304th day of 2009 - 61 remaining
Saturday, October 31, 2009
HOUDINI DAY
This is the day to keep some tricks up your sleeve, much like the famous magician, illusionist and escape artist, Harry Houdini.
Houdini (born Ehrich Weiss), the greatest escape artist in history, always managed to find his way out of handcuffs, straitjackets, padlocked boxes, even a Scotland Yard jail cell. He could walk through walls, make an elephant disappear, and escape from the Water Torture Cell (suspended headfirst into a tank of water with his ankles locked in stocks). However, Harry Houdini was unable to escape fate.
His fatal destiny began on October 22, 1926 while Houdini was performing at the Princess Theater in Montreal, Canada. As he relaxed on a couch in his dressing room at the theater, Houdini was visited by a student athlete from Montreal’s McGill University. The young man asked Houdini if it was true that he could actually withstand punches to the stomach. Houdini replied in the affirmative, but before he could prepare himself for the stunt by tightening his stomach muscles, the student punched the magician several times in his mid-section.
Houdini performed that night and several more, then headed for Detroit where he did one show, then collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. At the time, it was assumed that his appendix had been ruptured by the blows from the student. Current medical knowledge leads experts to believe that Houdini already had appendicitis and only thought that the blows to his stomach were the cause of his pain.
Harry Houdini died on this day in 1926, of peritonitis. Magicians and mediums throughout the world still gather on this night, Halloween, to honor the Great Houdini.
Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve), an ancient celebration dating back to the sixth or seventh centuries, is a rather fitting time for this memorial celebration. Harry Houdini was not only a magician but one who devoted much of his time to exposing fake mediums (in fact, he was not only performing in Montreal at the time of his death, but was also in the city as a guest lecturer at McGill University. The subject of his lecture: Exposing spiritualism.) His spirit still lives on this, the holiday which combines the Druid autumn festival and the Christian celebration of Hallowtide, long associated with witches, ghosts, devils, spirits, magic ... and all scary things that go bump in the night.
Events
October 31
1846 - The Donner party became trapped in what is now known as Donner Pass in the Sierra Mountains. The next day they began building their winter camp at Truckee (now Donner) Lake, having failed to get through the snow-filled pass...
1864 -- When conjuring up a mental image of Nevada, which entered the United States of America on this day, snow is not usually in the picture. Yet, the 36th state garnered its name from the Spanish word meaning ‘snowy’. The founding fathers must have spent a lot of time in the northern and central regions near the capital city of Carson City, and in one of today’s gambling meccas, Reno. The Silver State is also known as the entertainment and gambling capital of the United States. Nevada is the most arid state in the Union which explains why sagebrush is the state flower. The mountain bluebird, the state bird, flies over Nevada’s mountainous terrain.
1868 - Postmaster General Alexander Williams Randall approved a standard uniform for postal carriers.
1903 - The Cleveland Theatre in Chicago welcomed the youngest member of the Barrymore family to the acting fold. Young John Barrymore made his stage debut in Magda.
1930 - In a rare recording, William ‘Count’ Basie sang with Bennie Moten’s orchestra, Somebody Stole My Gal, on Victor.
1941 - Mount Rushmore was ‘completed’ this day. Actually, the money ran out. Work on the monument, honoring Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, had begun August 10, 1927. It was dedicated March 3, 1933 although work continued. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum died in 1941 and his son, Lincoln, continued the project until funds ran out on this day. Since then , no additional carving has been done, nor is any further work (other than maintenance) on the memorial planned.
1942 - One of the great wartime radio shows premiered. CBS debuted Thanks to the Yanks, starring Bob Hawk. It became one of the most popular of the wartime programs.
1953 - NBC televised Carmen on Opera Theatre -- in living color. It was the first major opera televised in anything other than black and white.
1955 - Princess Margaret (Rose) of England announced that she would not be marrying her love, Captain Peter Townsend. The entire world had been waiting for weeks, speculating about whether the sister of the Queen would marry a commoner.
1956 - George J. Dufek of Admiral Robert Byrd’s expedition party became the first American to land by air at the South Pole.
1961 - The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from public display (in Stalin’s Tomb). The longtime dictator of the former Soviet Union was reburied in a simple grave. This incident was the beginning of the USSR’s ‘destalinization’ policy.
1964 - The Supremes Baby Love was the number one single (for four weeks), while Barbra Streisand’s People was #1 on U.S. album charts (for five weeks).
1966 - Mihir Sen of Calcutta, India swam the length of the Panama Canal on this day. Previously, the distance swimmer had conquered the Palk Strait from India to Ceylon, the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Dardanelles.
1972 - Curtis Mayfield received a gold record for Freddie’s Dead from the flick, Superfly.
1984 - Caribbean Queen became a gold record for Billy Ocean. It was Ocean’s second hit song and the only one of his 11 hits to become a million-seller. He would have two other #1 songs and a pair of #2 hits, but none as big as Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run). Billy’s from Trinidad, you know. His real name: Leslie Sebastian Charles.
