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212th day of 2010 - 153 remaining
Saturday, July 31, 2010
JACK ARMSTRONG DAY
On this day in 1933, listeners turned up the radio to hear the announcer introduce “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy!” The show was one of the longest-running adventure programs on radio, continuing until 1951. Armstrong was Hudson High School’s football hero and the hero who saved the day from dastardly villains. Somehow, these adventures would take Jack and his cousins, Betty and Bill Fairfield, to exotic locales where they would make use of industrialist Uncle Jim’s yacht and a hydroplane they referred to as the Silver Albatross.
The first actor to play Armstrong was Jim Ameche, the brother of actor Don Ameche. The series, created by Robert Hardy Andrews, portrayed Jack Armstrong as loyal, brave, honest, and yes, all-American; obvious in this excerpt from one of the scripts. Jack Armstrong: “When I think of this country of ours, with millions of homes stretching sea to sea, and with everybody working and pulling together to have a nation where people can be free, and do big things ... why, it makes me realize what a terribly important job we’ve got ahead!”
Events July 31
1790 - The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont. Mr. Hopkins did not get Patent #1 as thousands of patents were issued before someone came up with the bright idea to number them. The inventor patented a process for making potash and pearl ashes.
1792 - Construction started with the laying of the cornerstone in the first building to be used solely as a U.S. Government building. It was the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
1845 - The French Army introduced the saxophone to its military band. The musical instrument was the invention of Adolphe Sax of Belgium.
1928 - MGM’s Leo the lion roared for the first time. He introduced MGM’s first talking picture, White Shadows on the South Seas. Leo’s dialogue was more extensive than the film’s, whose only spoken word was, “Hello.”
1932 - The George Washington 25-cent coin was put into circulation by the U.S. Mint on this day.
1942 - Harry James and his band recorded the classic I’ve Heard that Song Before, for Columbia Records. Helen Forrest sang on the million-seller.
1948 - New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport wasn’t always named that. In fact, on this day, U.S. President Harry S Truman dedicated the airport as International Airport at Idlewild Field.
1949 - After a three-month standoff, the British warship HMS Amethyst made its escape down the Yangtze River. All of this, after having been refused safe exit by the Chinese Communists.
1954 - Mount Godwin-Austen (K2) in the Himalayas was first climbed by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.
1955 - Marilyn Bell of Toronto, Canada, at age 17, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel.
1961 - The first tie in All-Star Game history was recorded as the second All-Star Game of the year (there were two a year back then) was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain at Boston’s Fenway Park.
1964 - Country Music Hall of Famer Jim Reeves died when his single-engine Beechcraft crashed near Nashville, TN. Gentleman Jim started as a DJ, first at KGRI in Henderson, Texas; then at KWKH in Shreveport, LA (the home of the Louisiana Hayride in the early 1950s). His first hit was Mexican Joe in 1953. Reeves became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955. He had his own TV series on ABC in 1957. He was in the 1963 film, Kimberley Jim. Reeves bought a radio station in Henderson, Texas, which became very successful. Hits by Jim Reeves include Four Walls, He’ll Have to Go, I’m Getting Better, Am I Losing You, Welcome to My World and I Guess I’m Crazy.
1969 - Pope Paul VI visited Uganda. It was the first time a pontiff had visited Africa.
1970 - The Houston Astros sent ex-New York Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton down to the minor leagues. Ten days after joining the Oklahoma City farm team, Bouton retired from baseball. He authored several baseball books including Ball Four. Bouton also became a sportscaster in New York City for WABC and WCBS-TV.
1971 - The first men to ride in a vehicle on the moon did so on this day in the LRV (lunar rover vehicle). This example of a lunar dune buggy carried Apollo 15 astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin for five miles on the lunar surface. Their first stop at the rim of Elbow Crater was televised back to Earth to millions of viewers. The moon ride lasted two hours and the astronauts were heard to exclaim, “There’s some beautiful geology out there!”
1972 - Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, withdrew from the ticket with presidential candidate George McGovern following disclosure that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment for depression. Eagleton was replaced by Sargent Shriver, who, incidentally, was the only Democratic vice-presidential nominee who did not serve in Congress at any point in his or her career.
