1630 - City of Boston forms Across the Charles River, William Blackstone, a former clergyman, was living an isolated existence as a trapper on the Shawmut Peninsula, the original land mass of Boston. Word came to him from Indian friends of the difficulties his fellow countrymen were having. He sent a message to John Winthrop advising him that the Trimountain hills on his side of the river were far more suitable for settlement. Winthrop, who had been at college with Blackstone (as unbelievable as that sounds), went to see him and it was this meeting in 1630 that really marked the foundation of the city of Boston. Within the next few weeks, several small wooden houses were built by the migrants and at the suggestion of Thomas Dudley, it was decided that the new settlement be called Boston after its English namesake. Remember, the Puritans did not want a break with England, just to create an example of what could be if England followed their example. Hence, they'd fashion their Boston in their own image, so to speak. Over the next few years, many more Lincolnshire migrants arrived. Indeed, a memorial stone in St. Botolph's Church commemorates the five Boston men who became Governors of Massachusetts, those being Thomas Dudley, Richard Bellingham, Francis Bernard, John Leverett and Simon Bradstreet.
    1656 - Massachusetts enacted severe laws against Quakers. (At the time, government and religion were intricately interwoven; the line between blasphemy and treason was virtually nonexistent; and non-sacramental Quakerism gave the impression that the denomination was anti-government.)
    1717 - The first synod of the Presbyterian Church in America met in Philadelphia.
    1730 - Birthday of Baron Frederich Von Steuben, Prussian-born general who volunteered to serve in the American Revolution. His strategy and help in training troops dramatically change the tide of the Revolutionary War. He died at Remsen, NY, Nov 28, 1794.
    1775 – During the American Revolution, the invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Ft. St. Jean in Quebec.
    1776 - Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) forms as a Spanish fort in what was then New Spain.  It passed to Mexico, which in turn passed it to the United States in 1848. As part of a 1989 military reduction program under the Base Realignment and Closure process, Congress voted to end the Presidio's status as an active military installation of the US Army. On October 1, 1994, it was transferred to the National Park Service, ending 219 years of military use and beginning its next phase of mixed commercial and public use.
http://www.nps.gov/prsf/
http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/sfh2.html
    1778 - The US signed a treaty with the Delaware Nation, the first treaty with Native American tribes, agreed upon at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh).
    1787 - Delegations from 12 states (Rhode Island did not send a delegate) at the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, PA, voted unanimously to approve the proposed document and adopt the US Constitution. Thirty-nine of the 42 delegates present signed it and the Convention adjourned after drafting a letter of transmittal to the Congress. One of the main proponents was Article 6, Section 3: 'No religious tests shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.' The proposed constitution stipulated that it would take effect when ratified by nine states. [delete-redundant]It was stated that it would become binding on all 13 colonies when ratified by nine states. This took place on June 21, 1788, when the legislature of New Hampshire approved ratification by a 57-47 vote. The Constitution was declared to be in effect on March 4, 1789, although North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified by May, 1790.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep17.html
    1814 – Francis Scott Key finishes his poem, “Defence of Fort McHenry”.  Later, these lyrics would become “The Star Spangled Banner” and the National Anthem of the US in 1931.
    1819 - First whaling ship arrives in Hawaii
    1849 – Harriett Tubman escapes from slavery.  Born into slavery, Tubman subsequently made about thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era struggled for women’s suffrage.
    1850 - In San Francisco, the Fourth Great Fire destroyed 150 buildings in the area bounded by Dupont, Montgomery, Washington and Pacific streets. Loss set at $500,000. The fire broke out in the Philadelphia House on the north side of Jackson between Grant and Kearny. The San Francisco, Empire and Protection fire companies fought the blaze but had no water.
    1854 – Birthday of David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, who founded Buick Motor Company (d. 1929).
    1859 - Joshua A. Norton, who lost his money in an attempt to corner the rice market, today declares himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of San Francisco. “At the pre-emptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself the Emperor of These United States”. Joshua A. Norton.
    1861 - American Missionary Association school is established in Fortress Monroe, VA, aiming to bring about full and equal privileges of citizenship to the black population of the United States during the latter half of the 19th century, leading into the 20th century. The Association did so under the doctrine that to deny these rights would serve to subvert the teachings of Jesus, thus those who attempted to deny these rights performed sins against God and man. Formed as a means of protest against other missionaries during the mid-19th century, the AMA promoted political activity and encouraged a strong anti-slavery sentiment among its missions.
http://www.lib.umd.edu/MICROFORMS/american_missionary_assn.html
    1862 - This date has been called America’s bloodiest day in recognition of the high casualties suffered in the Civil War battle between General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces and General George McClellan’s Union army. Estimates vary, but more than 25,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded in this Battle of Antietam on the banks of the Potomac River at Maryland. This had started as a plan to take Harper’s Ferry, move into the North, perhaps capture Washington, DC, or at worse, a propaganda victory for those who were against continuing the war against the Confederates. The plan was discovered on September 12, and General McClellan moved quickly and decisively to change the course of history.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep17.html
http://www.nps.gov/anti/battle.htm
http://www.nps.gov/anti/casualty.htm
    1862 – Coincidence?  The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the Civil War.  Established in 1814 on 30 acres bordering the Allegheny River in Lawrenceville near Pittsburgh, it was an important supply and manufacturing center for the Union Army.
