Friday, September 23, 2011

Friday! History, Music, Space, Cinema, Sports, Quotes, More!

On This Date In 1779 The Battle of Flamborough Head was a small naval battle that took place in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire between an American Continental Navy squadron led by John Paul Jones and the two British escort vessels protecting a large merchant convoy. In the engagement, USS Bonhomme Richard and Pallas, with USS Alliance, captured HMS Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, the best-known incident of Capt. John Paul Jones’s naval career.
On This Date In 1806 Amid much public excitement, American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis, Missouri, from the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had set off more than two years earlier to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase.
On This Date In 1846 Neptune was discovered, the first planet found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation. French astronomer Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier calculated the approximate location of the planet by studying gravity-induced disturbances in the motions of Uranus. On September 23, 1846, Le Verrier informed German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle of his findings, and the same night Galle and his assistant Heinrich Louis d’Arrest identified Neptune at their observatory in Berlin. Noting its movement relative to background stars over 24 hours confirmed that it was a planet.
On This Date In 1863 Mary Church Terrell - educator, political activist, and first president of the National Association of Colored Women - was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
On This Date In 1889 Nintendo Company Ltd., a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan, was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda, meaning “flower cards,” a traditional Japanese card game dating back to the 1500s. Nintendo eventually developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan’s third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over US$85 billion.
On This Date In 1898 A fatal explosion of Coal Gas and Fire Damp near the Brownsville, Pennsylvania Umpire Mine of Snowdon, Gould & Co., one fourth of a mile below town, resulted in the death of eight miners, along with three injuries. http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/pa/mines/brownsville-mineexpl-sept1898.htm - http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/fayumpire.html
On This Date In 1902 Orville Wright finally got his first opportunity to pilot an aircraft. The 1902 Wright Glider was the third free-flight glider built by the brothers. This was their first glider to incorporate yaw control by use of a rear rudder, and its design led directly to the powered 1903 Wright Flyer. http://www.nasm.si.edu/wrightbrothers/fly/1902/glider.cfm
On This Date In 1908 A baseball game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs ended in a 1-1 tie after a controversial call at second base. The officials ruled that Giants first baseman Fred Merkle was out because he failed to touch second base, a call that has been disputed ever since. Because the game could not end in a tie, it was replayed on October 8, 1908. In the makeup game the Cubs beat their rivals to secure the National League pennant and went on to beat the Detroit Tigers for their third consecutive World Series.
On This Date In 1917 German flying ace Werner Voss was shot down and killed during a dogfight with British pilots in the skies over Belgium, on the Western Front during World War I.
On This Date In 1926 John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 - July 17, 1967), an American jazz saxophonist and composer, was born. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz. He was prolific, organizing at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his recording career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk.
On This Date In 1930 Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 - June 10, 2004), an American musician, was born. Charles was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm & blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings for Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums.
On This Date In 1933 A party of American geologists lands at the Persian Gulf port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia and begins its journey into the desert. That July, with the discovery of a massive oil field at Ghawar, Saudi King Abdel Aziz had granted the Standard Oil Company of California a concession to "explore and search for and drill and extract and manufacture and transport" petroleum and…
On This Date In 1936 “Dodsworth”, an American drama film directed by William Wyler, was released. Sidney Howard based the screenplay on his 1934 stage adaptation of the 1929 novel by Sinclair Lewis. Through the title character, it examines the differences between US and European intellect, manners, and morals.
On This Date In 1939 Sigmund Freud, who was suffering from cancer and in severe pain, persuaded his doctor and friend Max Schur to help him commit suicide. A heavy cigar smoker, Freud smoked 20 cigars a day despite health warnings from colleagues. Eventually diagnosed with an oral cancer consisting of malignant squamous cell carcinoma, and after suffering for years with the disease, Schur, at Freud’s direction, administered three doses of morphine over many hours that resulted in Freud's death.
On This Date In 1943 The Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana) was a puppet state of Nazi Germany created by Benito Mussolini, when he had already lost control of most of Italy. The Italian Social Republic was the second and last incarnation of a Fascist Italian state.
On This Date In 1949 In a surprisingly low-key and carefully worded statement, President Harry S. Truman informed the American people the Soviets had exploded a nuclear bomb. The Soviet accomplishment, years ahead of what was thought possible by most U.S. officials, caused a panic in the American government.
On This Date In 1952 Republican vice presidential candidate and junior United States Senator from California Richard Nixon made his famous “Checkers” or “Fund” speech on television and radio.
On This Date In 1955 An all-white jury acquitted J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant for the murder of Emmett Till, an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman.
On This Date In 1957 “That'll Be the Day”, by Buddy Holly and his band The Crickets, topped the Billboard US “Best Sellers in Stores” chart.
