Today's Trivia and What Happened on September 26

Why don't kleptomaniacs get puns?

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Because they take things literally.

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Quote: I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. - Oscar Wilde

Quote: I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. - Oscar Wilde Close Large View

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What Happened On

Was Punished for Preventing World War III

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Was Punished for Preventing World War III

September 26, 1983

After saving the world, he was reprimanded for not correctly documenting the incident. Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer at a Soviet early-warning system when the system reported that up to six Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles had been launched from the United States. This was just three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 killing all 269 people aboard, including U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald and many other Americans. Petrov believed it might be a false alarm and disobeyed orders by not reporting the attack to his superiors. He feared that had he reported the attack, his superiors would have launched a retaliatory nuclear attack, leading to an all out nuclear war. Later analysis showed that the detection system had malfunctioned and it was indeed a false alarm. Petrov was reprimanded for not correctly documenting the incident.

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Rocky Horror Picture Show

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Rocky Horror Picture Show

September 26, 1975

The cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry, and Meat Loaf, premieres in the U.S.
Although the film did poorly during its regular theater run, it soon became a cult midnight classic. Schoolteacher Louis Farese, Jr., Theresa Krakauskas, and Amy Lazarus are credited with starting the convention of talking back to the screen, bringing props and making up one-liners. Originally, they were just doing it to amuse each other, not realizing they were starting a long-lasting tradition.

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Abbey Road

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Abbey Road

September 26, 1969

Abbey Road is released. It was an immediate commercial success, topping record charts in the UK and US. The closing track is aptly The End as this album marked the last time that all four members recorded together. While it was recorded from February to August of 1969, making it the last album the group recorded together, Let It Be, which was recorded previously, wasn't released until 1970 in conjunction with the movie of the same title.
The cover features the Beatles walking across the street's zebra crossing, an image that became one of the most famous and imitated in popular music. It also started rumors that Paul McCartney was dead, as the image was said to depict the Beatles walking out of a cemetery in a funeral procession, led by John Lennon dressed in white as a religious figure; Ringo Starr was dressed in black as the undertaker; George Harrison dressed in denim was the gravedigger; and Paul McCartney is out of step with the others, representing a barefoot corpse; Also, the left-handed McCartney is holding a cigarette in his right hand, indicating that he is an impostor, and the license plate on the Volkswagen parked on the street is 28IF, meaning that McCartney would have been 28 "if" he had lived. These rumors, were of course, false.

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The Brady Bunch

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The Brady Bunch

September 26, 1969

The Brady Bunch debuts on ABC.
The series features a married couple with their blended family of three boys, three girls, and a live in housekeeper.
While the show was not a ratings hit or a critical success and didn't win any major awards during its original run, it has since become a popular syndicated staple.
While father Mike Brady was a widower, mother Carol Brady's previous marital status was never revealed during the regular run of the show. Creator Sherwood Schwartz wanted to make her a divorcee, but the network wouldn't allow it. However, in the Brady Bunch movie A Very Brady Sequel, Carol does reveal that her first husband was a professor who was lost on a boat. To which the character Dr. Whitehead, replies, "and my son Gilligan was first mate on that boat."

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Gilligan's Island

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Gilligan's Island

September 26, 1964

The show Gilligan's Island about seven castaways debuts on CBS.
Although the pilot was filmed in 1963, because of cast changes, it wasn't aired until 1992. The pilot's cast differed from the series with Kit Smythe as Ginger, John Gabriel as the high school science teacher/professor, and Nancy McCarthy as Bunny (Ginger's co-worker from Kansas that became Mary Ann in the series).
Trivia: The Skipper character's name was Jonas Grumby. What was the Gilligan character's first name? Answer…
More Trivia: In the Brady Bunch movie A Very Brady Sequel, Carol Brady reveals that her first husband was a professor who was lost on a boat. To which the character Dr. Whitehead, replies, "and my son Gilligan was first mate on that boat."
More Trivia: In the opening credits, a U.S. flag is flying at half mast because this scene was filmed shortly after the Kennedy Assassination.

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The Beverly Hillbillies

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The Beverly Hillbillies

September 26, 1962

The TV show The Beverly Hillbillies, featuring the Clampetts, debuts on CBS. Hated by the critics, it quickly became #1 breaking many records. This was also Donna Douglas' (Elly May) 30th birthday.

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First Televised U.S. Presidential Candidate Debate go to Video for First Televised U.S. Presidential Candidate Debate

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First Televised U.S. Presidential Candidate Debate

September 26, 1960

75 million viewers tuned in to watch John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon square off for the first televised U.S. presidential candidate debate. Kennedy's style helped him win the election.