1974 - One of the President Nixon’s main men, John Ehrlichman was sentenced to prison for his role in the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. Ellsberg was the Pentagon consultant who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" (which purportedly told Americans how and why the U.S. really got into the Vietnam War). Ehrlichman also created the White House Unit that was called the ‘plumbers’ because it was intended to plug leaks.
1978 - Orchestra leader and producer Enoch Light died in New York City at age 70. He had led an orchestra called the Light Brigade beginning in 1935. His biggest hit was Summer Night in 1937. Enoch Light was always interested in the technical techniques, and he struck it rich with the advent of stereo recording. He created Command Records, which released albums like Persuasive Percussion and Provocative Percussion in the early 1960s. These were popular with stereo owners because of their ping-pong (left channel to right to left) effects.
1981 - The seven-week baseball players’ strike came to an end as the players and owners agreed on the issue of free agent compensation.
1981 - General Omar Torrijos, leader of Panama, was killed in a plane crash.
1985 - Prince was big at the box office with the autobiographical story of the Minneapolis rock star, Purple Rain. The flick grossed $7.7 million in its first three days of release on 917 movie screens. The album of the same name was the top LP in the U.S., as well.
1985 - Spring Hill, Tennessee was selected as the home of the Saturn automobile assembly plant. General Motors announced that it expected to produce up to 500,000 Saturns a year beginning in 1989. Some 14,000 jobs were created to operate the new auto plant.
1988 - Willie Stargell became 200th man inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Stargell had 475 career homers, twice leading the NL (48 in 1971, 44 in 1973). He drove in 1540 runs, scored 1195 and had 2232 hits with a lifetime batting average of .282. His inspirational leadership contributed greatly to Pittsburgh Pirate world championships in 1971 and 1979, when he shared NL MVP honors. His #8 was retired by the Pirates in 1982.
1990 - Pitcher Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers became the 20th major leaguer to win 300 games as he led his team to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers 11-to-3.
1991 - U.S. President George Bush (I) and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a long-range nuclear weapons reduction pact known as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) at a Moscow summit. It was the first treaty to mandate reductions by the superpowers.
1992 - Olympic swimming world records set this day: Jeff Rouse: 100m backstroke (53.86 sec); Kieren John Perkins: 1500m free style (14:43.4); Tamas Darnyi: 200m backstroke (first swimmer to break 2 minutes in 200m: 1:59.36); Yang Wenyi 50m freestyle (24.79 sec). Also this day, Summer Sanders became the first American athlete to win four medals at the Barcelona Olympics as she won the gold in the women’s 200-meter butterfly.
1993 - Belgium’s King Baudouin I died at 62 years of age. He was succeeded by his brother, Prince Albert.
1995 - The Walt Disney Co. announced that it would pay some $19 billion for Capital Cities/ABC Inc., creating a major entertainment and media company. The deal included the ESPN sports cable network.
1996 - Alanis Morissette, born in Ottawa, kicked off her first big-time Canadian tour with a show before 15,000 at General Motors Place, Vancouver. The concert had sold out in less than an hour two months earlier.
1996 - Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 was released to manufacturers for preinstallation on server PCs.
1997 - And the award goes to... Nigeria, named the most corrupt country in the world by German-based Transparency International. Denmark was named the least corrupt.
1998 - Movies debuting in the U.S.: BASEketball, a comedy starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny Mccarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine, Dian Bachar, Bob Costas, Trevor Einhorn, Al Michaels and Mark Goodson; the romantic Ever After: A Cinderella Story, with Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott, Jeanne Moreau, Jeroen Krabbe, Patrick Godfrey, Megan Dodds, Melanie Lynskey, Timothy West, Judy Parfitt and Richard O'brien; the action/drama The Negotiator, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh and Regina Taylor; and the family comedy The Parent Trap, with Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter, Simon Kunz, Polly Holliday, Maggie Wheeler, Ronnie Stevens, Erin Mackey and Joanna Barnes.
