Today in History

8 0ctober 1978
The world water speed record of 510 km/h (317.60 mph) is set at Blowering Dam, New South Wales by Australian Kevin Warby.
Kevin build the jet powered Hydro-plane - The Spirit of Australia - in his back yard.
It was powered by a 6000 horse power Westinghouse jet engine
The record still stands.
 
1871
the Great Chicago Fire was started by a thief who accidentally knocked over a lantern in a barn as he was stealing some milk,destroyed 4 square miles, 300 people died
1927
movie' The 2nd Hundred Years' a silent short which was the 1st movie when actor/comedians, Stan Laurel&Oliver Hardy appeared as a team
1945
U. S. inventor, Percy Spencer patents the microwave
1957
Brooklyn Dodgers announced they are moving to Los Angeles
1971
John Lennon's single' Imagine' is released, peaks at # 6 on music charts, stays there for 11 weeks
2001
Pres. George W. Bush announces establishment Office of Homeland Security after the 9/11 attacks on U.S.
 
Oct 8th Birthdays:
1939
Paul Hogan- Australian actor- 'Crocodile Dundee'
1949
Sigourney Weaver- actress, Alien, Ghostbusters, Gorillas in the Mist, Working Girl, Year of Living Dangerously
1956
Stephanie Zimbalist- actress best known TV role' Laura Holt' on NBC detective series,'Remington Steele' co starred with Pierce Brosnan
1970
Matt Damon- actor Good Will Hunting, The Talented Mr Ripley, Bourne movies, Saving Pvt Ryan, The Martian. He and best friend, actor Ben Affleck won Oscars for writing screenplay for 'Hunting'
Deaths:
1793
John Hancock- U. S. statesman 1st man to sign the Declaration of Independence 56
1953
Nigel Bruce- British actor Rebecca, Suspicion, Sherlock Holmes 58
1992
Willy Brandt- Chancellor of West Germany '69-'74 78
2011
Roger Williams- U.S. pianist had hit single with 'Born Free' 87
 
On This Day In History, October 9th

2012 Assassination Attempt on Malala Yousafzai
The Pakistani education activist was shot at and injured while going back home from school. Malala survived the attack and has since gone on to become one of the leading voices for the education of girls in the world. In 2014, at the age of 17, she received the Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi, making her the youngest recipient of the prestigious award.

1986 Phantom of Opera makes its theatrical debut
The musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London’s West End. The plot of the musical was inspired by French author Gaston Leroux's novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, which follows the life of Erik or the Phantom, a disfigured musical genius. The musical is the longest-running show on Broadway.

1970 Khmer Republic established
The Khmer Republic was formally established under the leadership of General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak. These two leaders took power earlier in took power in a coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk

1962 Ugandan independence
Uganda gained independence from British rule. The country had become a British protectorate in 1894, 32 years after the first European, British John Hanning Speke set foot in the country. Milton Obote became the first prime minister of an independent Uganda.

1874 General Postal Union Created
The precursor the Universal Postal Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations, was formed after 22 countries signed the Treaty of Bern. The treaty regulated international mail and postage. 4 years later, in 1878, the union changed its name to the Universal Postal Union to reflect the growing international membership of the group.
 
Births On This Day, October 9th 🎂

1970 Annika Sörenstam
Swedish golfer

1969 PJ Harvey
English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer

1966 David Cameron
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1940 John Lennon
English singer-songwriter, musician, producer

1888 Nikolai Bukharin
Russian politician

Deaths On This Day, October 9th 🪦

2004 Jacques Derrida
French philosopher

1978 Jacques Brel
Belgian singer-songwriter, actor

1974 Oskar Schindler
Czech/German businessman

1967 Che Guevara
Argentine/Cuban physician, author, intellectual, diplomat, theorist

1958 Pope Pius XII
 
9 October 1962
Britain's BBC bans Bobby Picket's "Monster Mash".
Although the song is neither obscene or controversial, it's about a horror movie party and like many other songs, is banned under a catch-all regulation prohibiting the broadcast of anything deemed "offensive."
 
9 October 1973

Elvis and Priscilla Presley are granted a divorce after six and half years of marriage.
She is given property along with $725,000 and an additional $4,200 a month for the support of their five-year old daughter, Lisa Marie. The settlement also includes half the proceeds from the sale of an L.A. home and five percent of the total outstanding stock in two publishing companies.
The couple emerge from a Santa Monica, California courthouse arm in arm, kiss and depart separately. Elvis was later quoted as saying, "Sad thing is... you can still love someone and be wrong for them."
 