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John Dillinger Helps the Pierpont Bunch Break Out of Prison

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John Dillinger Helps the Pierpont Bunch Break Out of Prison

September 26, 1933

The Pierpont Bunch, soon to be known as John Dillinger's gang, breaks out of prison. Dillinger had bribed authorities and smuggled guns in for them. Dillinger was himself in prison at the time. The escapees would soon break Dillinger out of prison.

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Ten Days in a Mad-House

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Ten Days in a Mad-House

September 26, 1887

Nellie Bly begins her undercover investigation of the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. She had herself committed for 10 days as a patient in order to witness the conditions and treatment of the mentally ill. Her subsequent reporting and book Ten Days in a Mad-House describing the inhumane conditions and treatment of the women led to significant reforms in the treatment of the mentally ill. Quote: "What, excepting torture, would produce insanity quicker than this treatment?"

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Segway Disaster

September 26, 2010

Jimi Heselden, the British entrepreneur who had just bought the Segway company, backs off a cliff while riding an off road version of the Segway.

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Iraq War

September 26, 2002

When asked, "Are there linkages between al Qaeda and Iraq, and where are they?" Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld replied, "The deputy director of Central Intelligence briefed on that subject. I have no desire to go beyond saying the answer is yes."

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First Person to Go Over Niagara Falls In a Barrel Twice

September 26, 1993

John David Munday makes the 176-foot drop for the second time; he had also done it in 1985.

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NC-17

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NC-17

September 26, 1990

The new rating NC17 (No Children), to apply to adult films, is announced by the Motion Picture Association of America. The first film to receive the NC-17 rating was Henry & June (1990).

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Dan Quayle

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Dan Quayle

September 26, 1990

U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle states, "I support efforts to limit the terms of members of Congress, especially members of the House and members of the Senate."

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Cop Rock

September 26, 1990

Cop Rock debuts on ABC, featuring not only singing cops, but singing murderers, crack dealers, and juries.

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First Non-U.S. Yacht to Win the America's Cup

September 26, 1983

The Australia II defeats the U.S. yacht Liberty four races to three.

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U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

September 26, 1961

U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency is established.

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West Side Story

September 26, 1957

West Side Story, the musical about the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, opens. Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, written by Arthur Laurents.

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The Adventures of Robin Hood

September 26, 1955

The Adventures of Robin Hood debuts on CBS.

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The Federal Trade Commission

September 26, 1914

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the U.S. Congress.

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First U.S. Postmaster General

September 26, 1789

The first U.S. postmaster general is appointed, Samuel Osgood.

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First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

September 26, 1789

The first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is confirmed, John Jay. Jay had served as the 6th president of the Continental Congress (1778-79).

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Sir Francis Drake - Circumnavigation of the Globe

September 26, 1580

The English navigator Sir Francis Drake arrives in England after completing his voyage. He had begun in December of 1577.

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Birthdays

Ronald "Butch" DeFeo, Jr.

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Amityville Horror

Ronald "Butch" DeFeo, Jr.

Born September 26, 1951 d. 2021

American murderer. He was convicted of the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in their home at 112 Ocean Avenue. George and Kathleen Lutz purchased the house the following year. The Lutz's claims of paranormal happenings in the house were the basis for The Amityville Horror (1977) book and subsequent movies.

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Donna Douglas

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Donna Douglas (Doris Ione Smith)

Born September 26, 1932 d. 2015

American actress, Miss New Orleans (1957). TV: The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-71, Elly May), The Twilight Zone (1960, The Eye of the Beholder). Film: Frankie and Johnny (1966, starring opposite Elvis Presley). The TV show The Beverly Hillbillies debuted on her 30th birthday.

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Jack LaLanne

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Jack LaLanne (Francois Henri Jack LaLanne)

Born September 26, 1914 d. 2011

American fitness expert. He opened the first U.S. fitness club (1936), invented the jumping jack, designed the first leg extension machines, and pulley machines using cables. His first dog on the show was named Happy, who was later replaced by a dog named Walter which stood for "We All Love To Exercise Regularly".
TV: The Jack LaLanne Show (1951-85, the first television exercise program).

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Johnny Appleseed

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Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman)

Born September 26, 1774 d. 1845

American folk hero. He devoted his life to planting apple seeds. It is said that his usual dress consisted of bare feet, a burlap sack for a shirt, and a tin pan hat.

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Kalina

Born September 26, 1985 d. 2010

Killer whale. Kalina was the first killer whale born in captivity to survive. She was born at Sea World Orlando, Florida and billed as "Baby Shamu".