1999 - The U.S. heat wave -- linked to at least 94 deaths -- continued. As Chicago baked in 100-degree weather, thousands of hot and sweaty residents were forced to endure the heat without air conditioning or fans, due to sporadic power outages and brownouts.
2000 - Intel Corporation broke the one gigahertz barrier. The computer processor giant introduced a Pentium III that ran at 1.13 GHz.
2000 - The Republican National Convention opened in Philadelphia. It would nominate Texas Governor George W. Bush as its presidential candidate.
2002 - In Chicago’s South Side, a mob beat Anthony Stuckey (49) and Jack Moore (62) to death after their van veered over a curb and injured three women. (Seven people were charged Aug 3 with first degree murder.)
2003 - The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages. The church warned Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was “gravely immoral”.
2004 - Deaths on this day: actress Virginia Grey died in Los Angeles. She was 87 years old. Grey appeared in over 100 films and 40 TV shows; and Italian film actress Laura Betti died at 70 years of age. Her debut was in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita 1960).
2005 - Monsoon rains returned to Mumbai, India, just as it was attempting to recover from recent floods (death toll was estimated at near 1,000 people).
2006 - SanDisk Corp. of Milpitas, CA (flash storage maker) agreed to buy msystems Ltd. (flash disk pioneers) of Kefar Saba, Israel for $1.35 billion in stock.
2007 - Johnson & Johnson announced a reduction in its global work force by up to 4 percent to cut costs due to slumping sales of heart stents and looming patent expirations.
2007 - English historian Norman Cohn died at 92 years of age. Cohn’s 1957 book, Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages drew parallels between millenarian movements in the Middle Ages and the rise of 20th-century totalitarianism.
2008 - California Governor Schwarzenegger ordered the layoffs of thousands of state workers along with steep pay cuts for most other state employees to ease the state’s budget gap of $15.2 billion.
2009 - Motion pictures opening in U.S. theatres: Aliens in the Attic, with Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler, Ashley Boettcher, Henri Young, Regan Young, Tim Meadows, Gillian Vigman and Kevin Nealon; Funny People, starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Bana and Andy ****; The Cove, with Richard O’Barry; and Thirst, starring Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun and Kim Ok-bi.
2009 - Turkey’s navy commandos aboard a frigate captured seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia’s coast. Turkish commandos had captured five other pirates in a similar operation in the Gulf during the previous week.
2009 - Venezuelan regulators revoked the broadcast rights of 34 radio stations for allegedly failing to submit the proper paperwork to the broadcasting regulator, deepening a rift between President Hugo Chavez’s government and the private media.
Birthdays July 31
1867 - S.S. (Sebastian Spering) Kresge
merchant: S.S. Kresge’s five & dime stores [now Kmart]; died Oct 18, 1966
1911 - George Liberace
musician: violinist, conductor; administrator of Liberace Museum; brother of pianist/entertainer Liberace; died Oct 16, 1983
1913 - Bryan Hextall
Hockey Hall of Famer: New York Rangers: Stanley Cup [1940]; Art Ross Trophy winner [1941-1942]; died Jul 25, 1984
1915 - Chet Forrest
songwriter, composer: It’s a Blue World, Donkey Serenade, Strange Music, And This Is My Beloved, Stranger in Paradise, Night of My Nights; died Oct 10, 1999
1916 - Bill (William) Todman
game show producer: Goodson-Todman Productions: The Price is Right, To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, I’ve Got a Secret, What’s My Line; died Jul 29, 1979
1918 - Hank Jones
pianist: accompanied Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald; led Hank Jones Trio; died May 16, 2010
1919 - Curt Gowdy
sports commentator: ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO; voice of NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox [1949-1966]; TV play-by-play: AFL, NFL, major league baseball, World Series, All-Star Games, Rose Bowls, Super Bowls, Olympics, NCAA Final Fours; host: The American Sportsman; radio station owner: WCGY-FM, Lawrence [Boston] MA; recipient of George Foster Peabody Award for achievement in radio and TV [1970]; Curt Gowdy Award presented by Hall of Fame Board of Trustees for meritorious contributions by the media; Curt Gowdy State Park [Wyoming] named after him [1971]; died Feb 20, 2006
