Today In History

[yelladawg]

September 4
1833 - Barney Flaherty answered an ad in The New York Sun and became the first newsboy. Actually, Barney became what we now call a paperboy. He was 10 years old at the time. Show us a 10-year-old who reads a newspaper today. Those were the days! Of course, there was no radio, no TV, no MTV, no computers, no Internet. What was a kid to do?
1882 - Thomas Edison displayed the first practical electrical lighting system. The Pearl Street electric power station, Edison’'s steam powered plant, began operating and successfully turned on the lights in a one square mile area of New York City.

1885 - As you pile that delicious platter of stuff on your tray, grab an extra dessert just for the fun of it and enough packets of sugar to last a year ... keep in mind that on this day, the Exchange Buffet opened in New York City. It was the first self-service cafeteria in the U.S.

1888 - The name Kodak was registered by George Eastman of Rochester, NY. He patented his roll-film camera: U.S. Patent #388,850.

1927 - Lloyd Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a short fly ball that hit inside the foul line and bounced into the stands. It was a home run, according to the rules at the time. Ironically, Waner’s brother, Paul, came to bat next and did the same thing -- for another home run. Today, a similar hit would be called a ground rule double.

1928 - An endurance test got underway for the Boston Braves. The team started a stretch that saw them playing nine doubleheaders in a row. It is doubtful that the person in charge of scheduling games lasted very long after that.

1928 - Wingy Manone recorded Downright Disgusted for Vocalion Records. Playing drums for Wingy was a young sideman named Gene Krupa.

1941 - The New York Yankees won their 12th American League baseball pennant. This was the earliest any American League team had clinched the title.

1949 - The longest pro tennis match in history was played. Pancho Gonzales and Ted Schroeder played 67 games in five sets.

1951 - The first coast-to-coast telecast using coaxial cable was seen by viewers from New York City to San Francisco, CA. What did they see? U.S. President Harry S Truman giving a speech to the nation from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco.

1953 - The New York Yankees became the first baseball team, and Casey Stengel the first manager, to win five consecutive American League championships.

1959 - Mack the Knife was banned from radio -- at least from WCBS Radio in New York City. Teenage stabbings in the city had people pretty uptight; therefore, the ban.

1967 - The richest horse race in American history was run. The All-American Futurity, a race for quarter horses, was held in New Mexico. Laico Bird won $225,000 of the $486,593 purse.

1972 - Swimmer Mark Spitz captured his seventh Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay event at Munich, Germany. Spitz became the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.

1982 - After six weeks, Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor, dropped out of the top spot on the music charts. The song, from the movie, Rocky III, dropped all the way to number 2 (for two weeks), then to number 3 for one week and to number 4 for two weeks before starting to fade. That’s what we call a hit, folks! It was the group’s biggest, earning them a platinum record.

1997 - The 14th MTV Video Music Awards show was staged at Radio City Music Hall. Host Chris Rock introduced Madonna, U2, Beck, Jamiroquai, The Wallflowers with Bruce Springsteen & Marilyn Manson. Most memorabel moment: Sting joining Puff Daddy & Faith Evans to perform I’ll Be Missing You.

1998 - Knock Off, with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Michael Fitzgerlad Wong, Carmen Lee, Glen Chin, Jeff Wolfe and Paul Sorvino, opened in U.S. theatres. Set at the time of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong by the British to the Chinese, it’s about an attempt by the Russian Mafia to sell deadly microbombs. You probably didn’t see it in a U.S. theatre, but it has been on U.S. TV a bunch of times.



Birthdays
September 4
1803 - Sarah Childress Polk
First Lady: wife of 11th President of the United States, James Knox Polk; died Aug 14, 1891
1824 - Anton Bruckner
composer: wrote symphonies <9>, masses and a Te Deum; died Oct 11, 1896

1846 - Daniel Burnham
architect: Railway Exchange Building , Chicago’s Monadnock Building <1891> and Reliance Building <1894>; long-range city plan for Chicago <1909>, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.; died in 1912

1908 - Richard Wright
author: Black Boy, The Outsider, Black Power, The Color Curtain, Pagan Spain; died Nov 28, 1960

1917 - Henry Ford II
industrialist: head of Ford Motor Co. <1945-1980>; died Sep 29, 1987

1918 - Paul Harvey
news commentator: “Hello Americans. Stand by for news!”: The Rest of the Story

