238th day of 2009 - 127 remaining
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
RADIO DAY
Lee DeForest was born on this day in 1873 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We’re sure his parents had big plans for him; but they could never have realized how their son, Lee, would change the world.
DeForest seemed to be a born inventor. He held patents for hundreds of different items including the photoelectric cell and the surgical radio knife. But none had as much impact on the world as his invention of the electron tube, specifically the triode, a three element vacuum tube, which later became the audion tube -- possibly the most significant invention that made radio possible.
Wireless radio broadcasting was unthinkable in the early 1900s and DeForest was considered a fraud. He was arrested for selling stock to underwrite the development of his invention, which no one believed would work. He was forced into selling the rights to his patent to American Telephone and Telegraph for $500,000; considered by most to be foolish of AT&T. The rest is history.
We can all read Lee DeForest’s version in his 1950 autobiography, Father of Radio.
Events
August 26
1498 - The master artist, Michelangelo, was commissioned to make the Pieta. Originally intended as a monument for his tomb, Michelangelo’s Florentine Pieta has interested historians for centuries because the four-figure sculpture does not feature the perfect proportions that are the hallmark of Michelangelo’s work.
1842 - The U.S. Congress established the fiscal year, which begins on July 1st.
1873 - The first public school kindergarten in the U.S. was authorized by the school board of St. Louis, MO.
1883 - The first of a series of increasingly violent explosions occurred on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa. On the morning of the next day, the world’s largest explosion was heard some three thousand miles away. The volcanic island exploded, spewing five cubic miles of earth into the air -- fifty miles high. It created tidal waves up to 120 feet high, killed 36,000 people and caused oceanic and atmospheric changes over a period of many years.
1918 - Frank Bacon starred as Lightnin’ lit up the Gaiety Theatre in New York City. The play became the first to run for more than 1,000 performances.
1920 - The 19th amendment to the Constitution of the United States was certified by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex -- in the voting booth. In other words, it gave women in the United States the right to vote. In 1973, Congresswoman Bella Abzug presented a bill to Congress designating this day as Women’s Equality Day. The President issued a proclamation and in 1974 it became Public Law #93-382.
1939 - The radio program Arch Oboler’s Plays presented the NBC Symphony, for the first time, as the musical backdrop for the drama, This Lonely Heart.
1939 - Red Barber announced the first televised baseball games -- on New York’s WXBS. The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds played a doubleheader for the occasion.
1947 - Don Bankhead became the first black pitcher in major-league baseball this day. The Brooklyn Dodger hurler helped his own cause by slamming a home run in his first appearance at the plate.
1950 - Bobby Riggs signed ‘Gorgeous Gussie’ (Gertrude) Moran to his pro tennis troupe for a mininum salary of $75,000 a year.
1957 - The Ford Motor Company rolled out the first Edsel automobile. 110,847 of the cars were built before Ford pulled the plug due to lack of sales. The car was named Edsel for the company founder’s son, Edsel Bryant Ford.
1961 - The NHL Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto, Canada.
1970 - Jimi Hendrix opened his recording studio in New York City. Because of its state-of-the-art 36-track recording capability, it attracted many top rock groups.
1973 - David Eisenhower wrote his final sports column for the Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper. The article was about the Philadelphia Phillies.
1981 - Steve Ovett recaptured the mile-run record which had been taken from him just a week earlier by Sebastian Coe. Ovett’s new world record time was 3:48.40.
1982 - Rickey Henderson tied Lou Brock’s 1974 record of 118 stolen bases in a season as the Milwaukee Brewers downed the Kansas City Royals, 10-3.
1984 - John Henry, a nine-year-old gelding, came from behind to win the $600,000 Arlington Million race in suburban Chicago, IL. The lifetime earnings of the famous horse reached $5,482,797.
1987 - The Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. This was a first for the company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years.
1992 - A no-fly zone was imposed on southern Iraq. Operation Southern Watch was orchestrated by the United States, France and Britain. The campaign supported U.N. Security Council resolutions containing Iraq, protecting Kuwait, and keeping pressure on Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime.
1995 - Seal (Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Samuel) hit #1 with the single, Kiss from a Rose. It was at the tippy top of U.S. tune tabulations for just one week.