1922 - Hank (Henry Albert) Bauer
baseball: NY Yankees [World Series: 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958: 4 home runs/all-star: 1952, 1953, 1954], KC Athletics; manager: NY Yankees, KC Athletics; died Feb 9, 2007
1923 - Ahmet Ertegün
co-founder of Atlantic Records; chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; described as one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry; co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League; brother of producer Nesuhi Ertegun; died Dec 14, 2006
1929 - Don Murray
actor: Bus Stop, Knots Landing, The Outcasts, Baby the Rain Must Fall, Peggy Sue Got Married, Advice and Consent
1931 - Kenny Burrell
guitarist: played with Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman; own combos; jazz professor: UCLA
1932 - Ted Cassidy
actor: The Addams Family, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie, Greatest Heroes of the Bible, Goin’ Coconuts, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Trigger Law, The Last Remake of Beau Geste; died Jan 16, 1979
1937 - John Sellers
jockey: winner: Kentucky Derby [1961: on Carry Back], Belmont Stakes [1965: on Hail To All], Brooklyn Handicap [1965: on Pia Star]; died Jul 2, 2010
1939 - France Nuyen (Vannga)
actress: The Joy Luck Club, South Pacific, Diamond Head, St. Elsewhere
1939 - John West
musician: keyboards: group: Gary Lewis and the Playboys: This Diamond Ring
1942 - Daniel Boone
songwriter, singer: Beautiful Sunday
1943 - Susan Flannery
Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress: Days of Our Lives [1975], The Bold and the Beautiful [2000, 2002]; Dallas, Anatomy of a Seduction
1944 - Geraldine Chaplin
actress: Nashville, Rosalind, Chaplin, Dr. Zhivago, The Wedding; daughter of comedian Charlie Chaplin
1945 - Gary Lewis (Levitch)
singer: group: Gary Lewis and the Playboys: This Diamond Ring; entertainer Jerry Lewis’ son
1946 - Bob Welch
guitarist, singer: group: Fleetwood Mac; solo: Sentimental Lady
1947 - Karl Green
musician: guitar, harmonica: group: Herman’s Hermits: I’m into Something Good, Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter, I’m Henry VIII, I Am, Listen People, A Must to Avoid, Leaning on the Lamp Post
1950 - Lane Davies
actor: Santa Barbara, Lois and Clark, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital
1951 - Evonne Goolagong
tennis champion: Australian Open [1974, 1975, 1976, 1977]; Wimbledon [1971, 1980]; French Open [1971]
1951 - Barry Van Dyke
actor: Diagnosis Murder, The Van Dyke Show, Foxfire Light, It Happened at Lakewood Manor, Casino; son of actor **** Van Dyke
1952 - Chris Ahrens
hockey: NHL: Minnesota North Stars; WHA: Edmonton Oilers
1952 - Alan Autry
actor: In the Heat of the Night, Proud Men, Blue De Ville, At Close Range; mayor of Fresno California
1953 - James Read
actor: Remington Steele, North and South series, Legally Blonde series, Not Another Teen Movie, Full Circle, The Other Woman, Love Crimes, Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III
1956 - Mark Arden
actor: The Oblivion Boys, Charlie , Jack and Jeremy’s Police 4, Drunk and Disorderly, Carry On Columbus, Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale, Romeo and Juliet [1978]
1956 - Michael Biehn
actor: The Rock, Breach of Trust, Blood of the Hunter, Tombstone, A Taste for Killing, Timebomb, Aliens, The Terminator, The Fan, Coach, The Runaways
1957 - Daniel Ash
musician: guitar, singer: groups: Bauhaus, Love and Rockets
1957 - Dirk Blocker
actor: Baa Baa Black Sheep [series], McBride: The Chameleon Murder, Inherit the Wind, Night of the Scarecrow, A Year in the Life, Bonanza: The Return
1957 - Leon Durham
baseball: St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs [all-star: 1982, 1983], Cincinnati Reds
1958 - Bill Berry
musician: drums: group: R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe, Talk about the Passion, So Central Rain, [Don’t Go Back To] Rockville, Seven Chinese Brothers
1958 - Mark Cuban
billionaire entrepreneur, owner of Dallas Mavericks [NBA] basketball team; founded MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com
