Comedian Bob Hope born (1903); President John F. Kennedy born (1917); Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay are first to reach Mount Everest summit (1953); Danica Patrick is first woman to lead at Indy 500 (2005).
Friday, May 29, 2020
Thursday, May 28, 2020
May 28
Native American athlete Jim Thorpe born (1887); Volkswagen founded in Germany (1937); HBD singer Gladys Knight (1944); PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization, is founded in Jerusalem (1964); RIP poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou (2014).
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
May 27
Marine biologist and author Rachel Carson born (1907); HBD US statesman Henry Kissinger (1923); Ford ends manufacture of iconic Model T (1927); Golden Gate Bridge opens in California (1937); HBD Outkast rapper André 3000 (1975).
Elon Musk
FRS (/ˈiːlɒn/; born June 28, 1971) is an engineer, industrial designer and technology entrepreneur.[2][3][4] He is a citizen of South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX;[5] early investor[6][note 1], CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.;[9][10] founder of The Boring Company;[11] co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.[12] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.[13][14] In December 2016, he was ranked 21st on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People,[15] and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the Most Innovative Leaders of 2019.[16] As of May 2020, he has a net worth of $36.5 billion and is listed by Forbes as the 31st-richest person in the world.[17][1] He is the longest tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally.[18]
Born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada when he was 17 to attend Queen's University. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School and a bachelor's degree in physics from the College of Arts and Sciences. He began a Ph.D. in applied physics and material sciences at Stanford University in 1995 but dropped out after two days to pursue a business career. He subsequently co-founded (with his brother Kimbal) Zip2, a web software company, which was acquired by Compaq for $340 million in 1999. Musk then founded X.com, an online bank. It merged with Confinity in 2000, which had launched PayPal the previous year and was subsequently bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.[9][19][20][21]
In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. He joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.), an electric vehicle manufacturer, in 2004, the year after it was founded,[9] and became its CEO and product architect. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company (now a subsidiary of Tesla). In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces. In December 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company focused on tunnels optimized for electric vehicles.
In addition to his primary business pursuits, Musk has envisioned a high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop. Musk has said the goals of SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity revolve around his vision to "change the world and help humanity".[22] His goals include reducing global warming through sustainable energy production and consumption, and lessening the risk of human extinction by establishing a human colony on Mars.[23][24][better source needed]
In 1995, Musk and his brother, Kimbal, started Zip2, a web software company, with money raised from a small group of angel investors.[38] The company developed and marketed an internet city guide for the newspaper publishing industry, with maps, directions and yellow pages,[59] with the vector graphics mapping and direction code being implemented by Musk in Java.[60] Musk obtained contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune,[61][62] and persuaded the board of directors to abandon plans for a merger with CitySearch.[63] Musk's attempts to become CEO were thwarted by the board.[41] Compaq acquired Zip2 for US$307 million in cash[41]:109 in February 1999.[64] Musk received US$22 million for his 7 percent share from the sale.[61][41]:109[62]
X.com and PayPal
Main articles: PayPal and X.com
In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company, with US$10 million from the sale of Zip2.[63][62] One year later, the company merged with Confinity,[61][65] which had a money-transfer service called PayPal.[62] The merged company focused on the PayPal service and was renamed PayPal in 2001.[66] Musk was ousted in October 2000 from his role as CEO (although he remained on the board) due to disagreements with other company executives over his desire to move PayPal's Unix-based infrastructure to Microsoft Windows.[67] In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk received US$165 million.[68] Before its sale, Musk, who was the company's largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares.[69]
In July 2017, Musk purchased the domain X.com from PayPal for an undisclosed amount, stating that it has sentimental value to him.[70]
SpaceX
Main article: SpaceX
