History Blog

October 15

Happy Birthday RIP “Mark Lenard”(Leonard Rosenson 1924–1996) Carole Penny Marshall(1943–2018) Tanya Roberts(Victoria Blum 1955–2021) ; Linda Lavin–87 Richard Carpenter–78 Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York–65 Emeril Lagasse III–65 Dominic West–55 William Brent Unger–29 ; 1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation (later General Electric) in Schenectady New York ; 1951 – The first episode of “I Love Lucy”, an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, airs on the Columbia Broadcasting System(CBS)

October 14

Happy Birthday RIP David Dwight Eisenhower(1890–1969) Lillian Gish(1893–1993) Charles Everett Koop(1916–2013) Sir Roger Moore(1927–2017) Harry Anderson(1952–2018) ; Ralph Lauren(Lifschitz)–85 Gregory Evigan–71 Thomas Dolby(Robertson)–66 Isaac Mizrahi–63 Stephen Coogan–59 Karyn White–59 Usher Raymond IV–46 Maximillion Thieriot–36 ; 1926 – The children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, is first published ; 1964 – Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence ; 1977 – Anita Bryant gets a pie thrown in her face by gay rights activist Tom Higgins after she makes derogatory remarks about homosexuals. She called us deviants and predators, telling Mr Higgins that Rolling Stone would report the incident and he would regret it. Instead the incident ruined Bryant’s career and made her infamous. She’s still alive and in seclusion living out her pathetic final days.

https://youtu.be/5tHGmSh7f-0?si=31_zIB_7iFY3FC2e

https://youtu.be/wlpVaRyit84?si=2B22GOH9VpRV5JVc

October 13

Happy Birthday RIP Laraine Johnson(“Day” 1920–2007) Margaret Thatcher(Roberts 1925–2013) ; Paul Simon–83 Grady Demond Wilson–78 Samuel “Sammy” Hagar–77 Olive Marie Osmond–65 Matthew Walsh–60 Kathleen “Kate” Walsh–57 Sacha Baron Cohen–53 Ashanti Douglas–44 ; 1843 – In New York City, Henry Jones and 11 others founded B’nai B’rith (בני ברית‎) “Children of the Covenant” , the oldest Jewish service organization in the world

October 12

Happy Birthday RIP Luciano Pavarotti(1935–2007) Adam Rich(1968–2023) ; Christopher Wallace–77 Susan Anton–74 Christopher Botti–62 Hugh Jackman–56 Joshua Hutcherson–32 ; 1998 – Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was brutally beaten, suffered severe head trauma, and was robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie Wyoming. When he was found there was blood caked on his entire face except where tears had steamed down his cheeks. The two men that murdered him are serving double life sentences without parole in separate facilities.

October 11

Happy Birthday RIP Anna Eleanor Roosevelt(1884–1962) Luke Perry(Coy Luther Perry III 1966–2019) ; Daryl Hall(Hohl)–78 David Morse–71 Joan Cusack–62 Sean Patrick Flanery–59 Jane Krajkowski–56 Stephen Moyer(Emery)–55 Emily Deschanel–48 Matthew Bomer–47 Trevor Donovan Neubauer–46 Belcalis Almanzar(“Cardi B”)–32 ; 1975 – The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis Ian and Billy Preston as guests ; 1988 – National Coming Out Day is an annual LGBTQ observed day to commemorate the gay liberation spirit of the person being political. The emphasis is that the most basic form of activism is coming out to family, friends and colleagues, and living life as an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender or queer person.

October 10

Happy Birthday RIP Helen Hayes(Brown 1900–1993) Ibson Dana Elcar(1927–2005) Christopher Penn(1965–2006) ; “Peter Coyote”(Rachmil Cohon)–83 Benjamin Vereen(Middleton)–78 David Lee Roth–70 Tanya Tucker–66 Julia Sweeney–65 Bradley Whitford–65 Jodi Marzorati(“Benson”)–63 Mario Lopez Jr–51 Daniel Stevens–42 ; 1871 – The Great Chicago Fire: Chicago burns after a barn accident. The fire lasts for 3 days ; 1973 – Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax.

October 9

Happy Birthday RIP John Winston Lennon(1940–1980) Barbara March (1953–2019); Clyde Jackson Browne–76 Sharon Osbourne(Arden)–72 Anthony Shalhoub–71 John O’Hurley–70 Scott Bakula–70 Sean Lennon–49 Brandon Routh–45 ; 1701 – The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later renamed Yale University) was chartered in Old Saybrook, Connecticut ; 1936 – Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begin to generate electricity from the Colorado River and transmit it 266 miles to Los Angeles, California

October 8

Happy Birthday Rona Barrett(Burstein)–88 Paul Hogan–85 Cornelius “Chevy” Chase–81 Sarah Purcell–76 Susan “Sigourney” Weaver–75 Darrell Hammond–69 Stephanie Zimbalist–68 Dylan Neal–55 Matthew Damon–54 Nicholas Cannon–44 Peter “Bruno Mars” Hernandez–39 ; 1921 – KDKA TV located in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field conducts the first live broadcast of a football game ; 1967 – Guerrilla leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a Cuban Marxist revolutionary leader, and his men are captured in Bolivia and executed the next day

October 7

Happy Birthday RIP “June Allyson”(Eleanor Geisman 1917–2006) ; “Joy Behar”(Josephina Occhiuto)–82 John Mellencamp–73 Judy Landers(Hamburg)–66 Simon Cowell–65 Dylan Baker–65 Daniel Savage–60 Toni Braxton–58 Brandon Quinn Swierenga–47 Shawn Ashmore–45 ; 1998 – Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found by a bicyclist near the fence where he lay severely injured ; at first thinking the body was a fallen scarecrow, he soon realized otherwise and ran to call for help. Responding officers reported that Shepard’s face was caked in blood except where tears made tracks along his cheeks. The two men are serving double life sentences without parole in separate prison sites. #MatthewShepard #HateCrime

October 6

Happy Birthday RIP Laura “Janet” Gainor(1906–1984) “Carole Lombard”(Jane Peters 1908–1942) ; Britt-Marie Eklund–82 Kevin Cronin–73 Elisabeth Shue–61 Ioan Gruffudd–51 Jeremy Sisto–50 Wesley Ramsey–47 Olivia Thirlby–38 ; 1927 – The era of talking motion pictures began with the opening of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, the first prominent talking movie