Today in History

1498 Toothbrush invented in China using boar bristles

1721 Dr Zabdiel Boylston gives 1st smallpox inoculations in America

1843 Hong Kong proclaimed a British Crown Colony

1894 Karl Benz of Germany receives US patent for gasoline-driven auto

1917 1st US troops arrive in France during World War I

1919 NY Daily News begins publishing

1934 FDR signs Federal Credit Union Act, establishing Credit Unions

1945 United Nations Charter signed by 50 nations in San Francisco

1959 Queen Elizabeth & President Eisenhower open St Lawrence Seaway

1963 US President John F. Kennedy gives his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” (intended to mean “I am a Berliner”, but may actually mean “I am a doughnut”) speech in West Berlin

1974 The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio

1975 Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.

1975 U.S. Supreme Court’s rules unanimously in “O’Connor v. Donaldson” that non-dangerous people can’t be confined to psychiatric facilities without adequate treatment if able to live viably in outside society

1993 The U.S. launches a cruise missile attack targeting Baghdad intelligence headquarters in retaliation for a thwarted assassination attempt against former President George H. W. Bush in April in Kuwait.

1997 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 1st book in J. K. Rowling’s best-selling series, is published

2015 US Supreme Court rules 5-4 same-sex marriage is a legal right across all US states

2016 Panama Canal’s third set of locks opens for commercial traffic, doubling the Canal’s capacity at an estimated cost of $5.25 billion

2018 US Supreme Court upholds President Trump’s travel ban against mostly Muslim countries

Movies & TV

1925 “The Gold Rush”, directed, starring and written by Charlie Chaplin, is released

1979 “Moonraker”, 11th James Bond film starring Roger Moore, premieres in London

2012 Animated film “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier with voices by Ray Romano and John Leguizamo premieres in Buenos Aires

Music

1870 Richard Wagner’s opera “Valkyrie”, second in his Ring Cycle premieres in Munich, featuring “Ride of the Valkyries”

1977 Elvis Presley sings in Indianapolis, the last performance of his career

Sports

1959 Ingemar Johansson TKOs Floyd Patterson in 3 for heavyweight boxing title

1993 NY Met Eddie Murray is 20th to get 1,600 RBIs

1994 Kirby Puckett passes Rod Carew with 2,088 hits as Twin’s top hit leader

2003 NBA Draft: St. Vincent–St. Mary HS (Akron, Ohio) small forward LeBron James first pick by Cleveland Cavaliers

Birthdays

1892 Pearl S. Buck, American author (Good Earth-Nobel 1938), born in Hillsboro, West Virginia (d. 1973)

1909 Colonel Tom Parker [Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk], Dutch-born talent manager (Elvis Presley), born in Breda, Netherlands (d. 1997)

1911 Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American all-round athlete (10 LPGA major titles, Olympic gold 80m hurdles, javelin 1932), born in Port Arthur, Texas (d. 1956)

1940 Billy Davis Jr, singer (5th Dimension-One Less Bell), born in St Louis, Missouri

1956 Chris Isaak, American rock singer-songwriter (Wicked Game), born in Stockton, California

1957 Patty Smyth, American rock vocalist (Scandal-Warrior), born in NYC, New York

1970 Chris O’Donnell, American actor (School Ties, Robin-Batman Forever), born in Winnetka, Illinois

1973 Gretchen Wilson, American country music singer (Redneck Woman), born in Pocahontas, Illinois

1974 Derek Jeter, American baseball shortstop (NY Yankees, Rookie of Year 1996), born in Pequannock, New Jersey

1980 Michael Vick, American football player (Atlanta Falcons), born in Newport News, Virginia

1993 Ariana Grande, American singer (Problem, The Way), born in Boca Raton, Florida