1984 Bhopal gas leak A gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India kills 3,329 people.

1980 First long-distance solar-powered flight by Janice Brown flying the Solar Challenger designed by Paul MacCready covering 6 miles in 22 minutes.

1979 Eleven people are trampled to death at a Who concert in Cincinnati.

1967 First successful human heart transplant Performed by a team led by Prof. Christiaan Barnard, South Africa. The patient lived for 18 days.

1964 Malcolm X The civil-rights leader declares that if laws aren't enforced because of the color of a person's skin, those people are justified in using any means necessary to bring about justice.

1962 First black woman elected judge in the U.S Edith Spurlock Sampson is sworn in as associate judge of the Municipal Court of Chicago.

1947 A Streetcar Named Desire The Broadway play opens, starring Marlon Brando as Stanley.

1881 Philadelphia streets become lit by electric light

1818 Illinois becomes the 21st state. Illinois is Algonquin for "warriors."

1787 James Rumsey's steamboat goes against the current of the Potomac River (at a rate of 3 mph).

1963 Terri Schiavo d. 2005 American medical case. After suffering a cardiac arrest in 1990 that left her brain damaged, a major legal battle ensued over the right of her husband to have her feeding tube removed.  It was eventually removed, resulting in her death 13 days later.

1951 Rick Mears American auto racer, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner (1979, 84, 88, 91).

1948 Ozzy Osbourne (John Osbourne), English singer, bat-biting ex-member of Black Sabbath. Music: Paranoid (1970) and Suicide Solution (1985).

1945 Michael Anderson Jr actor. TV: The Monroes (Clayt Monroe).

1930 Jean-Luc Godard French film director. Film: Breathless (1959) and A Woman is a Woman (1961).

1930 Andy Williams American singer and Emmy-winning TV host. Music: Butterfly (1957, #1) and Moon River (1962).

1928 Jack McMahon d. 1989 American basketball player and coach with the NBA.

1927 Ferlin Husky country singer. Music: A Dear John Letter (1953, #1), Gone (1957, #1), Country Music Is Here To Stay (1958), and Wings of a Dove (1960, #1).

1877 Richard Pearse d. 1953 New Zealand farmer, aviation pioneer. He reportedly built and flew a monoplane craft in March of 1903 - eight months before the Wright brothers.

1842 Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards d. 1911 American chemist, the first woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1870).  She earned her B.S. degree (1873) and became the first female professional chemist in the U.S.  In 1884, she became MIT's first woman faculty member.

1755 Gilbert Stuart d. 1828 American artist, painted the portrait of Washington (1796) that appears on the $1 bill.

2000 Gwendolyn Brooks b. 1917 American poet, author. She was the first African-American writer awarded a Pulitzer Prize (1950).  She served as Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress (1985-86). Writings: Annie Allen (1950, Pulitzer for Poetry).

1993 Lewis Thomas b. 1913 American physician, "Poet Laureate of 20th Century Medical Science." Writings: The Lives of the Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974, National Book Award) and The Medusa and the Snail (1979, American Book Award).

1981 Walter Marvin Knott b. 1899 American entrepreneur.  He turned a roadside stand selling boysenberries and pies into the amusement park Knott's Berry Farm.

1957 Frank Ernest Gannett b. 1876 American publisher. He built a media network of 21 newspapers and 7 radio and TV stations.

1926 Charles Ringling b. 1863 American circus operator, with Ringling Brothers Circus.

1910 Mary Baker Eddy b. 1821 founded the Church of Christ, Scientist (1879, Christian Science).

1905 John Bartlett b. 1820 American publisher, editor, compiled A Collection of Familiar Quotations (1855).

1894 Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson b. 1850 British author. Writings: New Arabian Nights (1882), Treasure Island (1883) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).

1815 John Carroll b. 1735 American clergyman, first American bishop (1790), was in charge of the Diocese of Baltimore, and founded (1789) the first Roman Catholic College in the U.S. (Georgetown College in Washington D.C.) Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1154 Anastasius IV b. ???? Italian-born religious leader, 168th Pope (1153-54).

<< Previous | Today | Pick a Day | My Birthday | Surprise Me | Next >>

Celebritize Yourself
Add YOURSELF
or Someone You Love
to THIS Trivia List

Amaze Your Friends with
Your/Their Celebrity Status

Add Trivia to Your Website