    1862 - Sgt. William McKinley and a single volunteer drove a wagon of hot coffee and warm food through Confederate fire at Antietam to the men of the 23rd Ohio regiment. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes promoted him to lieutenant for his bravery and initiative.
    1868 - Hampton Institute founded at Hampton, Va., as a coeducational normal and agricultural school.  Chartered 1870; known as Hampton Institute 1930-84. Founded by Samuel Chapman Armstrong, it was among the first black colleges and also pioneered in Native American education. Hampton's library is noted for its Peabody Collection on African-American history and culture.
    1868 - Early in the morning, a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux stage a surprise attack on Major George A. Forsyth and a volunteer force of 50 frontiersmen in Colorado. Retreating to a small sandbar in the Arikaree River that thereafter became known as Beecher's Island, Forsyth and his men succeeded in repulsing three massed Indian charges. Thanks to the rapid fire capability of their seven-shot Spencer rifles, Forsyth's volunteers were able to kill or wound many of the Indian attackers, including the war chief Roman Nose. But as evening came and the fighting temporarily halted, Forsyth found he had 22 men either dead or wounded, and he estimated the survivors were surrounded by a force of 600 Indians. The whites faced certain annihilation unless they could somehow bring help. Two men, Jack Stilwell and Pierre Trudeau, volunteered to attempt a daring escape through the Indian lines and silently melted into the night.
The battle raged for five more days. Forsyth's effective fighting force was reduced to ten men before the Indians finally withdrew, perhaps reasoning that they had inflicted enough damage. Miles from help and lacking wagons and horses, Forsyth knew that many of his wounded would soon be dead if they didn't get help. Fortunately, on September 25, the 10th Cavalry, one of the Army's two African-American units nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldiers", rode to their rescue with a field ambulance and medical supplies. Miraculously, Stilwell and Trudeau had managed to make it through the Sioux and Cheyenne and bring help. Thanks to their bravery and the timely arrival of the Buffalo Soldiers, the lives of many men were saved.
http://www.buffalosoldiers.net/
    1872 - Phillip W. Pratt of Abington, MA was granted a patent for a sprinkler system. The system operated by means of a valve to which cords and fuses melted, the valve opened, releasing a stream of water. In 1874, Henry S. Parmelee of New Haven refined the sprinkler head with perforations, containing a valve that was held closed against water pressure by a heavy spring made of low fusing material.
    1873 - 19 students attend opening class at The Ohio State University.           
    1879 – Birthday of Rube Foster, baseball player, manager, and pioneer executive in the Negro Leagues, at Calvert, TX. Foster, considered by historians to have been perhaps the best African-American pitcher of the first decade of the 1900s, also founded and managed the Chicago American Giants, one of the most successful black baseball teams of the pre-integration era. Most notably, he organized the Negro National League, the first long-lasting professional league for Negro ballplayers, which operated from 1920 to 1931. He is known as the "Father of Black Baseball” and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.
    1895 - Birthday of drummer and bandleader William McKinney, Cynthiana, KY
    1883 – Poet William Carlos Williams born Rutherford, New Jersey.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/williams/bio.htm
    1900 - Anthracite coal miners go out on strike for better wages until  October 25, by which time the owners are persuaded that their stand is harming President McKinley's campaign
    1900 – Birthday of J. Willard Marriott at Marriott Settlement, UT.  The Marriott Company rose from a small root beer stand known as Hot Shoppes in Washington, DC in 1927 to a chain of family restaurants by 1932, to its first motel in 1957. By the time he died in 1985, the Marriott Company operated 1,400 restaurants and 143 hotels and resorts worldwide, including two theme parks, earned $4.5 billion in revenue annually with 154,600 employees. Although now a public company, the Marriott family is the largest shareholder and has succeeded in retaining key executive positions, including CEO, since.
    1902 - Birthday of trombone player Louis “Big-Eye” Nelson, New Orleans, LA.
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/jukejoint/bcd-173.html
http://www.jazzcrusade.com/JCCD/JC3026.html
http://www.jazzcrusade.com/JCCD/JC3059.html
     1904 – Birthday of Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna in Boston.  He was an Italian-American comedian, singer, songwriter, and trombonist best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hope’s sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s.  Known for his pop-eyed facial expressions and walrus-sized handlebar moustache, he went on to a solid career in film and television.  Colonna died on November 21, 1986.
     1907 – Warren E. Burger was born in St. Paul, MN.  He was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger was a conservative, the Supreme Court delivered a variety of transformative decisions on abortion, capital punishment, religious establishment, and school desegregation during his tenure.  Burger died June 25, 1995.
    1908 - The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lt. Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.      
    1911 – First transcontinental airplane flight, New York to Pasadena, CA in 82 hrs 4 min   
    1912 - Casey Stengel of the Dodgers makes an impressive major league debut against the Pirates. The likable Brooklyn outfielder from Kansas City collects four hits, drives in two runs and swipes a pair of stolen bases.
