December 30
It’s National Bicarbonate of Soda Day
ON THIS DAY…
1873 American Metrological Society was formed in New York City to improve systems of weights, measures and money
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance premieres
1924 Edwin Hubble announced the existence of another galactic system in addition to the Milky Way
1930 The first photograph showing the curvature of the Earth was exhibited in Cleveland, OH
1938 Electronic television system patented by V. K. Zworykin
1940 California’s first freeway, Arroyo Seco Parkway, opens
1953 The first ever NTSC color television sets went on sale
1963 Congress authorizes the Kennedy half dollar
1963 Let’s Make A Deal debuts on NBC-TV
1970 Paul McCartney sues his bandmates to dissolve The Beatles
1972 President Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam and announces peace talks
1974 The Beatles are legally disbanded
1977 Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, CO
1980 The final episode of The Wonderful World of Disney airs on NBC-TV
1993 The Vatican establishes diplomatic relations with Israel
BORN:
0039 Roman Emperor Titus (A.D. 79-81)
1865 Rudyard Kipling, writer/Nobel Prize laureate (The Jungle Book, Kim)
1906 Sir Carol Reed, Academy Award-winning director (The Third Man, Oliver!)
1911 Jeanette Nolan, actress (The Richard Boone Show, Gunsmoke)
1914 Bert Parks, game show host/actor (Stop the Music, Miss America emcee)
1914 Jo Van Fleet, Academy Award-winning actress (East of Eden, Cool Hand Luke)
1920 Jack Lord, actor (Hawaii Five-O, Dr. No)
1925 Ian MacNaughton, director/produer (Monty Python’s Flying Circus, And Now for Something Completely Different)
1928 Bo Diddley, musician (“Mannish Boy,” “I’m a Man”)
1934 Del Shannon, musician (“Runaway,” “Sea of Love”)
1934 Russ Tamblyn, actor/dancer (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story)
1934 Joseph Bologna, actor (My Favorite Year, The Woman in Red)
1940 James Burrows, multiple Emmy Award-winning producer/director/writer (Will and Grace, Back to You)
1942 Michael Nesmith, Grammy-winning musician/actor/writer/director (The Monkees, Elephant Parts)
1942 Fred Ward, actor (Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Tremors)
1945 Davy Jones, musician/actor (The Monkees, Head)
1946 Patti Smith, musician (“Because the Night,” “Gloria)
1947 Jeff Lynne, Grammy Award-winning musician/producer (ELO, Traveling Wilburys)
1950 Lewis Shiner, author (Glimpses, Black & White)
1952 Somtow Sucharitkul [S.P. Somtow], author/composer/director (Vampire Junction, Darker Angels)
1959 Tracey Ullman, actress/comedian/singer (Tracey Takes On…, Robin Hood: Men in Tights)
1971 C.S. Lee, actor (Chuck, Dexter)
1973 Jason Behr, actor (Roswell, The Grudge)
1980 Eliza Dushku, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tru Calling)
1982 Kristin Kreuk, actress (Smallville, Earthsea)
DIED:
1695 Sir Samuel Morland, mathematician and inventor of mechanical calculators, dies at 70
1970 Charles “Sonny” Liston, heavyweight boxer champ (1962-64), dies at 38
1979 Richard Rodgers, Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award-winning composer (South Pacific, The King and I) dies at 77
1994 Maureen Starkey, first wife of Ringo Starr, dies at 48
1996 Lew Ayres, actor (Dr. Kildare, Damien: Omen II), dies at 88
1996 Jack Nance, actor (Eraserhead, Twin Peaks), dies at 53
2000 Julius J. Epstein, screenwriter (Casablanca, The Man Who Came to Dinner) dies at 91
2004 Artie Shaw, musician/composer/bandleader, dies at 94
2006 Frank Campanella, actor (Dick Tracy, Overboard) dies at 87
2006 Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi President, is hanged at 69