On Oct. 14, 1939, during World War II, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the HMS Royal Oak, a British battleship anchored at Scapa Flow in Scotland's Orkney Islands; 833 of the more than 1,200 men aboard were killed.
On this date:
In 1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
In 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech. [He was no Ronald Reagan, that's for sure. — Ed.]
In 1933, Nazi Germany announced it was withdrawing from the League of Nations.
In 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler. British and Greek troops liberated Athens, ending three years of World War II occupation by German troops.
In 1947, Air Force test pilot Charles E. ("Chuck") Yeager broke the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell XS-1 (later X-1) rocket plane over Muroc Dry Lake in California.
In 1960, the idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to an audience of students at the University of Michigan.
In 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Thirty years ago, in 1979, Hockey Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scored the first of his record 894 goals in a home game against the Vancouver Cancucks.
In 1986, Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1987, a 58-hour drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down an abandoned well at a private day care center; she was rescued on Oct. 16.
In 1991, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland A's, 4 games to 2, to win the American League pennant and become the first Canadian team to go to the World Series.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton accused Senate Republicans of recklessness and irresponsibility for defeating the nuclear test ban treaty, and pledged the United States would refrain from testing despite the treaty's rejection. Japan's Sumitomo Bank and Sakura Bank announced they would merge. Julius Nyerere, Tanzania's first president, died in a London hospital at age 77.
In 2003, John Allen Muhammad pleaded innocent to murder in the Washington-area sniper case. (He was later convicted and sentenced to death.)
In 2004, the Treasury Department announced that the federal deficit had surged to a record $413 billion in fiscal 2004. A suicide bomber killed four Americans in the U.S.-guarded "Green Zone" of Baghdad.
In 2006, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test.
In 2008, Big banks started falling in line behind a revised bailout plan that was fast becoming more of a buy-in; the Bush administration announced it would fork over as much as $250 billion in exchange for partial ownership. A grand jury in Orlando, Fla. returned charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter against Casey Anthony in the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee. Syria formally recognized Lebanon for the first time by establishing diplomatic relations with its neighbor. Canada's Conservative Party won in national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority.
Today's Birthdays: Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is 93. Actor Roger Moore is 82. Classical pianist Gary Graffman is 81. Movie director Carroll Ballard is 72. Former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 71. Country singer Melba Montgomery is 71. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is 70. Singer Sir Cliff Richard is 69. Actor Udo Kier is 65. Singer-musician Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues) is 63. Actor Harry Anderson is 57. Actor Greg Evigan is 56. TV personality Arleen Sorkin is 53. Golf Hall of Famer Beth Daniel is 53. Singer-musician Thomas Dolby is 51. New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi is 45. Singer Karyn White is 44. Actor Jon Seda is 39. Country musician Doug Virden is 39. Country singer Natalie Maines (The Dixie Chicks) is 35. Actress-singer Shaznay Lewis (All Saints) is 34. Singer Usher is 31. Actor Jordan Brower is 28.
Today In Entertainment History October 14
In 1954, director Cecil B. DeMille started filming "The Ten Commandments" in Egypt. The movie featured a cast of over 25,000.
.jpg "Jesus saves, Moses invests.")
Fifty years ago, in 1959, actor Errol Flynn died in Vancouver, British Columbia, at age 50.
In 1964, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts secretly married Shirley Ann Arnold.
In 1971, John Fogerty was sued for allegedly plagiarizing Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" for Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band." The suit was eventually dropped.
In 1972, singer Joe Cocker was arrested in a drug raid after a concert in Adelaide, Australia. Cocker could have been fined and jailed for two years, but police instead ordered him to leave the country within four hours. Michael Jackson had his first solo hit, with "Ben."
In 1977, singer Bing Crosby died near Madrid, Spain, at age 73.
In 1990, conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein died in New York of lung failure. He was 72. Besides "West Side Story," Bernstein's Broadway successes included "On the Town," "Wonderful Town" and "Candide."
In 1996, Madonna gave birth to Lourdes Maria, her first child.
In 1998, "polka king" Frankie Yankovic died at his home in New Port Richey, Fla., a week after suffering a fall. He was 83.
In 2000, singer Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees married Lea Dellecave in Cincinnati.
Thought for Today: "To think is to speak low. To speak is to think aloud." — F. Max Mueller, German philologist (1823-1900).
No comments:
Post a Comment