What Happened On
You Cannot Shake Hands With a Clenched Fist
October 19, 1971
The prime minister of India Indira Gandhi states at a New Delhi press conference, "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."
Arthur Godfrey Fires Julius La Rosa on the Air
October 19, 1953
In what is considered one of the worst on-air blunders in entertainment history, during the radio portion of his show, after the television portion had ended, Arthur Godfrey asks Julius La Rosa to sing Manhattan. After which Godfrey announced that this was his swan song and that La Rosa was leaving the show. La Rosa had not been told of his impending dismissal and was just as shocked as the audience.
La Rosa had a large following on the show, receiving more fan mail than Godfrey himself. A dispute occurred when La Rosa missed a ballet lesson, as required by all the onstage talent. La Rosa then hired an agent, a practice forbidden by Godfrey. When Godfrey received a letter from the agent informing him that all dealings with La Rosa would be through the agent, Godfrey decided to fire La Rosa.
Godfrey would later state that he fired La Rosa because he "lacked humility". This statement backfired and comedians used this statement to mock Godfrey.
Public opinion about Godfrey took a down turn after this incident and his popularity began to decline.
Abraham Lincoln Grows a Beard
October 19, 1860
Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln writes back to an 11-year-old girl who wrote a letter to him suggesting he should grow a beard. He stated it would be silly to start growing one; but he did so anyway.
Benjamin Franklin Flies a Kite
October 19, 1752
Benjamin Franklin describes his famous kite experiment, proving that lighting and electricity are related, in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
According to Franklin's description of the experiment, a silk kite with string that led to a key was to be flown during the early stages of a storm. The kite had a separate silk string that was attached to the kite string near the key. The kite flyer was to stand under a shelter so that he and the silk string stayed dry protecting them from the electric charge.
It is unlikely the kite was struck by lightning, as this would have probably seriously injured Franklin, but simply gathered electricity from the storm as Franklin predicted it would. This and his lightning rod experiments helped prove that lightning was a form of electricity.
End of the World
October 19, 1533
German Monk Michael Stifel, using clues from the Bible, predicted Judgment Day and the end of the world would occur on October 19, 1533 at 8 am. Many of the townsfolk, believing his prediction, did not plant crops or store foods and burned their homes and possessions when the day came. Afterwards, Stifel had to be taken into protective custody with the villagers chanting death threats outside his cell.
Stifel was an influential mathematician, inventor of an early form of logarithms, and coiner of the term "exponent".
U.S. Attacks Iran
October 19, 1987
Four U.S. destroyers attack two Iranian oil rigs in retaliation for attacks on shipping vessels in the Persian Gulf.
Largest One-Day Stock Market Crash
October 19, 1987
After a drop of 508 points, the largest one-day drop up to that time, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces "There is nothing wrong with the economy!"
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
October 19, 1983
The first federal annual holiday honoring a Black American is created when the U.S. Senate votes to set aside the third Monday in January to honor the birth (January 15, 1929) of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
Photo Credit: Kevin Abato
Photo Credit: Kevin Abato
John DeLorean Arrested
October 19, 1982
The auto manufacturer John DeLorean is arrested for possession of 59 pounds of cocaine with intent to distribute. He plead not guilty and was later acquitted.
New U.S. Copyright Law
October 19, 1976
U.S. President Gerald Ford signs into law the first major revision to U.S. copyright law since 1909. It extended the copyright to 50 years after the author's death and made provisions for photocopying and television broadcasting.
Ku Klux Klan
October 19, 1965
The House Committee on Un-American Activities begins public hearings on the Ku Klux Klan. This was the first public investigation by the committee which didn't concern communism.
Crossed the Atlantic in a 15-foot Boat
October 19, 1952
Frenchman, Alain Bombard, begins his solo voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in a 15-foot long boat with almost no provisions. He survived by eating raw fish and plankton, although he still lost 55 pounds. He completed his journey on December 23. He just wanted to prove that it could be done.
