1654 French scientist and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) experienced a mystical vision and converted to Christianity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal
1729 German born John Philip Boehm, 46, was formally ordained a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. Boehm had previously come to America in 1720, where he began organizing religious services among German Reformed immigrants in Pennsylvania. http://www.amazon.com/letters-Reformed-P....n/dp/B0006C2JAQ
1808 Zebulon Pike reaches his peak. After the Louisiana Purchase, the government sent Zebulon Pike in 1805 to explore the Mississippi valley and select locations suitable for military posts. Pike and his men reached the site of modern-day Pueblo, Colorado on November 23. Fascinated with a blue peak in the Rocky Mountains to the west, Pike set out to explore it with two soldiers and Dr. Robinson. Pike spent several days in trying to reach the peak. He made it to the top of a mountain within a few miles of what he called the Grand Peak. Pike realized that the Grand Peak was "as high again as what we had ascended, and it would have taken a whole day's march to arrive at its base. Up to his waist in snow at the top of the mountain, dressed in inadequate summer clothing in 28 degree Fahrenheit weather, Pike decided to return to the base camp. Zebulon Pike never set foot on Pike's Peak, which he, by the way, also did not name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebulon_Pike
1835 The first U.S. patent for a horseshoe manufacturing machine was issued to Henry Burden (1791-1871) of Troy, N.Y. He made nearly all the horseshoes used by the Union calvary during the Civil War. His machine produced a horseshoe from a rod of iron that was fed into it. Capable of making sixty horseshoes a minute, it produced shoes more rapidly and uniformly than the hand production method which had been used prior to this invention. Burden was born in Scotland and emigrated to the U.S.in 1819. He started in the Troy iron industry in 1822, as superintendent of the Troy Iron and Nail Factory. This machine, and Burden's other inventions which automated work that was previously done by hand, made the factory extremely profitable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Burden
1837 William Crompton of Taunton, MA patented the silk, power loom. Compton was brought up as a handloom cotton-weaver, and at an early age learned the trade of a machinist. While superintendent of a cotton-mill in Ramsbottom, near Berry, he made many experiments on cotton-looms. He came to Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1836, and while there devised a loom for the manufacture of fancy cotton goods, for which he received a patent on 23 November 1837. In this loom one part of the warp was depressed while the other was lifted, instead of allowing one part. to remain stationary, thus securing more room for the passage of the shuttle. Another feature of it was the chain, which, with its peculiar apparatus, operated the warp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Crompton_(inventor)
1852 Just past midnight, a sharp jolt causes Lake Merced to drop 30' (9m).Beginning on November 22, a series of earthquakes in the lower part of the state lasted several days. A severe earthquake created a fissure a half mile wide and three hundred yards long through which the waters of Lake Merced flowed to the sea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Merced
1863 American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga_Campaign
1869 William and John W. Murkland were issued a patent for their invention of a carpet power-loom (No. 97,106) as "an improvement in power-loom for weaving in-grain carpet" or other figured fabrics. By making several simplifications to reduce complexity of the machinery, their design reduced the number of cams and levers involved in operating the loom. As a result, less power was required to maintain the motion of the machine. Having fewer parts also reduced maintenance and repair costs. http://books.google.com/books?id=AHQxAQA....urkland&f=false
1876 Columbia, Harvard & Princeton form Intercollegiate Football Association. As intercollegiate games became more frequent throughout the 1860's and 1870's, two styles of football emerged. The first type, originally played at an 1869 game between Princeton and Rutgers, borrowed the name and style of "association football" from England. This game resembled modern day soccer with players dribbling the ball along the ground and kicking goals. A second style, developed at Harvard and the surrounding colleges that combined association football with rugby. This version of the game allowed players to carry the ball as well as kick it. On November 23, 1876 representatives from Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and Yale met at Massasoit House in Springfield, Massachusetts to decide on standard American rules, an event which became known as the Massasoit Convention. They adopted the rugby football rules in their entirety, except for two innovations: a touch-down in rugby only counted toward the score if neither side kicked a field goal.
