This day in history

Some interesting historical events that happened today include:

1492- Christopher Columbus set sail across the Atlantic in search of a swifter passage to the East Indies. He didn't make it but he did land in the Bahamas.

1852- launching intercollegiate athletic events for the first time in US history, Yale and Harvard competed in a boating race on Lake Winnipiseogee. Harvard won and took home a pair of black walnut oars with silver mountings

1859- 26 dentists from around the country established the American Dental Association (ADA) that still functions today

1900- Harvey Firestone established Firestone Tire and Rubber Co in Akron, OH. They produced tires for automobiles under their patented process and later supplied tires to the Ford Motor Co

1923- following the death of President Warren Harding (heart attack), Calvin Coolidge was sworn into office as the 30th US President 

1936- Jesse Owens won his first gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics. He won a total of 4

1946- Santa Claus Land opened in Santa Claus, IN. It took a year to construct and is one of the oldest, continually operated amusement parks in North America 

1949- in 1891 James Naismith hung a peach basket creating a new game for physical education students. 55 years later, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA)

1984- Mary Lou Retton scores a perfect 10 on the vault at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, CA. She won a total of 5 medals, more than any other athlete that year

2024- I just read an article earlier that said Steven Tyler can't recover from his vocal injury so the Aerosmith tour has been canceled and he is now retired.

Some notable birthdays include:

Elisha Otis (1811) - he invented the first safe elevator designed to carry people and cargo. He debuted at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York in 1853

Ernie Pyle (1900) - Pulitzer Prize winning journalist best known as a war correspondent during WWII

John T Scopes (1900) - of the Scopes Monkey Trial. I recommend watching Inherit the Wind, it's a parable of the famous 1925 trial and is quite good

Tony Bennet (1926) - if you don't know who he is, I don't know what rock you've been living under. He died last year at 96 (no specific cause but he was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease)

Martin Sheen (1940) - great actor and the father of actors Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estévez

Beverly Lee (1941) - part of The Shirelles, they were the first all-female singing group to rank #1 on the pop charts for their song "Will you still love me tomorrow"

Martha Stewart (1941)

John Landis (1942) - directed films and Michael Jackson's music videos

Joan Higginbotham (1964) - she was the 3rd African American in space as mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery