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ActivityConnection.com - The Daily Chronicles (US) - June 1, 2013

The Daily ChronicleOn This Date

1812 - U.S. merchant ships were being harassed by the English navy. President Madison had tried without success to rebuff the British through fiscal measures. And so on this day in 1812, Madison asked Congress to declare war on Great Britain. The war officially ended with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814.1967 - The Beatles released their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. It is considered one of the most influential albums in the history of popular music.

Daily TriviaAround 1883, Art “Foxy” Irwin, a

Canadian shortstop playing for Boston, broke two fingers while fielding a ball barehanded. He padded a large buckskin glove, put it on, and continued to play. Soon, many players began using

the “Irwin Glove.”

Happy Birthday!Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) was working in a munitions factory during World War II when a visiting photographer snapped

her picture. It made the cover of Yank magazine (picture shown above) and began her career as a m o d e l a n d

actress. She was praised for her comedic ability in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Seven Year Itch, and she became one of Hollywood’s most popular performers.

The Daily ChronicleSATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013



455 - The Vandals, a Germanic tribe, entered Rome and plundered the city for two weeks. This led to the coinage of “vandalism,” meaning senseless destruction.

1865 - The American Civil War ended. The last to surrender, forces under Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith did so in Galveston, Texas.

1933 - The first swimming pool to be built inside the White House w a s c o m p l e t e d . P r e s i d e n t Roosevelt, who suffered from polio, swam to help strengthen his upper body.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaActor Jerry Mathers served in the military during the Vietnam War.

In 1969, the Associated Press and United Press International distributed incorrect reports of his death

when a similarly named soldier was killed.

Happy Birthday!Jerry Mathers, born in 1948, is probably best known for his role in the television sitcom series Leave It to Beaver ( 1 9 5 7 - 1 9 6 3 ) , i n which he starred as Theodore “Beaver” C l e a v e r i n a s o m e w h a t i d e a l family. The show became a favorite among families and continues to be aired on television to this day. In 2007, Mathers made his Broadway debut with a starring role as Wilbur Turnblad in the Tony Award-winning musical Hairspray.

The Daily ChronicleSUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013



1889 - The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States was completed and ran 14 miles between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.

1916 - The Uni ted S ta tes Congress established the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in colleges and universities. The program produces officers for all branches of the military except the Coast Guard.

1972 - Sally Jan Priesand was ordained as the first woman rabbi in the United States. She became assistant rabbi at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City.

• • • • • •Daily Trivia

Popcorn saved many movie houses during the great

depression. In the 1930s, the best comment was, “Find a good place

to sell popcorn and build a movie theatre there.”

Happy Birthday!Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) gained fame as the lead singer and songwriter for The Impressions

and then pursued a successful solo career. He was among the first African-American R&B composers

who injected social commentary into their work. He is best known for his 1972 album Super Fly. In 1990, Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after stage lighting equipment fell on him at an outdoor concert.

The Daily ChronicleMONDAY, JUNE 3, 2013



1827 - The first cricket match between Oxford University and Cambridge Univers i ty was played. The result was a tie. At the t i m e , t h e y w e r e t h e o n l y universities in England.

1944 - A U.S. Navy task force captured the German submarine U-505 in the South Atlantic. It was towed to Bermuda in secret, and its codebooks and other secret materials assisted Allied code-breaking operations. Today, the U-505 is a permanent exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Daily Trivia

David Sarnoff receivedthe Titanic’s distress signal and saved hundreds of passengers.He later became the head of

the NBC radio network.

Happy Birthday!King George III (1738-1820) was King of Great Britain from 1760 until his death in 1820. His sixty-year reign was marked by a series of military conflicts, i n c l u d i n g t h e A m e r i c a n

Revolution and v a r i o u s w a r s against France, which concluded with the defeat of N a p o l e o n a t Waterloo in 1815.

During the later part of his life, George III suffered from recurrent mental illness. By 1810, his mental i l lness was deemed permanent and his official duties were carried out by his son.

