History Blog

February 9

Happy Birthday RIP Carmen Miranda(Maria Miranda da Cunha 1909–1955) ; Carole King(Klein)–71 Joseph “Joe” Pesci–70 Mia Farrow–68 Judith Light(Licht)–64 James Jackson Bullock–58 Colin Egglesfield–40 Zhāng Zǐyi(章子怡)–34 Tom Hiddleston–32 David Gallagher–28 ; 1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources ; 1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers

February 8

Happy Birthday RIP Julia “Lana” Turner(1921–1995) John “Jack” Lemmon(1925–2001) James Dean(1931–1955) ; Edward “Ted” Koppel–73 Nicholas “Nick” Nolte–72 Robert Klein–71 Brooke Adams–64 Mary Steenburgen–60 John Grisham–58 Vincent Neil Wharton–52 Mary McCormack–44 Seth Green–39 Liam McIntyre–31 James “Jim” Verraros–30 ; 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce ; 1960 – The first eight brass star plaques are installed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame near Hollywood and Gower

February 7

Happy Birthday RIP Charles Dickens(1812–1870) Harry Sinclair Lewis(1885–1951) Clarence “Buster” Crabbe(1908–1983) Eddie Bracken(1915–2002) ; Miguel Ferrer–58 James Spader–53  Troyal “Garth” Brooks–51 Eddie Izzard–51 Chris Rock–48 Robyn Lively–41 Christopher Ashton Kutcher–35 Kerli Kõiv–25 ; 1935 – The classic board game Monopoly is invented

February 6

Happy Birthday RIP George “Babe” Ruth(1895–1948) Bob Marley(1945–1981) ;  Sári “Zsa Zsa” Gábor–96 Mamie Van Doren(Joan Olander)–82 Elmore “Rip” Torn–82 Mike Farrell–74 Tom Brokaw–73 Fabiano Forte–71 Natalie Cole–63 Kathy Najimy–56 William “Axl” Rose–51 Rick Astley–47 Josh Stewart–36 Ben Lawson–33 ; 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.

February 5

Happy Birthday RIP Richmond “John” Carradine(1906–1988) Red Buttons(Aaron Chwatt 1919–2006) ; Henry “Hank” Aaron–78 David Selby–72 Barbara Hershey(Herzstein)–65 Thomas “Tom” Wilkinson–65 Timothy “Tim” Meadows–52 Jennifer Jason Leigh(Morrow)–51 Laura Linney–49 Robert “Bobby” Brown–44 Thomas “Chris” Parnell–46 Paul Vandervort–28 ; 1852 – The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public ; 1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists

February 4

Happy Birthday RIP Charles Lindbergh(1902–1974) Rosa McCauley Parks(1913–2005) Bettye Goldstein(“Betty Friedan” 1921–2006) Conrad Bain(1923–2013) ; David Brenner–77 Conrad John Schuck–73 Vincent Furnier(“Alice Cooper”)–65 Masanori Takahashi(“Kitaro”)–60 Oscar De La Hoya–40 Brandon “Bug” Hall–28 ; 2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

February 3

Happy Birthday RIP John Fiedler(1925–2005) ; Dr. Henry Heimlich–93 Fran Tarkenton–73 Blythe Danner–70 Morgan Fairchild(Patsy McClenny)–63 Joseph “Nathan” Lane–57 Maura Tierney–48 Isla Fisher–37 ; 1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

February 2

Happy Birthday RIP Howard Johnson(1897–1972) Farrah Fawcett(1947–2009) ; Tom Smothers–76 Graham Nash–71 Brent Spiner–64 Christie Brinkley(Hudson)–59 Shakira Ripoll–36 ; 1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated ; 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed

February 1

 Happy Birthday RIP William “Clark” Gable(1901–1960) Boris Yeltsin(1931–2007) Rick James(James Johnson 1948–2004) Sherman Hemsley(1938–2012) ; Garrett Morris–76 Joseph “Joe” Sample–74  Lisa Marie Presley–45 Brian Krause–44 Michael C. Hall–42 Ronnie Kroell–30 ; 1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

January 31

Happy Birthday RIP Tallulah Bankhead(1902–1968) Jackie Robinson(1919–1972) Jean Simmons(1929–2010) Suzanne Pleshette(1937–2008) ; Carol Channing–92 Philip Glass–76 Harry Wayne Casey(“KC”)–62 Anthony LaPaglia–54 Kelly Lynch–54 Amelia “Minnie” Driver–43 Portia de Rossi(Amanda Rogers)–40 Kerry Washington–36 Johnny Castle(Rocco Santini)–33 Justin Timberlake–32 ; 1865 –  The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery, submitting it to the states for ratification ; 1949 – The first TV daytime soap opera, “These Are My Children,” was broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.