July 9

It’s National Sugar Cookie Day

ON THIS DAY…
0455 Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire
1540 Henry VIII of England annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves
1595 Johannes Kepler published Mysterium cosmographicum (Mystery of the Cosmos); he described an invisible underlying structure determining the six known planets in their orbits
1789 In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution
1793 Act Against Slavery passed in Upper Canada and importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited
1808 The leather splitting machine was patented by Samuel Parker of Billerica, MA
1816 Delegates from colonies in southern South America declare their independence from Spain as the United Provinces of South America, later known as Argentina
1846 By an Act of Congress, the Washington, DC area south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia
1869 The corncob pipe was invented by Dutch immigrant woodworker, Henry Tibbe, who founded the Missouri Meerschaum Company
1872 New England sea captain, John F. Blondel of Thomaston, Maine, patented the doughnut cutter, (but can’t take credit for the hole)
1878 An improved corncob pipe was patented by Henry Tibbe in Washington, MO
1900 Queen Victoria of Great Britain gives the royal assent to the Australian Federation Bill, establishing an autonomous Commonwealth of Australia on January 1, 1901
1922 Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking a world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’
1924 The Democratic Party convention takes over 100 ballots to nominate a compromise candidate, John W. Davis, a lawyer and former ambassador, for president against incumbent Calvin Coolidge
1960 Thresher was launched, the first of a class of US nuclear-powered attack submarines
1967 Leonard Bernstein conducts a concert with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War
1979 A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by famed “Nazi hunters” Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France; a note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility
1991 South Africa is reintroduced into the Olympic movement after 30 years of exclusion
1992 Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton chooses Tennessee senator Al Gore to be his running mate
1993 British and Russian scientists using DNA genetic fingerprinting tests, identified the bone fragments discovered in Ekaterinburg in 1979 to be those of the Russian Tzar Nicholas II and members of his family executed on July 17, 1918
1995 The Grateful Dead perform the last concert of their 30-year career at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
1997 Mike Tyson’s boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear in a televised match

BORN:
1819 Elias Howe, inventor who, although he didn’t invent the sewing machine, improved it and patented it
1831 Wilhelm His, anatomist and embryologist who created the science of histogenesis, or the study of the embryonic origins of different types of animal tissue
1856 Nikola Tesla, inventor and researcher (born on the stroke of midnight) who designed and built the first alternating current induction motor
1894 Percy Spencer, inventor of the microwave oven
1901 Dame Barbara Cartland DBE CStJ, successful writer of romance novels, specializing in historical love themes
1911 John Wheeler, the first American physicist involved in the theoretical development of the atomic bomb; awarded the 1997 Wolf Prize “for his seminal contributions to black hole physics, to quantum gravity, and to the theories of nuclear scattering and nuclear fission”
1911 Mervyn Peake, writer, artist, poet and illustrator; he is best known for his Gormenghast books
1928 Vince Edwards, actor-director-singer (Ben Casey, The Devil’s Brigade, Matt Lincoln, Space Raiders)
1933 Oliver Sacks, neurologist and writer; his empathy with those afflicted with strange conditions, including. Tourette’s syndrome, amnesia, and autism, has been the hallmark of his writings
1938 Brian Dennehy, prolific Tony Award-winning actor (Death of a Salesman, Foul Play, Cocoon, Silverado, F/X, Tommy Boy, Ratatouille)
1942 Richard Roundtree, actor (Shaft, Earthquake, Maniac Cop, Se7en, Painkiller Jane,Heroes)
1945 Dean R. Koontz, bestselling author (Whispers, Demon Seed, The Servants of Twilight, Phantoms)
1946 Bon Scott, singer (AC/DC)
1947 O. J. Simpson, retired American football player, actor, spokesman and broadcaster, who earned infamy for having been tried for the murder of his ex-wife
1951 Chris Cooper, Academy Award-winning actor (Adaptation, The Patriot, Lonesome Dove, This Boy’s Life, October Sky, American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, Capote)
1955 Jimmy Smits, Emmy Award-winning actor (L.A. Law, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, The Tommyknockers)
1956 Tom Hanks, writer-director-producer-musician and 2-time Academy Award-winning actor (Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Big, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, A League of Their Own, Toy Story, That Thing You Do!)
1957 Kelly McGillis, actress (Top Gun, Witness, The Accused, The Babe, North)
1957 Tim Kring, writer-producer (Heroes, Crossing Jordan, Providence, Chicago Hope, Knight Rider)
1964 Courtney Love, musician, songwriter, actress (The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, Sid and Nancy)
1965 David O’Hara, actor (Braveheart, Some Mother’s Son, The Devil’s Own, The MatchMaker, Oliver Twist, The District, Hotel Rwanda, Wanted)
1976 Fred Savage, actor-director-producer (The Princess Bride, The Wonder Years,Vice Versa, Working, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Crumbs)

DIED:
1850 Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (1849-1850) known as “Old Rough and Ready”, he had a 40-year military career in the US Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Second Seminole War before achieving fame leading US troops to victory at several critical battles of the Mexican-American War, dies after an attack of food poisoning five days earlier at 65
1996 Melvin Belli, prominent lawyer known as “The King of Torts” who won over $600,000,000 in judgments during his legal career, dies at 88
2002 Rod Steiger, Academy Award-winning actor (In the Heat of the Night, On the Waterfront, Mars Attacks!, The Amityville Horror, The Illustrated Man, Doctor Zhivago), dies at 77
2004 Isabel Sanford, Emmy Award-winning actress (The Jeffersons, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The New Centurions, All in the Family, Lady Sings the Blues, Love at First Bite), dies at 86
2007 Charles Lane, skinny, hatchet-faced, bespectacled American character actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock,The Carpetbaggers, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Petticoat Junction, Murphy’s Romance), dies at 102
2007 Peter Tuddenham, actor (Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, A Mind to Murder, Blake’s Junction 7), dies at 88