December 23

It’s Roots Day

ON THIS DAY…

1776 Thomas Paine writes “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
1779 Benedict Arnold is court-martialed for improper conduct
1788 Maryland votes to cede a 10 square mile area for District of Columbia
1823 The poem A Visit From St. Nicholas is published in the New York Sentinel
1888 Vincent van Gogh cuts off the lower part of his left ear, takes it to a brothel, and gives it to a prostitute named Rachel
1919 Alice H. Parker patents gas heating furnace
1922 BBC Radio begins daily newscasts
1947 The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories
1954 The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray
1972 The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism
2007 A grand conjunction in which the solar system will align with the galactic center

BORN:

1909 Maurice Denham, actor (Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Sink the Bismarck!)
1911 James Gregory, actor (The Manchurian Candidate, Barney Miller)
1923 Bob Barker, TV icon (The Price is Right)
1931 Ronnie Schell, comedian/actor (Gomer Pyle)
1949 Adrian Belew, musician (King Crimson, The Bears)
1936 Frederic Forrest, actor (Apocalypse Now, Lonesone Dove)
1943 Harry Shearer, comedian/actor/musician (This is Spinal Tap, The Simpsons)
1965 Eddie Vedder, musician (Pearl Jam)
1965 Slash, musician (Guns N’ Roses)
1971 Corey Haim, actor (The Lost Boys, Lucas)

DIED:

1970 Charlie Ruggles, actor (Bringing Up Baby, The Parent Trap), dies at 84
1973 Charles Atlas, Italian-born bodybuilder, dies at 80
1982 Jack Webb, actor (Dragnet), dies at 62
1985 James Vance (20) and Raymond Belknap (18) commit suicide, sparking their families to sue rock group Judas Priest for subliminal messages
2000 Billy Barty, actor (Foul Play, Willow), dies at 76
2000 Victor Borge, humorist/pianist, dies at 91
2006 Charlie Drake, comedian/actor/writer/singer (Drake’s Progress, The Charlie Drake Show), dies at 81