1984 - India’s Indira Ghandi was assassinated -- by her security guards, two Sikh men. Her position as prime minister was filled by her son, Rajiv.
1997 - Boogie Nights opened in U.S theatres. The film, about how tough life can be in the adult entertainment industry, stars Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle and Heather Graham. Other debuting movies: Critical Care, with James Spader, Kyra Sedgwick, Helen Mirren, Anne Bancroft and Albert Brooks; Red Corner, starring Richard Gere, Bai Ling, Bradley Whitford, Byron Mann and Tsai Chin; Switchback with Danny Glover, Dennis Quaid, R. Lee Ermey and William Fichtner.
1999 - EgyptAir Flight 990, en route to Cairo from New York, crashed off the coast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. All 217 people on board died. Some American investigators suspected a relief co-pilot deliberately put the plane into a suicide dive, causing the crash.
Birthdays
October 31
1795 - John Keats
poet: On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer, Endymion: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”, On a Grecian Urn, To a Nightingale, On Melancholy, To Autumn; died Feb 23, 1821
1860 - Juliette Low
youth group founder: Girl Scouts; died Jan 17, 1927
1887 - Chiang Kai-shek
1st constitutional President of the Republic of China; Chinese army general; died Apr 5, 1975
1896 - Ethel Waters
actress: Beulah, A Member of the Wedding, Cabin in the Sky, Pinky, Mamba’s Daughters, At Home Abroad, Thousands Cheer; singer, actress: Stage Door Canteen, Rhapsody in Black, Blackbirds, Africana; ‘Sweet Mama Stringbean’; died Sep 1, 1977
1912 - Dale Evans (Frances Octavia Smith)
singer, songwriter: Happy Trails to You; actress: The Roy Rogers Show, Roy Rogers movies; wife of ‘King of the Cowboys’ Roy Rogers; died Feb 7, 2001
1920 - **** Francis
author: Decider, Break-In, Proof, Forfeit, Whip Hand
1922 - Barbara Bel Geddes
Emmy Award-winning actress: Dallas [1979-80]; Vertigo, I Remember Mama; died Aug 8, 2005
1922 - Illinois (Battiste) Jacquet
musician: tenor saxophone: Flyin’ Home, I Didn’t Know About You; played with Lionel Hampton, Cab Calloway, Count Basie; in film: Jammin’ the Blues
1924 - Dee (Virgil) Fondy
baseball: Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Redlegs; died Aug 19, 1999
1927 - Anita Kerr
musician: piano, singer, record producer: group: Anita Kerr Singers: The Sea, The Earth; Mexicali Singers; Anita & Th’ So-And-So’s: Joey Baby; composer: The Sky [w/poet, Rod McKuen and The San Sebastian Strings]
1927 - Lee Grant (Lyova Rosenthal)
Academy Award-winning actress: Shampoo [1975]; Emmy Award-winning actress: Peyton Place [1965-66], World Premiere Monday Night at the Movies: The Neon Ceiling [1970-71]; Fay, Backstairs at the White House, Citizen Cohen, Little Miss Marker, Airport ’77, Voyage of the ****ed, Valley of the Dolls, Mod Squad, In the Heat of the Night, The Balcony, The Detective Story
1931 - Michael Collins
NASA astronaut: Apollo 11 command module pilot on first moon landing mission [he remained in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin walked on lunar surface]; author: Apollo 11 - First Moon Landing [Countdown to Space]
1931 - Dan (Irvin) Rather Jr.
