Today in History

[yelladawg]

September 11
1847 - Stephen Foster performed his Oh! Susanna for the very first time. The performance, for a crowd at the Eagle Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earned Foster a bottle of whiskey.
1850 - Jenny Lind sang at the Castle Garden Theatre in New York City. It was her first performance in America. Lind’s voice was so sweet that she was nicknamed ‘The Swedish Nightingale’.

1875 - Professor Tigwissel’s Burglar Alarm appeared in the New York Daily Graphics newspaper. 17 successive pictures that filled a full page made up the first comic strip to be published in a newspaper.

1877 - The first comic-character timepiece was patented by the Waterbury Clock Company. It was another 56 years before the same company produced the first Mickey Mouse watch.

1883 - The mail chute was patented by James G. Cuttler, a former Mayor of Rochester, NY. The device was first used in the Elwood Building in Rochester. Mail chutes can still be seen -- and sometimes, they still work -- in many old office buildings. Did you ever wonder, as you see the mail going down the chute, whether it will get to its destination or disappear into never-never land -- never to be seen again? Maybe those wayward letters join up with the socks that escape from dryers.

1945 - Ernest Tubb recorded It Just Doesn’t Matter Now and Love Turns to Hate on the Decca label. Tubb became the second recording artist to have made a commercial record in Nashville, TN.

1954 - The Miss America Pageant was televised-- live coast-to-coast -- for the first time. Bob Russell was the host. Lee Meriwether was crowned Miss America by a panel of judges that included movie queen Grace Kelly.

1959 - Elroy Face of the Pittsburgh Pirates saw his 22-game winning streak come to an end. Face lost to the LA Dodgers, 5-4. He did, however, finish the 1959 season with an impressive 18-1 record. For those of you with baseballs for heads, who can’t figure out how he ended up with 18 wins for the season instead of 22 ... Face won the other four games at the end of the 1958 season.

1962 - E.J. ‘Dutch’ Harrison was inducted into the Professional Golfers Association Hall of Fame.

1962 - Ringo Starr joined John, Paul, George and Andy to record Love Me Do at Abbey Road, London, England. “Who’s Andy?” you ask. Andy White, that’s who, recruited as drummer for this session. “Then, what did Ringo do?” you ask. He handled the tambourine, that’s what. It took 17 takes to complete Love Me Do to everyone’s satisfaction. P.S. I Love You was recorded the same day, with Andy on drums again, and Ringo manning the maracas this time.

1964 - The last of the Friday Night Fights was seen on free, home TV. The Gillette Safety Razor Company, Madison Square Garden and ABC-TV televised a fight between Dick Tiger and Don Fullmer from Cleveland, OH. Tiger beat Fullmer to wrap up the 20-year TV series. Boxing soon went to closed-circuit TV in theatres and to cable and pay-per-view TV.

1970 - “Would you believe?” The last of the Get Smart series on CBS-TV was aired. The show, featuring dimwitted, secret agent Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams, and his sidekick, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), aired on NBC in 1965 before moving to CBS. Incidentally, Max’s shoe phone was worn on his right foot...

1974 - The St. Louis Cardinals took seven hours, four minutes and 25 innings to beat the New York Mets 4-3 at Shea Stadium in Flushing, NY. The game set a National League record for innings played in a night game. It was the second-longest game in professional baseball history. Fans went home at 3:10 a.m.

1984 - Bruce Springsteen broke the attendance record at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Boss entertained 16,800 fans for the first of six sold-out shows. Springsteen broke his own record; one he set during a visit to Philly in 1981.

1985 - Pete Rose broke the major-league record for hits. He connected for hit #4,192 against Eric Show of San Diego.

1986 - The stock market plunged 86.61 points to 1792.89. It was the busiest day ever (to that day) for investors, brokers and traders on Wall Street as the big board tumbled.

1993 - Mariah Carey’s album Music Box reached #1 on U.K. album charts, while a single from that album, Dreamlover, was hitting #1 on U.S. singles charts.

1994 - Andre Agassi won the men’s title at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, defeating Michael Stich 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

1998 - Movies opening in the U.S. this day: Rounders (with Matt Damon, Edward Norton and Gretchen Mol), Without Limits (with Billy Crudup, Donald Sutherland and Monica Potter), and Simon Birch (with Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello and Ashley Judd).

