History Blog

April 18

Happy Birthday RIP Clarence Darrow(1857–1938) Robert “Bob” Hastings(1925–2014) Barbara Hale(1922–2017) ; Hayley Mills–78 James Woods–77 Frederick “Rick” Moranis–71 Eric Roberts–68 Jane Leeves–63 Eric McCormack–61 Conan O’Brien–61 David Tennant(McDonald)–53 Eli Roth–52 Sean Maguire–48 Melissa Joan Hart–48 Aliah Shawkat–35 Brittany Robertson–34 ; 1923 – Yankee Stadium, “The House that Ruth Built”, opens ; 1924 – Simon & Schuster publishes the first crossword puzzle book

April 17

Happy Birthday RIP William Holden(Beedle Jr 1918–1981) Donald Kirshner(1934–2011) John Pierpont Morgan(1837–1913) ; Michael Sembello–70 Shaun Bean–65 William Mapother–59 Elizabeth “Liz” Phair–57 Jennifer Garner-Affleck–52 Victoria Adams-Beckham–50 Ken Duken–45 ; 1937 – Daffy Duck’s first appearance, in Porky’s Duck Hunt ; 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy

April 16

Happy Birthday RIP Sir Charles Chaplin (1889–1977) Enrico “Henry” Mancini(1924–1994) ; Stanley “Bobby” Vinton Jr–89 “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar”(Ferdinand Alcindor Jr)–77 Ellen Barkin–70 Jonathan Cryer–60 Martin Lawrence–59 Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen–53 Lukas Haas–48 ; 1962 – Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which at that time he would become “the most trusted man in America”

April 15

Happy Birthday RIP Elizabeth Montgomery(1933–1995) Roy Clark(1933–2018) ; Linda Bloodworth-Thomason–77 Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise “Heloise” Cruse Evans–73 Emma Thompson–65 Samantha Fox–58 Seth Rogen–42 Emma Watson–34 Margaret “Maisie” Williams–27 ; 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 220am Eastern Time about two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg at 1140pm. Charles Lightoller claimed that the helmsman Robert Hitchens initially panicked and turned the rudder the wrong way and that subsequently Bruce Ismay ordered the boat to continue “Slow Ahead” in the belief that Titanic was unsinkable but this was kept secret for insurance reasons. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew survived. the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene, and took on board the aforementioned survivors.

April 14

Happy Birthday RIP Arthur John Gielgud(1904–2000) Rodney Steiger(1925–2002) Johanna “Anne” Sullivan Macy(1866–1936) Loretta “Lynn” Webb(1932–2022) ; Julie Christie–84 Peter Rose–83 John Shea–75 Brad “Garrett”(Gerstenfeld)–64 Robert Carlyle–63 Anthony Michael Hall–56 Adrien Brody–51 Sarah Michelle Gellar–47 Claire Coffee–44 ; 1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary ; 1865 – President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. He died the next day.

April 13

Happy Birthday RIP Samuel Beckett(1906–1989) Donald Yarmy(“Don Adams” 1923–2005) Lyle Waggoner(1935–2020) Paul Sorvino(1939–2022) Tony Dow(1945–2022) ; Ronald Perlman–74 William Sadler–74 Robert “Peabo” Bryson–73 Caroline Rhea–60 Richard “Ricky” Schroder Jr–54 Kyle Howard–46 ; 1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded. ; 1902 – James C. Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming #JCPenney

April 12

Happy Birthday RIP Johnnie Collier(“Ann Miller” 1923–2004) Sir Charles Napier(1936–2011) Herbert Khaury(“Tiny Tim” 1932–1996) Thomas Clancy Jr(1947–2013) David Cassidy(1950–2017) ; Herbert Hancock–84 Edward O’Neill–78 David Letterman–77 Thomas Noonan–73 Andrés “Andy” García Menéndez–68 Shannen Doherty–53 Nicholas Brendon Schultz–53 Claire Danes–45 Jennifer Morrison–45 ; 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry Truman, becomes President upon Roosevelt’s death ; 1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective

April 11

Happy Birthday RIP Oleg Cassini Loiewski(1913–2006) Meshach Taylor(1947–2014) ; Ethel Skakel Kennedy–96 Joel Grey(Katz)–92 Louise Lasser–85 William “Bill” Irwin–74 Michele Scarabelli–69 Lisa Stansfield–58 ; 1976 – The Apple I is created. The first Apple computer which ran the first macOS had only a basic CRT, motherboard and keyboard and was designed by Steve Wozniak.

April 10

Happy Birthday RIP Joseph Pulitzer(1847–1911) Kevin “Chuck” Connors(1921–1992) Harry Morgan(Bratsberg 1915–2011) Michel Chalhoub(عمر الشريف “Omar Sharif” 1932–2015) Carl “Max” von Sydow 1929–2020) John Madden 1936–2021) Elizabeth “Liz” Sheridan (1929–2022) Lee Capellaro(“Ving”)–74 Steven Seagal–72 Peter MacNicol–70 Brian Setzer–65 Katrina Leskanich–64 Damien Puckler–52 Charles Hunnam–44 Michael Pitt–43 Amanda “Mandy” Moore–40 Haley Joel Osment–36 ; 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Berg. ; 1912 – The RMS Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her maiden and only voyage

April 9

Happy Birthday RIP Avery Schreiber(1935–2002) Hugh Hefner(1926–2017) Moshopopoulos Yolas(“Marty Krofft” 1937–2023) ; Michael Learned–85 Dennis Quaid–70 Marc Jacobs–61 Cynthia Nixon–58 Jennifer Massoli(“Jenna Jameson”)–50 Keshia Knight Pulliam–45 Jonathan “Jay” Baruchel–42 Leighton Meester–38 Jesse McCartney–37 Kristen Stewart–34 Mary Elle Fanning–26 ; 1961 – The Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles, once the largest electric railway systems in the world, ends operations