Birthdays
August 26
1838 - John Wilkes Booth
actor, assassin: shot and killed U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC; killed [or committed suicide] Apr 26, 1865
1873 - Lee DeForest
inventor: triode vacuum tube; died June 30, 1961 see Radio Day [above]
1894 - Sparky (Earl John) Adams
baseball: Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, SL Cardinals [World Series: 1930, 1931], Cincinnati Reds; died Feb 24, 1989
1904 - Christopher Isherwood
author: Goodbye to Berlin; died Jan 4, 1986
1906 - Albert Sabin
polio researcher: the Sabin oral polio vaccine; died Mar 03, 1993
1909 - Jim Davis
actor: Inferno in Paradise, Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Page, Little Big Horn, The Outcast; died Apr 26, 1981
1917 - Jan Clayton
actress: Lassie, Pantomime Quiz; died Aug 28, 1983
1919 - Ronny Graham (Ronald Montcrief Stringer)
singer, actor: Chico and the Man, The New Bill Cosby Show, The Hudson Brothers Show, The Bob Crane Show; died July 4, 1999
1921 - Ben (Benjamin C.) Bradlee
executive editor: The Washington Post; vice-president-at-large: The Washington Post Company
1922 - Irving R. Levine
broadcast journalist; author: Main Street U.S.S.R., Travel Guide to Russia, The New Worker in Soviet Russia, Main Street Italy; died Mar 27, 2009
1924 - Alex (Alexander Raymond) Kellner
baseball: pitcher: Philadelphia Athletics [all-star: 1949], KC Athletics, Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals; died May 03, 1996
1934 - Tommy Heinsohn
Basketball Hall of Famer: Boston Celtics: Rookie of the Year [1956-57], NBA Coach of the Year [1973]
1935 - Geraldine Ferraro
first woman to be nominated for vice president of the U.S. by a major political party [Democratic Party, 1984]
1935 - James Hylton
auto racer: NASCAR Rookie of the Year: 1966
1936 - Mike Farmer
basketball: St. Louis Hawks
1937 - Don Bowman
comedian, entertainer: Still Fighting Mental Health, Poor Old Ugly Gladys Jones, Giddyup Do-nut, Chit Atkins Make Me a Star
1939 - Bill White
hockey: NHL: LA Kings, Chicago Blackhawks
1942 - Vic Dana
singer: Red Roses for a Blue Lady
1946 - Swede Savage
auto racer: killed in crash during Indianapolis 500: 1973
1949 - Bob Cowsill
singer: group: The Cowsills: The Rain, the Park and Other Things
1952 - Michael Jeter
Emmy Award-winning actor: Evening Shade [1992]; Hot House, The Boys Next Door, Waterworld, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Gypsy, The Fisher King, Miller’s Crossing, The Green Mile; died Mar 30, 2003
1957 - John O’Neill
musician: guitar: groups: That Petrol Emotion: Keen, V2; The Undertones: Teenage Kicks, Jimmy, Jimmy, Here Comes Summer, My Perfect Cousin, Julie Ocean, Forever Paradise, It’s Going to Happen
1957 - Alex (Alejandro Castro) Trevino
baseball: catcher: NY Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, SF Giants, LA Dodgers, Houston Astros
1958 - Jet Black (Brian Duffy)
musician: drums: group: The Stranglers: Grip, Peaches, No More Heroes, Walk on By, Golden Brown, Skin Deep, Nice in Nice
1960 - Branford Marsalis
musician: saxophone: bandleader: The Tonight Show; toured with Sting
1980 - Macaulay Culkin
actor: Home Alone series, Getting Even with Dad, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Good Son, My Girl, Uncle Buck, Only the Lonely, The Pagemaster, Richie Rich
Chart Toppers
August 26
1945If I Loved You - Perry Como
Till the End of Time - Perry Como
On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer
You Two-Time Me One Time Too Often - Tex Ritter
1953I’m Walking Behind You - Eddie Fisher
No Other Love - Perry Como
You, You, You - The Ames Brothers
Hey Joe! - Carl Smith
1961Tossin’ and Turnin’ - Bobby Lewis
Wooden Heart - Joe Dowell
Michael - The Highwaymen
Tender Years - George Jones
1969Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Put a Little Love in Your Heart - Jackie DeShannon
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
1977Best of My Love - Emotions
(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher - Rita Coolidge
Easy - Commodores
Way Down - Elvis Presley
1985The Power of Love - Huey Lewis & The News
St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr
Freeway of Love - Aretha Franklin
Real Love - Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
Chart Topper August 26th, 1977...Easy-Commodores
Guapo Vic.
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Re: This day in History August 26
....Thx again for wonderful info feed you provide everyday my friend...
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