1919 - Howard Morris
comedian, actor: Boys Night Out, Splash, High Anxiety, The Nutty Professor; Your Show of Shows, Caesar’s Hour, Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo; director: With Six You Get Egg Roll, Don’t Drink the Water, Goin’ Coconuts

1928 - Dick (Richard Allen) York
actor: Bewitched, That Brewster Boy, Going My Way, Inherit the Wind, They Came to Cordura, My Sister Eileen, Tea and Sympathy, Bus Stop; died Feb 20, 1992

1930 - Mitzi Gaynor (Franchesca Mitzi Marlene de Charney von Gerber)
singer, dancer, actress: South Pacific, Anything Goes, There’s No Business like Show Business, For Love or Money

1933 - Richard S. Castellano
actor: The Godfather, Lovers and Other Strangers, Honor Thy Father, Night of the Juggler, The Gangster Chronicles, Joe and Sons, The Super; died Dec 10, 1988

1937 - Dawn Fraser
Olympic swimmer : 1st to win 8 medals: 4 gold <1956,1960,1964 - 100 meter freestyle; 1956 - relay), and 4 silver[br />
1938 - Leonard Frey
actor: Fiddler on the Roof, The Boys in the Band; died Aug 24, 1988

1941 - Ken (Kenneth Smith) Harrelson
‘Hawk’: baseball: KC Athletics, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox , Cleveland Indians; baseball broadcaster: WSBK-TV, Boston; GM: Chicago White Sox

1942 - Raymond Floyd
golf champion: Masters <1976>, U.S. Open <1986>, PGA <1969, 1982>

1942 - Merald ‘Bubba’ Knight
singer: group: Gladys Night and the Pips: Midnight Train to Georgia, Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me, The Way We Were/Try to Remember medley

1944 - Jennifer Salt
actress: Soap, The Marshall Chronicles, Play It Again, Sam, Out of the Darkness

1944 - Gene Parsons
musician: drums: group: The Byrds; solo: Kindling

1946 - Gary Duncan (Grubb)
musician: guitar: group: Quicksilver Messenger Service: Dino’s Song, Who Do You Love?, The Fool

1946 - Greg Elmore
musician: drums: group: Quicksilver Messenger Service: Dino’s Song, Who Do You Love?, The Fool

1947 - Wayne LaChance
hockey: Clarkson University, Springfield Kings, Greensboro Generals, Syracuse Eagles; owner of AHL Springfield Falcons

1949 - Tom Watson
golf champion: Masters <1977, 1981>, U.S. Open <1982>, British Open <1975, 1977, 1982, 1983>

1950 - Doyle (Lafayette) Alexander
baseball: pitcher: LA Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, NY Yankees , Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, SF Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers

1950 - Ronald LaPread
musician: bass: group: Commodores: Still, Three Times a Lady, Nightshift

1951 - Martin Chambers
musician: drums: group: The Pretenders: Kid, Brass in Pocket, Back on the Chain Gang

1951 - Judith Ivey
Tony Award-winning actress: Steaming <1983>, Hurly Burly <1985>; Designing Women, The Critic, Down Home, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans

1953 - Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs
actor: Alien Nation, Rituals, Roots, Welcome Back, Kotter, Quiet Fire, L.A. Heat, L.A. Vice

1953 - Steve Luke
football: Green Bay Packers

1958 - Paul (Wesley) Householder
baseball: Cincinnati Reds, SL Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros

1971 - Ione Skye
actress: Say Anything, Covington Cross, Guncrazy, Dream for an Insomniac

Chart Toppers
September 4
1946To Each His Own - Eddy Howard
Surrender - Perry Como
Doin’ What Comes Naturally - Dinah Shore
New Spanish Two Step - Bob Wills

1954Sh-Boom - The Crew-Cuts
Hey There - Rosemary Clooney
Skokiaan - Ralph Marterie
I Don’t Hurt Anymore - Hank Snow

1962Sheila - Tommy Roe
You Don’t Know Me - Ray Charles
Party Lights - Claudine Clark
Devil Woman - Marty Robbins

1970War - Edwin Starr
In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
(If You Let Me Make Love to You) Why Can’t I Touch You? - Ronnie
Dyson
Don’t Keep Me Hangin’ On - Sonny James

1978Grease - Frankie Valli
Three Times a Lady - Commodores
Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste of Honey
Blue Skies - Willie Nelson

1986Higher Love - Steve Winwood
Venus - Bananarama
Take My Breath Away - Berlin
Heartbeat in the Darkness - Don Williams