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1701
Yale Univ in New Haven, CT is founded
1855
Isaac Singer patents sewing machine motor
1926
NBC{National Broadcasting Corp} is founded, the oldest of the "Big 3"networks,others CBS, ABC
1965
Beatles single' Yesterday' debuts at #1 on music charts,stays there for 4 weeks
1984
astronaut, Kathy Sullivan becomes the 1st U. S. woman to walk in space during Space Challenger mission
1997
Univ Of North Carolina, basketball coach Dean Smith retires,at the time was the most successful college basketball coach with 879 wins,254 loses. He coached from 1961-1997,won 2 NCAA championship titles. The basketball arena where the team plays is named in his honor, Dean Smith Center
2019
1 million Northern Calif residents had their power cut off by Pacfiic Gas&Electric to prevent wildfires due to high winds
 
Oct 9th Birthdays:
1918
E. Howard Hunt- U.S intelligence officer involved with Watergate break in
1936
Brian Blessed- British actor King Arthur, Road to China
1948
Jackson Browne- singer/songwriter 'Running on Empty,The Pretender
1954
Scott Bakula- actor best known TV roles,' Dr Sam Beckett' in NBC's 'Quantum Leap',' Dwayne Pride' CBS show "CSI :New Orleans'
Deaths:
1974
Oskar Schindler- German businessman/industralist who is considered one of the heroes during Holocaust. He hired Jewish workers, kept them safe from being deported to prision death camps His story is the basis of movie' Schnidler's List' 66
1996
Walter Kerr- Broadway theatre critic 83
2001
Herb Ross-film director, Footloose, Steel Magnolias 74
 
On This Day In History, October 10th

2010 The Country of Netherlands Antilles is Dissolved
The Caribbean Dutch dependency, also sometimes known as the Dutch Antilles, was formed in 1954. The dissolution came after a series of referendums to become independent states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands were passed on the Islands of Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, and Saba.

1970 Fijian independence
The South Pacific Ocean island country had been ruled by the British since 1874. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara became the first prime minister of independent Fiji.

1967 Outer Space Treaty is Enforced
Also known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, it regulated the exploration and use of outer space and created the field of international space law. The treaty declared that outer space and all celestial bodies were the common heritage of mankind and could not be claimed by any one nation.

1964 The Tokyo Summer Olympics Begin
93 countries participated in the first Olympics to be held in Asia. As a tribute to the horrors of the Second World War, Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day an atomic bomb destroyed the city, was chosen as the torchbearer to light the Olympic flame during the opening. The Tokyo Olympics was also the first Olympic Games that used satellites - Syncom 3 in the United States and Relay 1 in Europe - to telecast the games. Some of the games were also broadcasted in color for the first time.

1933 United Airlines Boeing 247 explosion
In one of the oldest unsolved cases in aviation history, the airplane which was flying from Newark, New Jersey to Oakland California exploded mid-air and crashed near Chesterton, Indiana. All 7 passengers and crew members died in the incident. To this day, it is not known what and who caused the explosion.
 
Births On This Day, October 10th 🎂

1979 Mýa
American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, actress

1969 Brett Favre
American football player

1930 Harold Pinter
English playwright, screenwriter, director, actor, and Nobel Prize laureate

1861 Fridtjof Nansen
Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate

1813 Giuseppe Verdi
Italian composer

Deaths On This Day, October 10th 🪦

2010 Solomon Burke
American singer-songwriter

2009 Stephen Gately
Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actor

2004 Christopher Reeve
American actor

1985 Orson Welles
American actor, director, producer, screenwriter

1875 Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
Russian poet, author, playwright
 
1780
Great Hurricane of 1780 was the Atlantic's deadliest recorded one. It started in the West Indies,went through the Caribbean,hit Barbados. The max winds were 200 mph between 20-30,000 people died
1865
billard ball made from cellulose nitrate was patent by John Wesley Hyatt in Albany, NY
1966
Beach Boy's single' Good Vibrations' was released written by Brian Wilson,Mike Love{lyrics}. It became the group's 1st million selling record
1973
Vice Pres, Spiro Agnew{Pres Nixon running mate} resigns after pleading 'no contest' to allegations of tax fraud
 

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