National Fruitcake Day
There are four days left in the year
0418: Deaths: Zosimus Greek Pope (417-8).
0537: Saint Sofia church in Constantinople consecrated.
1571: Birthdays: German astronomer Johannes Kepler; Johann Kepler Wurttemberg, Germany, Astronomer (elliptical orbits).
1603: Deaths: Thomas Cartwright English Presbyterian publicist, died at about 68.
1773: Birthdays: George Cayley, England, Engineer, father of the science of aerodynamics.
1822: Birthdays: Louis Pasteur Dole, France, Scientist/Bacteriologist (pasturization).
1825: The first public railroad using steam locomotive was completed in England.
1831: Naturalist Charles Darwin departed England for South America, on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s discoveries during the voyage helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.
1836: Deaths: Stephen Fuller Austin Founder of state of Texas, died at 43.
1845: Ether was first used for childbirth by Doctor Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia, when he delivered his wife’s child, a baby girl.
1855: Birthdays: Paul Ehrenreich German Etnologist/Mythologist.
1862: Battle of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, Mississippi (Chickasaw Bayou).
1871: World’s first cat show was held in Crystal Palace, London.
1879: Birthdays: Actor Sydney Greenstreet.
1887: Start of Sherlock Holmes ‘Adventure of Blue Carbuncle’.
1900: Militant prohibitionist Carry A. Nation walked into the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas, and proceeded with her first public smashing of a bar. She broke each and every one of the liquor bottles behind the bar. Nation usually did her damage with a hatchet, calling her vandalism ‘hatchetation’.
1901: Birthdays: Marlene Dietrich Berlin, Germany, Singer/Actress (Blue Angel).
1903: The barbershop quartet favorite, ‘Sweet Adeline,’ was sung for the first time – in New York City. The song was composed by Henry Armstrong with the words of Richard Gerard. The title of the song came from a theatre marquee that promoted the great operatic soprano, Adelina Patti. Now female barbershop quartets call themselves Sweet Adelines.
1904: Duke of York Theatre opens in London (first musical Peter Pan).
1905: Birthdays: Actor Cliff Arquette.
1906: Birthdays: Oscar Levant Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Musician/Actor (American in Paris, Dance of Life).
1915: Birthdays: William Howell Masters Sex Author/Physician.
1924: Birthdays: James A. McClure Republican-Idaho-Senator.
1927: The musical ‘Show Boat,’ with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, premiered at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City, New York. Joseph Stalin’s faction won at the All-Union Congress in the Soviet Union and Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist party.
1932: Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City, New York, as the largest indoor theatre in the world. Massive crowds forgot the woes of the Great Depression and attended the gala grand opening show, which was a six-hour extravaganza that lost half a million dollars within three weeks. The theatre has since been renovated to recapture its original decorative charm. An Art Deco cathedral of entertainment, it seats more than 6,200 people and is still a must-see for those visiting New York. Birthdays: Inga Swenson Actress.
1934: First youth hostel in the United States opened in Northfield, Massachusetts.
1936: Birthdays: Lee Salk Doctor (CBS TV).
1937: Mae West performed the Adam and Eve skit that got her banned from NBC radio.
1938: The first skimobile course in America opened, in North Conway, New Hampshire.
1939: An earthquake in Turkey killed approximately 50,000 people. ‘The Glenn Miller Show,’ also known as ‘Music that Satisfies,’ started on CBS radio. The 15-minute, twice-a-week show was sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes and was heard for nearly three years. Birthdays: John Amos Actor.
1940: Singer Al Jolson and actress Ruby Keeler were divorced after 12 years of marriage. They had separated a year earlier, but Jolson talked Keeler into co-starring with him in the Broadway show, ‘Hold on to Your Hats.’ She left the show before the opening and then left the marriage.
1941: Japanese warplanes bombed Manila in the Philippines, even though it had been declared an open city.
1942: First Japanese women camp (Ambarawa) goes into use.
