History Blog

May 17

Happy Birthday RIP Dennis Hopper(1936–2010) William “Bill” Paxton(1955–2017) Robert “Bob” Saget 1956–2022) ; “Sugar ” Ray Leonard–67 Eithne Ní Bhraonáin(“Enya”)–62 Craig Ferguson–61 Frank “Hill” Harper–57 Tabatha Coffey–54 Derek Hough–38 ; 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 ; 1977 – Nolan Bushnell opened the first ShowBiz Pizza Place (later renamed Chuck E Cheese) in San Jose CA ; 1990 – The general assembly of World Health Organization eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.

May 16

Happy Birthday RIP Wladziu Liberace(1919–1987) Henry Fonda(1905–1982) ; Danny Trejo–79 Pierce Brosnan–70 Mary Debra Winger–68 Kevin McDonald–62 Janet Jackson–57 Tracey Fisher(“Gold”)–54 David Boreanaz–54 Victoria “Tori” Spelling–50 Thomas Brodie Sangster–33 ; 1866 – The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece called the nickel

May 15

Happy Birthday RIP James Mason(1909–1984) Joseph Cotten(1905–1994) Trinidad “Trini” Lopéz(1937–2020) Madeleine Albright(Marie Korbelová 1937–2022) ; Calogero “Chazz” Palminteri–71 Michael Oldfield–70 David Guez Charvet–51 Russell Hornsby–49 David Krumholtz–45 ; 1862 – President Lincoln signs a bill into law creating US Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed to USDA) ; 1905 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off ; 1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy” ; 1940 – McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in San Bernadino, California.

May 14

Happy Birthday RIP “Billie Dove”(Bertha Bohny 1903–1997) “Bobby Darin”(Walden Cassotto 1936–1973) ; George Lucas–79 Robert Zemeckis–72 David Byrne–71 “Tim Roth”(Timothy Smith)–62 Catherine “Cate” Blanchett–54 Sofia Coppola–52 Gabriel Mann–51 Mark Zuckerberg–39 ; 1935 – The Griffith Observatory opens as one of the first planetarium science center in the US.

May 13

Happy Birthday RIP “Bea Arthur”(Bernice Frankel 1922–2009) Beverley Owen(Ogg 1937–2019) ; Harvey Keitel–84 “Stevie Wonder”(Stevland Judkins)–73 Dennis Rodman–62 Stephen Colbert–59 Brian Geraghty–48 Neil Hopkins–46 Iwan Rheon–38 Robert Pattinson–37 ; 1939 – The first commercial FM radio station in the United States is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The station later becomes WDRC-FM ; 1958 – The trademark Velcro is registered for the product line that is basically a fabric zipper with tiny hooks made of plastic

May 12

Happy Birthday RIP Wilfrid Hyde-White(1903–1991) Katharine Hepburn(1907–2003) George Carlin(1937–2008) Lawrence “Yogi” Berra(1925–2015) Burt Bacharach(1928–2022) ; Stephen “Steve” Winwood–75 William “Billy” Squier–73 Gabriel Byrne–73 Jennifer Hetrick–65 Bruce McColloch–62 Emilio Estevez–61 Stephen Baldwin–57 Anthony “Tony” Hawk–55 Kim Fields–54 Jason Biggs–45 Rami Malik–42 ; 1933 – The Agricultural Adjustment Act is enacted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies ; 1937 – The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey

May 11

Happy Birthday RIP “Irving Berlin”(Israel Baline 1888–1989) Salvador Dalí y Domenech(1904–1989) Martha Graham(1894–1991) Cory Monteith(1982–2013) ; Frances Fisher–71 Martha Quinn–64 Jonathan Jackson–41 Matthew Leinart–40 Matthew Giraud–38 ; 1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded ; 1947 – The B.F. Goodrich Co. of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire

May 10

Happy Birthday RIP “Fred Astaire”(Frederic Austerlitz 1899–1987) “Nancy Walker”(Anna Swoyer 1922–1992) “Sid Vicious”(John Simon Ritchie 1957–1979) Gary Owens(Altman 1934–2015) ; Jim Abrahams–79 Margaret “Meg” Foster–75 Paul Hewson(“Bono”)–63 Jason Brooks–57 Dallas Roberts–53 Odette Annable(Yustman)–38 ; 1908 – The first Mother’s Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Virginia ; 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan

May 9

Happy Birthday RIP Myron “Mike” Wallace(1918–2012) Albert Finney(1936–2019) ; Candice Bergen–77 William “Billy” Joel–74 John Corbett Jr–62 Anthony Molinari–49 Chris Diamantopoulos–48 Rosario Dawson–44 Noah Centineo–27 ; 1874 – The first horse-drawn bus/carriage makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes ; 1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon

May 8

Happy Birthday RIP Harry Truman(1884–1972) Touko “Tom of Finland” Laaksonen (1920–1991) Donald Rickles(1926–2017) ; Cathryn “Toni” Tennille–83 “Gary Glitter”(Paul Gadd)–79 Philip Bailey–72 Alexander “Alex” Van Halen–70 Melissa Gilbert–59 Enrique Iglesias Preysler–48 Stephen Amell–42 ; 1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patented medicine(over-the-counter medication without regard to its effectiveness) ; 1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded