On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on October 17:
1711 Jupiter Hammon 1st American black to publish poetry (Complete Works)
1817 Samuel Ringgold Ward Maryland, minister/abolitionist/author
1835 Alexandrine-Pieternella-Fran‡oise Tinn‚ explored the White Nile
1848 William "Candy" Cummings created the curve ball
1886 Spring Byington Colo Springs, actress (Lily Ruskin-December Bride)
1903 Irene Ryan El Paso Texas, actress (Granny-Beverly Hillbillies)
1903 Jerry Colonna Boston Mass, comedian (Bob Hope USO shows. Jerry Colonna Show)
1912 John Paul I 263rd Roman Catholic pope (1978)
1915 Arthur Miller playwright (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible)
1919 Rita Hayworth NY (Alzheimer victim), actress (Gilda, Pal Joey)
1920 Montgomery Clift actor (From Here to Eternity)
1921 Maria Gorokhovskaya USSR, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1952)
1921 Tom Poston Columbus Ohio, actor (Steve Allen Show, Newhart)
1926 Karl G Henize Cincinnati Ohio, astronaut (STS 51F)
1928 James "Junior" Gilliam Dodgers (NL rookie of year 1953)
1930 Jimmy Breslin Queens NYC, columnist (NY Post, News, Newsday)
1932 Paul Anderson US, light super heavyweight lifter (Olympic-gold-1956)
1933 William A Anders Hong Kong, Maj Gen, USAF/astronaut (Apollo 8)
1938 Robert "Evel" Knievel motorcycle daredevil
1941 James Seals Sidney Tx, singer (Seals & Crofts-Summer Breeze)
1942 Gary Puckett vocalist (& the Union Gap-Woman Woman, Young Girl)
1946 Bob Seagren Pomona Calif, actor (Soap)/pole vaulter (Olympic-gold-68)
1947 Michael McKean NYC, actor (Lenny-Laverne & Shirley)
1948 George Wendt Chicago Ill, actor (NORM!-Cheers)
1948 Margot Kidder Yellowknife, actress (Lois Lane, Amityville Horror)
1949 Timothy Bottoms Santa Barbara Calif, actor (Adam-East of Eden)
1956 Mae C Jemison Decatur Alabama, MD/astronaut (Sked:STS 47)
1959 Dolph Lundgren actor (Rocky 4, Masters of the Universe)
Deaths which occurred on October 17:
0532 Boniface II, 1st "German" Pope, dies
1740 Anna Ivanova Romanova empress of Russia (1730-40), dies at 47
1806 Jean Jacques Dessalines Emperor of Haiti, dies
1887 Gustav Kirchoff discoverer of the laws of spectroscopy, dies
1910 Julia Ward Howe composer (Battle Hymn of the Republic), dies at 91
1984 Alberta Hunter US blues singer/composer, dies at 89
1990 Ralph Abernathy civil rights leader, dies
1993 Frank J Del Giudice US industrial designer (Boeing 747), dies at 77
1994 Dmitri Cholodov Russian journalist, murdered at 27
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 GAITHER RALPH E.---MIAMI FL.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 HALYBURTON PORTER A.---DAVIDSON NC.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 KNUTSON RODNEY A.---BILLINGS MT.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 MAYER RODERICK L.---LEWISTON ID.
[PROB DEAD]
1965 OLMSTEAD STANLEY E.---MARSHALL OK.
[PROB DEAD IN A/C WRECKAGE]
1965 WHEAT DAVID R.---DULUTH MN.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 ANDREWS ANTHONY C.---CHICO CA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 CADWELL ANTHONY B.---MISSOULA MT.
1967 FITZGERALD PAUL L. JR.---FORT VALLEY GA.
1967 FORTNER FREDERICK J.---POMONA CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 03/23/89]
1967 HARGROVE OLIN JR.---BIRMINGHAM AL.
1967 ODELL DONALD E.---MT. CLEMENS MI.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 SULLIVAN DWIGHT E. CORYDON IA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 MASON JAMES P.---DE KALB IL.