1943: German warship ‘Scharnhorst’ sank in the Barents Sea. Birthdays: Cokie Roberts News Correspondent (ABC).
1944: Birthdays: Tracy Nelson Singer; Mick Jones Singer/Musician (Foreigner).
1945: The International Monetary Fund was established when 28 nations signed an agreement in Washington, District of Columbia creating the World Bank. Arthur Laurent’s ‘Home of the Brave,’ premiered in New York City. After World War II, foreign ministers from the former Allied nations of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain agree to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and govern the nation for five years.
1946: The American team won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1938. The competition was held at Melbourne, Australia.
1947: ‘Hey kids… What time is it? It’s Howdy Doody time!’ Buffalo Bob (Smith), Clarabelle the Clown (Bob Keeshan), Judy Canova and a host of others joined ‘Howdy Doody’ on the first ‘Howdy Doody Show,’ (Puppet Playhouse). The children’s TV program hosted by Buffalo Bob Smith, debuted on NBC and stayed on the air for 13 years.
1948: Birthdays: Gerard Depardieu, France, Actor (The Return of Martin Guerre, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, Danton, Green Card).
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1949: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.
1950: Birthdays: Terry Bozzio Singer/Musician (Missing Persons).
1951: A Crosley automobile, with a steering wheel on the right side, became the first such vehicle placed in service for mail delivery, in Cincinnati. Birthdays: Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon.
1952: Birthdays: Mark Knopfler Rock Musician (Dire Straits); Karla Bonoff Singer/Songwriter; David Knopfler Rock Musician (Dire Straits).
1953: Birthdays: Arthur Kent News Correspondent/Broadcast Journalist.
1954: Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera ‘Saint of Bleecker Street’ premiered in New York City.
1956: Chart Toppers: Singing the Blues Marty Robbins; Singing the Blues Guy Mitchell; Garden of Eden Joe Valino; A Rose and a Baby Ruth George Hamilton IV.
1960: Birthdays: Maryam D’Abo Actress (The Living Daylights).
1961: Styne/Comden/Green musical ‘Subways are for Sleeping,’ premiered.
1962: Birthdays: Jeff Bryant Country Musician (Ricochet).
1964: Chart Toppers: She’s a Woman The Beatles; Once a Day Connie Smith; I Feel Fine The Beatles; Goin’ Out of My Head Little Anthony and The Imperials.
1968: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell Junior and W. A. Anders became the first United States astronauts to land at night, when Apollo VIII, the first manned mission to the moon, returned safely to earth after a historic six day space mission, making a safe nighttime splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. ‘The Breakfast Club’ signed off for the last time on ABC radio, after 35 years on the air.
1970: The musical ‘Hello, Dolly!’ closed on Broadway at the Saint James Theater in New York City, after 2,844 performances.
1971: Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Woodstock of Charles Schulz’ famous ‘Peanuts’ comic strip, made the cover of Newsweek.
1972: Chart Toppers: You Ought to Be with Me Al Green; Me and Mrs. Jones Billy Paul; Got the All Overs for You (All Over Me) Freddie Hart and The Heartbeats; Clair Gilbert O’Sullivan. Birthdays: Matt Slocum Musician (Six Pence None The Richer).
1973: Birthdays: Wilson Cruz Actor (My So Called Life, Ally McBeal). Olu Singer.
1975: The Staple Singers reached the top spot on the pop music charts for the second time in their career. This time with ‘Let’s Do It Again.’ The song, the theme from the movie soundtrack of the same name, was the last hit the group would have. ‘I’ll Take You There’ was The Staple Singers first Number 1 hit (June 3, 1972). Chart Toppers: Let’s Do It Again The Staple Singers.
1978: King Juan Carlos ratified Spain’s first democratic constitution.
1979: Soviet forces invaded and seized control of Afghanistan. Babrak Karmal succeeded President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed. ‘Knots Landing,’ a spinoff from ‘Dallas,’ premiered on CBS television.