1999 - Serena Williams won the U.S. Open women’s title at age 17 in only her second year as a pro. Williams beat top-seeded Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Birthdays
September 11
1862 - O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)
author: short stories: Gift of the Magi; died June 5, 1910

1885 - D.H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
writer: Lady Chatterly’s Lover; died in Mar 2, 1930

1902 - Jimmie (James Houston) Davis
politician: Governor of Louisiana <1944-1948, 1960-1964>; Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter: You are My Sunshine

1909 - Anne Seymour (Eckert)
actress: Sunrise at Campobello, Mirage, All the King’s Men; died Dec 8, 1988

1913 - Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant
football coach: University of Alabama: the winningest coach in college football <323 wins, 85 losses, 17 ties in 25 years>; died Jan 26, 1983

1917 - Ferdinand (Edralin) Marcos
President of the Philippines <1966-1986>; died Sep 28, 1989

1924 - Tom Landry
Pro Football Hall of Famer: coach: Dallas Cowboys <1960-1988>, record: 270-178-6, 20 straight winning seasons, five NFC titles, two Super Bowl wins; died Feb 12, 2000

1926 - Eddie (Edward Thomas) Miksis
baseball: Brooklyn Dodgers , Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, SL Cardinals, Cincinnati Redlegs

1926 - Alfred Slote
author: The Trading Game, Finding Buck McHenry

1928 - (Henry) Earl Holliman
actor: Police Woman, Delta, The Wide Country, P.S.I. Luv U, Hotel De Paree, The Bridges at Toko-Ri

1928 - William X. Kienzle
author: The Rosary Murders, Body Count; died Dec 28, 2001

1935 - Gherman Titov
Russian cosmonaut: second man in space ; first man to spend more than a day in space <25 hours: Vostok 2: 1961>; died Sep 20, 2000

1940 - Brian (Russell) De Palma
director: Carrie, The Untouchables, Bonfire of the Vanities, Body Double, Scarface, Wise Guys

1942 - Lola Falana
singer, actress: The New Bill Cosby Show, Ben Vereen - Comin’ at Ya, Lady Cocoa, The Klansman

1943 - Mickey Hart
musician: drums, songwriter: group: Grateful Dead: St. Stephen, China Cat Sunflower, Dark Star, Alabama Getaway; scored part of film: Apocalypse Now

1944 - Phil May
singer: group: The Pretty Things: LP: Parachute; group: Fallen Angels

1944 - Dave (David Arthur) Roberts
baseball: pitcher: SD Padres, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, SF Giants, Seattle Mariners, NY Mets

1946 - Dennis Tufano
musician: guitar, singer: group: The Buckinghams

1948 - Jeff (Jeffrey Lynn) Newman
baseball: Oakland Athletics , Boston Red Sox

1949 - Marty Liquori
track: Villanova University

1950 - Amy Madigan
actress: Riders of the Purple Sage, Uncle Buck, Field of Dreams, Places in the Heart, Love Letters, Love Child, The Ambush Murders

1952 - Tommy Shaw
musician: guitar: group: Styx: Come Sail Away, Miss America, Castle Walls, Superstars, Renegade, Babe, The Best of Times, Too Much Time on My Hands, Mr. Roboto

1957 - Jon Moss
musician: drums: group: Culture Club: Karma Chameleon

1959 - Mick Talbot
musician: keyboards: group: The Style Council: Speak like a Child, Money Go Round, Solid Bond in Your Heart, Long Hot Summer, My Ever Changing Moods, You’re the Best Thing, Welcome to Milton Keynes, Walls Came Tumbling Down

1962 - Kristy McNichol
Emmy Award-winning actress: Family <1976-77, 1978-79>; Empty Nest, Apple’s Way, Baby of the Bride, Women of Valor, Dream Lover, Only When I Laugh, Little Darlings, The Summer of My German Soldier

1963 - Virginia Madsen
actress: The Prophecy, Blue Tiger, Caroline at Midnight, Candyman, Love Kills, The Hot Spot, Gotham, Slamdance, Dune

1967 - Harry Connick Jr.
Grammy Award-winning singer: We are in Love; actor: Copycat, When Harry Met Sally

1979 - Ariana Richards
actress: Switched at Birth, Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park



Chart Toppers
September 11
1945Till the End of Time - Perry Como
On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer
If I Loved You - Perry Como
You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often - Tex Ritter
1953Vaya Con Dios - Les Paul & Mary Ford
No Other Love - Perry Como
You, You, You - The Ames Brothers
A Dear John Letter - Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky

1961Michael - The Highwaymen
Take Good Care of My Baby - Bobby Vee
My True Story - The Jive Five
Tender Years - George Jones

1969Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones
Sugar, Sugar - The Archies
Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash

1977Best of My Love - Emotions
(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher - Rita Coolidge
Handy Man - James Taylor
Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle

1985St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr
We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) - Tina Turner
Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me - Rosanne Cash