History Blog

October 31

Happy Birthday RIP “Michael Landon”(Eugene Orowitz 1936–1991) John Candy (1950–1994) David Ogden Stiers(1942–2018) ; Lyova Rosenthal(“Lee Grant”)–104 Daniel Rather Jr–93 Saul “Ron” Rifkin–85 Sally Kirkland–83 Graham “Stephen” Rea–78 Dierdre Hall–77 Margaret Jane Pauley–74 Peter Jackson–63 Dermot Mulroney–61 Robert Schneider–61 Robert Van Winkle(“Vanilla Ice”)–57 Sean Lockhart–38 Willow Smith–24 ; 1913 – Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across the United States ; 1941 – After 14 years of work, Mount Rushmore is completed

October 30

Happy Birthday RIP Ruth Gordon Jones(1896–1985) Jane Randolph(Roermer 1915–2009) Edward Lauter II(1938–2013) Dick Gautier (1931–2017) ; Grace Slick(Wing)–85 Henry Winkler–79 Harry Hamlin–73 Juliet Stevenson–68 Kevin Pollak–67 Jack Plotnick–56 Nitara “Nia” Long–54 Matthew Morrison–46 Shaun Sipos–43 ; 1925 – John Logie Baird creates Britain’s first television transmitter

October 29

Happy Birthday RIP Baby Peggy Montgomery(1918–2020) ; Melba Moore(Beatrice Hill)–79 Richard Dreyfuss–77 Lucy Kate Jackson–76 Daniel Castellaneta–67 Joely Fisher–57 Rufus Sewell–57 Christopher Wiehl–54 Winona Ryder(Horowitz)–53 Brendan Fehr–47 Jon Abrahams–47 Benjamin Foster–44 ; 1929 – The New York Stock Exchange crashes in what will be called the Crash of ’29 or “Black Tuesday”, ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression. Thousands of investors were wiped out financially.

October 28

Happy Birthday RIP Edith Posener(“Head” 1897–1981) Charles Daniels(1936–2020); Dame Joan Plowright–95 Jane Alexander(Quigley)–85 Telma Hopkins–76 Annie Potts–72 William Henry Gates III–69 Julia Roberts–57 Bradley Paisley–52 Joaquin Phoenix(Bottom)–50 Peter “Finn” Wittrock–40 ; 1636 – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would later become known as Harvard University ; 1886 – the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland with the first ticker tape parade (office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets)

October 27

Happy Birthday RIP Theodore Roosevelt Jr(1858–1919) Caroline “Carrie” Snodgress(1945–2004) Ruby “Dee” Wallace(1922–2014) Ruby “Nanette” Fabares(1920–2018) ; John Cleese–85 Robert Picardo–71 Simon LeBon–66 Marla Maples–61 Patrick Fugit–42 Kelly Osbourne–40 Troy Gentile–31 ; 1682 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded ; 1904 – The first underground New York City Subway (IRT) line opens; the system becomes the biggest in United States

October 26

Happy Birthday RIP Mahalia Jackson(1911–1972) John “Jackie” Coogan(1914–1984) Robert “Bob” Hoskins(1942–2014) ; Jacquelyn Smith–79 Patrick Sajdak–78 Hillary Diane Rodham-Clinton–77 Cynthia Lauren Tewes–71 Mark “Dylan” McDermott–63 Ivan “Cary” Elwes–62 Thomas Cavanagh–61 Keith Urban–57 Anthony Rapp–53 Seth MacFarlane–51 ; 1921 – The Chicago Theatre originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre promoted as the “Wonder Theatre of the World” opened with its first performance “The Sign on the Door ” starring Norma Talmadge. It is still open and located at 175 N State Street in Downtown Chicago

October 25

Happy Birthday RIP Pablo Picasso y Lopez(1881–1973) Sarah Colley(“Minnie Pearl” 1912–1996) William Bertanzetti(“Billy Barty” 1924–2000) Wilma Jeanne Cooper(1928–2013) Helen Reddy(1941–2020) ; Marian Ross–96 Nancy Cartwright–67 Samantha Bee–55 Joshua Henderson–43 “Katy Perry”(Katheryn Hudson)–40 Ciara Harris–39 ; 1945 – The Republic of China takes over administration of Taiwan following Japan’s surrender to the Allies

October 24

Happy Birthday RIP “Bob Kane”(Robert Kahn 1915–1998) ; Frederick Murray Abraham–85 Kevin Kline–77 Douglas Davidson–70 John Kassir–67 Casey Wilson–44 Oliver Jackson-Cohen–38 ; 1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls, in a barrel ; 1926 – Harry Houdini’s last performance, which is at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. After struggling through the performance with a 104 degree temperature, Houdini gave in to doctor’s orders and was rushed to Grace Hospital.

October 23

Happy Birthday RIP William “Hayden” Rorke(1910–1987) Frank Sutton(1923–1974) Johnny Carson(1925–2005) John Michael Crichton(1942–2008) ; Ang Lee( 李安 )–70 Weird Alfred Yankovic–65 Samuel Raimi–65 Ryan Reynolds–48 Emilia Clarke–38 ; 1915 – Women’s suffrage: In New York City, 25,000-33,000 women march on Fifth Avenue to advocate their right to vote ; 1958 – The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, later popularized in a Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon series, appear for the first time in the story La flute à six schtroumpfs, a Johan and Peewit adventure by Peyo, which is serialized in the weekly Spirou magazine

October 22

Happy Birthday RIP “Curly Howard”(Jerome Horwitz 1903–1952) Joan Fontaine(Beauvoir de Havilland 1917–2013) Annette Funicello(1942–2013) ; Sir Derek Jacobi–86 Christopher Lloyd–86 David “Tony” Roberts–85 Catherine Deneuve(Dorléac)–81 Deepak Chopra–78 Jeffrey Goldblum–72 Robert Odenkirk–62 Brian Boitano–61 Ned “Carlos” Mencia–57 “Spike Jonze”(Adam Spiegel)–55 Michael Fishman–43 Zachary Hanson–39 Kyle Gallner–38 ; 1746 – The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter. ; 1883 – The Metropolitan Opera (“The Met”) House in New York City opens with a performance of Gounod’s Faust. It was direct competition for Academy of Music which folded 3 years after the Met opened.