tin Tin in a German trench during World War I and brought him back to Hollywood where he became one of its biggest stars, winning Most Popular Film Performer of the Year award (1926). Rin Tin Tin starred in 27 Hollywood films. After his death, other dogs took over the roll.
Schlitzie
Born September 10, 1901 d. 1971
American sideshow performer. Schlitzie was one of the most famous sideshow performers of the 20th century. He was born with microcephaly, that left him with an unusually small brain and skull, a small stature (he stood about four feet tall [122 cm]), and myopia. Schlitzie had the cognitive ability of about a three-year-old and could only speak in monosyllabic words and form a few simple phrases. However, he was able to perform simple tasks, and it is believed that he understood most of what was said to him. He was described as affectionate, exuberant, sociable and loved dancing, singing, being the center of attention, and performing for anyone he could stop and talk with.
On the sideshow circuit, microcephalic people were usually promoted as "pinheads" or "missing links", and Schlitzie was also billed under such titles as "The Last of the Aztecs". He performed with such famous circuses as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Clyde Beatty Circus, and the Tom Mix Circus. He also appeared in movies, including The Sideshow (1928) and the cult classic Freaks (1932).
Schlitzie's birth parents abandoned him and he was raised in various carnivals and sideshows, but in 1935, George Surtees, a chimpanzee trainer, adopted him, becoming his legal guardian. When Surtees died in 1965, his daughter committed Schlitzie to a Los Angeles county hospital. Another circus performer, Bill "Frenchy" Unks who worked at the hospital in the off season, recognized Schlitzie and observed that Schlitzie seemed to miss the carnival, and being away from the public eye had made him very depressed. Hospital authorities determined that the best care for Schlitzie would be to make him a ward of Unks' employer, showman Sam Alexander, and return him to the sideshow, where he remained until 1968.
Voodoo Queen of New Orleans
Marie Laveau
Born September 10, 1801 d. 1881
American practitioner of Voodoo. Known as the "Voodoo Queen of New Orleans."
Marie Laveau was born free in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.
According to tradition, if someone wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an X on her tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, and yell out their wish. If the wish was granted, they were to come back, circle their X, and leave Laveau an offering. However, the part of the cemetery where she is believed to be entombed is no longer accessible to the public without a guide.
First President of the Continental Congress
Peyton Randolph
Born September 10, 1721 d. 1775
American patriot. First and third president of the Continental Congress (1774, 1774-75). He also served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1766-1775).
Amy Irving
Born September 10, 1953
American actress, ex-wife of Steven Spielberg. Film: Yentl (1983)
Jose Feliciano
Born September 10, 1945
Grammy-winning singer, born blind. He created and performed the theme song for TV's Chico and the Man (1974).
Greg Mullavey
Born September 10, 1939
American actor. TV: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Mary's husband Tom) and ICarly (Carly's grandfather).
Roger Eugene Maris
Born September 10, 1934 d. 1985
American baseball legend, American League MVP (1960-61). He broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record by hitting 61 (1961).
Charles Kuralt
Born September 10, 1934 d. 1997
American Emmy-winning TV journalist. TV: The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite (1962, "On the Road" segments) and CBS News Sunday Morning (1979, anchor).
After his death, it was revealed that for 30 years Kuralt had a "second family" with a woman in Montana while his wife lived in New York City.
Quote: "Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything."
Arnold Palmer
Born September 10, 1929 d. 2016
American golfer. He was the first golfer to win $1,000,000 in career earnings.
Robert Wise
Born September 10, 1914 d. 2005
American Oscar-winning director. Film: The Body Snatcher (1945), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1965), Andromeda Strain (1971), and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
Elsa Schiaparelli
Born September 10, 1890 d. 1973
Italian-born French fashion designer. She was the first major designer to include zippers in their creations (1931) and was the inventor of "shocking pink."
Isaac Kauffman Funk
Born September 10, 1839 d. 1912
American publisher, co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company (1891), which first published its famous dictionary in 1912.