The Daily ChronicleTUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2013



1956 - Elvis Presley sang his new hit single, “Hound Dog,” on The M i l t o n B e r l e S h o w a n d scandalized viewers with his suggestive hip movements. In the public outcry that followed, other variety show hosts, including Ed S u l l i v a n , d e n o u n c e d h i s performance. Sullivan swore he would never invite Presley on his own show, but that autumn, Elvis did appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. Cameras recorded him only from the waist up.

1968 - Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated on the night he won the California Democratic primary.

Daily Trivia

A horse focuses its eye by changing the angle of its head, not by changing the shape of the lens

of the eye, as humans do.

Happy Birthday!Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a S c o t t i s h p h i l o s o p h e r a n d

economist who w r o t e T h e W e a l t h o f Nations, which is considered the first modern w o r k o f

economics. He argued that the free market, while appearing chaotic and unrestrained, is actually guided to produce the right amount and variety of goods by a so-called invisible hand of competition.

The Daily ChronicleWEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013



1942 - In the Battle of Midway, U.S. Navy dive bombers sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and one cruiser.

I t i s cons ide red the mos t important naval battle in the Pacific Campaign.1944 - The largest amphibious military operation in history began: Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. Although opposition was intense in areas, casualties on the first day were fewer than expected.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaWhen the D-Day forces landed, Hitler was asleep. None of his

generals would risk ordering re-enforcements without his

permission, and no one dared to wake him. Crucial hours were lost, allowing the Allies to win

control of the beaches.

Happy Birthday!Nathan Hale (1755-1776) was an

officer in the C o n t i n e n t a l Army during the A m e r i c a n Revolut ionary Wa r. H a l e i s most famous for his service as a

spy. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission, and was caught and executed. Today, Hale is considered an American hero, and a large statue of h im s tands outs ide the headquarters of the Central I n t e l l i g e n c e A g e n c y i n Washington, DC.

The Daily ChronicleTHURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013



1866 - Chief Seattle died in a village of his people. Seattle was a chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes who lived around what today is called Puget Sound. Euro-Americans moving into the area were treated well by Chief Seattle and, in response, the settlers named their tiny new settlement in his honor.

1929 - Vatican City gained independence from Italy and became a sovereign state. At approximately 110 acres and with a population of around 900, it is the smallest state in the world by both population and area.

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Daily TriviaWhile many believe Hydrox cookies are an Oreo knock-off,

Hydrox actually came first—in

1908, four years before the Oreo.

Happy Birthday!Tom Jones, born in 1940, is a Welsh singer-songwriter known for his powerful voice and exuberant live act, which inc luded wearing tight pants or trousers and billowing shirts. His hits include “It’s Not Unusual,” “Thunderball,” “Green, Green Grass of Home,” “Delilah,” “What’s New Pussycat?” and “She’s a Lady.” Jones has remained married to his wife Melinda for over 55 years. The couple lives in Los Angeles.

The Daily ChronicleFRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2013



632 - In Medina, located in p re sen t -day Saud i Arab ia , Muhammad, one of the most influential political and religious leaders in history, died in the arms of his third and favorite wife, Aisha. Muhammad regarded himself as the last prophet of the Judaic-Christian tradition, and his revelations formed the foundation for the Qur’an.1941 - Whirlaway won the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. He was subsequently elected the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1941 and 1942.

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Daily TriviaThe term “skid road” beganin Seattle when loggers built

wood skids to transport cut logs from the top of Yesler Way down

to the waterfront and was the dividing line between the

“respectable” downtown and the “seedy” area to the south.

Happy Birthday!Alexis Smith (1921-1993) was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. During the 1940s, she appeared alongside some of the most popular male stars of the day, including Errol F l y n n , C a r y G r a n t , a n d H u m p h r e y B o g a r t . S h e appeared on the c o v e r o f t h e M a y 3 , 1971,issue of Time with the announcement that she would be in the Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. In 1972, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.




1934 - Donald Duck made his film debut in The Wise Little Hen. Voice actor Clarence Nash performed Donald’s voice, one of the most identifiable in all of animation.

1954 - Joseph Welch, special counsel for the U.S. Army, confronted Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on w h e t h e r c o m m u n i s m h a d infiltrated the U.S. Army. This marked the first time that the senator’s tactics of attacking the character or patriotism of his p o l i t i c a l o p p o n e n t s w e r e challenged.

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Daily TriviaThere is a subtle change in color

in the Washington Monument about one-quarter of the way up ,

because a lack of donations caused construction to be halted

for a period of 25 years.

Happy Birthday!Cole Porter (1891-1964) was a composer and songwriter. His

works include the musical comedies K i s s M e , K a t e ( b a s e d o n Shakespeare’s The Ta m i n g o f t h e S h r e w ) , F i f t y

Million Frenchmen, and Anything Goes, as well as songs like “Night and Day,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” He was noted for his sophisticated lyrics, clever rhymes, and complex forms. Irving Berlin used to refer to “Begin the Beguine” as “that long, long song.”




1 9 0 9 - T h e M o r s e c o d e emergency signal “SOS” was first used in earnest by the steamship SS Slavonia, which was sinking in the Azores. Thanks to a quick response to the emergency signal, all passengers were rescued.

1943 - Hungarian Laszlo Biro patented the ballpoint pen, which he had been developing since the 1930s. At the time, he was living in Argentina, where he had gone to escape the Nazis. In many languages, the word for ballpoint pen is biro.

• • • • • •

Hot StuffEach two-ounce bottle of Tabasco sauce contains at least 720 drops. The fiery sauce is produced by the

McIlhenny Company, which was founded in 1868 at Avery Island,

Louisiana.

Happy Birthday!Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) was a writer and i l lustrator of c h i l d r e n ’ s literature who is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published i n 1 9 6 3 . A feature-length film of Where the Wild Things Are was released in 2009 and directed by Spike Jonze. Sendak’s other accomplishments include designing sets for many operas and ballets.




1509 - King Henry VIII of England married Catherine of

Aragón, the first of his six wives. When Catherine failed to p r o d u c e a s o n , Henry divorced her against the will of the Catholic Church,

thus initiating the Protestant Reformation in England.

1770 - British explorer James Cook became the first European to discover the Great Barrier Reef, off the northeastern coast of Australia.

1959 - The first Hovercraft was launched off England’s southern coast.

• • • • • •

A Ditty to RememberThe various fates of King

Henry VIII’s wives: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced,

beheaded, survived.

Happy Birthday!Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era who began writing his first music at age six. He is particularly noted for his

tone poems and operas. He was also a n o t e d c o n d u c t o r . H i s 1 8 9 6 composition Also sprach Zarathustra

(“Thus Spoke Zarathustra”) is well known today for its use in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.




1897 - After five years of hard work, Karl Elsener patented what later became known as the Swiss army knife, a multi-functional tool. Victorinox, the company Elsener founded, is still producing knives and in 2006 produced the Giant, with 85 tools and 110 different functions.

1935 - Ella Fitzgerald made her first recordings for Brunswick Records. The tunes were “Love and Kisses” and “I’ll Chase the Blues Away.”

1979 - The Gossamer Albatross became the first human-powered airplane to fly over the English Channel.

Did You Know?

Genuine ivory does not only come from elephants. It can come from

the tusks of a boar or a walrus.

Happy Birthday!George H. W. Bush, born in 1924, served as the 41st President of the United States (1989-1993).

As president, he a u t h o r i z e d Operation Desert Storm, which in F e b r u a r y 1 9 9 1 d r o v e S a d d a m Husse in’s I raq i

forces out of Kuwait. The former president continues to make many public appearances. In 2005, he and former president Bill Clinton set aside their political differences to jointly encourage aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.




323 BC - Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian general, died at the age of 33. He fell ill following a prolonged drinking bout. He and his armies had built an empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to India. Alexander never lost a battle and within his empire he introduced political and economic ideas based on early Greek models.

1955 - A Mercedes-Benz sports car crashed into the a crowd of spectators killing 83 people at the Le Mans (France) auto race. It is the worst accident in motorsport history.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaIn 1892, Emile Berlinger

developed the master disc, from which several copies of a record

could be made on vulcanized rubber. Before then, singers had

to repeat a song for each copy of a recording.