On This Date In 1963 Ronald Reagan played Captain Paul Winters in “Wagon Train” - Season 7, Episode 2: The Fort Piece Story. http://www.fiftiesweb.com/wt/wagon-train-ep6.htm
On This Date In 1963 “The Silence”, a Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom, was released.
On This Date In 1965 The South Vietnamese government executed three accused Viet Cong agents held at Da Nang. They did it at night to prevent foreign photographers from recording it, but nevertheless, the story got out. Three days later, a clandestine Viet Cong radio station announced North Vietnam’s execution of two U.S. soldiers held captive since 1963, as “war criminals.”
On This Date In 1969 “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”,  an American Western film that tells the story of bank robbers Butch Cassidy (played by Paul Newman) and his partner The Sundance Kid (played by Robert Redford), was released.
On This Date In 1969 The trial for eight antiwar activists charged with the responsibility for the violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago.
On This Date In 1972 “Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me” by singer-songwriter Mac Davis reached the top of the American pop charts.
On This Date In 1977 “Love You Live”, a double live album by The Rolling Stones, was released. It is drawn from Tour of the Americas shows in the US in the summer of 1975, Tour of Europe shows in 1976 and performances from the infamous El Mocambo nightclub concert venue in Toronto in 1977. It is the band’s third official full-length live release and is dedicated to the memory of audio engineer Keith Harwood, who died in a drug-induced car accident shortly before the album’s release.
On This Date In 1981 “You Are What You Is”, a double album by Frank Zappa, was released. It was originally released as a two-record set in 1981 and later by Rykodisc as a 20-song CD. The album relies on a heavy use of overdubbing. It was also the first one to feature material recorded using Zappa’s home studio Utility Muffin Research Kitchen.
On This Date In 1983 Gulf Air flight 771 was bombed out of the sky just after it took off from Abu Dhabi en route to Karachi, Pakistan. A bomb in the baggage compartment caused the fatal crash. All 117 people aboard died when the plane crashed in Jebel Ali. The Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal was said to have authored the attack to convince Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States to pay protection money, which Kuwait and the UAE did, according to some. http://books.google.com/books?id=igl9dwyRbaAC&pg=PA276&lpg=PA276&dq=%22gulf+air+flight+771%22+abu+nidal&source=bl&ots=FodGACmw2w&sig=GZ1dwznBBiLvY6rk1waJvmXcpe0&hl=en&ei=5t92TIflD8T7lweC05zrCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22gulf%20air%20flight%20771%22%20abu%20nidal&f=false
On This Date In 1987 Delaware Senator Joe Biden withdrew from the United States Presidential race amid accusations he had plagiarized from speeches by a British Labor Party leader.
On This Date In 1994 “Pulp Fiction”, a crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote its screenplay with Roger Avary, was released. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture; Tarantino and Avary won for Best Original Screenplay.
On This Date In 1997 “Falling into Infinity”, the fourth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, was released
On This Date In 2003 “The Eyes of Alice Cooper”, the twenty third album by Alice Cooper, was released. With this album, Cooper returned to his earlier hard rock sound, in the vein of The Last Temptation, and left the heavy industrial metal sound found in his last two studio albums.
On This Date In 2003 “Results May Vary”, the fourth album by Limp Bizkit, was released through Interscope Records. The album was certified Platinum on June 3, 2008 in the US, and Gold in the UK in October 2003.
On This Date In 2004 Hurricane Jeanne slammed into Haiti, killing thousands. Coming just days after Hurricane Ivan, Jeanne was part of a series of deadly storms to hit the region during the 2004 hurricane season.
On This Date In 2008 “Poker Face”, an electropop song by American pop singer-songwriter Lady Gaga from her debut album, The Fame, was released. Produced by RedOne, it was released as the album’s second single in late 2008 for some markets and in early 2009 for the rest of the world.
On This Date In 2008 “This Present Wasteland”, the ninth and final studio album by heavy metal band Metal Church, was released. This is the only album to feature Rick Van Zandt on guitar.
On This Date In 2008 ‘Reckoner”, a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead and the seventh track on their 2007 album In Rainbows, was released. The song was released as the third and final single from In Rainbows.
On This Date In 2009 A huge cloud of red dust driven by gale-force winds choked Australia’s biggest city, Sydney. The weather bureau there called it the worst dust storm to hit this part of eastern Australia since the 1940s. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-09-23-voa12-68793777.html
On This Date In 2009 Demonstrators protested contested the 2009 Iranian Presidential election ahead of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s UN address.
On This Date In 2009 The Massachusetts legislature gave final approval to a bill that allowed Governor Deval Patrick to name an interim successor to Senator Edward Kennedy, who died of brain cancer in August of 2009. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/paul_g_kirk/index.html
On This Date In 2009 President Barack Obama, in his first policy speech to the U.N. General Assembly, said the United States is ready to begin a “new chapter” of international cooperation after years of difficult relations with the world body. Mr. Obama pledged unwavering U.S. efforts toward Middle East peace and diplomacy with North Korea and Iran to resolve concerns over their nuclear programs. … http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-09-23-voa25-68807567.html
On This Date In 2010 A kinescope recording of the 1960 World Series Game 7 between The Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees, dubbed the “Best Game Ever”, was found in Pirate’s part-owner Bing Crosby’s wine cellar. Previously, it was thought that such a recording did not exist, similar in nature to thousands of broadcast recordings not found to this day. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/sports/baseball/24crosby.html