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Rob Moroso

Born September 26, 1968 d. 1990

American race car driver, NASCAR 1990 Rookie of the Year (awarded posthumously). He died in a car crash near his home in North Carolina. He was doing 75 mph (121 km/h) in a 35 mph (56 km/h) curve with a blood alcohol level of 0.22. The accident killed himself and the driver of the oncoming vehicle.

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Melissa Sue Anderson

Born September 26, 1962

American Emmy-winning actress. TV: Little House on the Prairie (Mary Ingalls).

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Linda Hamilton

Born September 26, 1956

American actress. TV: Beauty and the Beast (1987-90, Catherine). Film: the Terminator films.

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Olivia Newton-John

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Olivia Newton-John

Born September 26, 1948 d. 2022

British-Australian Grammy-winning singer, actress. She has sold more than 100 million records. Music: Let Me Be There (1973) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Film: Grease (1978) and Xanadu (1980).

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Lynn Anderson

Born September 26, 1947 d. 2015

American Grammy-winning country singer. Music: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1971).

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Kent McCord

Born September 26, 1942

American actor. TV: Adam-12 (1968-75, officer Jim Reed).

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Patrick O'Neal

Born September 26, 1927 d. 1994

American actor of TV and film.

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Julie London (Julie Peck)

Born September 26, 1926 d. 2000

American singer, actress. TV: Emergency! (1972, nurse Dixie McCall). Music: Cry Me a River (1955).

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Barbara Britton

Born September 26, 1919 d. 1980

American actress. TV: Mr. and Mrs. North (Pamela North).

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Bill France, Sr.

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Bill France, Sr. (William Henry Getty France)

Born September 26, 1909 d. 1992

American stock-car racing pioneer. France founded NASCAR (1948) and built Daytona International Speedway (1959) and the Talladega Superspeedway (1969).

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Albert Anastasia

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Albert Anastasia

Born September 26, 1902 d. 1957

American gangster and hit-man. A founder of both the American Mafia and "Murder Incorporated". He was boss of what would become the modern Gambino crime family. He was killed by two gunmen while sitting in a barber's chair in a New York barber shop.

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George Gershwin (Jacob Gershvin)

Born September 26, 1898 d. 1937

American Pulitzer-winning composer. Along with his brother Ira Gershwin. Music: Rhapsody in Blue (1923) and Of Thee I Sing (1931).

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Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini)

Born September 26, 1897 d. 1978

262nd Pope (1963-78). He was the first pope to fly in an airplane, the first to visit Jesus' birthplace, and the first to visit the U.S. In 1968, he issued an encyclical banning all forms of artificial birth control.

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George Raft

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George Raft

Born September 26, 1895 d. 1980

American actor. Film: Scarface (1932, Guido Rinaldo). He was reputed to be the world's fastest Charleston dancer.

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Clinton Stevenson "Praying Benny" Benedict

Born September 26, 1892 d. 1976

Canadian Hall of Fame hockey goalie. He was the first NHL goalie to wear a face mask (1929). He was the first goalie to drop to his knees to stop the puck along the ice, earning him the name "Praying Benny." Dropping to the ice was illegal at the time, causing the NHL to make it first rule change: legalizing this move.

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T.S. Eliot (Thomas Stearns Eliot)

Born September 26, 1888 d. 1965

American Nobel-winning poet, playwright.

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Edmund Gwenn

Born September 26, 1877 d. 1959

English Oscar-winning actor. Film: Miracle on 34th Street (1947, Oscar as Kris Kringle) and The Trouble with Harry (1955).

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Deaths

Paul Newman

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Paul Newman

Died September 26, 2008 b. 1925

American Oscar-winning actor, philanthropist. Film: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), and The Sting (1973).

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Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino

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Tokyo Rose

Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino

Died September 26, 2006 b. 1916

American propaganda broadcaster for the Japanese. She was the most famous of the women referred to as "Tokyo Rose" during World War II.
Born in the U.S. to Japanese immigrants, she was visiting Japan when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. Unable to return the U.S., she began hosting the radio show Zero Hour broadcasting propaganda and entertainment to U.S. troops. During this time, she used part of her earnings to buy and smuggle food to Allied POWs, as she had also done before she began broadcasting. Convicted of treason for her broadcasts (1949), she served six years in prison. She was pardoned by U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1977 after is was discovered that witnesses against her had been coerced into lying under oath.