Happy Birthday!P a u l E d w a r d L y n d e (1926-1982), a comedian and actor, was well known for his r o l e s a s Unc l e Ar thu r on

B e w i t c h e d ; a n d befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie. He was also the center s q u a r e o n t h e classic game show Hollywood Squares

from 1968 to 1981. Lynde also did extensive voice work on animated cartoons, particularly those of Hanna-Barbera Productions. Lynde’s trademark voice is still popular among impressionists.



The Daily Chronicle

On This Date1775 - The U.S. Army was founded with the authorization of ten companies of riflemen by a resolution of the Continental Congress.

1881 - John McTammany, Jr. of Cambr idge , Massachuse t t s patented the player piano, which he described as a “mechanism for automatic playing of organs using narrow sheets of perforated flexible paper which governed the notes to be played.”

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaThe body has about 70,000 miles of blood vessels. The heart pumps blood through this labyrinth and back again once every minute.

Happy Birthday!Burl Ives (1909-1995) was a successful folk singer, author, and actor. Carl S a n d b u r g described him as “the mightiest ballad singer born in any century.” He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Big Country in 1958. His song “A Holly Jolly Christmas” remains a popular tune during the Christmas season.


Today is...Flag Day!



1775 - George Washington became Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.

1859 - In Washington state, a pig owned by the Hudson Bay Company broke into an American squatter’s potato patch. It nearly triggered a British-American war over ownership of one of the San Juan Islands.

1878 - A multiple camera rig was built to settle a bet on whether all four legs of a horse leave the ground during full gallop. The pictures were “projected” in a zoetrope and proved once and for all that all four legs do leave the ground at the same time.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaThe “countdown” (counting

down from 10 for an event suchas New Year’s Day) was firstused in a 1929 German silent

film called Frau im Mond (“Woman in the Moon”).

Happy Birthday!Helen Hunt, born in 1963, is an actress and director who starred in the television sitcom Mad About

You for seven years and in the m o v i e s A s G o o d A s I t Gets, Twister, C a s t A w a y , What Women Want, and Pay

It Forward. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe award for her role in As Good As It Gets (1997). She made her directorial debut in 2007 with Then She Found Me.



The Daily Chronicle

On This Date1884 - The first roller coaster in the U.S. began operation at Coney Island. It was known as a gravity switchback railway, and the track was 600 feet long.1909 - Glenn Curtiss sold his first airplane for $5,000 to the New York Aeronautical Society. It was initially called Gold Bug because of the golden tint of the varnished fabric but later officially became known as the Golden Flyer.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaIn the 1700s, Europeanwomen achieved a pale

complexion by eating Arsenic Complexion Wafers, actually

made with the poison. The wafers made the skin fashionably pale by destroying red blood cells.

Happy Birthday!Stan Laurel (1890-1965) was the first half of the comedy double-act Laurel and Hardy. In their

trademark derby hats, the skinny Laurel and the rotund Oliver Hardy could turn any situation into hilarious chaos. Together, they m a d e a h u g e

body of films, such as Duck Soup, Slipping Wives, and With Love and Hisses.




1579 - English seaman Francis Drake anchored in a harbor just n o r t h o f p r e s e n t - d a y S a n Francisco and claimed the territory for Queen Elizabeth I. He remained there for a month while making preparations for his westward crossing of the Pacific Ocean.

1 8 7 6 - O g l a l a S i o u x a n d Cheyenne warriors led by Crazy Horse fought U.S. troops to a draw at the Battle of Rosebud Creek. Crazy Horse and his forces went on to join Sitting Bull and defeat General Custer and his men just eight days later at Little Big Horn.

1928 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaHouseflies hum in

the key of F.

Happy Birthday!Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) is one of the most influential

composers of 20th-century music. In addit ion to his compositions, he also achieved fame as a pianist and a conductor. His The R i t e o f Spr ing

provoked a riot when it premiered in Paris in 1913 and marked him as being a true innovator. Aside from music, Stravinsky displayed an inexhaustible desire to explore and learn about art and literature.




1815 - Forces commanded by England’s Duke of Wellington and Prussia’s Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeated Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grande Armée at the Battle of Waterloo, which ended 25 years of warfare.

1940 - Winston Churchill made his famous “This was their finest hour” speech to the House of Commons.