Emmy Award-winning news correspondent: CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite: The Watergate Affair [1972-73], The Agnew Resignation [10/10/73]; The CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours
1933 - Phil Goyette
hockey: NHL: Montreal Royals, NY Rangers, SL Blues, Buffalo Sabres
1936 - Michael Landon (Eugene Orowitz)
actor: Bonanza, Sam’s Son, The Loneliest Runner, I was a Teenage Werewolf, God’s Little Acre; actor, writer, producer, director: Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven; screen play writer, director: Sam’s Son, Killing Stone; Television Hall of Famer [1996]; died July 1, 1991
1937 - Tom Paxton
folk singer, songwriter, musician: guitar: I Can’t Help but Wonder Where I’m Bound, The Last Thing on My Mind, Goin’ to the Zoo, The Willing Conscript, Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation, Leaving London, All the Way Home, Is This Anyway to Run an Airline, Talking Vietnam Pot-Luck Blues, Forest Lawn
1942 - Dave (Arthur) McNally
baseball: pitcher: Baltimore Orioles [all-star: 1969, 1970, 1972/World Series: 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971], Montreal Expos; died Dec 1, 2002
1942 - David Ogden Stiers
actor: The Accidental Tourist, Harry’s War, Oh, God!, M*A*S*H, North and South, Doc
1943 - Brian Piccolo
football: Chicago Bears RB; subject of movie: Brian’s Song; died of cancer at age 26 [June 16, 1970]
1944 - Kinky (Richard) Friedman
singer, bandleader: Texas Jewboys: Let Saigons be Bygones, We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You, They Ain’t Making Jews like Jesus Anymore, ******* from El Paso
1944 - Sally Kirkland
actress: Eye of the Stranger, Prime Time Murder, Heat Wave, Anna, Fatal Games, Private Benjamin, A Star is Born, The Way We Were, Cinderella Liberty, Blue
1947 - Frank Shorter
National Track & Field and Olympic Hall of Famer: gold medalist: marathon [1972], silver medalist [1976]; Sullivan Award [1972]; founded company: designs & manufactures running apparel; TV sports commentator
1947 - Russ Ballard
singer, songwriter: musician: guitar: group: Argent: Hold Your Head Up; Roulettes, Unit 4+2
1947 - Deidre Hall
actress: Our House, Days of Our Lives
1948 - Mickey (John Milton) Rivers
baseball: California Angels, NY Yankees [World Series: 1976, 1977, 1978/all-star: 1976/holds individual career record for batting average in league championship series: .386 (1976-78): 22 hits in 57 at-bats in 14 games], Texas Rangers
1950 - John (Franklin) Candy
comedian, actor: Second City, The Blues Brothers, Home Alone, JFK, Little Shop of Horrors, National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1941, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Spaceballs, Splash, Stripes, Uncle Buck, Who’s Harry Crumb?; Emmy Award-winning writer: SCTV Network: The Energy Ball/Sweeps Week [1982-83]; died Mar 4, 1994
1950 - Jane Pauley
TV host: Today, Real Life with Jane Pauley; news anchor: NBC Weekend News, Dateline NBC; married to cartoonist, Gary Trudeau
1951 - Dan Spring
hockey: Dallas Black Hawks, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Cranbrook Royals
1952 - Bernard Edwards
musician: bass: group: Chic: Dance, Dance, Dance, Le Freak, Everybody Dance, I Want Your Love, Good Times; died Apr 18, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan: pneumonia: age 43
1952 - Joe West
baseball: umpire
1953 - Lynda Goodfriend
actress: Who’s Watching the Kids, Happy Days, Blansky’s Beauties
1955 - Xavier Roberts
toy mogul: created Cabbage Patch Dolls
1956 - Tony Bowers
musician: bass: group: Simply Red: Money’s Too Tight to Mention, Holding Back the Years, The Right Thing
1961 - Larry Mullen Jr.
Grammy Award-winning musician: drums: LP: The Joshua Tree; group: U2: Another Day, Stories for Boys, I Will Follow, New Year’s Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday, With You or Without You
1963 - Johnny Marr
musician: guitar: group: The Smiths: Hand in Glove, This Charming Man, What Difference Does It Make, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, William, It Was Really Nothing, Reel Around the Fountain, Suffer Little Children
1963 - Fred (Frederick Stanley) McGriff
baseball: Toronto Blue Jays [1989 AL Home Run Champion], San Diego Padres [all-star: 1992], Atlanta Braves [all-star: 1994, 1995, 1996], Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers
1963 - Dermot Mulroney
actor: Longtime Companions, Young Guns, My Best Friend's Wedding
1963 - Rob Schneider
actor: Saturday Night Live, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Beverly Hillbillies, Down Periscope, Men Behaving Badly, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Muppets From Space
1965 - Annabella Lwin (Myant Aye)
singer: group: Bow Wow Wow: C30, C60, C90, Go!, Wild in the Country, Louis Quatorze
1966 - Adam Horovitz
musician: guitar; rapper: The Beastie Boys; son of playwright Israel Horowitz
1966 - Mike O’Malley
actor: Yes, Dear, Deep Impact, Pushing Tin
1967 - Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle)
singer: Ice Ice Baby; 1st rap singer to have a #1 song on the Billboard singles chart
Chart Toppers
October 31
1947Near You - The Francis Craig Orchestra (vocal: Bob Lamm)
I Wish I Didn’t Love You So - Vaughn Monroe
I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now - Perry Como
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) - Tex Williams
1955Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams
Only You - The Platters
Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Love, Love, Love - Webb Pierce
1963Sugar Shack - Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs
Be My Baby - The Ronettes
Deep Purple - Nino Tempo & April Stevens
Love’s Gonna Live Here - Buck Owens
1971Maggie Mae/Reason to Believe - Rod Stewart
Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves - Cher
Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes
How Can I Unlove You - Lynn Anderson
1979Rise - Herb Alpert
Pop Muzik - M
Dim All the Lights - Donna Summer
All the Gold in California - Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers
1987Bad - Michael Jackson
Causing a Commotion - Madonna
I Think We’re Alone Now - Tiffany
Right from the Start - Earl Thomas Conley
This date in 1964...The Supremes Baby Love was the number one single
Guapo Vic.
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Re: This Day in History October 31
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