In 2001, Musk conceived Mars Oasis, a project to land a miniature experimental greenhouse on Mars, containing food crops growing on Martian regolith, in an attempt to reawaken public interest in space exploration.[71][72] In October 2001, Musk traveled to Moscow with Jim Cantrell (an aerospace supplies fixer), and Adeo Ressi (his best friend from college), to buy refurbished Dnepr Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could send the envisioned payloads into space. The group met with companies such as NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras; however, according to Cantrell, Musk was seen as a novice and was consequently spat on by one of the Russian chief designers.[73] The group returned to the United States empty-handed. In February 2002, the group returned to Russia to look for three ICBMs, bringing along Mike Griffin. Griffin had worked for the CIA's venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, as well as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was just leaving Orbital Sciences, a maker of satellites and spacecraft. The group had another meeting with Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for US$8 million. Musk considered the price too high, and stormed out of the meeting. On the flight back from Moscow, Musk realized that he could start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed.[73] According to early Tesla and SpaceX investor Steve Jurvetson,[74] Musk calculated that the raw materials for building a rocket were only 3 percent of the sales price of a rocket at the time. It was concluded that, in theory, by applying vertical integration and the modular approach employed in software engineering, SpaceX could cut launch price by a factor of ten and still enjoy a 70-percent gross margin.[75] Ultimately, Musk ended up founding SpaceX with the long-term goal of creating a true spacefaring civilization.[76]
With US$100 million of his early fortune,[77] Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp., traded as SpaceX, in May 2002.[78] Musk is chief executive officer (CEO) and chief technology officer (CTO) of the Hawthorne, California-based company. By 2016, Musk's private trust held 54% of SpaceX stock, equivalent to 78% of voting shares.[79]
SpaceX develops and manufactures space launch vehicles with a focus on advancing the state of rocket technology. The company's first two launch vehicles were the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets (a nod to Star Wars' Millennium Falcon), and its first spacecraft was the Dragon (a nod to Puff the Magic Dragon).[80] SpaceX designed a family of launch vehicles and the Dragon multipurpose spacecraft over a span of seven years. In September 2008, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket became the first privately funded liquid-fueled vehicle to put a satellite into Earth orbit.[41]
SpaceX is both the largest private producer of rocket engines in the world and holder of the record for the highest thrust-to-weight ratio for a rocket engine (the Merlin 1D).[81][82] SpaceX has produced more than 100 operational Merlin 1D engines. Each Merlin 1D engine can vertically lift the weight of 40 average family cars. In combination, the 9 Merlin engines in the Falcon 9 first stage produce anywhere from 5.8 to 6.7 MN (1.3 to 1.5 million pounds) of thrust, depending on altitude.[83]
In 2006, NASA announced that the company was one of two selected to provide crew and cargo resupply demonstration contracts to the International Space Station,[84] followed by a US$1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services program contract on December 23, 2008, for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the Space Station, replacing the US Space Shuttle after it retired in 2011.[85]
On May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed with the ISS, making history as the first commercial company to launch and berth a vehicle to the International Space Station.[86] Astronaut transport to the ISS is currently handled solely by the Soyuz, but SpaceX is one of two companies awarded a contract by NASA as part of the Commercial Crew Development program, which is currently projected to develop a US astronaut transport capability by 2020.[87]
Musk believed the key to making space travel affordable was to make rockets reusable, though space industry experts believed reusable rockets were impossible or infeasible.[88] On December 22, 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon rocket back at the launch pad, the first time this had been achieved by an orbital rocket—a significant step to rocket reusability and lower cost access to space.[89] The first stage recovery was replicated several times in 2016 by landing on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, an ocean-based recovery platform,[90] and by the end of 2017, SpaceX had landed and recovered the first stage on 16 consecutive missions where a landing and recovery were attempted, including all 14 attempts in 2017. Twenty out of 42 first stage Falcon 9 boosters have been recovered overall since the Falcon 9 maiden flight in 2010.[91]
In 2017 SpaceX launched 18 successful Falcon 9 flights, more than doubling their highest previous year of 8.[92]
Tatyana McFadden
(Russian: Татьяна Макфадден;
born April 21, 1989,[1]) is a Russian-American Paralympic athlete competing in the category T54. McFadden has won 17 Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games.