1962 - Wesley Snipes
actor: Demolition Man, Rising Sun, Major League, Sugar Hill, White Men Can’t Jump, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, One Night Stand, U.S. Marshals
1963 - Norman (Quentin) Cook
singer: groups: The Housemartins: Caravan of Love; Beats International: Dub Be Good To Me; Freakpower: Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out; Mighty Dub Katz, Pizzaman, Norman Cook Presents Wildski, Fried Funk Food; Fatboy Slim: Better Living through Chemistry, The Rockafeller Skank, You've Come A Long Way, Baby
1963 - Brian Skrudland
hockey: Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, NY Rangers, Dallas Stars
1965 - Scott Brooks
basketball [guard]: California-Irvine; NBA: Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, NY Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers
1965 - J.K. Rowling
author: Harry Potter novels, films
1966 - Dean Cain
actor: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Las Vegas
1967 - Rudolf Martin
actor: Lautlos, The Scoundrel’s Wife, Swordfish, Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, Bedazzled, Watershed, Fall
1967 - Tony Massenburg
basketball [forward]: Univ of Maryland; NBA: SA Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, LA Clippers, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, NJ Nets, Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings
1971 - Gus Frerotte
football [quarterback]: Univ of Tulsa; NFL: Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins
1972 - Jason Gildon
football [defensive end]: Oklahoma State Univ; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars
1975 - Randy Flores
baseball [pitcher]: Univ of Southern California; Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals
1975 - Ruben Patterson
basketball [forward]: Univ of Cincinnati; NBA: LA Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers
1976 - Marty Booker
football [wide receiver]: Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins
1976 - Annie Parisse
actres: Pagans, NYPD 2069, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, On the Q.T., As the World Turns
1978 - Will Champion
musician: drums: group: Coldplay: Sparks, Fix You, Don’t Panic, Warning Sign, Clocks, Help Is Around the Corner, Everything’s Not Lost
ABA Birthdays Today
Gerardo Canales , Phottoman , ponce (53) , pokekidz (51) , jeff73160 (50) , MoonRock45 (50) , jerrybro (45) , luckystrike (45) , jorget1 (44) , bigal (43) , ram98 (42) , abby04 (39) , ahmednaeem (39) , lonbris8 (37) , karina2k16 (32) , yuks (25)
Chart Toppers July 31
1948You Can’t Be True, Dear - The Ken Griffin Orchestra (vocal: Jerry Wayne)
Woody Woodpecker Song - The Kay Kyser Orchestra (vocal: Gloria Wood & The Campus Kids)
It’s Magic - Doris Day
Bouquet of Roses - Eddy Arnold
1957Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley
Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone
It’s Not for Me to Say - Johnny Mathis
Bye Bye Love - The Everly Brothers
1966Wild Thing - The Troggs
Lil’ Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
I Saw Her Again - The Mamas & The Papas
Think of Me - Buck Owens
1975The Hustle - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
I’m Not in Love - 10cc
One of These Nights - Eagles
Touch the Hand - Conway Twitty
1984When Doves Cry - Prince
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
State of Shock - Jacksons
Angel in Disguise - Earl Thomas Conley
1993Can’t Help Falling in Love - UB40
Whoomp! (There It Is) - Tag Team
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
Chattahoochee - Alan Jackson
2002Complicated - Avril Lavigne
Hero - Chad Kroeger featuring Josey Scott
Hot In Herre - Nelly
The Good Stuff - Kenny Chesney
Chart Topper July 31st, 1966...Wild Thing - The Troggs
enjoy all
Saturday, July 31, 2010
JACK ARMSTRONG DAY
On this day in 1933, listeners turned up the radio to hear the announcer introduce “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy!” The show was one of the longest-running adventure programs on radio, continuing until 1951. Armstrong was Hudson High School’s football hero and the hero who saved the day from dastardly villains. Somehow, these adventures would take Jack and his cousins, Betty and Bill Fairfield, to exotic locales where they would make use of industrialist Uncle Jim’s yacht and a hydroplane they referred to as the Silver Albatross.
