Thursday, October 20, 2005

Thursday, October 20

This Day In History

  • 1803   The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
  • 1873   A Hippodrome was opened in New York City by showman Phineus T. (P.T.) Barnum. The impressive place was the new home of "The Greatest Show on Earth"; the big top of what would be the greatest circus in the land.
  • 1903   A joint commission ruled in favor of the United States in a boundary dispute between Alaska and Canada.
  • 1944   The Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik were liberated during World War II.
  • 1944   Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2 1/2 years after he'd said, ''I shall return.''
  • 1947   The House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence in the motion picture industry.
  • 1964   Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States, died at age 90.
  • 1967   Seven men were convicted in Meridian, Miss., of violating the civil rights of three murdered civil rights workers.
  • 1968   Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
  • 1977   Three members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Miss.
  • 1989   The Senate convicted U.S. District Judge Alcee L. Hastings of perjury and conspiracy and removed him from office. (The conviction was later overturned and Hastings was elected to Congress.)
  • 1992   In the first World Series game to be played outside the United States, the host Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2.
  • 2000   Egyptian-born Ali Mohamed, a U.S. citizen who'd served in the Army, pleaded guilty in New York to helping plan the deadly U.S. embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
  • 2001   Tests found traces of anthrax in a mail-bundling machine at a House office building a few blocks from the Capitol.
Happy Birthday To
  • 1632   Sir Christopher Wren (architect, astronomer, mathematician; died Feb 25, 1723)
  • 1856   James Mann (lawyer; U.S. Congressman: authored the Mann Act aka the White Slave Traffic Act [1910]; died Nov 30, 1922)
  • 1882   Bela Lugosi (Blasko) (actor: Dracula)
  • 1905   Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay) (author: mystery series [w/Manfred B. Lee]; died Sep 9, 1982)
  • 1911   Will Rogers Jr. (actor: The Story of Will Rogers, Pall Mall Playhouse; TV host: The Pioneers; lecturer; died July 10, 1993)
  • 1913   Grandpa (Louis Marshall) Jones (Country Music Hall of Famer: Hee Haw, Grand Ole Opry; singer: The All-American Boy, T for Texas, Old Rattler, Mountain Dew; died Feb 19, 1998)
  • 1923   Herschel Bernardi (actor: Peter Gunn, Arnie, Love with the Proper Stranger, Irma La Douce; voice: Charlie Tuna TV commercials, The Jetsons characters; died May 9, 1986)
  • 1925   Art Buchwald (Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist [prize for commentary: 1982]; author: While Reagan Slept, Leaving Home)
  • 1928   Dr. Joyce Brothers (Bauer) (psychologist; syndicated columnist; TV contestant: $64,000 Question [1955]; panelist: The Gong Show)
  • 1931   Mickey (Charles) Mantle (‘The Commerce Comet’: Baseball Hall of Famer: NY Yankees [World Series: 1951-1953, 1955-1958, 1960-1964/all-star: 1952-1965, 1967, 1968]; World Series records: most home runs [18], most RBIs [40], most walks [13], most strikeouts [54]; three-time MVP; died Aug 13, 1995)
  • 1935   Jerry Orbach (actor: Tony Award-winning actor: Law and Order)

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