History Blog

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

April 8

Happy Birthday RIP “Mary Pickford”(Gladys Smith 1892–1979) Elizabeth “Betty” Ford(1918–2011) Sheldon Greenfield(“Shecky Greene” 1926–2023) ; John Schneider IV–64 Jeffrey “Izzy Stradlin” Isbell–62 John Julian Lennon–61 Robin Wright–58 Patricia Arquette–56 ; 1913 – The 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified ; 1958 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper (pioneer of first high level mainframe programming language) meets to discuss the creation of a new language that would be called COBOL(common oriented business language)

April 7

Happy Birthday RIP Ian Richardson(1934–2007) “Billie Holiday”(Elinora Fagan 1915–1959) James Bumgarner(“Garner” 1928–2014) William “Wayne” Rogers III(1933–2015) ; Edmund “Jerry” Brown Jr–86 Francis Ford Coppola–85 John Oates–76 Kong-sang “Jackie” Chan(陳港生)–70 Russell Crowe–60 Edward John Speleers–36 ; 1927 – AT&T engineer Herbert Ives transmits the first long-distance public television broadcast(from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce SecretaryHerbert Hoover).; 1943 – The National Football League(NFL) makes helmets mandatory ; 1948 – The World Health Organization (WHO) is established by the United Nations(UN) ; 1964 – IBM announces the System/360 the first major computer mainframe architecture which features 8-bit byte addressing 

April 6

Happy Birthday RIP Phil Leeds(1916–1998) Merle Haggard(1937–2016) ; William December “Billy Dee” Williams–87 John Ratzenberger–77 Patrika Darbo–76 “MariLou Henner”(Mary Lucy Pudlowski)–72 Paul Rudd–55 Anders Jensen–52 Zachary Braff–49 Candace Cameron–48 Miguel Ángel Silvestre Rambla–42 Charlie McDermott–34 ; 1909 – Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reach the North Pole. ; 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City

April 5

Happy Birthday RIP Eldred Gregory Peck(1916–2003) Ruth “Bette” Davis(1908–1989) Spencer Tracy(1900–1967) Christopher Hewett(1921–2001) Colin Powell(1937–2021) ; Maxwell Gail–81 Åse Agneta Fältskog–74 Thea Gill–54 Pharrell Williams–51 ; 1792 – U.S. President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States. The bill was outlining a new apportionment formula submitted by then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Apportionment described how Congress divides seats in the House of Representatives among the states based on the US census figures

April 4

Happy Birthday RIP Heath Andrew Ledger(1979–2008) Daniel David White(1916–1990) Anthony Perkins(1932–1992) “Maya Angelou”(Marguerite Johnson 1928–2014) Peter Vaughan(Olm 1923–2016) Estelle Harris(Nussbaum 1928–2022) ; Craig T. Nelson–80 Hugo Weaving–64 Graham Norton(Walker)–61 David Cross–60 Robert Downey Jr–59 Nancy McKeon–58 James Rodriguez(“Roday”)–48 ; 1850 – The city of Los Angeles was incorporated ; 1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee ; 1975 – Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico

April 3

Happy Birthday RIP Leslie Howard Steiner(1893–1943) Marlon Brando Jr(1924–2004) Doris Kappelhoff(“Doris Day” 1922–2019) ; Dame Valerie Jane Morris Goodall–90 Marsha Mason–82 Carson Wayne Newton–82 Michael Orlando Cassavitis(“Tony Orlando”)–80 Alexander “Alec” Baldwin III–66 David Hyde Pierce–65 Edward “Eddie” Murphy–63 Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn–55 Jamie Bamber Griffith–51 ; 1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins ; 1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in Memphis

April 2

Happy Birthday RIP Alec Guinness de Cuffe(1914–2000) Marvin Gay Jr(1939–1984) Christian “Buddy” Ebsen Jr(1908–2003) Robert “Dabbs” Greer (1917–2007) Ronald Paolillo(1949–2012) Rodney King III(1965–2012) Sam Anderson(1945–2020); Linda Hunt–79 Emmylou Harris–77 Christopher Meloni–63 Adam Rodriguez–49 Michael Fassbender–47 Aiden Turner–41 ; 1902 – Tally’s “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California at 262 S Main. It’s since been demolished and replaced with office building ; 1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS-TV. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format #SoapOpera

April 1

Happy Birthday RIP Leonidas “Lon” Chaney(1883–1930) Gordon Jump(1932–2003) Mary “Debbie” Reynolds(1932–2016) “Jane Powell”(Suzanne Bruce 1929–2021) ; Elizabeth “Ali” MacGraw–85 Barry Sonnenfeld–71 Susan Boyle–63 Rachel Maddow–51 Samuel Huntington–42 Matthew Lanter–41 ; 1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois ; 1970 – President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General’s warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and radio in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971

March 31

Happy Birthday RIP Cesar Chavez(1927–1993) Charles Eli Guggenheim(1924–2002) Anne Elizabeth “Liz” Claiborne(1929–2007) ; George Richard Chamberlain–90 Shirley Jones–90 Herbert Alpert–89 Ronald “Christopher” Walken–81 Gabriel Kaplan–79 Albert Gore Jr.–76 Rhea Perlman(DeVito)–76 William McNamara–59 Ewan McGregor–53 Evan Williams–52 ; 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public in Paris.