2000 USS Cole Bombing U.S. officials announce there is evidence linking suspects in the October 12 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen with known operatives of Osama bin Laden's organization.

1995 Galileo The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Jupiter on this date.

1993 Drug Legalization Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders states that the legalization of drugs merits further study and might reduce the crime rate. Her 28-year-old son was arrested two weeks later for selling cocaine to undercover police the previous summer.

1992 Members of the Texas Southern University's marching band are caught stealing $22,000 worth of goods from Japanese merchants. They were in Japan to play during the half-time of a NCAA game the previous day.

1972 Last of the Apollo moon series Apollo 17 is launched.

1941 Pearl Harbor - A date which will live in infamy The Hawaiian U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese, killing 2,402 people, sinking four U.S. battleships, and destroying 188 U.S. aircraft.

1888 Pneumatic rubber tire John Boyd Dunlop patents his invention, although it was later discovered that the principle of the pneumatic tire had been patented in 1846.

1842 New York Philharmonic Orchestra The famous orchestra gives its first performance.

1787 First state in the Union Delaware ratifies the Constitution.

1955 Priscilla Barnes American actress. TV: Three's Company (replaced Suzanne Somers).

1947 Vincent Baggetta American actor. TV: The Eddie Capra Mysteries (Eddie Capra) and The Colbys (Asst. D.A. John Moretti).

1947 Johnny Lee Bench American baseball Hall of Famer, 1976 World Series MVP.

1946 Billy Leon (died 1979) and Benny Loyd McCrary (McGuire), American wrestlers and the world's heaviest twins at 743 and 723 pounds. Source: Guinness Book of World Records

1942 Reginald Lewis d. 1993 American businessman, was the richest African-American man at the time of his death.  Motto: "Keep going, no matter what."  Writings: Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?

1942 Harry Chapin d. 1981 American folk-rock singer. Taxi (1972) and Cat's In The Cradle (1974, #1).

1932 Ellen Burstyn (Edna Rae Gillooly), American actress. In 1975, she won an Oscar, a Tony, and a British Oscar.

1926 Victor Kermit Kiam II president of Remington Products Inc., he liked their shaver so much, he bought the company.

1923 Ted Knight d. 1986 (Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka), American actor. TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Ted Baxter) and Too Close for Comfort. Film: Caddyshack (1980)

1915 Eli Wallach American Emmy-winning actor. Film: Baby Doll (1956), The Magnificent Seven (1960), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

1905 Gerald Peter Kuiper American astronomer, discovered (1948) Miranda one of Uranus' moons.

1863 Richard Warren Sears d. 1914 American businessman, co-founded Sears, Roebuck and Co.

1993 Pierre Holmes b. 1912 British-born French radio announcer. During World War II, he passed coded messages to the French Resistance during his nightly BBC radio show from London.

1990 Joan Bennett b. 1910 American actress. TV: Dark Shadows (Elizabeth/Flora Collins).

1984 Jeanne Cagney b. 1919 American actress, James Cagney's sister, and co-host of Queen for a Day.  She appeared in several films with her brother James, including Man of a Thousand Faces (1957).

1977 Peter Carl Goldmark b. 1906 Hungarian-born American television engineer, invented the first commercial color television (1940) and the 33 1/3 LP record (1948).

1975 Thornton Wilder b. 1897 American Pulitzer-winning novelist, playwright. Writings: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927, Pulitzer), Our Town (1938, Pulitzer), and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942, Pulitzer).  Quote: "Marriage is the price men pay for sex; sex is the price women pay for marriage."

1970 Rube Goldberg b. 1883 (Reuben Lucius Goldberg), American Pulitzer-winning cartoonist (1948), known for designing elaborate machines to perform simple tasks.

1951 Ed Leedskalnin b. 1887 Latvian sculptor. He built Coral Castle (in Homestead, Florida), using what he claimed was the lost secrets of the Egyptian pyramid builders.  Billy Idol filmed the video Sweet Sixteen in Coral Castle. The song was inspired by Ed's unrequited love for 16-year-old Agnes Scuffs, for whom Ed built the castle.

1913 Aaron Montgomery Ward b. 1844 American businessman, creator of mail-order (1892).

1902 Thomas Nast b. 1840 American cartoonist, created the donkey and elephant symbols used by the Democratic and Republican parties.

1902 Thomas Brackett Reed b. 1839 American politician, Speaker of the House from Maine. His ability to spend taxpayer's money earned his Congress (1889-91) the name "The Billion Dollar Congress."

1817 William Bligh b. 1754 English naval officer, his crew on the HMS Bounty mutinied (1789), setting him adrift for 4,000 miles.

1254 Innocent IV b. circa 1180 Italian religious leader, 180th Pope (1243-54).

983 Otto II b. 955 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (973-83).

283 Saint Eutychian b. ???? religious leader, 27th Pope (275-283).

43 B.C. Marcus Tullius Cicero b. 106 B.C. Roman philosopher, statesman, one of Rome's greatest orators.  Before being killed by Mark Antony's assassins, he declared "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly."

<< 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