1972 WANGCHOM NOPHADON---THAILAND?
[RELEASED 09/01/74]
1972 GRAHAM ALAN U.---MOBILE AL.
09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV]
1972 HOCKRIDGE JAMES A.---ROCHESTER NY.
[09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV]
POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.
On this day...
0532 Boniface II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0733 Battle at Poitiers: Charles Martel beats Abd al-Rachmans
1244 The Sixth Crusade ends when an Egyptian-Khwarismian force almost annihilates the Frankish army at Gaza
1415 Jewish autonomy in Palestine ends, as Raban Gamliel leaves office
1483 The Reverend Tomas de Torquemada, OP, appointed inquisitor-general of Spain
1492 Columbus sights isle of San Salvador (Watling Island, Bahamas)
1691 New royal charter for Massachusetts, now including Maine, Plymouth
1777 British General John Burgoyne surrenderes over 5,000 British and Hessian troops to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., a turning point of the Revolutionary War.
1781 Cornwallis defeated at Yorktown
1787 Boston blacks, petition legislature for equal school facilities
1806 Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he has been banished by the Allies.
1808 Political rights of Jews suspended in Duchy of Warsaw
1829 Delaware River & Chesapeake Bay Canal formally opened
1835 The first resolution formally creating the Texas Rangers is approved
1850 Knickerbocker Engine Co Number 5 organized
1855 Bessemer steelmaking process patented
1860 1st pro golf tournament held (Scotland) (Willie Park wins)
1862 Battle of Leetown & Thoroughfare Gap, VA
1868 Constitution of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg comes into effect
1871 President Grant suspends writ of habeas corpus
1894 Ohio national guard kills 3 lynchers while rescuing a black man
1904 Bank of Italy (Bank of America) opens its doors
1906 Wilhelm Voigt, a 57-year-old German shoemaker, impersonates an army officer and leads an entire squad of soldiers to help him steal 4,000 marks.
1918 Yugoslavia proclaims itself a republic
1919 Radio Corporation of America (RCA) created
1920 Chicago Bears (as Decatur Staleys) play 1st NFL game, win 7-0
1931 Al Capone convicted of tax evasion, sentenced to 11 years in prison
1933 Albert Einstein arrives in the US, a refugee from Nazi Germany
1934 "The Aldrich Family" premieres on radio
1935 Pacific Assoc of AAU votes not to participate in Berlin Olympics
1941 1st US destroyer (Kearney) torpedoed off Iceland
1945 Juan Per¢n becomes dictator of Argentina
1956 England's 1st large scale nuclear power station opens
1957 French author Albert Camus awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
1959 Queen Elizabeth is fined $140 for withdrawing her race horse
1961 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 33,100 m
1961 Battle of Paris -- police kill 210 Algerians who were protesting against police oppression and the curfew imposed against their community in Paris.