1876 Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marcy_Tweed
1887 Notre Dame loses its first football game 8-0 to Michigan. In their inaugural game on November 23 1887 the Irish lost to the University of Michigan Wolverines by a score of 8-0. Their first win came in the final game of the 1888 season when the Irish defeated Harvard Prep by a score of 20-0. At the end of the 1888 season they had a record of 1-3 with all three losses being at the hands of Michigan by a combined score of 43-9.
1889 The first jukebox was installed when an entrepreneur named Louis Glass and his business associate, William S. Arnold, placed a coin-operated Edison cylinder phonograph in the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. The machine, an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph with oak cabinet, had been fitted locally in San Francisco with a coin mechanism invented and soon patented by Glass and Arnold. This was before the time of vacuum tubes, so there was no amplification. For a nickel a play, a patron could listen using one of four listening tubes. Known as "Nickel-in-the-Slot," the machine was an instant success, earning over $1000 in less than half a year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jukebox
1897 A U.S. patent for an improvement in "Casting Composite or Other Wheels" was issued to black American inventor Andrew Jackson Beard (No. 594,286). It gave a method for casting wheels wherein the outer sides are of one metal and the interior portions are of another metal. The importance was not only to enable casting a metal of high electrical conductivity, such as brass, in a groove of an iron trolley wheel - but also to permit an entirely new contruction consisting of two outer disks or flanges and an intermediate, uniting portion, which extends from the contact portion of the wheel with a web extending to the centre and an integral bushing. Robinson also held a previous patent, issued four years earlier, for an "electric railway trolley." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Beard
1897 A U.S. patent was issued to black American inventor, Andrew Jackson Beard for his invention of the "Jenny coupler," (U.S. No. 594,059). It does the dangerous job of hooking railroad cars together by simply allowing them to bump into each other, when "horizontal jaws engage each other to connect the cars." Beard's idea has probably saved countless lives and limbs. It remains in use today. He received $50,000 for the patent rights to the "Jenny Coupler." Beard was born a slave on a plantation in Alabama, shortly before slavery ended. He was a farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, a railroad worker, a businessman and finally an inventor. Beard's other patents included a steam driven rotary engine, and a double plow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Beard
1897 A U.S. patent was issued for a pencil sharpener to its black American inventor, John Lee Love of Fall River, Mass. Love's invention was the very simple, portable pencil sharpener that many artists use: the pencil is put into the opening of the sharpener and rotated by hand, and the shavings stay inside the sharpener (No. 594,114). By rotating the outer case, internal gears turn a pencil sharpener blade around the inserted pencil. Two years earlier, Love had previously received a patent two years earlier for his invention of a "plasterers' hawk," which is a flat board, about 18-in square, with a handle underneath, used to carry a small amount of plaster material being worked onto a wall face (9 Jul 1895). This kind of device is still used today. http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventors/a/John_Lee_Love.htm
1903 Enrico Caruso US debut (Metropolitan Opera House, NY) in "Rigoletto" In 1903, with the help of his agent, the banker Pasquale Simonelli, he went to New York City, and, on November 23 of that year, he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi'sRigoletto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Caruso
1903 Governor of Colorado James Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike. Determined to crush the union of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), Colorado Governor James Peabody sends the state militia into the mining town of Cripple Creek.
The strike in the gold mines of Cripple Creek began that summer. William "Big Bill" Haywood's Western Federation of Miners called for a sympathy strike among the underground miners to support a smelter workers' strike for an eight-hour day. The WFM, which was founded in 1893 in Montana, had already been involved in several violent strikes in Colorado and Idaho. By the end of October, the call for action at Cripple Creek had worked, and a majority of mine and smelter workers were idle; Cripple Creek operations ground to a halt. Eager to resume mining and break the union, the mine owners turned to Governor Peabody, who agreed to provide state militia protection for replacement workers.
Outraged, the miners barricaded roads and railways, but by the end of September more than a thousand armed men were in Cripple Creek to undermine the strike. Soldiers began to round up union members and their sympathizers-including the entire staff of a pro-union newspaper-and imprison them without any charges or evidence of wrongdoing. When miners complained that the imprisonment was a violation of their constitutional rights, one anti-union judge replied, "To hell with the Constitution; we're not following the Constitution!"