McFadden was born in Leningrad, then Soviet Union, on 21 April 1989. She was born with spina bifida, a congenital disorder that paralyzed her from the waist down. After her birth mother abandoned her in an orphanage that was too poor to afford a wheelchair for her, she walked on her hands for the first six years of her life. The doctors told her she was so sick that she had very little time to live. While in the orphanage, she met Deborah McFadden, who was visiting Russia as a commissioner of disabilities for the U.S. Health Department. Deborah and her partner Bridget O'Shaughnessy adopted Tatyana and took her to live in Baltimore.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
McFadden took up a variety of sports while growing up to strengthen her muscles: first swimming, then gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, sled hockey and track and field. McFadden attended the University of Illinois studying for a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, was a member of the Theta chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma, and was on the University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball team.[4][7]
McFadden began racing at the age of eight.[3] Competing in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece, she won a silver medal in the women's 100 metres – T54 event; a bronze medal in the women's 200 metres – T54 event; finished fifth in the women's 400 metres – T54 event; and went out in the first round of the women's 800 metres – T54 event. She also competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where she won a silver medal in the women's 200 metres – T54 event; a silver medal in the women's 400 metres – T54 event; a silver medal in the women's 800 metres – T54 event; a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 100 metre relay – T53-54 event; and finished sixth in the women's 100 metres – T54 event.
Until 2009, McFadden specialized in shorter distance sprints. She entered the Chicago Marathon in 2009 as a lark.[8] Unexpectedly, she won, finishing so soon that her mother didn't have her camera ready to record the victory. That was the first of a series of marathon victories for her, including New York City in 2010, Chicago in 2011, London in 2011, and Boston and New York in 2015.[4][9]
McFadden's coach at the University of Illinois is Adam Bleakney, himself a veteran wheelchair racer.[4]
Tatyana and her sister Hannah competed in the same Paralympic final (100m – T54 in London 2012).[10]
McFadden became the first athlete to win six gold medals at a championships during the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. She claimed gold in every event from the 100 meters through to the 5,000 meters.[11][12] McFadden also won the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York marathons in 2013.[13][14][15][16] This made her the first person – able-bodied or otherwise – to win the four major marathons in the same year.[15][16][17] She also set a new course record for the Chicago Marathon (1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds).[15]
McFadden began 2014 by returning to the country of her birth, Russia, to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi. After winning silver medal in the 1 km (0.6 mi) Sprint sitting cross-country skiing event; McFadden claimed she was "fulfilled" after winning the medal in front of all of her family including her biological mother.[18][19] McFadden finished in 5th place in the Women's 12 km (7 mi). Just over a month after Sochi, McFadden returned to wheelchair racing at the London Marathon, where she successfully defended her title in a new course record time.[20][21]
In 2015 McFadden won the NYC marathon, and broke its women's course record by seven minutes and 20 seconds (her time was 1 hour, 43 minutes and four seconds).[9]
On October 8, 2017 McFadden won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
On April 16, 2018, McFadden won the 122nd Boston Marathon.
McFadden had difficulty competing at high school. Atholton High School would not allow her to race at the same time as able-bodied runners, with officials saying her racing chair created a safety hazard and gave her an unfair advantage (as the best wheelchair racers are noticeably faster than runners over long distances). She competed in separate wheelchair events at high school meets, meaning that she would circle around an otherwise empty track by herself, which embarrassed her. In 2005 Tatyana and Deborah McFadden filed suit against the Howard County Public School System and won the right for her to race at the same time as the runners starting in 2006, though her score would not be counted for her team.[2][3]
Her legal victory led to its own controversies, though. In 2006, one of her Atholton teammates lost her victory in the 1600 meters at the state championships after McFadden was ruled to have been acting as a "pacer" for her, by encouraging her rather than racing on her own. And in 2008, McFadden collided with a rival runner from Bishop McNamara High School after a 200-meter race, inflicting bruises and cuts to the runner's legs and making her miss her conference title meet from the injuries.[22]
McFadden's lawsuit is credited for the eventual passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act, requiring schools to give students with disabilities the opportunity to compete in interscholastic athletics.[4][22]
She was also a leader of an ultimately unsuccessful effort against a 2012 Russian law to prohibit adoptions of Russian children by American parents.[23][24]
Achievements
2003: Member of U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Team
2004: Silver medal, 100m; Bronze medal, 200m – Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece
2005: Gold medal, 100m; Two silver medals, 400m, 800m; Bronze medal, 200m – IPC Open European National Championships, Espoo, Finland
2006: Gold medal, 100m (WR); Two silver medals, 200m, 400m,) – IPC World Championships, Assen, The Netherlands
2007: Three second-place finishes, 200m, 400m, 800m – Meet in the Heat, Atlanta, Ga.
