Tuesday, October 18

This Day In History

• 1685   King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had established the legal toleration of France's Protestant population, the Huguenots.
  
• 1767   The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line, was agreed upon.
  
• 1842   Samuel Finley Breese Morse laid his first telegraph cable in New York Harbor between the Battery and Governor’s Island. This is the same Sam Morse of Morse code fame.
  
• 1867   The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia.
  
• 1892   The first long distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was opened.
  
• 1898   The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the United States.
  
• 1922   As the British observed the wild growth of radio in the U.S., they realized the potential of broadcasting in their own country, as well as the need for its regulation. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was established on this day to monitor the development of the radio biz in Great Britain. I don't know when it was captured by the Extreme Left.
  
• 1929   The Judicial Committee of England’s Privy Council ruled that women were to be considered as persons in Canada. Previously, under English common law, women were persons in matters of pains and penalties, but were not persons in matters of rights and privileges.
  
• 1931   Inventor Thomas Alva Edison died at age 84.
  
• 1944   Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia during World War II.
  
• 1950   Connie Mack announced he was retiring after 50 seasons as manager of baseball's Philadelphia Athletics.
  
• 1969   The federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
  
• 1977   Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees became only the second player to hit three home runs in a World Series game as he led New York to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deciding Game 6.
  
• 1982   Former first lady Bess Truman died in Independence, Mo., at age 97.
  
• 1989   Erich Honecker was ousted as leader of East Germany after 18 years in power; he was succeeded by Egon Krenz.
  
• 2001   Four defendants were convicted in New York for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
  
• 2001   It was announced that a New Jersey letter carrier and an employee in CBS news anchorman Dan Rather's office had tested positive for skin anthrax.
  

Happy Birthday To

• 1918   Bobby Troup (actor: Emergency; singer, musician, TV host: Stars of Jazz; married to singer Julie London; died Feb 7, 1999)
  
• 1919   Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada {1968-1979]; died Sep 28, 2000)
  
• 1926   Chuck Berry (Charles Edward Anderson Berry) (Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [inducted 1986]; Lifetime Achievement Grammy [1985]; Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, School Day, Rock & Roll Music, Sweet Little Sixteen, Johnny B. Goode, My Ding-A-Ling; in films: Rock, Rock, Rock, London Rock and Roll Show, American Hot Wax, Chuck Berry: Rock and Roll Music, Christmas in Washington)
  
• 1927   George C. (Campbell) Scott (Academy Award-winning actor)
  
• 1939   Mike Ditka (Pro & College Football Hall of Famer: Chicago Bears Rookie of the Year [1961]; Philadelphia Eagles; Dallas Cowboys tight end: Super Bowl V, VI; Chicago Bears head coach: Super Bowl XX; TV sports analyst: NBC Sports)
  
• 1951   Pam Dawber (actress: Mork & Mindy, My Sister Sam)
  
• 1960   Jean-Claude Van Damme (Varenberg) (actor: Kickboxer, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Nowhere to Run, Last Action Hero, Hard Target, Timecop)