    1916 – Baron Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France….and you thought he was just a character in a Snoopy song!
    1920 - The American Professional Football Association was formed in Canton, OH.
    1920 – The St. Louis Cardinals set a Major League record of 12 consecutive hits in 4th (10) and 5th (2) innings.
   1923 - Birthday Hiram King “Hank” Williams, country and western singer, at Georgia, AL. He achieved his first major hit with “Lovesick Blues,” which brought him a contract with the Grand Ole Opry. His string of hits included “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Honky Tonk Blues,” “Jambalaya,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Take These Chains From My Heart” and “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” which was released prior to his death Jan 1, 1953 at Oak Hill, VA.
    1923 - Pianist Ralph Sharon Birthday in London.  He immigrated to America in 1953, becoming a U.S. citizen five years later.  By 1958, Sharon was recording with Tony Bennett, the start of a more than 50 year working relationship as Bennett's man behind the music on many Grammy-winning studio recordings, and touring with Bennett for many years.  Ralph Sharon continues to perform with the Ralph Sharon Trio at Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge in Denver.
http://www.yamaha.com/musiced/allaccess/summer2K1/36sharon.htm
    1925 - Birthday of organ player Jack Brother McDuff, Champaign, IL
    1927 - Birthday of sax player Sam Butera, New Orleans, LA
    1927 - Birthday of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and place-kicker George Frederick Blanda, at Youngwood, PA.  Blanda, the first in a succession of Hall of Fame QBs from western PA, played pro football for a record 26 years, retiring at age 48 in 1976, having then scored more points than anyone in history. He played QB and kicked for Coach Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky, and for the Chicago Bears from 1949-58, retiring when Coach George Halas insisted he give up quarterbacking.  When the American Football League started in 1960, Blanda signed with the Houston Oilers as QB and kicker, leading them to the first AFL Championships in 1960 and 1961.  Released by the Oilers at age 40 in 1967, he was picked up by the Oakland Raiders, who played the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II.  In 1970, Blanda had one of the most remarkable five-game stretches in history:  Against the Steelers, Blanda threw for three touchdowns in relief of an injured Daryle Lamonica. One week later, his 48-yard field goal with three seconds remaining salvaged a 17–17 tie with the Kansas City Chiefs. On November 8, Blanda once again came off the bench to throw for a touchdown pass to tie the Cleveland Browns with 1:34 remaining, then kicked a 53-yard field goal with 0:03 left for the 23–20 win. In the team's next game, Blanda replaced Lamonica in the fourth quarter and connected with Fred Biletnikoff on a touchdown pass with 2:28 left in the game to defeat Denver, 24–19. The streak concluded one week later when Blanda's 16-yard field goal in the closing seconds defeated the San Diego, 20–17.  He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981 and died in 2010.
    1928 - Hurricane hits Lake Okeechobee, Florida drowning 1,800-2500.
    1931 - Birthday of Anne Bancroft, Anna Maria Louisa Italiano much honored U.S. stage and film actor, in The Bronx. She won the 1960 Tony (ANTA) award for originating the Annie Sullivan role in “The Miracle Worker” and won the Academy Award when she reprised the role on film. In 1987, she won the top British film award for her beautifully understated role in “84 Charing Cross Road”. Other awards: 1958 Tony for best supporting actress for “Two for the Seasons”; AA nominations for “The Pumpkin Eater” (1964) which won the Cannes International Film festival prize, “The Graduate” (1967), and “The Turning Point” (1977). Bancroft died in 2005.
    1931 - RCA Victor began demonstrating a very early version of the long-playing (LP), 33-1/3 RPM phonograph record. It would be another 17 years before RCA rival Columbia would begin mass production of the LP.
    1932 – Concord, NH was drenched with 5.97 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for that location (16th- 17th).
    1934 - Birthday of Maureen “Little Mo” Catherine Connolly Bringer, tennis player, at San Diego, CA. She became the second-youngest woman to win the US National championship at Forest Hills, NY. She repeated in 1952 and won the Wimbledon, too. In 1953, she became the first woman to win the Grand Slam, taking the US, French, Australian and Wimbledon championships. After winning a second and straight French title and a third straight Wimbledon, she suffered a crushed leg in a horseback riding accident and never competed again. Died at Dallas, TX, June 21, 1969 at age 35 from cancer.
    1935 - Hippie bus driver, psychedelician, author Ken Kesey’s birthday.
At a Veterans Administration hospital in Menlo Park, California, Kesey was a paid volunteer experimental subject, taking mind-altering drugs & reporting their effects. His experiences as an aide at a psychiatric hospital and LSD sessions served as background for “One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest”, which was set in a mental hospital. The book reveals the dehumanizing effects of the social conformity of the 1950s, and gained huge critical & commercial success. Kesey formed the 'Merrie Pranksters', bought an old school bus, and toured America and Mexico with his friends. Their weird exploits were later chronicled in Tom Wolfe's “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” (1973).
http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/about_ken_kesey.html
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/sixties/kesey.html
    1937 - Birthday of baseball legend Orlando Cepeda, born Orlando Manuel "Peruchin" Cepeda Pennes in Ponce, PR.  Cepeda, “The Baby Bull” is a member of 14 Halls of Fame, including the Baseball Hall of Fame to which he was elected in 1991.  He is the only Puerto Rican in the Hall besides Roberto Clements.  http://www.latinosportslegends.com/cepeda.htm
    1937 - Artie Shaw Band records “Nightmare.”