Such tyrannical tactics swung control of the strike to the more radical elements in the WFM, and in June 1904, Harry Orchard, a professional terrorist employed by the union, blew up a railroad station, which killed 13 strikebreakers. This recourse to terrorism proved a serious tactical mistake. The bombing turned public opinion against the union, and the mine owners were able to freely arrest and deport the majority of the WFM leaders. By midsummer, the strike was over and the WFM never again regained the power it had previously enjoyed in the Colorado mining districts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners%27_strike_of_1894
1909 Rattlesnake Creek was deluged with 7.17 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for the state of Idaho. (The Weather Channel)
1915 On this day in 1915, fighting between Allied and Turkish forces continues into a second day during the Battle of Ctesiphon (or Selman Pak), on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.
Under the command of Sir John Nixon, British troops in World War I enjoyed a string of early successes in their invasion of Mesopotamia. By late September 1915, forces led by Nixon's forward divisional commander, Sir Charles Townshend, had occupied the Mesopotamian province of Basra, including the town of Kut-al-Amara. That November, Nixon ordered Townshend to continue the offensive up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers towards Baghdad, the regional commander's real objective. Anxious about the fragile nature of British supply lines in the region and doubtful of the capabilities of his mostly Indian troops--who had already lost one-third of their number to battle or sickness--Townshend argued for delaying the attacks in order to wait for reinforcements. The ambitious Nixon instructed him to proceed as ordered.
Meanwhile, following their defeat at Kut, Turkish forces had withdrawn to carefully prepared and fortified defensive positions among the ruins of the ancient city of Ctesiphon. When Townshend's troops began their attacks on the night of November 22, they were confronted by companies of largely inexperienced Turkish soldiers entrenched firmly in two lines on either side of the Tigris. While the Anglo-Indian troops were able to capture the first-line of Turkish positions that first night, the Turks mounted a spirited defense and casualties on both sides began to mount.
On November 23, the Turks launched a counter-attack aimed at recapturing the ground lost the day before. Though their effort was unsuccessful, Townshend's casualty rate had reached 40 percent, or some 4,500 men. Knowing he could not expect reinforcements, Townshend authorized a British retreat to Kut in order to regroup and treat his wounded men. Twelve days later, the Turks began a siege against Kut that would last for the next five months and exhaust Townshend's depleted forces. After attempting four times without success to confront their opponents, suffering heavy casualties in the process, Townshend was forced to give up the fight, along with his remaining 10,000 men, on April 29, 1916. It was the largest single surrender of troops in British history up until that time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ctesiphon_(1915)
1925 Vincent Lopez presented a concert Metropolitan Opera House in NYC For three years Lopez remained at the Hotel Pennsylvania and doubled his orchestra into nearby theatres and, later, night clubs. With tireless energy he rehearsed and directed his men. He made phonograph records. One night without warning he was asked to play over the radio. "Hello, everybody, Lopez speaking!" became a byword overnight and he continued to play for radio by popular demand. In 1925 Lopez gave the first Symphonic Jazz concert at the Metropolitan Opera House and that same year took his orchestra to London, where he was wildly acclaimed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Lopez
1935 Ethel Leginska became the first woman to write an opera -- and conduct it. Leaving Boston for Europe in 1930, Leginska conducted performances of opera companies there and returned to New York City in 1931 to lead an orchestra for a Broadway revival of Franz von Suppe's Boccaccio. The following year, she founded another short-lived group, the National Women's Symphony Orchestra, in New York. An opera she wrote, Gale, made its debut at the Chicago City Opera on November 23, 1935, with Leginska at the podium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Leginska
1936 First issue of Life, picture magazine created by Henry R Luce. In 1936 publisher Henry Luce paid $92,000 to the owners of Life magazine because he sought the name for Time Inc. Convinced that pictures could tell a story instead of just illustrating text, Luce launched Life on November 23, 1936. The third magazine published by Luce, after Time in 1923 and Fortune in 1930, Life gave birth to the photo magazine in the U.S., giving as much space and importance to pictures as to words. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(magazine)
1936 Bluesman Robert Johnson is recorded for the very first time in a San Antonio recording studio on November 23, 1936.
The legend of Robert Johnson, arguably the most influential blues performer of all time, began growing in earnest only in the early 1960s, more than 20 years after his death. It was the 1959 publication of Samuel Charters's The Country Blues that introduced his name to many, but as Charters himself observed of Johnson at the time, "Almost nothing is known about his life....He is only a name on a few recordings." What is well known about those recordings is that they helped inspire a blues-rock revolution in the decade that followed—a revolution led by young British musicians like Eric Clapton and Keith Richard. What is less well known, perhaps, is just how small that body of work actually is.