1983 - Dr. Sally Ride, who has a PhD degree in physics, became America’s first woman in space with the launch of Space Shuttle Challenger. Since then, she has written five books on space, aimed at children with the goal of encouraging them to study science.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaIn 4000 BC Egypt, men

and women wore glitter eye shadow made from the

crushed shells of beetles.

Happy Birthday!Paul McCartney, the man who wrote “When I’m Sixty- Four,” turns 71 today. McCartney first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles. Recognized as one

of the top musical icons of the 20th century, he is also an advocate for a n i m a l r i g h t s , vegetarianism, and music education.

McCartney has many hobbies, including painting, writing, and poetry. He is also a devotee of meditation and an avid soccer fan.




1905 - Pittsburgh showman Harry Davis opened the world’s first nickelodeon, showing a silent film called The Great Train Robbery. The storefront theater could hold 96 people and charged only five cents. Nickelodeons soon spread across the country, typically featuring live vaudeville acts as well as short films.

1941 - Cheerios whole grain oat cereal was invented to provide a more convenient and better tasting alternative to cooked oatmeal. It was first called Cheerioats, but the name was changed to Cheerios in 1945.

1977 - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline began carrying oil from the Arctic Ocean to Prince William Sound.

• • • • • •

Daily QuizMilk chocolate was developed by Daniel Peter in the 1870s

using condensed milk.

Happy Birthday!Earl Douglas Haig (1861-1928) became Field M a r s h a l i n c o m m a n d o f English forces during World War I. He was criticized for the heavy casualties suffered by the British, but somewhat redeemed himself by organizing the final offensive in 1918.




1782 - Congress adopted The Great Seal of the United States. The seal consists of an eagle, an olive branch, and 13 arrows - one for each of the original 13 colonies.

1863 - Unhappy with Virginia’s secession from the United States in 1861, Union loyalists in the mountainous western region of Virginia formed their own government and became West Virginia.

1963 - The United States and the Soviet Union made a hot line agreement. It was a way to e s t a b l i s h e m e r g e n c y communications between the two superpowers during the Cold War. The system was tested but never used.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaThe Pilgrims brought the European honey bee to

the new world.

Happy Birthday!Actress Olympia Dukakis, born in 1931, won an Oscar for Best S u p p o r t i n g Actress for her performance in Moonstruck in 1987. She has also starred in other popular films, such as Steel Magnolias (1989) and Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995). More recently, she starred in and produced the 2011 film Montana Amazon. Dukakis has been married to actor Louis Zorich since 1962. They have three children.



The Daily Chronicle

On This Date1920 - Hundreds of admirers mobbed actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who were arriving in London on their honeymoon. Fairbanks was routinely cast as a swashbuckling hero, and with her trademark blond curls, Pickford was a fan favorite.

1942 - A Japanese submarine surfaced near the Columbia River in Oregon and fired at nearby Fort Stevens, one of only a handful of attacks on the U.S. mainland.

• • • • • •

Daily QuizQ: When were the first televised presidential candidate debates?

A: In September/October of1960, all four of Senator John F.

Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon’s debates

aired on television.

Happy Birthday!Jane Russell (1921-2011) gained

f a m e i n t h e 1 9 4 3 m o v i e The Outlaw and b e c a m e a popular pin-up g i r l d u r i n g World War II. She appeared in

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) opposite Marilyn Monroe. The film was well received and showed her as a talented actress. She was married three times, and during the 1950s she adopted three children.


Summer Begins Today!



1937 - Joe Louis knocked out James J. Braddock in a boxing match in Chicago, Illinois. The bout lasted eight rounds, and Louis was announced the world heavyweight champion.

1942 - The Germans launched Operation Barbarossa, code name for the invasion of Russia. Despite initial success, the Germans soon found themselves fighting a war of attrition on the Eastern Front that they could not win.

1944 - President Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill of Rights. Its benefits i n c l u d e d f r e e c o l l e g e o r vocational education and low-interest loans to buy homes and start businesses.

• • • • • •

Did You Know?Louis Cartier popularized the

wrist watch when he designed one in 1904 for a pioneer aviator,

Alberto Santos-Dumont.

