Most days, as I’m preparing my blog post, I visit Ref Desk, a universal information reference site. While there, I connect to Events, Births, History, an almanac page to see what happened in the World on today’s date. Some days are rather mundane anniversaries and birthdays, others quite remarkable. I’ll let you be the judge for a few of today’s entries:
Birthdates which occurred on January 17:
1706 Benjamin Franklin Boston, kite flyer/statesman/wit/inventor
1863 David Lloyd George (L-PM-Britain, 1916-22)
1927 Eartha Kitt singer/actress (Catwoman-Batman)
1928 Vidal Sassoon London, hair stylist/CEO (Vidal Sasson)
1931 James Earl Jones Mississippi, actor (Darth Vader, Exorcist II, Soul Man)
1938 Paul Revere Harvard Nebraska, pianist (Paul Revere & Raiders)
1942 Muhammad Ali [Cassius Clay], heavyweight champ boxer (1964-7 74-8)
Deaths which occurred on January 17:
1874 Chang & Eng Bunker Chinese/Thai Siamese twins, die at 62
1893 Rutherford B Hayes 19th US President (1877-81), dies in Fremont OH at 70
1910 Thomas Crapper inventor (flush toilet), dies
1977 Gary Gilmore executed in Utah, 1st US execution since 1967
On this day…
1861 Flush toilet (with separate water tank and a pull chain) patented by Mr Thomas Crapper
1874 Armed Democrats seize Texas government ending Radical Reconstruction
1893 Queen Liliuokalani deposed, Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic
1912 English explorer Robert Falcon Scott & his expedition reach the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had gotten there 1 month before
1926 George Burns marries Gracie Allen
1945 Liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops (end of Nazi occupation)
1945 Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, arrested by secret police in Hungary
1946 United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting
1962 NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 40,690 m
and in 19 (mumble, mumble) my brother, Joe Parks was born! Happy Birthday, Joe!
Seems this is a significant day on which to do something er, significant. :^)
Posted by Rev. Paul | January 17, 2013, 10:00 amYa think? :-P
Posted by guffaw1952 | January 17, 2013, 10:07 amAnd Uncle Pauly is still rockin’ with Paul Revere and the Raiders!
Posted by ProudHillbilly | January 17, 2013, 10:55 amIsn’t everybody?
Posted by guffaw1952 | January 17, 2013, 1:35 pmQuite the list of folks there :-)
Posted by Old NFO | January 17, 2013, 6:17 pmThanks!
Just the tip o’ the iceberg, my friend!
Posted by guffaw1952 | January 17, 2013, 6:30 pm