In his short but hugely influential life, Robert Johnson spent only five days in the recording studio, recording only 41 total takes of 29 different songs. Thirteen of those takes and eight of those songs—including "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Terraplane Blues"—were captured during his first-ever session, on this day in 1936, in a makeshift studio set up in adjoining rooms of the Gunter Hotel in downtown San Antonio. Johnson returned to the Gunter Hotel twice more later in that same week, and then recorded once more over the course of two days in 1937 in Dallas. The results of those sessions were 12 78-rpm records issued on the Vocalion label in 1937 and 1938, the last of them after Johnson's death by poisoning at the hands of a jealous husband on August 16, 1938.
Almost immediately, Johnson's recordings gained a cult following among blues collectors like John Hammond, who would later gain fame as the "discoverer" of artists ranging from Billie Holliday and Big Joe Turner to Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen. Yet from 1938 to 1961, when Hammond convinced Columbia Records to release an album of Robert Johnson recordings called King of the Delta Blues, Johnson was more of a rumor than a reality. King of the Delta Blues, however, would spark a strong resurgence of interest in his life and work—a resurgence that would nevertheless fail to turn up many verifiable details of his life beyond the dates of his birth and death and of his few recording sessions. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson [/url]
1938 “Thanks for the Memory” recorded. "Thanks For the Memory" was a song in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938. The words and music were written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, and was recorded by Shep Fields and his orchestra. It won the Academy Award for Best Song. Bob Hope sang the vocals and it became his signature song. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanks_for_the_Memory
1942 Coast Guard Woman's Auxiliary (SPARS) authorized. On November 23, 1942, legislation was approved creating yet another arm of the U.S. Coast Guard, one that would pave the way for Coast Guard women of today - The U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARs. The Coast Guard and the nation were in need, and America's young women responded. More than 10,000 women volunteered for service between 1942 and 1946. This reserve corps also had its own commanding officer, Dorothy C. Stratton. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS
1943 Northern New Hampshire was in the grips of a record snowstorm which left a total of 55 inches at Berlin, and 56 inches at Randolph. The 56 inch total at Randolph established a 24 hour snowfall record for the state. In Maine, Middle Dam received a record 35 inches of snow in 24 hours. (David Ludlum)
1943 World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed. It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Oper_Berlin
1945 Most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.
1947 Washington Redskin Sammy Baugh passes for 6 touchdowns vs Chicago Cardinals (45-21) Baugh started his pro career as a single wing tailback and didn't make the switch to the T-formation until 1944. He won a record-setting six NFL passing titles and earned first-team All-NFL honors seven times in his career. Sammy also led the NFL in punting four straight years from 1940 through 1943. Extremely versatile, he led the NFL in passing, pass interceptions, and punting in 1943. One of his best single performances came on Sammy Baugh Day in 1947 when he passed for 355 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Chicago Cardinals, that season's eventual champions.
1947 E. L. Sukenik of Jerusalem's Hebrew University first received word of the existence of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The documents, dating between 200 BC and AD 70, had been accidentally discovered the previous winter (1946_47) by two Bedouin shepherds in the vicinity of Qumran. The scrolls are dated roughly between 200 B.C. and A.D. 70. They are considered by many to be the outstanding archaeological find of the twentieth century in the field of Old Testament studies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleazar_Sukenik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls
1948 The first U.S. patent for a lens to provide zoom effects for television cameras was issued to F.G. Back (No. 2,454,686) as a "varifocal lens for cameras." His Zoomar lens was adjustable for closeups or long-distance shots without requiring the camera be moved toward or away from the object televised. It had been demonstrated 16 Apr 1947 by the National Broadcasting Company in New York City. The early Zoomar lens was controlled by a plunger at the rear of the camera. The zoom action wasn't very smooth, but this design eliminated having to use a lens turret with multiple focal length lenses.