1961 NY Museum of Modern Art hung Henri Matisse's "Le Bateau" upside-down, It wasn't corrected until December 3rd
1962 Yanks beat Giants for 20th world championship
1964 Yanks fire Manager Yogi Berra
1967 Barbra Streisand stars on "Belle of 14th Street" special on CBS
1967 Memorial service for Brian Epstein at New London Synagogue
1967 Pete Knight in X-15 reaches 85 km
1967 The play "Hair" is 1st performed
1969 Soyuz 7 returns to Earth
1973 5-mo oil embargo by Arab states against US & Netherlands begins
1974 NBA New Orleans Jazz begin a 28 game road losing streak
1974 Oakland A's beat LA Dodgers, 4 games to 1 in 71st World Series, makes A's the only team other than Yanks to win 3 straight series
1975 UN passes resolution saying "Zionism is a form of racism"
1975 1st Space Shuttle main engine test at Natl Space Tech Labs, Miss
1977 Canada begins regular live TV coverage of Parliament
1977 West German commandos storm hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, Somalia freeing all 86 hostages & killing 3 of the 4 hijackers
1978 NY Yankees beat Dodgers, 4 games to 2 in 75th World Series
1978 Pres Carter signs bill restoring Jefferson Davis citizenship
1978 Yanks win 22nd World Championship capping their great comeback year
1979 D Bautista of Mexico completes 20,000 m walk in record 1:20:06.8
1979 Mother Teresa of India, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
1979 Pitts Pirates beat Balt Orioles, 4 games to 3 in 76th World Series
1986 US Senate approved immigration bill prohibiting hiring of illegal aliens & offered amnesty to illegals who entered prior to 1982
1987 1st lady Nancy Reagan undergoes a modified radical mastectomy
1987 1st World Series game in a covered stadium (Minnesota Metrodome) (World Series #84)
1988 Lyndon LaRouche pleads innocent to fraud, conspiracy indictment(It's all a plot)
1988 Phillip Morris announces $11 Billion tender offer for Kraft
1988 Rockin Robin beats "Sensational" Sherri Martel for WWF women's title
1988 Traveling Wilbury's 1st release "Handle With Care"
1989 Earthquake in SF (6.9) cancels 3rd game of 86th World Series - kills 67
1991 News anchor Bree Walker Lampley files an FCC complaint that LA radio KFI-AM personally attacked her by discussing her having a disformed baby
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Haiti : Dessalines Day (1806)
Malawi : Mother's Day
Gourmet Coffee Week (Day 3)
National Pet Peeve Week (Day 6)
Co-op Awareness Month.
National Applejack Month!!
National Sarcastics' Awareness Month
Religious Observances
Anglican : St Ethelred's Day
RC : St Hedwig
Ang, RC, Luth : Memorial of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, martyr
Old Catholic : Feast of St Margaret Mary Alacoque (now 10/16)
Religious History
1483 Pope Sixtus IV launched the Spanish Inquisition, placing it under joint direction of the Church and state. Tomas de Torquemada, 63, was appointed Grand Inquisitor in charge of removing Jews and Muslims from Spain.
1582 Birth of German scholar Johann Gerhard, most influential of the 17th century Lutheran theologians. His writings attained a European circulation second only to the Bible and Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation of Christ."
1651 French scientist Blaise Pascal wrote in a letter: 'Jesus Christ suffered and died to sanctify death and suffering; he has been all that was great, and all that was abject, in order to sanctify in himself all things except sin, and to be the model of every condition.'
1792 Birth of John Bowring, English statesman, linguist, merchant, theologian and author of the hymn, "In the Cross of Christ I Glory."
1812 In Washington Co., PA, the first of seven eventual conferences convened, leading ultimately to the founding in 1836 of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream."
Gender Dictionary...
Entertainment (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.
female: A good movie, concert, play or book.
male: Anything with one ball, two folds, or three stooges.
Signs Your Cat is Planning to Kill You!...
As the wind blows over the grassy knoll in downtown Dallas, you get a faint whiff of catnip.
The Ultimate Scientific Dictionary...
Ytterbium:
A rare and inconsequential element, named after the village of Ytterby, Sweden (not to be confused with Iturbi, the late pianist and film personality, who was actually Spanish, not Swedish). Ytterbium is used mainly to fill block 70 in the periodic table. Iturbi was used mainly to play Jane Powell's father.
Things you would like to say at work, but won't...
Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
WWI was the marker at which the 19th century became the 20th. WWI also offered a variety of new warfare technology (gases, aerial combat, tanks). Furthermore, the annihilation of the Armenian nation was the most effective genocide of the 20th century and inspiration for Hitler's "remedy". When questioned about his master plan for the Jews, Hitler is quoted as having said, "Look what they did to the Armenians, and no one noticed." By comparison, Hitler's Holocaust was not particularly successful, and WWII statistics of loss were a gift compared with the Great War.
