Today in History

1529 Queen Catherine Of England [Catherine of Aragon] speaks against her marriage’s annulment at the Blackfriars Legatine Court

1768 1st medical diploma in America is granted to Dr John Archer from the College of Philadelphia

1788 US Constitution comes into effect when New Hampshire is the 9th state to ratify it

1834 American inventor and businessman Cyrus McCormick patents the reaping machine

1879 Frank W. Woolworth opens his 1st successful “F. W. Woolworth Great Five Cent Store” on North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

1893 1st Ferris wheel premieres (Chicago’s Columbian Exposition)

1904 The US Republican Party nominates Theodore Roosevelt for President, but not without opposition from those whom he calls ‘malefactors of great wealth’

1948 Lord Mountbatten resigns as Governor General of India (formerly the last Viceroy)

1964 Three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, disappear after being released from a Mississippi jail, later found murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan

1982 John Hinckley found not guilty of 1981 attempted assassination of President Reagan by reason of insanity

1990 At Yankee Stadium rally, Nelson Mandela dons a NY Yankee baseball cap and proclaims “I am a Yankee!”

1990 7.7 Manjil-Rudbar Earthquake with hundreds of aftershocks hits Iran; killing about 50,000

2003 “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” the 5th book of the series by J. K. Rowling is published worldwide in English

2006 Pluto’s newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra

Movies & TV

1966 “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, directed by Mike Nichols and based on the 1962 play of the same name, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, is released (Academy Awards Best Actress 1967)

Music

1955 Johnny Cash debuts Top 10 country song “Cry! Cry! Cry!”

1975 Elton John, The Eagles and The Beach Boys play Wembley Stadium

1978 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical “Evita” premieres in London

1981 Don Fagan and Walter Becker quit rock group Steely Dan

1982 Paul McCartney releases “Take it Away”

1990 Little Richard gets a star on Hollywood’s walk of fame

1998 “Don’t Be Cruel” 2nd studio album by Bobby Brown is released (Grammy Award Best Male R&B Vocal Performance 1990)

Sports

1939 NY Yankees announce Lou Gehrig’s retirement after doctors reveal he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

1950 Joe DiMaggio gets his 2,000th hit

1986 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson, signs 3-year contract to play baseball with the Kansas City Royals

1997 Women’s National Basketball Association begins as NY Liberty beats LA Sparks

2002 Lennox Lewis retains boxing’s WBC world Heavyweight crown with an eight round knockout over Mike Tyson

Birthdays

1905 Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist philosopher and writer (Le Mur, Nobel 1964; declined), born in Paris (d. 1980)

1921 Jane Russell, American actress and leading sex symbol in 1940s-50s (The Outlaw), born in Bemidji, Minnesota (d. 2011)

1925 Maureen Stapleton, American actress (Lonelyhearts, Airport, Coccoon, Plaza Suite), born in Troy, New York (d. 2006)

1933 Bernie Kopell, American actor (Love Boat, Get Smart, That Girl), born in NYC, New York

1940 Mariette Hartley, American actress (Poloroid spokesperson, Marooned), born in NYC, New York

1947 Meredith Baxter-Birney, American actress (Family Ties, Bridget Loves Bernie), born in South Pasadena, California

1947 Michael Gross, American actor (Family Ties, FBI murders), born in Chicago, Illinois

1954 Kathleen Turner, American actress (Accidental Tourist, Jewel of Nile), born in Springfield, Missouri

1956 Rick Sutcliffe, American baseball pitcher (LA Dodgers, Chicago Cubs), born in Independence, Missouri

1957 Berkeley Breathed, American cartoonist (Vegetarian, Bloom County, Outland), born in Encino, Los Angeles

1959 Kathy Mattea, country singer (Love at the Five & Dime)

1966 Gretchen Carlson, American television commentator (Fox News) and 1989 Miss America, born in Anoka, Minnesota

1979 Chris Pratt, American actor (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World,), born in Virginia, Minnesota

1982 Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, son of Prince Charles & Lady Diana, born in London, England

1985 Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter (Born to Die, Ultraviolence), and model (H&M), born in NYC, New York