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Helen Kane go to Video for Helen Kane

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Helen Kane (Helen Schroeder)

Died September 26, 1966 b. 1904

American actress, singer. Max Fleischer based his cartoon character Betty Boop on her and Clara Bow. Kane developed her "Boop-boop-a-doop" scat singing style after seeing black child performer Baby Esther (Esther Jones) singing scat style at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Baby Esther was about nine years old at the time.
Broadway: Good Boy (1929, giving her famous squeaky-voiced "Boop-boop-a-doop" rendition of I Wanna Be Loved by You).

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George Cormack

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Inventor of Wheaties

George Cormack

Died September 26, 1953 b. 1870

American inventor of Wheaties cereal (1921). Originally called "Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes," the name "Wheaties" was chosen by a company-wide naming contest. They were invented after a clinician working for the Washburn Crosby Company (later General Mills) accidentally spilled wheat gruel onto a hot stove, transforming it into wheat flakes. Cormack, the head miller, developed the process to make the flakes strong enough to withstand packaging.
Future U.S. President Ronald Reagan was doing play-by-play recreations of Chicago Cubs baseball games and in 1937 was selected as the most popular Wheaties announcer in the nation. He was awarded a trip to California, where he took a screen test and began his movie career.

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George Santayana

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Those Who Cannot Remember the Past are Condemned to Repeat It

George Santayana (Jorge AgustĂ­n Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás)

Died September 26, 1952 b. 1863

Spanish-American poet. Quote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Writings: The Realms of Being (1928-40).

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The Story of Dr. Dolittle (1920) The Story of Dr. Dolittle (1920)

The Story of Dr. Dolittle (1920) The Story of Dr. Dolittle (1920)
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Creator of Doctor Doolittle

Hugh John Lofting

Died September 26, 1947 b. 1886

English-born American children's author, illustrator. Writings: The Story of Dr. Dolittle (1920) and its 10 sequels.

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Levi Strauss

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Maker of Blue Jeans

Levi Strauss (Löb StrauĂź)

Died September 26, 1902 b. 1829

Bavarian-born American businessman. Jacob Davis, one of Strauss' customers, was one of the inventors of riveted denim pants. He and Levi went into business together (1873) to produce blue jeans.

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Daniel Boone

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Daniel Boone

Died September 26, 1820 b. 1734

American pioneer, Indian fighter. Boone explored what is now Kentucky, where he founded Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians. More than 200,000 Americans migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.
Quote: "I can't say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once for three days."

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Jimi Heselden (James William Heselden)

Died September 26, 2010 b. 1948

British entrepreneur. In 2010, he bought Segway Inc. maker of the Segway personal transport system. He died later that year after backing off a cliff while riding an off road version of the Segway.

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Byron Nelson (John Byron Nelson, Jr.)

Died September 26, 2006 b. 1912

American golfer. He won a record 11 consecutive tournaments tournaments in 1945. This feat is chronicled in the book Byron Nelson: The Most Remarkable Year in the History of Golf.

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Robert Palmer

Died September 26, 2003 b. 1949

British singer. Music: Addicted To Love (1986).

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Richard Mulligan

Died September 26, 2000 b. 1932

American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Soap (Bert Campbell) and Empty Nest (Dr. Weston).

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Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia

Died September 26, 1994 b. 1907

Grandson of Germany's last emperor, third in line to the throne. Worked as a mechanic in a Detroit Ford automobile plant (1929-34) and opposed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

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Charles J. Correll

Died September 26, 1972 b. 1890

American comedian. Radio: Amos 'n' Andy (1928-60, Andy). Amos 'n' Andy was the first U.S. syndicated radio program. It featured Correll and Freeman Gosden, both white actors, portraying black characters.

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Gus Edson

Died September 26, 1966 b. 1901

American cartoonist. Creator of Dondi (1955) and took over The Gumps when its creator, Sidney Smith, died in 1935.

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Charles Erwin Wilson

Died September 26, 1961 b. 1890

American engineer, president of General Motors (1941-53), designed the motor for the first electric automobile starter, and as U.S. Secretary of Defense (1953-57) stated, "…what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa."

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Bessie Smith

Died September 26, 1937 b. 1894

American blues singer, the most successful blues singer of the 1920s and '30s. After her death from a car accident, it was rumored that she died because white hospitals wouldn't admit her. However, later interviews with the ambulance driver and attending physician dispelled these rumors. The rumors were started by a record executive, probably to increase sales of her records. Source biography: Bessie

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John Byrom

Died September 26, 1763 b. 1692

English poet. Writings: Three Black Crows and Fig and Sutton. He invented and published (1767) a system of shorthand titled The Universal English Shorthand.

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