The first actor to play Armstrong was Jim Ameche, the brother of actor Don Ameche. The series, created by Robert Hardy Andrews, portrayed Jack Armstrong as loyal, brave, honest, and yes, all-American; obvious in this excerpt from one of the scripts. Jack Armstrong: “When I think of this country of ours, with millions of homes stretching sea to sea, and with everybody working and pulling together to have a nation where people can be free, and do big things ... why, it makes me realize what a terribly important job we’ve got ahead!”
Events July 31
1790 - The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont. Mr. Hopkins did not get Patent #1 as thousands of patents were issued before someone came up with the bright idea to number them. The inventor patented a process for making potash and pearl ashes.
1792 - Construction started with the laying of the cornerstone in the first building to be used solely as a U.S. Government building. It was the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
1845 - The French Army introduced the saxophone to its military band. The musical instrument was the invention of Adolphe Sax of Belgium.
1928 - MGM’s Leo the lion roared for the first time. He introduced MGM’s first talking picture, White Shadows on the South Seas. Leo’s dialogue was more extensive than the film’s, whose only spoken word was, “Hello.”
1932 - The George Washington 25-cent coin was put into circulation by the U.S. Mint on this day.
1942 - Harry James and his band recorded the classic I’ve Heard that Song Before, for Columbia Records. Helen Forrest sang on the million-seller.
1948 - New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport wasn’t always named that. In fact, on this day, U.S. President Harry S Truman dedicated the airport as International Airport at Idlewild Field.
1949 - After a three-month standoff, the British warship HMS Amethyst made its escape down the Yangtze River. All of this, after having been refused safe exit by the Chinese Communists.
1954 - Mount Godwin-Austen (K2) in the Himalayas was first climbed by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.
1955 - Marilyn Bell of Toronto, Canada, at age 17, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel.
1961 - The first tie in All-Star Game history was recorded as the second All-Star Game of the year (there were two a year back then) was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain at Boston’s Fenway Park.
1964 - Country Music Hall of Famer Jim Reeves died when his single-engine Beechcraft crashed near Nashville, TN. Gentleman Jim started as a DJ, first at KGRI in Henderson, Texas; then at KWKH in Shreveport, LA (the home of the Louisiana Hayride in the early 1950s). His first hit was Mexican Joe in 1953. Reeves became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955. He had his own TV series on ABC in 1957. He was in the 1963 film, Kimberley Jim. Reeves bought a radio station in Henderson, Texas, which became very successful. Hits by Jim Reeves include Four Walls, He’ll Have to Go, I’m Getting Better, Am I Losing You, Welcome to My World and I Guess I’m Crazy.
1969 - Pope Paul VI visited Uganda. It was the first time a pontiff had visited Africa.
1970 - The Houston Astros sent ex-New York Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton down to the minor leagues. Ten days after joining the Oklahoma City farm team, Bouton retired from baseball. He authored several baseball books including Ball Four. Bouton also became a sportscaster in New York City for WABC and WCBS-TV.
1971 - The first men to ride in a vehicle on the moon did so on this day in the LRV (lunar rover vehicle). This example of a lunar dune buggy carried Apollo 15 astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin for five miles on the lunar surface. Their first stop at the rim of Elbow Crater was televised back to Earth to millions of viewers. The moon ride lasted two hours and the astronauts were heard to exclaim, “There’s some beautiful geology out there!”
1972 - Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, withdrew from the ticket with presidential candidate George McGovern following disclosure that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment for depression. Eagleton was replaced by Sargent Shriver, who, incidentally, was the only Democratic vice-presidential nominee who did not serve in Congress at any point in his or her career.
1974 - One of the President Nixon’s main men, John Ehrlichman was sentenced to prison for his role in the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. Ellsberg was the Pentagon consultant who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" (which purportedly told Americans how and why the U.S. really got into the Vietnam War). Ehrlichman also created the White House Unit that was called the ‘plumbers’ because it was intended to plug leaks.