1958 “Have Gun Will Travel” premieres on radio. One of the last drama programs on radio debuted. It was unusual in that it followed the TV show of the same name. "Have Gun Will Travel" was broadcast on CBS radio and starred John Dehner as Paladin. Richard Boone played Paladin on TV. The show followed the adventures of Paladin, a gentleman-turned-gunfighter, who preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_Will_Travel
1958 Ronald and Nancy Reagan appeared in "A Turkey for the President" Mr. Reagan's most famous TV role came in the fall of 1954, when the giant talent agency MCA cast him as host of the CBS anthology "General Electric Theater". Reagan would introduce the weekly dramas and comedies and do an occasional pitch for GE products on the air. "GE Theater" proved to be the showcase for film actors who tried television for the first time; Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire made their TV debuts on the "Theater". (Reagan also appeared occasionally as an actor; he and Nancy Reagan co-starred in the 1958 "GE Theater" presentation called "A Turkey For The President").
1963 "I'm Leaving it up to You" by Dale & Grace topped the charts. "I'm Leaving it up to You" was originally recorded in 1957 by composers Don F. Harris and Dewey Terry as "Don and Dewey," but the single didn't chart. Dale Houston and Grace Broussard were teamed up specifically to record this as Dale's solo career fell flat. Their followup song, "Stop and Think It Over," sung in a similar vein, peaked at #8.
1963 JFK's body, lay in repose in East Room of White House.
1964 Dr. Michael E. DeBakey of Houston performed the first successful coronary artery bypass graft procedure.
1964 Beatles release "I Feel Fine" & "She's a Woman" The Beatles taped "I Feel Fine" for an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that aired September 12, 1965. They had returned to America to play their famous Shea stadium concert. It was their last appearance on the show. There is a very faint sound of barking dogs at the end. "She's a Woman" was the B side of "I Feel Fine," written and recorded on the same day. A chocalho, a type of metal shaker, was used for percussion.
1971 The People's Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council China's seat in the United Nations has been occupied by the People's Republic of China since October 25, 1971. The representatives of the PRC first attended the UN, including the United Nations Security Council, as China's representatives on November 23, 1971. China's seat in all UN organs had been previously held by the Republic of China since the UN's founding.
1974 "I Can Help" by Billy Swan topped the charts. Tossed off in the studio during sessions for Swan's first album, "I Can Help" was a bouncy, rockabilly-styled number that featured Swan's distinctive electric organ work. It went to number one on both the pop and country charts in 1974, and the accompanying album of the same name also topped the country list.
1977 European weather satellite Meteosat 1 launched from Cape Canaveral Meteosats were European Space Agency weather satellites with the primary goal to provide visible and IR day/night cloud cover data and radiance and disseminate image data to users through the Data Collection Platform (DCP). Operational geostationary Meteosat satellites followed 3 pre-operational versions (Meteosat-1,-2,-3/P2). They had a 2.1 m diameter, 3.195 m high stepped cylindrical body with solar cells on six main body panels. The spacecraft was spin-stabilised at 100 rpm around the main axis aligned almost parallel to the Earth's axis with spin regulated by two small hydrazine thrusters.
1981 Iran-Contra Affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1985 Terrorist Abu Nidal Organization hijacks EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner, but 60 people die in the raid.
1984 Doug Flutie TD pass stuns Maimi. Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie passed his way into sports history by leading Boston College past Miami, 47-45, at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Flutie threw a 48-yard pass on the final play of the game. That play became known as The Pass. Incidentally, coaches said the 175-pound senior was too short to play football.
1991 "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Michael Bolton topped the charts. Soul Provider, released in July 1989, turned Bolton into a superstar, reaching the Top Ten, selling four million copies, and spawning five Top 40 singles, including Bolton's number one version of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," and the Top Ten hits "How Can We Be Lovers" and "When I'm Back on My Feet Again." Time, Love & Tenderness, released in April 1991, was even more successful, hitting number one, selling six million copies, and featuring four Top 40 hits, including the chart-topping cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," and the Top Ten hits "Love Is a Wonderful Thing."
2004 An outbreak of severe thunderstorms produced reports of 54 tornadoes across portions of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama. In Texas's Hardin county, one person was killed with three injured when a tornado struck during the afternoon (Associated Press).
2006 A series of bombing kills at least 215 people and injured 257 others in Sadr City, making it the second deadliest sectarian attack since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.
