Today in History 09/05

[yelladawg]

September 5
1882 - The first Labor Day holiday parade was held in New York City. It was sponsored by the Central Labor Union. Some 10,000 workers -- all men -- participated in the parade.
1885 - Jake Gumper of Ft. Wayne, IN bought the first gasoline pump produced in the United States.

1901 - The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was formed in Chicago. It became the first organized baseball league.

1905 - The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed by representatives of Russia and Japan, ending the Russo-Japanese War. Why was it called The Treaty of Portsmouth? It was signed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

1906 - Bradbury Robinson executed the first legal forward pass in football. Robinson threw the ball to Jack Schneider of St. Louis University in a game against Carroll College.

1938 - The NBC Red network broadcast Life Can Be Beautiful for the first time. The program was “an inspiring message of faith drawn from life.” The program aired until 1954.

1956 - Johnny Cash hit the record running with I Walk the Line. Cash’s debut hit song climbed to #17 on the pop music charts.

1958 - The first color videotaped program was aired. It was The Betty Feezor Show on WBTV-TV in Charlotte, NC.

1960 - Cassius Clay of Louisville, KY won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Clay would later change his name to Muhammad Ali and become one of the great boxing champions in the world. In 1996, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA, Muhammad Ali was given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame.

1964 - The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun made it to #1. It stayed at the top until it was replaced three weeks later by Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman. Orbison’s smash was just entering the pop charts on this day for a 14-week run.

1971 - J.R. Richard of the Houston Astros tied Karl Spooner’s record by striking out 15 batters in his major-league baseball debut. The Astros beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3.

1972 - PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) terrorists entered the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany, killing 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team.

1972 - Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway won a gold record for their duet, Where is the Love. The song got to number five on the pop music charts and was one of two songs that earned gold for the duo. The other was The Closer I Get To You (1978).

1980 - Switzerland’s St. Gotthard Auto Tunnel, the longest underground motorway in the world, opened. Traffic moved along the 10+ miles that took ten years to build and cost $417 million.

1983 - Sports Illustrated became the first national weekly magazine to use four-color process illustrations on every page.

1983 - The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) became the first hourlong network news show.

1984 - Mortimer Zuckerman, a real estate magnate, spent $163 million on a deal. Zuckerman purchased the newsmagazine U.S. News & World Report.

1986 - After 23 years of “oohing” and “aahing,” laughing and kibitzing as host of various talk shows, Merv Griffin aired his final program -- for Metromedia Television.

1997 - Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) died of a heart attack at her Missionaries of Charity headquarters in Calcutta, India. The Albanian nun had celebrated her 87th birthday just nine days earlier. The recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa gave hope to millions, caring for, helping and listening to the poor and downtrodden.

1998 - Aerosmith’s I Don't Want to Miss a Thing debuted at #1 on U.S. music charts. The song, from the movie, Armageddon, was the first single by Aerosmith to reach number one. It stayed at the top through the entire month of September.

Birthdays
September 5
1638 - Louis XIV
‘The Sun King’ : King of France <1643-1715>; died Sep 1, 1715

1897 - Morris Carnovsky
actor: Cyrano de Bergerac, Gun Crazy, Dead Reckoning, Rhapsody in Blue, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes; cofounder of New York’s Group Theater; Shakespearean actor; died Sep 1, 1992

1897 - Arthur Charles Nielsen
market researcher: founder of A.C. Nielsen Co.: radio and TV audience surveys; International Tennis Hall of Famer: avid player, generous patron; died June 1, 1981

1901 - Florence Eldridge (McKechnie)
actress: Inherit the Wind, Les Miserables, Mary of Scotland , Christopher Columbus; died Aug 1, 1988

1902 - Darryl F. (Francis) Zanuck
producer: The Jazz Singer, The Grapes of Wrath, Forever Amber, The Snake Pit; cofounder of 20th Century Studios; died Dec 22, 1979

1905 - Arthur Koestler
novelist: The Thirteenth Tribe, Scum of the Earth, Darkness at Noon; died Mar 3, 1983

1912 - John Cage
composer: experimental music and performance with non-traditional instruments: Bacchanal, Anthems of the Sun, Living Room, Water Music, Third Construction, 4’53"; died Aug 12, 1992

1921 - Jack Valenti
movie executive: president of Motion Picture Association of America

1929 - Bob Newhart
actor, comedian: The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart; LP: The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart

1932 - Carol Lawrence (Laraia)
singer, actress: West Side Story, General Hospital

1936 - Bill Mazeroski
baseball: Pittsburgh Pirates

1938 - John Ferguson
hockey: Fort-Wayne Komets, Cleveland Barons, Montreal Canadiens

1939 - Billy Kilmer
football: Washington Redskins quarterback: Super Bowl VII

1939 - Clay Regazzoni
auto racer: 5-time grand prix champ ; broke his back in a crash at Long Beach CA <1980>

1939 - John Stewart
singer: Gold; group: The Kingston Trio; songwriter: Daydream Believer

1940 - William Devane
actor: Knots Landing, Marathon Man, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, A Woman Named Jackie, From Here to Eternity

1940 - Raquel Welch (Jo Raquel Tejada)
actress: Tainted Blood, The Four Musketeers, Woman of the Year, Bandolero!, Mother, Jugs and Speed, Myra Breckenridge, Fantastic Voyage, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

1945 - Al Stewart
singer, musician: guitar: Time Passages, Year of the Cat, Manuscript

1946 - Dennis Dugan
actor: Happy Gilmore, Problem Child, Parenthood, The Howling, Night Moves, Night Call Nurses, Shadow Chasers, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, Rich Man, Poor Man - Book I, Empire

1946 - Julius Keye
basketball: Denver Nuggets; died Sep 13, 1984

1946 - Freddie Mercury (Bulsara)
singer: I was Born to Love You; Queen: Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We are the Champions; died Nov 24, 1991

1946 - Loudon Wainwright III
songwriter, singer: Dead Skunk; actor: M*A*S*H, The Slugger’s Wife, Jackknife

1948 - Jim White
football: Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle: Super Bowl XI

1950 - Cathy Guisewite
cartoonist: Cathy

1951 - James McAlister
football: UCLA Hall of Famer, All-American running back; New England Patriots

1952 - Cleo Miller
football: Cleveland Browns

1969 - Dweezil Zappa
musician: guitar: MTV; son of musician Frank Zappa, brother of singer Moon Unit Zappa

1973 - Rose McGowan
actress: The Doom Generation, Bio-Dome, Scream, Going All the Way, Charmed, Monkeybone



Chart Toppers
September 5
1947Peg o’ My Heart - The Harmonicats
That’s My Desire - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Don Cornell)
I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now - Perry Como
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) - Tex Williams
1955Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets
The Yellow Rose of Texas - Mitch Miller
Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams
I Don’t Care - Webb Pierce

1963My Boyfriend’s Back - The Angels
Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! - Allan Sherman
Blowin’ in the Wind - Peter, Paul & Mary
Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash

1971Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - Paul & Linda McCartney
Smiling Faces Sometimes - The Undisputed Truth
Spanish Harlem - Aretha Franklin
Easy Loving - Freddie Hart

1979My Sharona - The Knack
After the Love Has Gone - Earth, Wind & Fire
Don’t Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
Heartbreak Hotel - Willie Nelson & Leon Russell

1987La Bamba - Los Lobos
I Just Can’t Stop Loving You - Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett
Only in My Dreams - Debbie Gibson
She’s Too Good to Be True - Exile