2007: Two first-place finishes, 200m, 800m – U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, Atlanta, Ga.
2007: First place, 200m (WR) – Boiling Point Wheelchair Track Classic, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
2007: Two gold medals, 400m, 800m – Visa Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, United Kingdom
2008: Silver medal, 200m T54; silver medal, 400m T54; silver medal, 800m T54; bronze medal, Women's 4 × 100 m relay T53/T54 – Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
2010: Won the Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:47:66.
2011: Won the 2011 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:39:26.
2012: Won the 2012 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:53:08.
2012: 100m T54; 400m T54; gold medal, 800m T54; 1500m T54; marathon – Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom
2013: Won the women's wheelchair divisions of the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City marathons in 2013.[13][14][15][16] This makes her the first person – able-bodied or otherwise – to win four major marathons in the same year.[15][16][17] She also set a new course record for the Chicago Marathon (1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds).[15]
2013: Became the first athlete to win six gold medals at a championships during the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. She claimed gold in every event from the 100 meters through to the 5,000 meters.[11][12]
2014: Won the 2014 Boston Marathon wheelchair division.
2014: Won gold at the London Marathon, in a new course record.
2014: Won the 2014 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:17:42.
2014: Won the women's wheelchair division of the 2014 New York City Marathon with a time of 1:42:16.
2015: Won gold at the London Marathon, in a new course record.
2015: Won the 2015 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:57:23
2015: Won the women's wheelchair division of the 2015 New York City Marathon.
2016: Won the 2016 Boston Marathon wheelchair division.
2016: Won the 2016 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:14.56
2016: Won gold at the 2016 London Marathon wheelchair division.
2016: Won silver in the 100 meters at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
2017: Won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon wheelchair division.
2018: Won the 2018 Boston Marathon wheelchair division.
From Wikipedia
Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger
(born August 22, 1948) is a motivational speaker and author who played college football at the University of Notre Dame. His early life and career at Notre Dame were the inspiration for the 1993 film Rudy.
Daniel Eugene Ruettiger (nicknamed "Rudy") was the third of fourteen children. He was born on August 22, 1948, in Joliet, Illinois, where he grew up. He did not excel scholastically, at least in part due to dyslexia. He attended Joliet Catholic High School, where he played for locally famous coach Gordie Gillespie.
Ruettiger joined the United States Navy after high school, serving as a yeoman on a communications command ship for two years; then he worked in a power plant for two years. He applied to Notre Dame and was rejected due to his low high school grades. He enrolled and attended nearby Holy Cross College, and after two years was accepted as a student at Notre Dame on his time studying at Holy Cross that Ruettiger discovered he had dyslexia.
Ruettiger harbored a dream to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, despite being undersized at 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) and 165 lb (75 kg).[1] Head coach Ara Parseghian encouraged walk-on players from the student body.[2] For example, Notre Dame's 1969 starting center, Mike Oriard, was a walk-on who was eventually nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship and earned an NFL contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.[3][4]
After tremendous hard work which was noticed, Ruettiger earned a place on the Notre Dame scout team, a squad that helps the varsity team practice for games. Merv Johnson was the coach who was instrumental in keeping Rudy on as a scout-team player.[5]
After the 1974 season, Notre Dame coach Parseghian stepped down, and former Green Bay Packers coach Dan Devine was named head coach. In Ruettiger's last opportunity to play for Notre Dame at home, Devine put him into a game as defensive end against Georgia Tech on November 8, 1975. In the movie Rudy, Devine is given a somewhat antagonistic role, not wanting Ruettiger to dress for his last game. In the real life scenario, however, it was Devine who came up with the idea to dress Ruettiger. In the final play of Ruettiger's senior season with the Fighting Irish, he recorded a sack,[6] which is all his Notre Dame stat line has shown. Ruettiger actually played for three plays: a kickoff, an incomplete pass, and on the third play (the game's final play), he sacked Georgia Tech quarterback Rudy Allen.[6][7] He was carried off the field by his teammates following the game, the first player at Notre Dame history to do so. Only one other player has received such an honor: Marc Edwards in 1995.[8][9]
Kieran Behan
(born 19 April 1989) is an English-born artistic gymnast, who represents Ireland internationally. He is the first ever Irish gymnast to qualify for the Olympics (the first Irish olympic gymnast, Barry McDonald, was awarded an invitational place in 1996).
