History Blog

May 26

Happy Birthday RIP “John Wayne”(Marion Morrison 1907–1979) Peter Cushing(1913–1994) Miles Davis(1926–1991) “Peggy Lee”(Norma Egstrom 1920–2002) ; Brent Musburger–74 Stephanie “Stevie” Nicks–65 Philip Michael Thomas–64 Pamela Grier–64 Randall Hank Williams–64 Eugenie “Genie” Francis–51 Robert “Bobcat” Goldthwait–51 Leonard “Lenny” Kravitz–49 Helena Bonham Carter–47 Matt Stone–42 ; 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The average price of the 11 initial stocks was 40.94

May 25

Happy Birthday RIP Claude Akins(1926–1994) Dixie Carter(1939–2010) ; Ian McKellen–74 Leslie Uggams–70 Frank Oznowicz(“Oz”)–69 Karen Valentine–66 Concetta Sellecchia(“Connie Sellecca”)–58 Mike Myers–50 Anne Heche–44 James “Jamie” Kennedy–43 Octavia Spencer–42 Lauryn Hill–38 Cillian Murphy–37 ; 1968 – The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated ; 1977 –The science-fiction movie “Star Wars” was released.

May 24

Happy Birthday RIP Queen Victoria(Alexandrina Hanover 1819–1901) ; “Bob Dylan”(Robert Zimmerman)–72 Gary Burghoff–70 Patti LaBelle(Holte)–69 Priscilla Wagner-Presley–68 Jim Broadbent–64 Alfred Molina–60 Kristin Scott Thomas–53 John C. Reilly–48 Eric Close–46 Steven Daigle–40 ; 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction

May 23

Happy Birthday RIP Douglas Fairbanks(Ullman 1883–1939) Benjamin “Scatman” Crothers(1910–1986) Rose Mary Clooney(1928–2002) ; Joan Collins–80 Charles Kimbrough–77 Drew Carey–55 Jewel Kilcher–39 Kelly Monaco–37 Tim Robinson–32 ; 1934 – bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death in a police ambush as they were driving a stolen Ford Deluxe along a road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana

May 22

Happy Birthday RIP Laurence Olivier(1907–1989) Harvey Milk(1930–1978) ; Thomas Boone Pickens–85 Bernard Shaw–73 Barbara Parkins–71 Bernie Taupin–63 Steven Morrissey–54 Brooke Smith–46 Naomi Campbell–43 Chris Salvatore–28 ; 1897 – The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened ; 1990 – Microsoft releases the Windows 3.0 operating system.

May 21

Happy Birthday RIP Raymond Burr(1917–1993) Mary “Peggy” Cass(1924–1999) ; Richard Hatch–68 Jonathan Hyde–65 Gerard “Leo” Sayer–65 Al Franken–62 Lawrence Tureaud(“Mr. T”)–61 Edward “Judge” Reinhold Jr–56 ; 1881 – Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross ; 1927 – Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean

May 20

Happy Birthday RIP James Stewart(1908–1997) ; John “Joe” Cocker–69 Cherilyn “Cher” Sarkisian–67 Jane Wiedlin–55 Matt McCoy–55 Bronson Pinchot–54 Tony Goldwyn–53 Melinda “Mindy” Cohn–47 Timothy Olyphant–45 Jack Gleeson–21 ; 1916 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting (Boy with Baby Carriage)

May 19

Happy Birthday RIP Malcolm Little(“X” 1925–1965) André Roussimoff(“the Giant” 1946–1993) ; Peter Mayhew(“Chewbacca”)–69 Pete Townshend–68 Joseph “Dusty” Hill–64 Grace Jones(Mendoza)–61 Andrew Fuller–33 ; 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery, incest, and treason ; 2001 – The first two Apple Stores opened in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California at Glendale Galleria.

May 18

Happy Birthday RIP Francesco “Frank” Capra(1897–1991) Perry Como (1912–2001) Pernell Roberts(1928–2010) Andrew Katsulas (1946–2006) ; “Bill Macy”(Wolf Garber)–91 Robert Morse–82 Chow Yun-Fat–58 Reginald “Reggie” Jackson–67 George Strait–61 Elizabeth “Tina” Fey–43 Marta “Martika” Marrero–44 ; 1642 – The Canadian city of Montreal was founded.

May 17

Happy Birthday RIP Dennis Hopper(1936–2010) ; William “Bill” Paxton–58  Robert “Bob” Saget–57 Ray Charles Leonard–57 Craig Ferguson–52 Eithne Ní Bhraonáin(“Enya”)–52 Tabatha Coffey–44 ; 1954 – the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, which declared that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.