    1937 – The first NFL game in the nation’s capital sees the Washington Redskins defeat the New York Giants, 13-3.  The new owner, George Preston Marshall, move the team from Boston the previous year.
    1939 – Birthday of retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter at Melrose, MA.
    1941 - In front of only 3,585 fans in St. Louis, twenty-year old Stan Musial makes his major league debut against the Boston Braves, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. 'Stan the Man' will collect a total of 3,630 hits during his 22-year Hall of Fame career, 1815 hits at home and 1815 on the road.
    1941 – Birthday of longtime California Congressman Robert Matsui in Sacramento.  A third-generation Japanese-American, Matsui was six months old when he and his family were taken from Sacramento and interned by the U.S. government at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in 1942.  He graduated from The University of California and Hastings College of Law and began his practice.  He was a 14-term Representative when he died in office, Jan 1, 2005.
    1944 - CLARK, FRANCIS J., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K, 109th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kalborn, Luxembourg, 12 September 1944; near Sevenig, Germany, 17 September 1944. Entered service at: Salem, N.Y. Birth: Whitehall, N.Y. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He fought gallantly in Luxembourg and Germany. On 12 September 1944, Company K began fording the Our River near Kalborn, Luxembourg, to take high ground on the opposite bank. Covered by early morning fog, the 3d Platoon, in which T/Sgt. Clark was squad leader, successfully negotiated the crossing; but when the 2d Platoon reached the shore, withering automatic and small-arms fire ripped into it, eliminating the platoon leader and platoon sergeant and pinning down the troops in the open. From his comparatively safe position, T/Sgt. Clark crawled alone across a field through a hail of bullets to the stricken troops. He led the platoon to safety and then unhesitatingly returned into the fire-swept area to rescue a wounded soldier, carrying him to the American line while hostile gunners tried to cut him down. Later, he led his squad and men of the 2d Platoon in dangerous sorties against strong enemy positions to weaken them by lightning-like jabs. He assaulted an enemy machinegun with hand grenades, killing 2 Germans. He roamed the front and flanks, dashing toward hostile weapons, killing and wounding an undetermined number of the enemy, scattering German patrols and, eventually, forcing the withdrawal of a full company of Germans heavily armed with automatic weapons. On 17 September, near Sevenig, Germany, he advanced alone against an enemy machinegun, killed the gunner and forced the assistant to flee. The Germans counterattacked, and heavy casualties were suffered by Company K. Seeing that 2 platoons lacked leadership, T/Sgt. Clark took over their command and moved among the men to give encouragement. Although wounded on the morning of 18 September, he refused to be evacuated and took up a position in a pillbox when night came. Emerging at daybreak, he killed a German soldier setting up a machinegun not more than 5 yards away. When he located another enemy gun, he moved up unobserved and killed 2 Germans with rifle fire. Later that day he voluntarily braved small-arms fire to take food and water to members of an isolated platoon. T/Sgt. Clark's actions in assuming command when leadership was desperately needed, in launching attacks and beating off counterattacks, in aiding his stranded comrades, and in fearlessly facing powerful enemy fire, were strikingly heroic examples and put fighting heart into the hard-pressed men of Company K.
    1945 - Birthday of basketball coach and player Philip D. “Phil” Jackson, Deer Lodge, MT.  Currently President of the New York Knicks in the NBA, Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA.  Jackson was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls (1989-98), during which Chicago won six NBA championships. His next team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won five championships from 2000 until 2010. In total, Jackson has won 11 NBA titles as a coach, surpassing the previous record of nine set by Red Auerbach, all with the Boston Celtics. He also won two championships as a player with the Knicks in 1970 and 1973, and holds the NBA record for the most combined championships (13) as a player and a head coach. He also has the highest winning percentage of any NBA coach (.704).
    1946 - Woody Herman’s First Herd records “Sidewalks of Cuba”
    1947 – Jackie Robinson was named Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News.
    1947 – James V. Forrestal was named the first Secretary of Defense after the War Department was renamed.
    1950 - PILILAAU, HERBERT K., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company C, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Pia-ri, Korea, 17 September 1951. Entered service at: Oahu, T.H. Born: 10 October 1928, Waianae, Oahu, T.H. G.O. No.: 58, 18 June 1952. Citation: Pfc. Pililaau, a member of Company C, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. The enemy sent wave after wave of fanatical troops against his platoon which held a key terrain feature on "Heartbreak Ridge." Valiantly defending its position, the unit repulsed each attack until ammunition became practically exhausted and it was ordered to withdraw to a new position. Voluntarily remaining behind to cover the withdrawal, Pfc. Pililaau fired his automatic weapon into the ranks of the assailants, threw all his grenades and, with ammunition exhausted, closed with the foe in hand-to-hand combat, courageously fighting with his trench knife and bare fists until finally overcome and mortally wounded. When the position was subsequently retaken, more than 40 enemy dead were counted in the area he had so valiantly defended. His heroic devotion to duty, indomitable fighting spirit, and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry, and the U.S. Army.