Happy Birthday!Meryl Streep, born in 1949, has received 17 Academy Award nominations, more than any other actor or actress in the history of the awards. From the 1 9 8 0 s t o t h e present day, Meryl has been regarded as one of the best in her field. In 2008, she starred in the hit musical Mamma Mia! and in 2011, she played Margaret Tha t che r i n t he c r i t i c a l l y acclaimed movie The Iron Lady.




1868 - Christopher L. Sholes patented the first practical typewriter. He sold the rights to his typewriter to the E. Remington and Sons in 1872 for $12,000. He continued to work on new developments, and in 1873 he invented the QWERTY keyboard to reduce jams.

1931 - Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first flight around the world in a single-engine plane.

1961 - The Antarctic Treaty took effect. It pledged the twelve signatory nations to nonpolitical scientific investigation of the continent and banned any military activity.

• • • • • •

Did You Know?Bananas have almost no

fat or sodium. The word banana comes from banan, the Arabic word for finger. A cluster of

bananas is called a hand.

Happy Birthday!Bob Fosse (1927-1987) was a musical theater choreographer and director, as well as a film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was

nominated for a n A c a d e m y Aw a r d f o u r times, winning for his direction o f C a b a r e t . Some o f h i s o ther c redi t s

include The Pajama Game (1957), Damn Yankees (1958), Sweet Charity (1969), and All That Jazz (1979).




1916 - Mary Pickford signed the first seven-figure Hollywood deal. Pickford would get $250,000 per film with a guaranteed minimum of $10,000 a week against half of the profits, including bonuses and the right of approval of all creative aspects of her films. Not a bad deal for the former vaudeville and stage actress who once appeared on Broadway with Cecil B. DeMille in The Warrens of Virginia for a measly $25 a week.

1947 - Kenneth Arnold, a pilot, reported seeing objects he described as “saucers” flying near Mount Rainier in Washington state. This was widely reported in newspapers and gave rise to the popular term “flying saucers.”

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaMonths that begin on Sunday will

have a Friday the 13th.

Happy Birthday!E.I. du Pont (1771-1834) was a F r e n c h - b o r n c h e m i s t a n d industrialist who immigrated to the United States in 1799 to escape the excesses of the French Revolution. H e u s e d h i s expertise in chemistry to open a gunpowder company during a t ime when the qua l i t y o f American-made gunpowder was very poor. His descendants, the DuPont family, were one of America’s richest and most prominent families in the 19th and 20th centuries.




1876 - In Montana, General Custer and his men made their last stand against Lakota-Northern Cheyenne warriors led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.

1947 - The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) was published.

1975 - Mozambique, a country in southeastern Africa, gained its independence when Samora Machel was sworn in as president, ending 477 years of Portuguese rule.

1993 - In Ottawa, Kim Campbell was sworn in as Canada’s 19th prime minister, becoming the first woman to hold the country’s highest office.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaGrace Hopper is the person who came up with the term

“computer bug” when she found a moth in a room-sized computer

back in the 1940s.

Happy Birthday!June Lockhart, born in 1925, is an actress who at the age of 18 won a Tony for Outstanding

Performance by a Newcomer for her Broadway debut in For Love or Money. She is probably best known for playing the

mother on Lassie (1958-1964). She then played Dr. Maureen Robinson in the 1965-68 hit television series Lost in Space. She also appeared on television as Dr. Janet Craig on Petticoat Junction. Her daughter, Anne Lockhart, is also an actress.




1870 - In Atlantic City, NJ, the world’s first boardwalk was completed along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies.

1945 - Delegates from 50 nations signed the United Nations Charter, establishing the world body in an effort to save “succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

1963 - In a speech considered to be one of his best, and a notable moment of the Cold War, President Kennedy famously declared to the West German people, “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”).

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaBeavers are vegetarians. Theyeat the bark of hardwood trees, leaves, and aquatic and shore plants. They do not eat fish,

as is widely believed.

Happy Birthday!William Lear (1902-1978) was e l e c t e d i n t o t h e N a t i o n a l Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 1993. He designed the first practical car radio (which launched the Motorola Co.), the eight- t rack tape player, and the autopilot system used in airplanes. He is probably best remembered for designing and manufacturing the Lear Jet, the first mass-produced business jet.




