October 6
Today is
German-American Day in the United States, celebrating German-American heritage by commemorating the landing of thirteen German families in Philadelphia in 1683.
1539 – Spanish conquistador
Hernando de Soto and his army enter the
Apalachee capital of
Anhaica (present-day Tallahassee, Florida) by force.
1683 – German immigrant families found
Germantown in the
colony of Pennsylvania, marking the first major immigration of German people to America.
1723 –
Benjamin Franklin arrives in Philadelphia at the age of 17.
1876 – The
American Library Association was founded.
1889 – American inventor
Thomas Edison shows his first
motion picture.
1903 – The
High Court of Australia sits for the first time.
1927 – Opening of
The Jazz Singer, the first prominent "talkie" movie.
1939 – World War II:
Germany's invasion of Poland ends with the surrender of
Independent Operational Group Polesie after the
Battle of Kock! Yep, it was a Kock fight.
1973 – Egypt launches a coordinated attack with Syria against Israel leading to the
Yom Kippur War.
1976 –
Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Bridgetown, Barbados, after two bombs, placed on board by terrorists with connections to the CIA, exploded. All 73 people on board are killed.
1977 – The first prototype of the
Mikoyan MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight.
1979 –
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
1981 –
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is murdered by Islamic extremists.
1985 –
PC Keith Blakelock is murdered as
riots erupt in the Broadwater Farm suburb of London.
1995 –
51 Pegasi is discovered to be the second major star apart from the Sun to have a planet orbiting around it.
2007 –
Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe.
Births
1744 – James McGill (no, not Slippin' Jimmy, there was another one); 1820 – Jenny Lind♪ ♫; 1846 – George Westinghouse (invented the railway air brake); 1906 – Janet Gaynor; 1908 – Carole Lombard; 1914 – Thor Heyerdahl;
1925 – Shana Alexander ("Jane you ignorant slut."); 1935 – Bruno Sammartino; 1940 – Ellen Travolta (John's sister); 1942 – Fred Travalena; 1949 –
Lonnie Johnson (80+ patents, invented the Super Soaker); 1949 – Les Moonves (Chairman, President, & CEO of CBS); 1951 – Kevin Cronin♪ ♫(REO Speedwagon); 1954 – David Hidalgo
(Los Lobos); 1955 – Tony Dungy; 1959 – Oil Can Boyd; 1963 – Elisabeth Shue (
Leaving Las Vegas); 1964 – Matthew Sweet♪ ♫; 1966 – Tommy Stinson
(The Replacements); 1973 – Ioan Gruffudd; 1978 – Ricky Hatton
; 1982 – Paul Smith
♪ ♫; 1986 – Olivia Thirlby (Dredd)
Deaths
1892 – Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1951 – Will Keith Kellogg (yeah,
that Kellogg); 1962 – Tod Browning; 1980 – Hattie Jacques; 1981 – Anwar Sadat; 1985 – Nelson Riddle♪ ♫; 1989 – Bette Davis; 1992 – Denholm Elliott (
Raiders of the Lost Ark); 1992 – Bill O'Reilly (no, not the asshole from Fox News Channel, this one played cricket); 1999 – Gorilla Monsoon; 2000 – Richard Farnsworth