Happy Birthday RIP “Bob Kane”(Robert Kahn 1915–1998) ; Frederick Murray Abraham–75 Kevin Kline–67 John Kassir–57 Monica Arnold–34 Casey Wilson–34 Jemima Rooper–33 Oliver Jackson-Cohen–28 ; 1861 – The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent from California to President Abraham Lincoln ; 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.

Happy Birthday RIP William “Hayden” Rorke(1910–1987) Johnny Carson(1925–2005) John Michael Crichton(1942–2008) ; Ang Lee( 李安 )–60 Weird Alfred Yankovic–55 Samuel Raimi–55 Ryan Reynolds–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.

Happy Birthday RIP “Curly Howard”(Jerome Horwitz 1903–1952) Joan Fontaine(de Havilland 1917–2013) Annette Funicello(1942–2013) ; Sir Derek Jacobi–76 Christopher Lloyd–76 David “Tony” Roberts–75 Catherine Deneuve(Dorléac)–71 Deepak Chopra–68 Jeffrey Goldblum–62 Ned “Carlos” Mencia–47 Brian Boitano–51 “Spike Jonze”(Adam Spiegel)–45 Michael Fishman–33 Zachary Hanson–29 Kyle Gallner–28 ; 1746 – The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter. ; 1883 – The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Gounod’s Faust.

Happy Birthday RIP John “Dizzy” Gillespie(1917–1993) ; Joyce Randolph(Sirola)–90 Manfred Mann(Lubowitz)–74 Judith “Judy” Sheindlin(Blum)–72 Carrie Fisher–58 Kensaku Watanabe–55 Sasha Roiz–43 Jade Jagger–43 Jeremy Miller–38 William Estes Nipper–36 Aaron Tveit–31 ; 1879 – Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. which was tested the next day and lasted 13.5 hours. This would be the start of the invention of the first commercially practical incandescent light. Popular belief is that he invented the light bulb, which he did not.

Happy Birthday RIP Bela Lugosi(Blaskó 1882–1956) John Dewey(1859–1952) Joyce Brothers(Bauer 1927–2013) ; William Christopher–82 Thomas Petty–64 Thomas Newman–59 Viggo Mortensen Jr–56 Calvin Broadus(“Snoop Dogg”)–43 Sam Witwer–37 John Krasinski–35 Adam Butcher–26 ; 1803 – The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

Happy Birthday RIP “LaWanda Page”(Alberta Peal 1920–2002) “Robert Reed”(John Rietz 1932–1992) Harris Glenn Milstead(“Divine” 1945–1988) ; John Lithgow–69 Patricia Ireland–69 Jennifer Holliday–54 Amy Carter–47 Randolph “Trey” Parker III–45 Christopher Kattan–44 Desmond Harrington–38 ; 1987 – “Black Monday” the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or -22.6 percent in value, the largest one-day percentage drop (worse than 1929 at -12.82%)

Happy Birthday RIP George Campbell Scott(1927–1999)  Peter Boyle Jr(1935–2006)  ; Charles “Chuck” Berry–88 Dawn Wells–76 Michael Ditka–75 Pamela Dawber–63 Martina Navratilova–58 Erin Moran–54 Jean-Claude Van Damme(Varenberg)–54 Zachary Efron–27 ; 1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day ; 1898 – United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.

Happy Birthday RIP Edward Montgomery Clift(1920–1966) “Rita Hayworth”(Margarita Cansino 1918–1987) Thomas Poston(1921–2007) ; James Seals–72 Michael McKean–67 Margaret “Margot” Kidder–66 George Wendt–66 Norman Macdonald–51 David “Ziggy” Marley–46 Marshall Mathers(“Eminem”)–42 David Matthew Macfadyen–40 Chris Lowell–30 Maximillian Irons–29 ; 1919 – RCA is incorporated as the Radio Corporation of America

Happy Birthday RIP Oscar Wilde(1854–1900) Michael Conrad(1925–1983) ; Angela Lansbury–89 Leonard Barrie Corbin–74 Suzanne Somers(Mahoney)–68 Timothy Robbins–56 Kim Wayans–53 Michael Balzary(“Flea”)–52 Johnathan Mayer–37 Brea Grant–33  ; 1923 – The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.

Happy Birthday RIP “Mark Lenard” aka Sarek(Leonard Rosenson 1924–1996) ; Lido “Lee” Iacocca–90 Linda Lavin–77 Carole Penny Marshall–72 Richard Carpenter–68 Sarah Ferguson–55 Emeril Lagasse III–55 Dominic West–45 William “Billy” Unger–19 ; 1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation (later General Electric) in Schenectady ; 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.