June 11

It’s Hug Holiday

ON THIS DAY…
1184BC According to the calculations of Eratosthenes, the date that Troy was sacked and burned
1509 Marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Katherine of Aragon
1644 Florentine scientist, Evangelista Torricelli described in a letter the invention of a barometer, or “torricellian tube”
1742 Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove; the wood fuel burns on an iron surface over a cold air duct which heats air which then passes through baffles in the back wall
1770 British captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Great Barrier Reef off the northeastern coast of Australia by running onto it
1776 The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to a committee to draft a declaration of independence
1793 Robert Haeterick of Pennsylvania was issued the first American patent for a stove design of cast iron
1805 A fire consumed large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory
1825 The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City
1837 The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans
1889 A folding chair was patented by John E. Purdy and James R. Sadgwar of Washington, D.C.
1892 The Limelight Department, one of the world’s first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia
1895 The first US patent for a gasoline-driven automobile by a US inventor was issued to Charles E. Duryea
1901 New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands
1919 Sir Barton became the first horse to capture the Triple Crown when he won the Belmont Stakes in New York City
1929 Walt Disney’s trademark application for the image of Mickey Mouse is filed with the US Patent Office
1936 Presbyterian Church of America was founded at Philadelphia
1937 The Marx Brother’s film A Day at the Races opens in US movie theaters
1947 The US government announced an end sugar rationing
1950 Seventeen months after suffering life-threatening injuries in a car accident, Ben Hogan returns to win his second of four US Open golf championships
1953 The final episode of The Amos ‘n Andy Show aired on CBS-TV, concluding a comic phenomenon which began in 1929 on network radio
1955 Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the Le Mans Grand Prix
1960 Disney’s film The Sign of Zorro, starring Guy Williams, Henry Calvin, Gene Sheldon, and Romney Brent, is released; the film was created from edited episodes of Disney’s hit TV series
1962 Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to apparently successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island; no conclusive evidence has ever been found that they survived the escape attempt
1963 Alabama governor George Wallace attempts to block the entry of the first black students to the University of Alabama, but he backs down when faced with federal troops
1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Florida for trying to integrate restaurants
1963 In Saigon, South Vietnam, Buddhist monk Quang Duc sets himself on fire to protest the treatment of Buddhists by the government of US-backed president Ngo Dinh Diem
1963 The Mercury space capsule was patented by Faget, Meyer, Chilton, Blanchard, Kehlet, Hammack and Johnson; it was assigned to NASA
1965 The Beatles are named to the Order of the British Empire on the Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors list published this day
1966 Janis Joplin debuted on stage at the Avalon ballroom in San Francisco
1969 John Wayne’s True Grit opens in US movie theaters
1970 After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as US Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so
1971 The Nineteen-month occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native American protesters ends
1975 Harvard professor Michael McElroy and other scientists concerned about atmospheric ozone depletion proclaim their support for banning chlorofluorocarbons as a propellant in spray cans
1977 Seattle Slew won the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown
1982 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial opens in US movie theaters
1985 A Fabergé Egg was sold for £1,375,00 in New York
1986 In “Planned Parenthood v. Casey”, a divided Supreme Court upholds its earlier decision in Roe v. Wade protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion
1986 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off opens in US movie theaters
1987 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first prime minister elected to three consecutive terms as prime minister of the United Kingdom in the 20th century
1990 The US Supreme Court struck down a federal law prohibiting desecration of the American flag
1991 Microsoft released MS DOS 5.0
1993 Jurassic Park opened in US movie theaters
1993 The US Supreme Court ruled that people who commit “hate crimes” motivated by bigotry may be sentenced to extra punishment; the court also ruled religious groups have a constitutional right to sacrifice animals in worship services
1996 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me opens in US movie theaters
1998 Compaq Computer pays $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in largest high-tech acquisition
1998 Scientists deciphered the last of the genetic material of bacterium that causes tuberculosis
2001 Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing
2002 Antonio Meucci was recognized as the first inventor of the telephone by the US Congress
2002 Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills were married; we all know how it turned out
2004 Ronald Reagan’s funeral is held at Washington National Cathedral
2005 G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries

BORN:
1572 Ben Jonson, Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor; a contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair
1842 Carl von Linde, engineer who invented mechanical refrigeration; his first refrigeration equipment was tested in a Munich brewery
1864 Richard Strauss, composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas; his best known work is “Also sprach Zarathustra” — the opening section of which was used in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey
1880 Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to be elected to the US House of Representatives and the first female member of the Congress; a lifelong pacifist, she was the only person to vote against both the entry of the United States into World War I and World War II. To date, she is the only woman to be elected to Congress from Montana
1886 David Steinman, engineer whose studies of airflow and wind velocity helped make possible the design of aerodynamically stable bridges
1894 Dai Vernon (David Frederick Wingfield Verner), magician whose expert sleight-of-hand technique and extensive knowledge garnered him universal respect among fellow magicians and the nickname of “The Professor”; influence was considerable in the magic world with his generous mentoring to a number of famous magicians
1910 Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French naval officer, oceanographer, marine biologist and ocean explorer, known for his extensive underseas investigations
1912 James Algar, long-time Disney director, producer and writer (Fantasia (segment “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, A True-Life Adventure: Bear Country, A True-Life Adventure: Jungle Cat)
1912 Keith Porter, cell biologist who developed techniques for electron microscope studies to determine the internal structure and organization of cells and tissues
1913 Vince Lombardi, head coach of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from 1959-67, winning five league championships during his 9 years as well as Super Bowls I and II; the trophy given to the winning team in the Super Bowl was renamed for him following his death in 1970
1919 Richard Todd, actor (The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue, The Dam Busters, Saint Joan, The Longest Day, Doctor Who)
1935 Gene Wilder, actor, writer, film director (The Electric Company, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Bonnie and Clyde, The World’s Greatest Lover, Young Frankenstein)
1936 Chad Everett, actor (The Dakotas, Return of the Gunfighter, Medical Center, Centennial, McKenna)
1945 Adrienne Barbeau, actress, writer (Carnivàle, Maude, Escape from New York, The Cannonball Run, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death)
1956 Joe Montana, football quarterback who started four Super Bowl games and the team won all of them and appeared in eight Pro Bowls; he had the highest passer rating in the National Football Conference five times (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1989) and, in both 1987 and 1989, Montana had the highest passer rating in the entire NFL
1959 Hugh Laurie, comedian, actor, writer (House, M.D., Stuart Little, Blackadder the Third, Jeeves and Wooster, Sense and Sensibility)
1961 Caroline Quentin, comedian, actress (Jonathan Creek, Men Behaving Badly, Life Begins, Blue Murder, Kiss Me Kate)
1969 Peter Dinklage, actor (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Threshold, Nip/Tuck, Death at a Funeral, Underdog)
1978 Joshua Jackson, actor (Dawson’s Creek, Bobby, The Skulls, Urban Legend, The Mighty Ducks)
1986 Shia LaBeouf, actor (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Even Stevens, Holes, Constantine)

DIED:
1936 Robert E. Howard, pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction; well known for having created Conan the Barbarian, commits suicide at age 30
1936 Julius Arthur Nieuwland, organic chemist who studied reactions of acetylene and invented neoprene, dies at 58
1937 R.J. Mitchell, British aircraft designer, developer of the eight-gun Spitfire, one of the best-known fighters in World War II, dies at 42
1979 John Wayne, Academy Award-winning actor and film icon, dies at 72
1993 Ray Sharkey, actor (Wise Guy, The Idolmaker, Wired, Cop and a Half), dies of AIDS at 40
1993 Bernard Bresslaw, actor (Carry On…, Doctor Who, Up Pompeii, Vampira, Jabberwocky), dies at 59
1994 Jack Hannah, long-time Disney animator, writer and director (Donald’s Nephews, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, This Is Your Life Donald Duck), dies at 81
1996 Brigitte Helm, actress (Metropolis, The Lost Atlantis, The Blue Danube), dies at 88
1998 Dame Catherine Cookson, DBE, Britain’s most widely read novelist, while remaining a relatively low-profile figure in the world of celebrity writers, dies at 91
1999 DeForest Kelley, prolific character actor (Star Trek, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Elfego Baca: Mustang Man, Mustang Maid, Night of the Lepus), dies at 79
2003 David Brinkley, respected television newscaster, dies at 82