This day in history

Some interesting historical facts include:

 

1868- Pierre Janssen discovered helium while observing a solar eclipse.

 

1872- Aaron Montgomery Ward produced a mail-order catalog that launched a growing era of mail-order publications that would last more than 100 years

 

1920- the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote became a law with ratification from Tennessee 

 

1926- the first weather map transmitted by telecast wad broadcast for the use of sailing vessels. Invented by Charles Francis Jenkins, it provided up-to-date weather details to ship captains

 

1949- Henry Bosenberg received the first horticulture patent for a rose plant. His climbing (or trailing) rose still grows today although the patent has long expired

 

1954- after replacing an absent Labor Secretary, Assistant Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell became the first Black person to attend a Cabinet meeting. It was during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration 

 

1958- publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons published the first American edition of Lolita, a controversial novel by Vladimir Nabokov

 

1960- the birth control pill known as Enovid went on sale. The FDA approved the progesterone based contraceptive earlier that same year

 

1962- The Beatles replaced dummer Pete Best with Ringo Starr (just days after releasing him)

 

1982- in a game that was scoreless through the 19th inning, the Dodgers beat the Cubs after 21 innings in the longest game in Wrigley Field history 

 

2004- in an Olympic sweep, Americans took gold, silver and bronze in the 400-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics 

 

2017- a research team led by Paul Allen discovered the USS Indianapolis 18,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean's surface. A Japanese submarine sunk the Naval cruiser 72 years before, toward the end of WWII

 

Some interesting birthdays include:

 

Virginia Dare (1587) - just days after landing at Roanoke Island, VA, Eleanor Dare gave birth to the first English child born in the Americas. She and her husband, Ananias, namec the baby girl Virginia 

Meriwether Lewis (1774) - of Lewis & Clark

Marshall Field (1834) - founder of Marshall Field and Co. The department store would later become the chain known as Marshall Field's

Carl Rungius (1869)

Lucy Ozarin (1914) - resigned her position at Gowanda State Hospital to enlist in the US Navy, she became one of the first psychiatrists in the Navy

Shelley Winters (1920) - appeared in over 160 films and TV shows, best known for her role as Mrs. Petronella Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank

Rosalynn Smith Carter (1927) - 41st First Lady of the US

Roman Polanski (1933)

Roberto Clemente (1934) - played 17 years for the Pittsburgh Pirates until his tragic death in a plane crash in 1972

Robert Redford (1936)

Patrick Swayze (1952) - his last movie was in Keeping Mum, if you like dark comedies I recommend it. He looks pretty good for someone with cancer

Malcolm Jamal Warner (1970) - best known as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show

Steve Chen (1978) - co-founder of YouTube