Wednesday, September 7

This Day In History

• 1533   England's Queen Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich.
  
• 1822   Brazil declared its independence from Portugal.
  
• 1888   Edith Eleanor McLean was the first baby to be placed in an incubator. She weighed 2 pounds, 7 ounces. Originally, the incubator was called a hatching cradle.
  
• 1892   The first world heavyweight title fight to use the Marquis of Queensberry Rules (including boxing gloves and three-minute rounds) was held in New Orleans, LA. James Corbett knocked out John L. Sullivan in round 21.
  
• 1901   The Peace of Beijing ended the Boxer Rebellion in China.
  
• 1914   The New York Post Office Building opened its doors to the public. Since post offices open up quite often, you might wonder what’s unusual about this one. Well, this brand new building on Eighth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets in New York City bore the inscription, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” The inscription, supplied by William M. Kendall of the architectural firm that designed the post office, is a free translation from Herodotus, the Greek historian.
  
• 1927   TV pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth succeeded in transmitting an image through purely electronic means by using a device called an image dissector.
  
• 1936   Rock musician Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas.
  
• 1963   The Pro Football Hall of Fame was dedicated in Canton, Ohio.
  
• 1969   Senate Republican leader Everett M. Dirksen died at age 73.
  
• 1977   The Panama Canal treaties, calling for the U.S. to turn over control of the waterway to Panama, were signed in Washington.
  
• 1977   Convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy was released after serving more than four years in prison.
  
• 1979   The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its cable TV debut.
  
• 1986   Desmond Tutu was installed as the first black to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.
  
• 1996   Rapper Tupac Shakur was shot on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later.
  
• 1997   Former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko died in exile in Morocco at age 66.
  
• 1998   St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire equaled Roger Maris' single-season home run record as he hit No. 61 in a game against the Chicago Cubs.
  

Happy Birthday To

• 1533   Elizabeth I (Queen of England [1558-1603]: daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; the Elizebethan Era was named after her; died Mar 24, 1603)
  
• 1860   Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson) (artist: modern, primitive work: The Old Oaken Bucket, Christmas at Home, The Quilting Bee; first painted at age 78; died Dec 13, 1961)
  
• 1867   J.P. (John Pierpont) Morgan Jr. (financier; died Mar 13, 1943)
  
• 1908   Dr. Michael DeBakey (heart surgeon)
  
• 1909   Elia Kazan (Kazanjoglous) (Academy Award-winning director)
  
• 1923   Peter (Sidney Ernest Aylen) Lawford (actor)
  
• 1924   Daniel Inouye (U.S. Senator from Hawaii; member of U.S. 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Japanese-American WWII unit that fought in Europe; lost arm in battle; won Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart)
  
• 1936   Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley) (singer: group: The Crickets)
  
• 1950   Peggy Noonan (writer: U.S. President’s speeches: “A kinder, gentler nation.”)