Behan was born in Croydon, London to Irish parents Phil and Bernie.[1] At the age of 10, a benign tumour was found in Behan's leg and complications from the surgical operation to remove the tumour left him in a wheelchair. 15 months later, defying the odds, he returned to his gymnastics training. Not long after his return, he fell off the high bar during a training session and suffered a head injury which resulted in a brain injury and damage to his inner ear affecting his balance and co-ordination skills. He was once again confined to a wheelchair, and had to relearn simple skills to sit up and move his head. The injuries left him unable to train for 3 years, and doctors told him they did not expect him to be able to walk again much less be able to do gymnastics.[1][2][3][4]
Despite these setbacks, Behan returned to gymnastics and gained several awards as a Junior gymnast.[3]
In 2010 Behan broke out onto the International scene, but suffered a setback when he ruptured his Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) six weeks before he was due to compete in the European Championships. He then ruptured the ACL in his other knee.[4] He was able to compete in the qualifying rounds of the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam but did not make it through to any of the finals.
2011 became a break out year for Behan as he competed at the European Championships in Berlin and the World Challenge Cup series where he won silver and bronze medals on the Floor Exercise. He went on to compete in the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo.[5] Because he did not receive funding from the Irish Sports Council or Gymnastics Ireland, by the end of 2011 he had spent close to €12,000 on travel and accommodation expenses to get to the international competitions, friends and family supporting him by raising money through bake sales and other fundraisers.[1]
In 2012, he competed in the London Prepares Olympic Test Event, where he qualified for the Floor Exercise final, finishing in fourth place behind Gold medalists Daniel Purvis and Tomás González and Bronze medalist Kristian Thomas, gaining the best execution score of the final. His performance in the London Prepares preliminary competition qualified him to the 2012 Summer Olympics. As a result, he was able to get a grant of €12,000 from the Irish Sports Council.[1] His story, and the fact he is only the second Irish gymnast to qualify for the Olympics made him a star overnight, being in demand for media interviews, and appearing on RTÉ's The Late Late Show.
He was expected to compete with a full Irish team at the 2012 European Championships.[6] In 2012 Kieran also gained BT Ireland as a sponsor.[7]
At the London Olympics, Behan did not qualify for the individual all-around, or any of the event finals.
In April 2016, Behan took part in the Aquece Rio Final Gymnastics Qualifier and qualified to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics.[8] At the 2016 Olympics, he did not reach the final for any of his events. He continued on in his floor routine, despite dislocating his knee at the start of it.[9]
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
May 26
Dow Jones Industrial Average begins with 12 stocks (1896); Actor John Wayne born (1907); Legendary jazz musician Miles Davis born (1926); First American woman in space, Sally Ride, born (1951); HBD musician Lenny Kravitz (1964).
John Wayne
Did you know...
... that May 26 is Duke Day? Born Marion Morrison on this day in 1907 in Winterset, Iowa, John 'Duke' Wayne became the quintessential image of the American hero. Wayne was among the top box office draws for over three decades. An enduring American icon, he epitomized rugged masculinity and is famous for his demeanor, including his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height. Thanks for the memories, Duke!
Friday, May 22, 2020
May 22
RIP (first) first lady of the US Martha Washington (1802); The Associated Press is founded (1846); RIP poet Langston Hughes (1967); HBD supermodel Naomi Campbell (1970); Manchester Arena bombing kills 22 following Ariana Grande concert (2017).
