birthdays: King John II “The good” of France (1319), Elisabeth Vignee-Lebrun, Wilbur Wright, Charlie Chaplin, J.P. Morgan, Kingsley Amis, Anatole France, Henry Mancini, Peter Ustinov, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bobby Vinton, Spike Milligan, John Halas, Edie Adams, Hans Sloane, Disney artist Victor Haboush, Pope Benedict XVI, Martin Lawrence, John Cryer is 59, Billy West, Ellen Barkin is 71, Claire Foy is 41
1260- Chartres Cathedral completed. Art history lecturers rejoice!
1787- What some consider the first professionally produced American play- Royall Tyler’s The Contrast- debuted at New York City’s John Street Theater. It was a comedy that poked fun at aristocracy. Gen. George Washington was in the audience. At this time the Broadway theater district and Times Square was a quiet forest clearing.
1828- Spanish artist Francisco Goya died at 82 in Bordeaux, France. Years later when his remains were moved to Madrid, it was discovered Goya wasn't alone in his grave. His son’s father-in-law Martin Goesochea's remains were in there with him. Also, Goya’s head was missing. To this day it is still unaccounted for.
1905- Andrew Carnegie established the Carnegie Foundation to distribute his philanthropy. The former Scottish orphan coal miner Carnegie renounced his robber baron career and dedicated himself to donating the bulk of his fortune to building libraries and hospitals. He claimed: “A man who dies rich dies disgraced!” When Mark Twain wrote him letters, he addressed them “To Saint Andrew from Saint Mark”
1912- Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1926- The Book-Of-The-Month-Club distributed its first selection-Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
1933- Dick Huemer’s first day working at Walt Disney. Huemer became a senior story artist, and writer. He and Joe Grant developed The Band Concert, Dumbo, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, Saludos Amigos and more.
1935- Fibber McGee and Molly debut on radio.
1940- On Baseball Season’s opening day President Franklin D. Roosevelt's ceremonial first pitch smashed a Washington Post camera. The Chief Executive was not charged with a wild pitch. Red Sox hurler Lefty Grove blanked the Washington Senators, 1-0.
1947- The Zoom Lens patented.
1956- Season 5, episode 23 of I Love Lucy aired. Where Lucy has the fight with a lady in the wine vat squishing grapes.
1959- John McCarthy of MIT invented the computer language LISP.
1962- Walter Cronkite took over the job of anchor at the CBS Evening News, building a reputation for journalistic integrity almost equaled to Edward R. Murrow. Nicknamed the Most Trusted Man in America, many credit Cronkite for breaking the news to America that the U.S. was not going to win The Vietnam War. President Lyndon Johnson said: If I lost Cronkite then I’ve lost middle America.” When Cronkite retired, the redoubtable CBS News Division descent into tabloid stupidity and irrelevance began.
1983- Disney Channel debuted.
1988- Grave of the Fireflies, by Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli, was released in Japan.
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