    1950 – The first NFL game for the San Francisco 49ers who moved over from the old All-America Football Conference, a short-lived NFL rival league.  The Niners moved with the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-America_Football_Conference
    1951 - Top Hits
“Because of You” - Tony Bennett
“The Loveliest Night of the Year” - Mario Lanza
“Sweet Violets” - Dinah Shore
“Always Late (With Your Kisses)” - Lefty Frizzell
    1951 – Birthday of Cassandra Peterson.  You may know her as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
    1952 - Frank Sinatra sang at his final session with Mitch Miller and Columbia Records.
    1953 - Ernie Banks became the first black baseball player to wear a Chicago Cubs uniform. Banks was also quick to say, “Let’s play two!” Banks was the Cubs’ outstanding shortstop from 1954 to 1960. Banks won the National League MVP Award in 1958 and 1959, the first player in the NL to do so.  In 1961 he was moved to left field, then to first base, where he spent the rest of his career. In 1969, Ernie Banks was voted the Cub’s best player ever by Chicago fans. ‘Mr. Cub’ retired in 1971.  He holds most of the Cubs’ batting records and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
    1954 - Rocky Marciano retained possession of the world heavyweight boxing title. He knocked out Ezzard Charles in the eighth round of their championship bout.
    1955 - Actor James Dean made a public information film for TV, urging teenagers to drive safely. At the end of the month, he would be killed in a high speed car crash driving his Porsce Spyder.
    1955 - "The Perry Como Show" moved to Saturday nights on NBC-TV. Soon, U.S.A. audiences would “Sing along with me ... I’m on my way to the stars...” with the incomparable Mr. C. Como’s hour-long variety show replaced his three-times-per-week, 15-minute show, which had been on the air since 1948. The new version of "The Perry Como Show" soon became Saturday’s highest-rated TV program, beating CBS competitor Jackie Gleason.
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/
perryComoShow2.html
    1955 – Birthday of comedian Rita Rudner.
    1957 - “Sugarfoot” premiered on TV. My father wrote many of these
episodes. It was one of three ABC westerns produced by Warner Brothers in the late 50's. The show alternated with “Cheyenne” and “Bronco Layne.” Will Hutchins starred as Tom (Sugarfoot) Brewster, an Easterner with designs on becoming a lawyer in the Wild West. All three shows later aired under the “Cheyenne” appellation in 1960.
http://home.att.net/~dadmug/sugarfoot.html
    1959 - Top Hits
“Sleep Walk” - Santo Johnny
“I’m Gonna Get Married” - Lloyd Price
“(’Til) I Kissed You” - The Everly Brothers
“The Three Bells” - The Browns
    1961 - A new team debuted in the National Football League: the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears by a score of 37-13 in the team’s first game.  Rookie Fran Tarkenton plays his first NFL Game and comes off the bench to become the only QB to throw four touchdown passes in his first career game
    1961 - "Car 54 Where are You?" premiers on TV
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/csmiths/index.html
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/csmiths/showfacts.html
    1961 - The world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh.
    1963 - “The Fugitive” premiers. A nail-biting adventure series on ABC.  Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for his wife’s murder, but escaped from his captors in a train wreck. This popular program aired for four years detailing Kimble’s search for the one-armed man (Bill Raisch) who had killed his wife, Helen (Diane Brewster). In the meantime, Kimble himself was being pursued by Lieutenant Philip Gerard (Barry Morse). The final episode aired Aug 29, 1967, and featured Kimble extracting a confession from the one-armed man as they struggled from the heights of a water tower in a deserted amusement park. That single episode was the highest-rated show ever broadcast until 1976. The TV series generated a hit movie in 1993 with Harrison Ford as Kimble and Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones as Gerard.
http://www.unchance.net/Fugitive/
    1964 - “Bewitched” premiered on TV. This sitcom centered around blonde-haired witch Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery). Although she promises not to use her witchcraft in her daily life, Samantha finds herself twitching her nose in many situations. Her husband, Darrin Stephens, was played by Dick York and Dick Sargent, and her daughter, Tabitha Stephens, was played by Erin and Diane Murphy. My stupid daughter named by first girl grandchild: Tabitha, after the baby TV witch. The last episode aired July 1, 1972. Other cast members included Agnes Moorhead, David White, Alice Ghostley, Bernard Fox and Paul Lynde.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0057733/
    1964 – The Yankees’ Mickey Mantle gets hits #1999, 2000 & 2001 and his 450th HR.
1964 - The Beatles break with established practice and agree to add an extra date to their current US tour after the group is offered a then-record $150,000 by the owner of the Kansas City (Missouri) Athletics to perform a gig in KC's Municipal Stadium. The Beatles cannily add their medley of "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" to the set list, the only time they would play this song in America.  Thanks to the efforts of Charlie Finley (seen below wearing a wig), the Beatles, who had planned for a day of rest in New Orleans on the only free date scheduled during their American tour, play a concert in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. The group's manager Brian Epstein, who had had initially turned down the A's owner's offers of $50,000 and $100,000 to have the lads from Liverpool perform in the City of Fountains, agrees on $150,000, about six times the going rate, enabling the Fab Four to earn $4,838 per minute, the largest sum ever paid for a musical concert.