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Amelia Mary Earhart
(/ˈɛərhɑːrt/, born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author.[1][Note 1] Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.[3][Note 2] She set many other records,[2] wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.
May 21
American Red Cross is founded (1881); Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932); RIP social worker Jane Addams (1935); HBD actor Mr. T (1952); Rapper Notorious B.I.G. born (1972).
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
May 20
Christopher Columbus dies (1506); Charles Lindbergh makes first nonstop flight across the Atlantic (1927); HBD singer-songwriter Cher (1946); First photograph from space sent from Hubble Space Telescope (1990).
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
May 19
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, is beheaded (1536); TE Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, dies (1935); André the Giant born (1946); RIP former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1994); Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle (2018).
Barack Hussein Obama II
(born August 4, 1961) was the 44th President of the United States and the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review.
He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
Monday, May 18, 2020
May 18
Pope John Paul II is born (1920); Jackie Cochran is first woman to break sound barrier (1953); HBD actress Tina Fey (1970); Mount St. Helens erupts, killing 57 (1980); Facebook raises $16B; largest IPO for a tech company at the time (2012).
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
May 15
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton found National Woman Suffrage Association (1869); RIP poet Emily Dickinson (1886); Mickey Mouse makes first cartoon appearance (1928); HBD former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (1937); Soviet Union begins withdrawal of 115,000 troops from Afghanistan (1988).
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Thomas Alva Edison
(February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) American inventor & businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, & a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
May 13
US declares war against Mexico in dispute over Texas (1846); "Golden Girls" actress Bea Arthur born (1922); HBD Stevie Wonder (1950); Pope John Paul II is shot, survives assassination attempt (1981); RIP actress and singer Doris Day (2019).
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
May 12
Modern nursing innovator Florence Nightingale born (1820); Actress Katharine Hepburn born (1907); Charles Lindbergh’s son found dead two months after being kidnapped (1932); HBD skateboarding legend Tony Hawk (1968); Former President Jimmy Carter visits Cuba, the first American president to visit since 1959 revolution (2002).
Monday, May 11, 2020
May 11
Composer and songwriter Irving Berlin born (1888); Salvador Dali born (1904); Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded (1927); RIP Bob Marley (1981); Deep Blue becomes the first computer to defeat a world champion in chess (1997).
Friday, May 8, 2020
May 8
Poet Phillis Wheatley
born (1753); President Harry Truman born (1884); Boxing legend Sonny Liston born (1932); V-E (Victory in Europe) Day after Germany’s surrender (1945); Smallpox is eradicated (1980).
Thursday, May 7, 2020
May 7
German submarine sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 (1915); Eva "Evita" Perón born (1919); Football legend Johnny Unitas born (1933); Germany unconditionally surrenders, ending its participation in WWII (1945); The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen for three months (1994).
May 5
Napoleon Bonaparte dies while in exile (1821); Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexican victory in the Battle of Puebla (1862); Alan Shepard becomes first American in outer space (1961); HBD singer-songwriter Adele (1988)
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
May 6
Famed neurologist Sigmund Freud born (1856); HBD baseball great Willie Mays (1931); Hindenburg disaster kills 36 (1937); Roger Bannister becomes first person to run a mile in under four minutes (1954); RIP actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1992).
Monday, May 4, 2020
May 4
Actress Audrey Hepburn born (1929); first Grammy Awards held (1959); Margaret Thatcher becomes first female prime minister of the UK (1979); Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat sign peace accord (1994).
Saturday, May 2, 2020
May 1
HBD Calamity Jane (1852); Dwarf planet Pluto is named (1930); Empire State Building opens in NYC (1931); The polio vaccine is first made available to the public (1956); HBD Tim McGraw (1967).
April 30
George Washington becomes first president of the US (1789); Louisiana Purchase land deal between US and France doubles the size of the US (1803); Adolf Hitler commits suicide in underground bunker (1945); HBD actress Gal Gadot (1985).
Willie Nelson
Did you know...
... that today is Willie Nelson's Birthday? Born April 30, 1933, in Abbott, Texas, Willie Hugh Nelson -- an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist -- was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed at the end of the 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Happy birthday, Willie!
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