2007 MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sinks in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. There are no fatalities.
2010 The Bombardment of Yeonpyeong occurs on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea. The North Korean artillery attack kills 2 civilians and 2 South Korean marines.
2011 Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, The Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.
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Re: United States History: November 23 « Reply #1 on Nov 22, 2012, 9:24pm »
Births
1749 Edward Rutledge (d 1800) American politician and youngest signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He later served as the 39th Governor of South Carolina.
On this day in 1749, Edward Rutledge, one of South Carolina's representatives to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, is born in Charleston.
Contrary to the majority of his Congressional colleagues, Rutledge advocated patience with regard to declaring independence. In a letter to John Jay, one of New York's representatives who was similarly disinclined to rush a declaration, Rutledge worried whether moderates like himself and Jay could "effectually oppose" a resolution for independence. Jay had urgent business in New York and therefore was not able to be present for the debates.
Rutledge was the son of a physician who had emigrated from Ireland. Edward's elder brother John studied law at London's Middle Temple before returning to set up a lucrative practice in Charleston. Edward followed suit and studied first at Oxford University before being admitted to the English bar at the Middle Temple. He too returned to Charleston, where he married and began a family in a house across the street from his brother's. As revolutionary politics roiled the colonies, first John, then Edward served as South Carolina's representative to the Continental Congress. Neither Rutledge brother was eager to sever ties with Great Britain, but it fell to Edward to sign the Declaration of Independence to create the appearance of unanimity and strengthen the Patriots' stand. At age 26, Edward Rutledge was the youngest American to literally risk his neck by signing the document. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rutledge
1803 Theodore Dwight Weld (d 1895), an architect of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years, from 1830 through 1844. Weld played a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known for his co-authorship of the authoritative compendium, American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses, published in 1839. Harriet Beecher Stowe partly based Uncle Tom’s Cabin on Weld's text and it is regarded as second only to that work in its influence on the antislavery movement. Weld remained dedicated to the abolitionist movement until slavery was ended by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Dwight_Weld
1804 Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869) On this day in 1805, Franklin Pierce, America's 14th president, is born in a log cabin in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.
Pierce, described by biographers and contemporaries as a personable and sincere young man, worked as a lawyer before winning a seat in the New Hampshire state legislature in 1828, while his father served as New Hampshire's governor. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1832 and fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), for which he received military honors.
As president, Pierce facilitated the acquisition of the territories that now make up the states of Arizona and New Mexico through the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. He also improved trade relations with Canada in exchange for greater U.S. fishing rights along the continent's North Atlantic coast. However, he is best remembered for his endorsement of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether they would allow slavery or outlaw the practice. Foreshadowing the brutal Civil War that was soon to come, the territories erupted in sectarian violence after the act's passing. Pierce's failure to stem the fighting and his role in the Ostend Manifesto fiasco of 1854 (a secret plan to start a war with Spain in order to annex Cuba) proved to be his political undoing. Members of his own Democratic Party refused to re-nominate him for president in the election of 1856, popularizing the slogan "anybody but Pierce."
In 1834, Pierce had married Jane Means Appleton and the couple had three sons. The first, Franklin, died in infancy; a second, Frank Robert, died at age four from typhus; and their third son, Benny, was killed in a train wreck from which Pierce and his wife narrowly escaped. The string of tragedies led Pierce to drinking. He also suffered from chronic nervous exhaustion. By the end of his term, a Philadelphia Enquirer reporter described Pierce as "a wreck of his former self...his face wears a hue so ghastly and cadaverous that one could almost fancy he was gazing on a corpse." Upon leaving office in 1857, Pierce was asked what he would do next; he allegedly replied "there's nothing left [to do] but get drunk." The effects of alcoholism led to his death in 1869 at the age of 65. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce
1819 Josiah Dwight Whitney (d 1896) American geologist and chemist, known for his studies of the regional geology of California. Whitney was an independent consulting expert in mining (1849-54) when he was appointed chemist for the state of Iowa and professor of mineralogy at the University of Iowa. He was California State Geologist (1860-1874). His name was given by a California Geological Survey field party to Mount Whitney (1864) in east-central California, the highest summit on the U.S. mainland outside Alaska. The survey was significant for the men it trained and the methods it introduced - notably topographical mapping by triangulation. During his years in California, Whitney was active in promoting the California Academy of Science, and served as a commissioner of Yosemite Park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Dwight_Whitney
1819 Union General Benjamin Prentiss is born in Belleville, Virginia. Prentiss served in a variety of capacities during the war but is best known for defending Arkansas during the Vicksburg campaign.