 Afterward, their hotel manager sells their unwashed bed sheets to two businessmen from Chicago, who promptly cut them up and sells the pieces for $10 a pop.
    1965 – “Hogan’s Heroes” premiered on television. It was a comedy that took place in a World War II Nazi POW camp that originally was to be an adaption of the movie “Stalag 17”. For six years the prisoners, under the lead of Colonel Robert Hogan (played by former KNX, Los Angeles, radio air personality, Bob Crane), managed to outwit the incompetent and inept Nazi Colonel Wilhelm Klink (played very competently by Werner Klemperer [2-time Emmy-Award winner for his role]) and Nazi Sgt. Shultz (played quite deftly by John Banner), “I know noth—ING.”.
http://www.hogansheroesfanclub.com/
http://www.tvtome.com/HogansHeroes/
    1966 - “Mission: Impossible” premiered. This action-adventure espionage series was produced by Bruce Geller, appearing on CBS for seven years. The premise of the show was simple: each week the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) leader would receive instructions on a super-secret mission to be carried out by the crew. Steven Hill played the first IMF leader, Dan Briggs. He was replaced by Peter Graves who played Jim Phelps. The crew included: Martin Landau as Rollin Hand, master of disguise, Barbara Bain, real-life wife of Landau, as Cinnamon Carter, Greg Morris as Barney Collier, technical expert, Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage, tough guy, Leonard Nimoy as Hand’s replacement, Paris, Lesley Ann Warren as Dana Lambert, Sam Elliott as Doug, Lynda Day George as Lisa Casey and Barbara Anderson as Mimi Davis. The show was remade for ABC in 1988; it lasted two seasons. The latest incarnation of “Mission: Impossible” was on the silver screen in 1996, starring Tom Cruise.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-577
http://www.geocities.com/rickstvshows/missionimp66.html
    1966 - The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" peaks at #2 on the chart, while The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice" peaks at #8 and The Hollies' "Bus Stop" peaks at #5.
      1966 - At Yankee Stadium, New York celebrates Bobby Richardson Day in honor of their All-Star second baseman, who is retiring at the end of the season. After deciding to leave the playing field in his prime to spend more time with his family, the 31 year-old infielder will return to the game in 1970 to become the head baseball coach at the University of South Carolina where he will compile a 221-92-1 record with the Gamecocks.
    1967 - Top Hits
“Ode to Billie Joe” - Bobbie Gentry
“Reflections” - Diana Ross & The Supremes
“Come Back When You Grow Up” - Bobby Vee
“My Elusive Dreams” - David Houston
    1967 - The Doors perform "Light My Fire" and "People are Strange" on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Prior to the show, Sullivan asked Jim Morrison to change or omit the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" in "Light My Fire." Morrison sang it anyway.
    1968 - Diana Ross records "Love Child" without the other two Supremes, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson.
    1969 - Tiny Tim announces his engagement to Victoria May Budinger. 40 million viewers would watch him tie the knot with 17-year-old Miss Vicki on The Tonight Show on December 17, 1969. The union produced a daughter named Tulip, but ended when Vicki filed for a divorce on March 6, 1972 and was granted in 1977.
    1970 - The first African-American to compete the Miss America Pageant was Cheryle Adrienne Brown of Jamaica, Queens, New York City, a sophomore at Luther College in Decorah, IA, who represented Iowa in the contest in Atlantic City. (Vanessa Williams the first black Miss America.
A scandal arose when Penthouse magazine bought and published nude photographs of her. She relinquished her title early and was succeeded by the first runner-up, Suzette Charles of New Jersey. Williams rebounded by launching a career as an entertainer, earning multiple Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award nominations. In addition to Vanessa Williams, seven women of African-American ancestry won the title Miss America.)
    1972 - “M*A*S*H” premieres. This popular CBS series was based on the 1970 Robert Altman movie and a book by Richard Hooker. Set during the Korean War, the show aired for 11 years (lasting longer than the war). It followed the lives of doctors and nurses on the war front with both humor and pathos. The cast included: Alan Alda as Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, Wayne Rogers as Captain John “Trapper John” McIntyre, McLean Stevenson as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake, Loretta Switt as Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, Larry Linville as Major Frank Burns, Gary Burghoff as Corporal Walter “Radar” O'Reilly, William Christopher as Father Francis Mulcahy, Jamie Farr as Corporal Max Klinger.  Later, Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman Potter and Mike Farrell as Captain B.J. Hunnicut replaced Stevenson and Blake, respectively. The show won numerous awards during its run. Its final episode, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” was the highest-rated program of all time, topping the “Who Shot J.R.?” revelation on “Dallas.” See also: ~M*A*S*H: The Final Episode: Anniversary” (Feb 28). The show generated two spin-offs: “Trapper John, MD” and “After M*A*S*H.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068098/
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/mash/guide/
    1972 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) begins service in and around San Francisco.
