Today in History
- 1520: King Henry VIII had bowling lanes built at Whitehall in
London, England.
- 1581: Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the first ballet, "Ballet
Comique de la Reine," was staged in Paris.
- 1582: In Italy and Spain, this day became the first day of the
Gregorian Calendar after it was adopted by Pope Gregory XIII. Ten
days were eliminated and Oct. 5, 1582 became Oct. 15, 1582.
- 1815: Napoleon Bonaparte landed on the Island of St. Helena, where
he had been sent into exile by the British after his defeat at the
Battle of Waterloo.
- 1878: Thomas Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Co.
- 1881: The "American Angler," the first fishing journal, was
published. Writer P.G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse ("Jeeves and
Wooster") was born in Guildford, England (d: 1975).
- 1917: Infamous World War I spy Mata Hari was executed by firing
squad at Vincennes Barracks, outside Paris. The first black
officers were commissioned by the U.S. Army.
- 1924: The Statue of Liberty was declared a national monument.
- 1945: Pierre Laval was executed for betraying his country in World
War II. As premier of Vichy France (1942-1944), he pursued a policy
of collaboration with Nazi Germany.
- 1946: Hermann Goering, Nazi leader and one of Hitler's most loyal
supporters, committed suicide in his prison cell just before he
was
due to be executed.
- 1964: Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev was removed from office
and replaced by Premier Alexei N. Kosygin and Communist Party
secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev; Composer Cole Porter ("Night and Day")
died at age 73.
- 1966: President Lyndon Johnson created the Department of
Transportation.
- 1990: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1993: African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and South
African President F.W. de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
for their work to end apartheid and lay the foundations for a
democratic South Africa.
*Happy Birthday*
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- Richard Carpenter, 52, singer, of The Carpenters
- Sarah (Ferguson), Duchess of York, 39
- John Kenneth Galbraith, 90, economist/author/diplomat
- Evan Hunter, 72, writer, "The Blackboard Jungle"
- Lee Iacocca, 74, ex-Chrysler CEO/president/chairman
- Linda Lavin, 61, actress/singer, "Alice"
- Penny Marshall, 56, actress/director, "Laverne & Shirley's" Laverne
De Fazio, "Big," "A League of Their Own," "The Preacher's Wife"
- Mario Puzo, 78, novelist, "The Godfather"
- Arthur Schlesinger Jr., 81, author/historian/educator