Prentiss was raised in Missouri but moved to Quincy, Illinois, at age 22. He joined the Illinois militia, and he was active when tensions arose between the Mormon and Illinois residents of the area after the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, was lynched by a mob.
When the Mexican War began, Prentiss raised a company of volunteers and served under General Zachary Taylor at Buena Vista. Upon his return to Illinois, he practiced law until the outbreak of the Civil War. He remained active in the militia and rose to the rank of colonel.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Prentiss was placed in charge of Cairo, Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. In August 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and charged with protecting the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad across northern Missouri. His brigade was sent to join General Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee, and he was elevated to divisional commander. Prentiss fought at Shiloh and was caught in the infamous Hornet's Nest. He and part of his force were captured, and Prentiss spent six months in a Confederate prison. He was exchanged in October 1862 and served on the court-martial of General Fitz-John Porter, who was tried on charges of insubordination during the Battle of Second Bull Run, when he refused to conduct an attack ordered by his commander, John Pope. Porter was found guilty and cashiered from the army, but he said that Prentiss was "supposed unprejudiced, and acted so."
After the Porter case closed, Prentiss commanded the District of Eastern Arkansas at Helena. He sent raids into the interior of the state and recruited escaped slaves into military service. On July 4, 1863, Prentiss's command held off an attack by General Sterling Price, who was trying, belatedly, to rescue the Confederate force inside of nearby Vicksburg, Mississippi. That garrison had already surrendered, but Prentiss emerged as the victor in the Battle of Helena. Despite this success, Prentiss found himself without a command when the Union reorganized the theater after the fall of Vicksburg.
Prentiss requested a leave from the army, citing ill health and family concerns, as his wife had died in 1860 and he had young children. Prentiss spent the rest of his life as a land agent and postmaster in Missouri until he died in 1901.
1859 Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases Henry Antrim and William H. Bonney (d 1881), was a 19th century American frontier outlaw and gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War. According to legend, he killed 21 men, but he is generally accepted to have killed between four and nine.
1864 Henry Bourne Joy (d 1936) President of the Packard Motor Car Company, and a major developer of automotive activities as well as being a social activist.
1879 Theodore Charles Brohm in Addison, Illinois (d. 5 January 1957, Oakland, California). He graduated from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1903 and served as a pastor in Detroit, Michigan, from 1903 to 1909. He was president of Concordia College (Oakland, California) from 1909 to 1950.
1888 Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx (d 1964) American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). Marx frequently used props such as a walking stick with a built-in bulb horn, and he played the harp in most of his films. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpo_Marx
1894 Donald Deskey (d 1989) American industrial designer who helped establish industrial design as a profession. He made inventive use of industrial materials for decorative purposes. Deskey invented a high-pressure laminate known as Weldtex. He designed the familiar goosenecked street lights on commission for New York City in 1958 as a new prototype streetlight standard. He brought a new, modernist look to furniture and interiors, including that of Radio City Music Hall. Deskey package designs for Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson include Tide laundry detergent, Prell shampoo, Crest toothpaste, and other packaged goods that are now firmly embedded in American consumer culture and serve as models of the role that design played in everyday life.
1902 Colonel Aaron Bank (d 2004) officer of the United States Army, and the founder of the US Army Special Forces, commonly called "Green Berets". He is also famous for his exploits as an OSS officer during World War II, parachuting into France to coordinate and activate the French Resistance and organizing an operation intended to capture Adolf Hitler. During his retirement years, Colonel Bank played a quiet but critical role in warning the nation about the risks of terrorism[citation needed] and modern technology and he is largely responsible for the high level of security at U.S. nuclear power plants since the early 1970s.
1920 Wayne Thiebaud American painter whose most famous works are of cakes, pastries, boots, toilets, toys and lipsticks. His last name is pronounced "Tee-bo." He is associated with the Pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work.
