This Day in History

[Gravdigr]

October 10

Today is marked as World Mental Health Day, so, go crazy.

Today is also World Homeless Day, so go home if you have one.

World Porridge Day, also today, raises awareness, and funds, to aid starving children in developing countries.

Events

1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean.

1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipman students and seven professors.

1846 – Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.

1871 – Chicago burns after a barn accident. The fire lasts from October 8 to October 10.

1897 – German chemist Felix Hoffmann discovers an improved way of synthesizing acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).

1902 - The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. was formed, in Kalamazoo Michigan.

1913 – United States President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, ending construction on the Panama Canal.

1928 – Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.

1933 – United Airlines Boeing 247 mid-air explosion: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.

1939 - The real Eleanor Rigby died in her sleep of unknown causes at the age of 44.

1957 – The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident.<--Interesting read.

1964 – The opening ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary satellite.

1970 – In Montreal, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

1971 – Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

1978 - Joe Perry and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith were injured after a cherry bomb was thrown on stage during a gig in Philadelphia. The group performed behind a safety fence for the rest of the tour.

1979 - The Rose, starring Bette Midler as a self-destructive 1960s rock star, (transparently based on Janis Joplin) premiered in Los Angeles. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Frederic Forrest), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Bette Midler, in her screen debut), Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

1980 - The funeral of Led Zeppelin's drummer, John Bonham, took place. ‘Bonzo’ was found dead at guitarist Jimmy Page's house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours) aged 32.

1985 – United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.

2010 – The Netherlands Antilles are dissolved as a country.

2014 - Former professional basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter Rico Harris disappears after visiting his mother's home in Alhambra, California. Aside from an accidental cell phone video, after extensive searches, no trace of the 6' 9", 300 lb. forward has been found.

Births

1813 – Giuseppe Verdi♪ ♫; 1819 – Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger; 1825 – Paul Kruger; 1858 – Maurice Prendergast; 1900 – Helen Hayes; 1917 – Thelonious Monk; 1924 – James Clavell; 1924 – Ed Wood; 1926 – Oscar Brown♪ ♫; 1926 – Richard Jaeckel; 1927 – Dana Elcar (MacGyver); 1933 – Jay Sebring (Manson Family victim); 1940 – Winston Churchill (no, not that one, this one's his grandson); 1941 – Peter Coyote; 1945 - Alan Cartwright(Procol Harum); 1946 – Charles Dance; 1946 – John Prine♪ ♫; 1946 – Ben Vereen♪ ♫; 1948 – Cyril Neville(Neville Bros.); 1950 – Nora Roberts; 1953 – Midge Ure♪ ♫(Ultravox, Thin Lizzy, co-wrote Do They Know It's Christmas?); 1954 – David Lee Roth♪ ♫(Van Halen); 1958 – Tanya Tucker♪ ♫; 1959 – Julia Sweeney; 1959 – Bradley Whitford (The West Wing); 1963 – Daniel Pearl; 1965 – Chris Penn (Reservoir Dogs); 1965 – Rebecca Pidgeon♪ ♫; 1966 – Bai Ling; 1969 – Brett Favre; 1973 – Mario Lopez; 1974 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; 1976 – Bob Burnquist; 1979 – Mýa♪ ♫

Deaths

1659 – Abel Tasman; 1759 – Granville Elliott; 1872 – William H. Seward; 1911 – Jack Daniel (yeah, that one); 1913 – Adolphus Busch (yeah, that one); 1935 – Gustave Loiseau; 1963 – Édith Piaf♪ ♫; 1964 – Eddie Cantor♪ ♫; 1985 – Yul Brynner; 1985 – Orson Welles; 1998 – Marvin Gay, Sr. (father and murderer of Marvin Gaye); 2001 – Eddie Futch; 2004 – Christopher Reeve; 2010 – Solomon Burke♪ ♫("I was young. Girls were coming from every angle. I couldn't love them all. But I tried."); 2010 – Joan Sutherland♪ ♫; 2012 – Alex Karras (NFL, Webster, 'Mongo' in Blazing Saddles); 2015 – Steve Mackay (The Stooges)