First Airplane Flight Across the U.S. from West to East
October 19, 1911
Robert Grant Fowler departs Los Angeles, arriving in Jacksonville, Florida in February of the following year.
American Revolution
October 19, 1781
Cornwallis surrenders to General George Washington at Yorktown, ending the last major battle of the War.
Birthdays
Halloween Candy Murderer
Ronald Clark O'Bryan
Born October 19, 1944 d. 1984
American murderer. He was convicted and executed for the 1974 Halloween killing of his 8-year-old son by feeding him poisoned Halloween candy. He had laced Pixie Stix with cyanide and passed them out to children, including his 8-year-old-son and 5-year-old daughter. After his son died Halloween night, the medical examiner guessed that it was cyanide poisoning due to the smell of almonds coming from the boy's mouth and the other Pixie Stix were collected before anyone else ate them. Another boy had tried to eat one, but couldn't get it open because they had been stapled shut after being tampered with and he wasn't able to remove the staple.
O'Bryan was deeply in debt and had taken out life insurance policies on his children shortly before Halloween.
This event has become known as "The Death of Halloween" since many parents stopped allowing their children to participate in trick-or-treating after this incident.
Aunt Esther (above), Bronze Goddess of Fire (below)
Aunt Esther (above), Bronze Goddess of Fire (below)
Watch It, Sucker!
LaWanda Page (Alberta Peal)
Born October 19, 1920 d. 2002
American actress. "Watch It, Sucker!" Known for her portrayal of Bible-thumping Aunt Esther in the TV show Sanford and Son (1973-77). As a teen, she worked as an exotic dancer performing a fire act under the name "The Bronze Goddess of Fire." Page demonstrated her talents in the Sanford and Son episode Greatest Show in Watts.
Page and Redd Foxx (who played Fred Sanford) were childhood friends growing up together in St. Louis. Film Shakes the Clown (1991, foul-mouthed clown).
Evander Holyfield
Born October 19, 1962
American boxer (1984-2011). Known as "The Real Deal." He reigned as the undisputed champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, being the first and only boxer in history to do so. Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion. He won a 1997 rematch against Mike Tyson, in which Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield on his ears.
John Lithgow
Born October 19, 1945
American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. Film: The World According to Garp (1982, played the transsexual football player), Terms of Endearment (1983), and Harry and the Hendersons (1987). TV: 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001, Dick Solomon)
Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead)
Born October 19, 1945 d. 1988
American transvestite actor. Film: Pink Flamingos and Polyester.
Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert McIntosh)
Born October 19, 1944 d. 1987
Jamaican reggae musician. With Bob Marley's Wailers (1963-74). Music: Don't Look Back.
Dave Guard
Born October 19, 1934 d. 1991
American folk singer, one of the founding members of the Kingston Trio (1957). Music: Tom Dooley and Five Hundred Miles.
Robert Reed as Mike Brady
Robert Reed as Mike Brady
Robert Reed (John Robert Rietz)
Born October 19, 1932 d. 1992
American actor. TV: The Brady Bunch (1969-74, father Mike Brady), Mannix (1969-75, Lieutenant Adam Tobias), The Defenders (1961-65, Kenneth Preston), Rich Man, Poor Man (1976, Teddy Boylan), and Roots (1977, Dr. William Reynolds). Reed died of colon cancer with his HIV-positive status considered a significant contributing factor.
John Le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell)
Born October 19, 1931 d. 2020
British spy novelist. Writings: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974), and Drummer Girl (1983).
Le Carré worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during th 1950s and 1960s.
Jack Anderson
Born October 19, 1922 d. 2005
American Pulitzer-winning columnist. Writings: Washington Merry-Go-Round (Pulitzer, 1972). He was credited for breaking the Iran-Contra Affair and a CIA-Mafia plot to kill Fidel Castro.
John Mills, Jr.
Born October 19, 1911 d. 1936
American ukulele/guitarist, with the Mills Brothers, the most popular vocal group of all time.