    1975 - Top Hits
“Rhinestone Cowboy” - Glen Campbell
“At Seventeen” - Janis Ian
“Fame” - David Bowie
“Feelins’” - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynne
    1976 - The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
      1977 - Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" is #1 for 19th straight week
    1978 – The Camp David Accords are signed by Egypt and Israel at The White House, witnessed by President Jimmy Carter.
    1980 - Bette Midler's "Divine Madness," a film of a 1979 concert in Pasadena, CA, premieres in Los Angeles.
    1981 – “Fernandomania” is in full flight.  The LA Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela sets NL rookie record with his 8th shutout of season.
    1983 - Vanessa Williams, Miss New York, was crowned Miss America. Williams was the first black woman in the 62-year history of the Miss America Pageant to win the coveted title. Williams relinquished her crown during her reign when nude pictures of her were published in "Penthouse" magazine. She went on to enjoy popularity as a singer ("Dreamin’", "Save the Best for Last") and an actress ("Candyman", "Another You", "Under the Gun").
    1983 - Slugger Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox broke Hank Aaron’s major-league record for games played. ‘Yaz’ played in his 3,299th game.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Maniac” - Michael Sembello
“Tell Her About It” - Billy Joel
“The Safety Dance” - Men Without Hats
“Night Games” - Charley Pride
    1984 - The largest group of immigrants to become naturalized citizens of the U.S., 9,706 people, was sworn in by Vice-President George Bush in Miami, FL.
    1984 - Oil heir Gordon P. Getty, with a fortune of $4.1 billion dollars, was named the richest person in the U.S. There were a dozen billionaires in the U.S. at the time.
    1984   On the seventeenth anniversary of his first major league round-tripper, Reggie Jackson connects off Kansas City pitcher Bud Black in the bottom of the seventh inning for his 500th career home run. The milestone hit proves to be the only run the Angels would score in the Royals' 10-1 victory.
   1986 - The New York Mets clinched their first divisional title since 1973 by defeating the Chicago Cubs 4-2. The Mets later won the World Series as well, featuring the famous game 6 when they rallied with 2 outs and no one on in the 9th to win when Sox 1B Bill Buckner let Mookie Wilson’s routine grounder go through his legs, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run.
    1986 - “Head of the Class.” This ABC sitcom was the antithesis of “Welcome Back, Kotter.” It ran for five years, depicting the travails and triumphs of brainy students in the Individual Honors Program (IHP) of New York’s Fillmore High School. One episode in 1988 was the first American prime-time program filmed entirely in the Soviet Union. Howard Hesseman starred as part-time actor and substitute teacher Charlie Moore (a man more adept at teaching life’s lessons than history). The cast also featured William G. Schilling as Principal Samuels, Jeannetta Arnette as Assistant Principal Bernadette Meara, Leslie Bega as Maria, Dan Frischman as Arvid, Robin Givens as Darlene, Khrystyne Haje as Simone, Jory Husain as Jawarharlal, Tony O’Dell as Alan, Brian Robbins as Eric, Kimberly Russell as Sarah, Dan Schneider as Dennis, Tannis Vallely as Janice, Rain Pryor as T.J., Michael DeLorenzo as Alex, Lara Piper as Vicki, De’voreaux White as Aristotle and Jonathan Ke Quan as Jasper. After Hesseman left the show in 1990, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly took over the class. The series ended with the graduation of all the characters, June 25, 1991.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-1346
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0090444/
    1987 – While visiting San Francisco, Pope John Paul II embraces a boy stricken with AIDS.
    1988 - Early in the morning a tornado hit Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, injuring three persons and causing twenty-eight million dollars damage. A second tornado on the northwest side of San Antonio caused six million dollars damage, and a third tornado in Bexar County killed one person and injured another. Thunderstorms associated with Hurricane Gilbert spawned a total of forty-seven tornadoes in a two day period, with forty of those tornadoes in central and south central Texas.
    1989 - Hurricane Hugo hit the Virgin Islands, producing wind gusts to 97 mph at Saint Croix. Hurricane Hugo passed directly over the island of Saint Croix causing complete devastation and essentially cutting off the island from communications. A storm surge of five to seven feet occurred at Saint Croix. The only rain gauge left operating, at Caneel Bay, indicated 9.40 inches in 24 hours. Hurricane Hugo claimed the lives of three persons at Saint Croix, and caused more than 500 million dollars damage. A ship, Nightcap, in the harbor of Culebra, measured wind gusts as high as 170 mph. A cold front brought high winds to the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountain Region, and thunderstorms along the cold front produced wind gusts to 66 mph at Yellowstone Park, WY.