Carter Braxton
Born September 10, 1736 d. 1797
American statesman. Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He supported a bill to recruit slaves to fight for the Revolution, giving them their freedom in return. The bill was defeated.
Julius III (Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte)
Born September 10, 1487 d. 1555
Italian religious leader, 221st Pope (1550-55).
Deaths
Richard Kiel as Voltaire and as Jaws
Richard Kiel as Voltaire and as Jaws
Richard Kiel
Died September 10, 2014 b. 1939
American 7-foot 2-inch (218 cm) tall actor. Film: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, Jaws - Bond's steel-mouthed foe), Moonraker (1979, Jaws), The Longest Yard (1974), and Happy Gilmore (1996, Mr. Larson). TV: The Wild Wild West (1965-68, Voltaire).
Kiel was originally cast as the Hulk for the TV series The Incredible Hulk (1977), but was replaced by Lou Ferrigno. One scene with him remained in the pilot episode.
World's Heaviest Human
Jon Brower Minnoch
Died September 10, 1983 b. 1941
American heavyweight. World's heaviest human. At his heaviest, he weighed approximately 1,400 pounds (635 kg).
At the age of 12, he weighed 294 lb (133 kilograms), and by age 22 he was 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) in height and weighed 500 lb (230 kilograms). He had a medical condition that caused his body to store excess extracellular fluid. It was estimated that he was retaining over 900 lbs (408 kg) of fluid. During a 16-month hospital stay, he was placed on a 1200 calorie a day diet and lost approximately 924 lb (419 kg), lowering his bodyweight to 476 lb (216 kg). This is the largest known human weight loss. However, after leaving the hospital, his weight increased to 952 lb (432 kg) over the following year. He was 798 lb (362 kg) at the time of his death.
Meteorite Victim
Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges
Died September 10, 1972 b. 1920
American meteorite victim. She is the only known person to have been injured by a meteorite. She was struck by a 5.54 kg (12 lbs, 3 oz) meteorite fragment in Alabama when it crashed through the roof of her home, bounced off a large console radio, and hit Hodges while she was sleeping on the couch. The 34-year-old Hodges was badly bruised on the side of her body. Another fragment was found by a farmer the following day. Due to the publicity surrounding the event, the farmer was able to sell his fragment for enough money to buy a car and house. On the other hand, Hodges fought with her landlord over the rights to the meteorite for a over year. The landlord claimed it was her property because it fell through her roof. Hodges eventually paid the landlord $500 for the meteorite, but by that time the public had lost interest in the story and she was unable to sell it.
In 1992 a small meteorite fragment (3 g) struck a Ugandan boy in Mbale, but it had been slowed down by a tree and did not cause any injury.
Huey Long, the Kingfish
Huey P. Long
Died September 10, 1935 b. 1893
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.
Diana Rigg (Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg)
Died September 10, 2020 b. 1938
British Tony-Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Avengers (1965-68, Emma Peel), Mystery! (1989-2003, host), and Game of Thrones (2013-17, Olenna Tyrell - Queen of Thorns). Film: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969, James Bond's wife).
Cliff Robertson
Died September 10, 2011 b. 1923
American Oscar-Emmy-winning actor. Film: PT-109 (1963, John F. Kennedy-he was handpicked for the role by the real JFK), Charly (1968, Oscar for his portrayal of a mentally handicapped person), and Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-07, Uncle Ben Parker).
Jane Wyman (Sarah Jane Fulks)
Died September 10, 2007 b. 1917
American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Johnny Belinda (1948, Oscar, deaf-mute rape victim). TV: Falcon Crest (Angela Channing). She was the ex-wife of Ronald Reagan (1940-49).
Patty Berg
Died September 10, 2006 b. 1918
American Hall of Fame golfer. She won the first U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship (1946), and was founder and first president of The Ladies Professional Golf Assn. (1950). Her 15 major title wins is the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer.