This day in history

Some interesting historical events that happened today include:

 

1866- Newport, RI opened the first public roller rink

 

1886- Gottlieb Daimler received a patent for the world's first motorcycle - German Patent No. DRP 36423

 

1914- John Bray became the first animator to patent animation and the assembly line process for mass-produced cartoons. It was eventually rejected because he submitted another man's techniques - Windsor McCay

 

1919- Curly Lambeau and George Whitney established the Green Bay Packers (American football team)

 

1929- the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, hit his 500th career home run - the first professional baseball player to reach this achievement 

 

1934- Alcatraz Prison accepted its first civilian prisoners 

 

1965- The Beatles premiered the movie Help in NYC

 

1972- the Third Battalion, Twenty-First Infantry left South Vietnam, the last ground combat troops remaining

 

1973- American Graffiti opened in the US. Directed by George Lucas and starred Richard Dreyfuss, Wolfman Jack, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford and Cindy Williams 

 

1984- President Ronald Reagan joked during a sound test that he has "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."

 

1992- Mall of America opened in downtown Minneapolis, MN. With 330 stores, it is the largest shopping mall in the US

 

1999- one of the most widely viewed solar eclipses in history began in the west Atlantic and passed over Europe, the Middle East and ended over the Bay of Bengal

 

2008- Airbnb launched its official vacation rental website 

 

2016- Biologists published an article revealing the oldest living vertebrate on Earth. The Greenland shark lives between 272 years and maybe even as long as 512 years

 

Some interesting birthdays include:

 

Did Browne (1917) - best known for his comic book characters Hägar the Horrible and Hi and Lois

Alex Haley (1921) - the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family. It's been produced into 2 TV mini-series, one in 1979 and again in 2016. The 1979 one was LeVar Burtons breakthrough role

Joanna Cole (1944) - author of The Magic School Bus. I used to love the cartoon and it was fun learning science

Marilyn Vos Savant (1946) - Guinness World Records ranks her as the woman with the highest I.Q. in the world. She writes the "Ask Marilyn" column for Parade Magazine

Craig McCaw (1949) - he led the way into the wireless frontier when he launched McCaw Cellular. It was later sold to AT&T

Steve Wozniak (1950)

Hulk Hogan (1953) - born Terry Eugene Bollea, he wrestled as Hulk Hogan from 1977 to 2012

Viola Davis (1965) - she's the first Black actress to receive an Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award

Chris Hemsworth (1983)