1787 - Edward Gibbon completed the sixth and final volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon’s accurate use of primary sources se t an example for fu ture historians.1857 - Scientific American magazine warned that whale oil, used for lighting, would soon run out due to over-hunting.1884 - Lawrence Corcoran pitched his third no-hit baseball game, leading Chicago to a 6-0 win over Providence. Corcoran set a baseball record for no-hitters for the feat.

Daily TriviaThe Rufous is the only species of hummingbird to nest in Alaska. The birds migrate 2,000 miles to

Mexico each winter and then back to Alaska in the spring.

Happy Birthday!Bob Keeshan (1927-2004) is

r e m e m b e r e d f o r h i s T V c h i l d r e n ’ s p r o g r a m C a p t a i n K a n g a r o o , which ran from

1955 to 1984. He began working as a receptionist in NBC’s Radio Manhattan office. This led to small roles on The Howdy Doody Show and Triple B Ranch. The rest is history.




1914 - The Fifth Avenue Coach Company of New York introduced the first bus with crosswise seats. Prior to this, all buses had been equipped with longitudinal seating. Crosswise seats allowed passengers to face forward, giving them a better view of the world.

1939 - Equipped with a fleet of six large long-range Boeing 314 flying boats, Pan American Airways debuted the first regular trans-Atlantic air service, flying from New York to Lisbon, Portugal, and Marseilles, France.

• • • • • •

Daily TriviaRandolph Caldecott was a

British painter and illustrator of children’s books. Since 1938, the

American Library Associationhas given the Caldecott Medal

to the illustrator of the bestU.S. children’s picture

book of the year.

Happy Birthday!Mel Brooks, born in 1926, is an American actor, writer, director, and theatrical producer best

k n o w n a s a creator of broad film farces and parodies. Some o f h i s m o s t famous films include Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and

Young Frankenstein. He was married to the actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until her death in 2005. They met in rehearsal for The Perry Como Show in 1961.




1613 - The Globe Theater, where most of Shakespeare’s plays debuted, burned down. The Globe was a round, wooden, open-air structure with a stage at one end and covered balconies for the gentry. The galleries could seat about 1,000 people. Another 2,000 “groundlings” could stand on the ground around the stage.

1776 - Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded. It was carefully restored in the 1990s and is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. The Mission is still an active church.

1916 - A Boeing aircraft flew for the first time.

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Daily TriviaPortrait artist James

Whistler decided to paint his mother when the person who had scheduled an appointment with

him failed to show.

Happy Birthday!Louis Lindley, Jr. (1919-1983), better known as Slim Pickens, began his career as a rodeo clown. He was told that working in the r o d e o w o u l d b e “ s l i m pickings” (very l i t t l e m o n e y ) , which gave him his stage name. He t rans i t ioned to p l a y i n g b o t h villains and comic sidekicks in western movies. However, his most famous role was B-52 pilot Major T. J. “King” Kong in Dr. Strangelove, which ended with Pickens riding an H-bomb down to destruction.




1859 - French acrobat Charles Blondin, known as the Little Wonder, crossed the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope. He repeated this feat several times in the coming months with different theatric variations: blindfolded, t r u n d l i n g a w h e e l b a r r o w, backflipping, carrying a man on his back, and sitting down midway while he cooked an omelet.

1936 - Margaret Mitchell’s only novel, Gone with the Wind, was published. She spent 10 years writing and researching the antebellum South and the Civil War in order to produce Gone with the Wind. The book was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 1939 and became one of the bestselling novels of all time, selling some 25 million copies.

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Daily TriviaPearls will dissolve in

vinegar over time.

Happy Birthday!Lena Horne (1917-2010) was a

singer and actress who appeared in a number of MGM musicals during the 1940s, most notably Cabin in the Sky. In the

mid-1950s, she left Hollywood to focus on her nightclub career and appearances on television variety shows. In 1981, she received a Special Tony Award for her one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.


the daily chronicle - activityconnection.com · curtis mayfield (1942-1999) gained fame as the lead...

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