1980: The John Lennon hit, ‘(Just Like) Starting Over,’ began a five-week stay at Number 1 on the pop charts. The hit was from the album, ‘Double Fantasy.’ Lennon was murdered on December 8 of that year, as the single and LP had started their climb up the charts. Chart Toppers: That’s All That Matters Mickey Gilley; Love on the Rocks Neil Diamond; Hungry Heart Bruce Springsteen; (Just Like) Starting Over [Album: Double Fantasy] John Lennon.
1981: Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky became the fastest NHLer to get 100 pts (38th game). Deaths: Hoagy Carmichael United States Actor/Songwriter (Stardust), died at 82.
1983: Propane gas fire devastated 16 blocks of Buffalo, New York. Pope John Paul II pardoned the man who shot him (Mehmet Ali Agca).
1984: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the woman most admired by the American people, according to a Gallup Poll. It marked the third consecutive year that the ‘Iron Lady’ received that honor.
1985: Palestinian terrorists opened fire attacking the Israeli airline El Al in the Rome and Vienna airports. 110 were wounded, and 20 people were killed,
including five of the attackers slain by police and security personnel. President Reagan blames Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
1986: Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines, was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year. The only other women who had been so named were Queen Elizabeth II in 1952; and the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Warfield Simpson, in 1936. Bulgaria stopped jamming Radio Free Europe after more than three decades. Chart Toppers: When You Say Nothing at All Keith Whitley; Two Hearts Phil Collins; My Prerogative Bobby Brown; Every Rose Has Its Thorn Poison.
1989: President Bush, on a visit to Beeville, Texas, said he was determined to bring deposed Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega to justice ‘for poisoning the children of the United States’ with illegal drugs.
1991: ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ last aired on CBS television. A Scandinavian Airlines jet with 129 people aboard crashed and broke apart after taking off
from Stockholm. No one died in the incident.
1992: A U.S. jet shot down an Iraqi fighter over southern Iraq’s no-fly zone in the first such incident since the Persian Gulf War.
1994: Four Roman Catholic priests – three French and a Belgian – were shot to death in their rectory in Algiers, a day after French commandos killed four radicals who had hijacked an Air France jet from Algiers to Marseille.
1998: Six inmates, including four convicted killers, escaped from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee. All were recaptured by the end of next day. Deaths: Chijindu Chidera A week after she was born weighing just 10.3 ounces, the smallest of the Houston octuplets.
2002: Chechen rebels, seeking independence from Russia, killed 52 people with two vehicle bombs at pro-Russian government offices.
2004: The death toll jumped to 23,500 in the Asian tsunami with hundreds of thousands reported hurt and many thousands missing.
2007: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, first woman to hold that post in an Islamic state, was assassinated in a suicide attack as she left a political rally in Rawalpindi. Police said she was shot twice by a gunman who then set off a bomb in her motorcade, killing another 20 people. Preliminary results in the Kenyan presidential election showed opposition candidate Raila Odinga the winner over incumbent Mwai Kibaki, 57 to 39 percent. Three days later the election commission reversed the results, touching off tribal violence.
2008: 225 people died when Israeli jets bombed Gaza in retaliation for Hamas-fired rockets, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. At least 300 people were wounded. At least 24 people were killed and 46 were wounded when a car bomb exploded in northwestern Baghdad’s Kadhimiya shrine neighborhood.
2009: A Taliban commander said to be responsible for roadside bombing attacks in Afghanistan was slain in a clash with Afghan security forces.
2011: U.S. consumer confidence closed out 2011 at its highest level since the previous April. The Conference Board reported major retailers had robust holiday business and U.S. auto sales were up more than 10 percent.
2012: Deaths: Norman Schwarzkopf, American. Central Command General (Persian Gulf War), died in Tampa, FL.
2013: A car bomb in Beirut killed seven people, including Mohammad Chatah, Lebanon’s former ambassador to the United States. Dozens of others were injured in the attack, which officials said targeted Chatah’s convoy in the central section of the city. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Chatah had been a voice of reason, responsibility and moderation.