    1991 - “Home Improvement” premiered. This comedy centered around the Taylors. Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, played by Tim Allen, was a TV host on the popular fix-it show “Tool Time.” Jill, played by Patricia Richardson, was a housewife and mother going back to school to get a degree in psychology. The couple’s three sons were played by Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith. Other cast members included Richard Kern, Earl Hindman, Debbe Dunning and Pamela Anderson. The last episode aired May 25, 1999.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-635
    1991 - Top Hits
“The Promise of a New Day” - Paula Abdul
“I Adore Mi Amor” - Color Me Badd
”Motownphilly” - Boys II Men
“Leap of Faith” - Lionel Cartwright
    1991 - The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
    1993 - Los Angeles police began an investigation into child abuse allegations against Michael Jackson. The investigation began after the son of a Beverly Hills dentist told his therapist that Jackson sexually abused him. Jackson's security consultant claimed the allegations followed a failed attempt to blackmail the singer for 20 million dollars. Although no criminal charges were filed, lawyers for the 13 year-old filed a civil suit a month later claiming damages for sexual battery, seduction and other allegations. The suit was settled out of court in January 1994. Reports said Jackson paid anywhere from $5 to $24-million. During the initial uproar over the investigation, Jackson cancelled or postponed several dates on his "Dangerous" world tour, citing illness or exhaustion. He later called off the rest of the tour, saying he would undergo treatment for an addiction to pain killers. Jackson said he began taking the drugs after his scalp was burned while filming a Pepsi commercial several years earlier, and the stress over the sex abuse allegations made the addiction worse. He subsequently married Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie in 1994, then fathered two children with second wife, Deborah Rowe.  The youngest Jackson offspring’s mother is unknown, believed to have been the product of the artificial insemination of a surrogate mother.  Jackson died in 2009 of cardiac arrest precipitated by an overdose.
    1993 - Texas Ranger superstar Nolan Ryan strikes out Angel catcher Greg Myers for his 5,714th and final career strikeout.
    1994 - "II", by Boyz II Men, debuted at number one on the "Billboard" U.S. album chart. Cuts on the LP: "Thank You", "All Around the World", "U Know", "Vibin’", "I Sit Away", "Jezzebel", "Khalil [Interlude]", "Trying Times", "I’ll Make Love to You", "On Bended Knee", "50 Candles", "Water Runs Dry", "Yesterday". "II" was #I for IV weeks.
    1996 – The Dodgers’ Hideo Nomo no-hits the Colorado Rockies, 9-0 at Coors Field, the first no-hitter ever thrown by a Japanese-born pitcher in the Majors.  Nomo pitched over the span of 13 seasons with 8 different teams, before retiring in 2008. He won the Rookie of the Year in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts and also threw another no-hitter.
    1997 - The old Canadian National train station in Liverpool, Nova Scotia was reopened as the Hank Snow Country Music Centre. Ill health prevented the 83-year-old Snow from attending the ceremony in his hometown. He had moved to Nashville in the 1950s. Snow donated two vintage cars and one of his famous rhinestone suits to the centre.
     1997 - Fleetwood Mac begins their first tour in 20 years at the Meadows Music Theatre in Hartford, CT.
He has a restaurant in Maui, as well is back on tour in the mainland again.
        1989 - Hurricane Hugo hit the Virgin Islands, producing wind gusts to 97 mph at Saint Croix. Hurricane Hugo passed directly over the island of Saint Croix causing complete devastation and essentially cutting off the island from communications. A storm surge of five to seven feet occurred at Saint Croix. The only rain gauge left operating, at Caneel Bay, indicated 9.40 inches in 24 hours. Hurricane Hugo claimed the lives of three persons at Saint Croix, and caused more than 500 million dollars damage. A ship, Nightcap, in the harbor of Culebra, measured wind gusts as high as 170 mph. A cold front brought high winds to the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountain Region, and thunderstorms along the cold front produced wind gusts to 66 mph at Yellowstone Park WY.
    2001 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opens for trading after the 9/11 attacks, ending the longest closure since the Great Depression. The Dow ended the day down about 681 points at the 8,924, according to preliminary calculations. Its previous record for a one-day drop was 617.78, set April 14, 2000. The heavy selling was widely expected in a market already fragile because of poor corporate profits and outlooks. And since the attacks, which shut the nation's stock market for four days, the major airlines have announced cutbacks and reduced schedules, adding to investors' nervousness about the future.
    2004- San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 700th career home run, joining Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) as the only players to reach the milestone.
     2006 - For the first time in thirty years, the Red Sox sweep a doubleheader from their arch rivals, the Yankees. Boston hadn't beaten the Bronx Bombers twice in one day since July 31, 1976, and Independence Day of 1973 was the last time they did it as the visiting team.
    2006 – Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.
    2007 - Marc Ecko, who made millions from his brand of clothing, announces on the Today Show, he is giving the public the opportunity to vote on the fate of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball. The 35-year old fashion designer, who paid $752,467 for the ball at an online auction, has set up a website, www.vote756.com, which gives the fans the option of voting to (1) send the ball directly to Cooperstown, (2) branding it with an asterisk before sending it to the Hall of Fame or (3) putting the ball on a rocket ship and launching it into outer space.
(Number 2 is the winner.)
    2008 - Derek Jeter becomes the all-time hits leader at Yankee Stadium, which will be demolished at the end of the season. The team's shortstop and captain surpasses Lou Gehrig's record with a first-inning single in a 6-2 loss to the White Sox bringing his total to 1,270 at the 85-year-old ballpark.
    2011 – ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement begins in Zuccotti Park in New York City.