December 29
It’s Pepper Pot Day
ON THIS DAY…
1813 British soldiers burn Buffalo, NY during the War of 1812
1845 Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state
1851 The first American YMCA opens in Boston
1890 US soldiers massacre more than 400 men, women and children of the Great Sioux Nation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
1891 Edison patents “transmission of signals electrically” (radio)
1896 “Lava” soap was trademarked by William Waltke & Co. of St. Louis, MO
1911 The San Francisco Symphony is formed
1927 Krakatoa began a new volcanic eruption on the seafloor
1940 The Luftwaffe firebombs City of London, killing almost 200 civilians
1949 KC2XAK of Bridgeport, CT becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) TV station to operate a daily schedule
1952 The first transistor hearing aid went on sale
1967 The Star Trek episode, “Trouble With Tribbles,” first airs
1969 Gene Roddenberry marries Majel Barrett
1989 Vaclav Havel becomes president of Czechoslovakia
BORN:
1721 Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France
1766 Charles Macintosh, chemist and inventor of rubberized waterproof clothing
1788 Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, archaeologist whose designation of the Stone, Iron and Bronze Ages became widely accepted
1800 Charles Goodyear, inventor and the first American to vulcanize rubber
1808 Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (18651869)
1809 William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (186874, 188085, 1886 and 189294)
1876 Pablo Casals, cellist/conductor
1928 Bernard Cribbins, actor (Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 AD, The Mouse on the Moon)
1932 Inga Swenson, actress (Advise and Consent, The Miracle Worker)
1934 Ed Flanders, Emmy-award winning actor (St. Elsewhere, MacArthur)
1936 Mary Tyler Moore, seven-time Emmy Award-winning actress (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show)
1937 Barbara Steele, actress (Black Sunday, The Pit and the Pendulum)
1938 Jon Voight, Academy Award-winning actor (Deliverance, Coming Home, National Treasure)
1946 Marianne Faithfull, singer/actress (Marie Antoinette, The Girl on a Motorcycle)
1947 Ted Danson, actor (Cheers, Damages)
1956 Fred MacAulay, comedian
1959 Patricia Clarkson, actress (The Green Mile, Far from Heaven)
1959 Paula Poundstone, comedian
1963 Dave McKean, artist/filmmaker (MirrorMask)
1967 Andy Wachowski, writer/director (The Matrix, V for Vendetta, Speed Racer)
1969 Jennifer Ehle, actress (Wilde, Pride and Prejudice)
1972 Jude Law, actor (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Road to Perdition)
DIED:
1170 Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated at the age of 52
1916 Grigori Rasputin, mystical mad monk, murdered at 47
1984 Indus Arthur, actress (Ben Casey, Angel’s Flight) dies at 43
1986 Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1957-1963) dies at 92
1986 Andrei Tarkovsky, writer/director (Solaris, Andrei Rublev) dies at 54
2003 Earl Hindman, actor (Home Improvement,The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), dies at 61
2003 Dinsdale Landen, actor (Devenish, Pig in the Middle, Doctor Who: “The Curse of Fenric”) dies at 71
2003 Bob Monkhouse, comedian/game show host/author (Family Fortunes, Bob Monkhouse On The Spot) dies at 75
2004 William Boyett, character actor (Dragnet, Sea Hunt) dies at 77