History Blog

Tag Archives: History

August 11

Happy Birthday Ian McDiarmid–73 Terry Bollea(“Hulk Hogan”)–64 Viola Davis–52 Anna Gunn–49 Chris Messina–43 Chris Hemsworth–34 ; 1934 – The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island ; 1965 – deadly rioting and looting broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles.

August 10

Happy Birthday RIP Herbert Hoover(1874–1964) Edith Norma Shearer(1902–1983) John “Jack” Haley Jr(1898–1979) Eddie Fisher(Edwin Tisch 1928–2010) ; Ian Anderson–70 Donald Swayze–59 Rosanna Arquette–58 José Antonio Banderas–57 Justin Theroux–46 Ryan Eggold–33 Lucas Till–27 ; 1977 – In Yonkers, New York, 24yo postal employee David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over the period of one year

August 9

Happy Birthday RIP Whitney Houston(1963–2012) ; Samuel Elliott–73 Melanie Griffith–60 Amanda Bearse–59 Gillian Anderson–49 Eric Banadinovic(Eric Bana)–49 Audrey Tautou–41 Anna Kendrick–32 ; 1969 – Actress Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Jay Sebring and Steven Parent were found murdered in Los Angeles; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the murders

August 8

Happy Birthday RIP Esther Williams(1921–2013) ; Richard Anderson–91 Lonnie Melvin Tillis–85 Donald P. Bellisario–82 Dustin Hoffman–80 Concetta Ingolia(“Connie Stevens”)–79 Larry Wilcox–70 Keith Carradine–68 Donald Most–64 Joshua “J.C.” Chasez–41 Jackie Cruz–31 ; 1876 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph ; 1974 – Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day

August 7

Happy Birthday RIP Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer (1927–1959) Mary “Billie” Burke(1884–1970) ; John Glover Jr–73 Wayne Knight–63 Paul Bruce Dickinson–59 David Duchovny–57 Charlize Theron–42 Eric Johnson–38 Randy Wayne Frederick–36 ; 1782 – George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart

August 6

Happy Birthday RIP Robert Mitchum(1917–1997) Andy Warhola(1928–1987) Lucille Ball(1911–1989) ; Barbara Windsor(Deeks)–80 Manoj Nelliyattu “M Night” Shyamalan–47 Vera Farmiga–44 Soleil Moon Frye–41 Melissa George–41 Christopher Anton Ploszczansky–31 ; 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, that instantly killed an estimated 66,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare.

August 5

Happy Birthday RIP John Huston(1906–1987) Selma Diamond(1920–1985) Neil Armstrong(1930–2012) ; “John Saxon”(Carmine Orrico)–82 Loni Anderson–72 Jeannette “Ja’net” DuBois–72 Maureen McCormick–61 ; 1926 – Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping ; 1957 – “American Bandstand,” hosted by Dick Clark, made its network TV debut on ABC.

August 4

Happy Birthday RIP Anita Page(Pomares 1910–2008) Louis Armstrong(1901–1971) ; Frank Vincent Gattuso–78 Richard Belzer–73 William Robert Thornton–62 Barack H. Obama II–56 Daniel Dae Kim–49 Abigail Spencer–36 ; 1977 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy

August 3

Happy Birthday “Tony Bennett”(Anthony Benedetto)–91 “Martin Sheen”(Ramon Estevez)–77 Martha Stewart(Kostyra)–76 John Landis–67 Jay Waverly North Jr–66 Molly Hagan–55 Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr–40 Thomas Dewey–39 Nicole Evangeline Lilly–38 ; 1923 – Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, one day after President Warren G. Harding died of a heart attack ; 1977 – Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world’s first mass-produced personal computers

August 2

Happy Birthday RIP Jacob “Jack” Warner(1892–1978) Myrna “Loy” Williams(1905–1993) Beatrice Straight(1914–2001) John Carroll O’Connor(1924–2001) Peter O’Toole(1932–2013) Wesley Craven(1939–2015) ; Joanna Cassidy(Caskey)–72 Patrick Lilley(“Butch Patrick”)–64 Patricia Apollonia Kotero–58 Mary-Louise Parker–53 Samuel Worthington–41 Edward Furlong–40 ; 1790 – The first United States Census is conducted ; 1870 – Tower Subway, the world’s first underground tube railway, opens in London, England, United Kingdom.