History Blog

Tag Archives: History

January 31

Happy Birthday RIP Tallulah Bankhead(1902–1968) Jackie Robinson(1919–1972) Jean Simmons(1929–2010) Suzanne Pleshette(1937–2008) ; Carol Channing–94 Philip Glass–78 Harry Wayne Casey(“KC”)–64 Anthony LaPaglia–56 Kelly Lynch–56 Amelia “Minnie” Driver–45 “Portia de Rossi”(Amanda Rogers)–42 Kerry Washington–38 “Johnny Castle”(Rocco Santini)–35 Justin Timberlake–34 Joel Courtney–19 ; 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.

January 30

Happy Birthday RIP Franklin Roosevelt(1882–1945) Thomas “Dick” Martin(1922–2008) ; Eugene “Gene” Hackman–85 Vanessa Redgrave–78 Charles S. Dutton–64 Philip Collins–64 Jody Watley–56 Christian Bale–41 Wilmer Valderrama–35 ; 1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”.

January 29

Happy Birthday RIP “W.C. Fields”(William Claude Dukenfield 1880–1946) “John Forsythe”(Jacob Freund 1918–2010) ; Thomas “Tom” Selleck–70 Marc Singer–67 Ann Jillian(Nauseda)–65 Oprah Winfrey–61 Gregory Louganis–55 Nicholas Turturro–53 Heather Graham–45 Sara Gilbert(Abeles)–40 Justin Hartley–38 Adam Lambert–33 ; 1845 – “The Raven” is published in the New York Evening Mirror, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.

January 28

Happy Birthday RIP “Soupy Sales”(Milton Supman 1926–2009) ; “Alan Alda”(Alphonso D’Abruzzo)–79 Barbi Benton(Barbara Klein)–65 Sarah McLachlan–47 Joseph “Joey” Fatone Jr.–38 Nickolas “Nick” Carter–35 Elijah Wood–34 ; 1915 – The Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress ; 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

January 27

Happy Birthday RIP Johannes Wolfgangus Mozart(1756–1791) “Donna Reed”(Donnabelle Mullenger 1921–1986) “Troy Donahue”(Merle Johnson Jr 1936–2001) ; James Cromwell–75 Nicholas Mason–70 Mikhail Baryshnikov(Михаил Барышников)–67 “Mimi Rogers”(Miriam Spickler)–59 Keith Olbermann–56 Bridget Fonda–51 Alan Cumming–50 Tamlyn Tomita(タムリン·トミタ)–49 ; 1880 – Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp(light bulb).

January 26

Happy Birthday RIP Zara Cully(1892–1978) Eugene “Gene” Siskel(1946–1999) Paul Newman(1925–2008) ; Anne Jeffreys Carmichael–92 Robert “Bob” Uecker–80 Theodore “Scott” Glenn–76 Edward Van Halen–60 Ellen DeGeneres–57 Anita Baker–57 Wayne Gretzky–54 Paul Johansson–51 Colin O’Donoghue–34 ; 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States ; 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.

January 25

Happy Birthday RIP “Virginia Woolf”(Adeline Stephen 1882–1941) “Etta James”(Jamesetta Hawkins 1938–2012) Edwin Newman(1919–2010) ; Tobe Hooper–72 Jenifer Lewis–58 Dinah Manoff–57 Alicia Keys(Cook)–34 ; 1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco ; 1949 – the first Emmy Awards are held at Hollywood Athletic Club.

January 24

Happy Birthday RIP Ernest Borgnine(Ermes Borgnino 1917–2012) Sharon Tate(1943–1969) John Belushi(1949–1982) ;  Neil Diamond–74 Aaron Neville–74 Yakov Smirnoff(Pokhis)–65 Nastassja Nakszynski–56 Mary Lou Retton–47 Matthew Lillard–45 Edward “Ed” Helms–41 Kristen Schaal–37 ; 1908 – The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell ; 1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

January 23

Happy Birthday RIP Frances “Bay” Goffman(1919–2011) ; “Sonny Chiba”(Sadaho Maeda 千葉 真)–76 Gilbert “Gil” Gerard–72 Rutger Hauer–71 Anita Pointer–67 Richard Dean Anderson–65 Antonio Villaraigosa(Villar Jr.)–62 Richard Finch–61 Princess Caroline Grimaldi of Monaco–58 Mariska Hargitay–51 Lisa Snowdon–43 Tiffany Thiessen–41 ; 1789 – Georgetown College, the first Catholic University in the US, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland(now Washington D.C.) ; 1977 – The TV mini-series “Roots,” based on the Alex Haley novel, began airing on American Broadcasting Company.

January 22

Happy Birthday RIP David Llewelyn Wark Griffith(1875–1948) Samuel Cooke(1931–1964) Wilfred “Bill” Bixby III(1934–1993) ; “Piper Laurie”(Rosetta Jacobs)–83 Seymour Cassel–80 John Hurt–75 Stephen “Steve” Perry–66 Linda Blair–56 Diane Lane–50 Gabriel Macht–43 Paul Balthazar Getty–40 Nicholas Simmons–26 ; 1968 – “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” premiered on NBC. ; 1973 – the Supreme Court handed down its Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.