This day in history

Some interesting historical events that happened today include:

 

1843- Tivoli Gardens opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. It's the second-oldest running amusement park in the world

 

1914- Julian Carlton set fire to Taliesin, the home Frank Lloyd Wright shared with his mistress Mamah Chaney. Carlton and his wife were working as servant in the home, the blaze killed 7 people including Chaney and 2 of her children 

 

1914- the Panama Canal opened to traffic, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

 

1935- a plane crash near Point Barrow, AK killed aviator Wiley Post and humoring Will Roger's

 

1939- The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater

 

1965- The Beatles performed for a crowd of 60,000 at Shea Stadium, NY giving birth to stadium rock

 

1969- the 3 day Woodstock Music and Art Fair began. The festival hosted 32 acts and estimated 1/2 million attendees

 

1979- Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppila opened in theatre's

 

1997- the LA Dodgers retired the number of Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda

 

2008- Ryan Lochte swam the world record backstroke at the Beijing Olympics 

 

2013- the mammal named olinguito was discovered in the Andes. Related to the raccoon family, it is the first carnivore discovered in the America's in 35 years

 

Some interesting birthdays include:

 

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769)

Edith Nesbit (1858)

Florence Harding (1860) - wife of President Warren Harding, 29th First Lady of the US

Edna Ferber (1885)

Elizabeth Bolden (1890) - died at 116 years and 118 days, she was the oldest living person in the world at the time of her death. She lived through 21 US Presidents, and was 30 when the 19th amendment gave her the first opportunity to vote in a presidential election 

Julia Child (1912)

Paul Rand (1914) - graphic designer responsible for the logos of UPS, Google and IBM

Steig Larsson (1954) - his novels were published after his death. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was originally titled Men Who Hate Women

Debra Messing (1968) - best known as Grace Adler in Will & Grace

Ben Affleck (1972)

Kerri Walsh Jennings (1978)

Carl Edwards (1979)

Joe Jonas (1989)

Jennifer Lawrence (1990)