Consuelo Northrop Bailey
Born October 19, 1899 d. 1976
American lawyer, politician. First woman lieutenant governor (1955-57, Vermont).
In 1950, Bailey was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives and served as the first woman Speaker of the Vermont House (1953-55).
William Donahey
Born October 19, 1883 d. 1970
American cartoonist. Creator of The Teenie Weenies (1914), which ran in the Chicago Tribune for over 50 years.
Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown
Born October 19, 1876 d. 1948
American baseball Hall of Famer. He had the use of only three fingers on his pitching hand, giving him a natural knuckle ball.
Auguste Lumière
Born October 19, 1862 d. 1954
French motion picture pioneer. He and his brother Louis Lumière developed the Cinématographe motion picture camera and projector. They conducted the first paid movie screening.
William John Burns
Born October 19, 1861 d. 1932
American detective. He preceded J. Edgar Hoover as head of the Bureau of Investigation (1921-24), the FBI's predecessor.
Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson
Born October 19, 1856 d. 1946
American historian, South Dakota's state historian. He conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in order to attract tourism to South Dakota (1923). He also helped design South Dakota's state flag.
Adam Lindsay Gordon
Born October 19, 1833 d. 1870
Australian horsebreaker, steeplechase rider, poet. He is the only Australian poet whose bust is in Westminster Abbey.
Tom Taylor
Born October 19, 1817 d. 1880
English playwright. Writings: Our American Cousin (1858) which was being presented at Ford's Theater during Lincoln's assassination.
Cassius Marcellus Clay
Born October 19, 1810 d. 1903
American politician, anti-slavery advocate. Known as "The Lion of White Hall." He published the abolitionist weekly The True American (1845) and served as U.S. minister to Russia (1861-69) where he helped with the U.S. purchase of Alaska.
Deaths
Father of Nuclear Physics
Ernest Rutherford
Died October 19, 1937 b. 1871
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."
Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham
Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham
First to Fly a Plane From the Deck of a Ship
Eugene Ely
Died October 19, 1911 b. 1886
American aviator. He was the first person to fly a plane from the deck of a ship (1910) and the first to land a plane on a ship (1911).
Ely died during an exhibition when his plane was late pulling out of a dive and crashed. Ely managed to jump clear of the wrecked aircraft, but his neck was broken, and he died a few minutes later.
Gulliver discovers Laputa, the flying island, by J.J. Grandville
Gulliver discovers Laputa, the flying island, by J.J. Grandville
Jonathan Swift
Died October 19, 1745 b. 1667
English author. Writings: Gulliver's Travels (1726).
Quote: "Reasoning will never make a Man correct an ill Opinion, which by Reasoning he never acquired."
Tom Bosley
Died October 19, 2010 b. 1927
American Tony-winning actor. TV: Happy Days (Mr. C.) and The Father Dowling Mysteries (Father Dowling).
Phyllis Kirk (Phyllis Kirkegaard)
Died October 19, 2006 b. 1927
American actress. TV: The Thin Man (1957-59, Nora Charles). Film: House of Wax (1953, intended victim of the mad wax sculptor).
Martha Raye (Margaret Reed)
Died October 19, 1994 b. 1916
American actress, denture wearer. Film: Monsieur Verdoux (1947).
Maurice Bishop
Died October 19, 1983 b. 1944
Grenadian revolutionary, Prime Minister of Grenada (1979-83). He was killed by the forces of his Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard - A hard-line Marxist. After his execution, Grenada's governor-general Paul Scoon, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and the nations of Barbados and Jamaica appealed to the U.S. for assistance, leading to the U.S. invasion of Grenada.
Interior of an early Pullman Car
Interior of an early Pullman Car
George Pullman
Died October 19, 1897 b. 1831
American inventor. He invented the Pullman sleeping car (1864) with its folding upper bed. Although sleeper cars had been around since the 1830s, Pullman Cars were known for their luxury and comfort.
Lyman Hall
Died October 19, 1790 b. 1724
American settler, Revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence, governor of Georgia (1783).