Happy Birthday Mickey Rooney (1920), Sonny Vaccaro (1939), Julio Iglesias (1943), Marty Schottenheimer (1943), Mary Kay Place (1947), Bruce Springsteen (1949), Jason Alexander (1959), Elizabeth Peña (1961), Tyree Davis (1970), Ana Marie Cox (1972), Jermaine Dupri (1972), Kip Pardue (1975), Maki Goto (1985), and Kaylee DeFer (1986).

RIP Walter Pidgeon (1897 – 1984), John Coltrane (1926 – 1967), Ray Charles (1930 – 2004), Romy Schneider (1938 – 1982), and Michelle Thomas (1968 – 1998).


Quotes

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow but a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. Such is the salutation to the dawn. Sanskrit Proverb

Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto. Dale Carnegie

The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow. They come to be accepted by degrees, by dint of constant pressure on one side and constant retreat on the other - until one day when they are suddenly declared to be the country's official ideology. Ayn Rand

We've always needed God from the very beginning of this nation but today we need Him especially. We're facing a new kind of enemy. We're involved in a new kind of warfare and we need the help of the Spirit of God. The Bible's words are our hope. . . . Billy Graham

For each petal on the shamrock this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck, and happiness for today and every day. Irish Blessings

Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily lives, and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. John Fitzgerald Kennedy


Courtesy YouTube et al

Holy Places In Israel
The Jerusalem Project http://www.jpdme.org/ and other sources featured on the YouTube page of this video.

NewsBusted 9/23/11
Love NewsBusted and want to receive alerts about new episodes in your
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Galactic Poultry? "Running Chicken" Nebula Spotted By Telescope
A look into the Centaurus constellation reveals the Lambda Centauri Nebula, which some say has the bird-like shape of a chicken. Astronomers using Europe's MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope captured the imagery. Credit: ESO

Tech News Today Neutrino Segment
Segment on Tech News Today discussing the discovery that Neutrinos seem to be faster than light


There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.
Ronald Reagan


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