1923 Daniel Baugh Brewster (d 2007) Democratic member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1963 until 1969. He was also a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1950–1958, and a representative from the 2nd congressional district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1959-1963.
1923 Billy Haughton, or William R. Haughton (d 1986) American harness driver and trainer, and one of the most-winning drivers ever. He was one of only three drivers to win the Hambletonian four times, the only one to win the Little Brown Jug five times, and the only one to win the Messenger Stakes seven times. With a career record of 4,910 wins and c. $40 in earnings, he was first in annual winnings twelve times – 1952-59, 1963, 1965, 1967 and 1968 – and in heats won from 1953-58.
1928 Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock (d, 2010) American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with Harnick.
1929 Harold Lee "Hal" Lindsey American evangelist and Christian writer. He is a Christian Zionist and dispensationalist author. He currently resides in the Palm Springs area of Southern California. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Lindsey
1934 Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz) American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974).
1934 Rita R. Colwell (née Rita Rossi) American microbiologist and as the 11th director of the National Science Foundation (4 Aug 1998), the first woman - and the first biologist since the advent of modern biotechnology - to head the NSF. In the 1960s, she became the first U.S. scientist to create a computer program that analyzed data related to the taxonomic classification of different strains of bacteria. This led to her revolutionary discovery that the strain of cholera bacteria that had been linked to the disease belonged to the same species as benign strains of cholera. With her team of researchers she later found that both the harmless and the disease-causing (toxin-producing) strains were found commonly in estuaries and coastal waters.
1943 Andrew Goodman (d 1964) one of three American civil rights activists murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
1946 Bobby Lee Rush U.S. Representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located principally on the South Side of Chicago. It is a minority-majority district and has a higher percentage of African Americans (65%) than any other congressional district in the nation. Rush has the distinction of being the only person to date to defeat President Barack Obama in an election for public office. Rush is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
1950 Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer senior United States Senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in 1998, he defeated three-term Republican incumbent Al D'Amato by a margin of 55%–44%. He was easily re-elected in 2004 by a margin of 71%–24% and in 2010 by a margin of 66%–33%.
1814 Elbridge Thomas Gerry (b 1744) American statesman and diplomat. As a Democratic-Republican he was selected as the fifth Vice President of the United States, serving under James Madison, from March 4, 1813, until his death a year and a half later. He was the first Vice President not to run for President of the United States, although this was due to his death rather than being a political decision. Gerry was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He was one of three men who refused to sign the Constitution because it did not then include a Bill of Rights. Gerry later became the ninth Governor of Massachusetts. He is known best for being the namesake of gerrymandering, a process by which electoral districts are drawn with the aim of aiding the party in power, although its initial ‹g› has softened to /dʒ/ from the hard /ɡ/ of his name.
1846 James Evans, “Apostle of the North,” (b. 18 January 1801, England). He served as a missionary among the Canadian Indians. He invented Cree syllabic characters and translated portions of the Bible and hymnbook into the Cree language. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Evans_(linguist)
1910 Octave Chanute (b 1832) U.S. aeronaut whose work and interests profoundly influenced Orville and Wilbur Wright and the invention of the airplane. Octave Chanute was a successful engineer who took up the invention of the airplane as a hobby following his early retirement. Knowing how railroad bridges were strengthened, Chanute experimented with box kites using the same basic strengthening metod, which he then incorporated into wing design of gliders. Through thousands of letters, he drew geographically isolated pioneers into an informal international community. He organized sessions of aeronautical papers for the professional engineering societies that he led; attracted fresh talent and new ideas into the field through his lectures; and produced important publications. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_Chanute
1958 Johnston McCulley (b 1883) author of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Many of his novels and stories were written under the pseudonyms Harrison Strong, Raley Brien, George Drayne, Monica Morton, Rowena Raley, Frederic Phelps, Walter Pierson, and John Mack Stone, among others.
1972 Katherine Elisabeth Wilson (August 19, 1916 – November 23, 1972), better known by her stage name, Marie Wilson, American radio, film, and television actress best known for portraying My Friend Irma.
1992 Roy Claxton Acuff (b 1903) American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful. In 1962, Acuff became the first living person inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Christian Feast Day
Alexander Nevsky (Repose, Russian Orthodox Church)
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