1978 - Orchestra leader and producer Enoch Light died in New York City at age 70. He had led an orchestra called the Light Brigade beginning in 1935. His biggest hit was Summer Night in 1937. Enoch Light was always interested in the technical techniques, and he struck it rich with the advent of stereo recording. He created Command Records, which released albums like Persuasive Percussion and Provocative Percussion in the early 1960s. These were popular with stereo owners because of their ping-pong (left channel to right to left) effects.
1981 - The seven-week baseball players’ strike came to an end as the players and owners agreed on the issue of free agent compensation.
1981 - General Omar Torrijos, leader of Panama, was killed in a plane crash.
1985 - Prince was big at the box office with the autobiographical story of the Minneapolis rock star, Purple Rain. The flick grossed $7.7 million in its first three days of release on 917 movie screens. The album of the same name was the top LP in the U.S., as well.
1985 - Spring Hill, Tennessee was selected as the home of the Saturn automobile assembly plant. General Motors announced that it expected to produce up to 500,000 Saturns a year beginning in 1989. Some 14,000 jobs were created to operate the new auto plant.
1988 - Willie Stargell became 200th man inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Stargell had 475 career homers, twice leading the NL (48 in 1971, 44 in 1973). He drove in 1540 runs, scored 1195 and had 2232 hits with a lifetime batting average of .282. His inspirational leadership contributed greatly to Pittsburgh Pirate world championships in 1971 and 1979, when he shared NL MVP honors. His #8 was retired by the Pirates in 1982.
1990 - Pitcher Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers became the 20th major leaguer to win 300 games as he led his team to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers 11-to-3.
1991 - U.S. President George Bush (I) and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a long-range nuclear weapons reduction pact known as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) at a Moscow summit. It was the first treaty to mandate reductions by the superpowers.
1992 - Olympic swimming world records set this day: Jeff Rouse: 100m backstroke (53.86 sec); Kieren John Perkins: 1500m free style (14:43.4); Tamas Darnyi: 200m backstroke (first swimmer to break 2 minutes in 200m: 1:59.36); Yang Wenyi 50m freestyle (24.79 sec). Also this day, Summer Sanders became the first American athlete to win four medals at the Barcelona Olympics as she won the gold in the women’s 200-meter butterfly.
1993 - Belgium’s King Baudouin I died at 62 years of age. He was succeeded by his brother, Prince Albert.
1995 - The Walt Disney Co. announced that it would pay some $19 billion for Capital Cities/ABC Inc., creating a major entertainment and media company. The deal included the ESPN sports cable network.
1996 - Alanis Morissette, born in Ottawa, kicked off her first big-time Canadian tour with a show before 15,000 at General Motors Place, Vancouver. The concert had sold out in less than an hour two months earlier.
1996 - Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 was released to manufacturers for preinstallation on server PCs.
1997 - And the award goes to... Nigeria, named the most corrupt country in the world by German-based Transparency International. Denmark was named the least corrupt.
1998 - Movies debuting in the U.S.: BASEketball, a comedy starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny Mccarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine, Dian Bachar, Bob Costas, Trevor Einhorn, Al Michaels and Mark Goodson; the romantic Ever After: A Cinderella Story, with Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott, Jeanne Moreau, Jeroen Krabbe, Patrick Godfrey, Megan Dodds, Melanie Lynskey, Timothy West, Judy Parfitt and Richard O'brien; the action/drama The Negotiator, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh and Regina Taylor; and the family comedy The Parent Trap, with Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter, Simon Kunz, Polly Holliday, Maggie Wheeler, Ronnie Stevens, Erin Mackey and Joanna Barnes.
1999 - The U.S. heat wave -- linked to at least 94 deaths -- continued. As Chicago baked in 100-degree weather, thousands of hot and sweaty residents were forced to endure the heat without air conditioning or fans, due to sporadic power outages and brownouts.
2000 - Intel Corporation broke the one gigahertz barrier. The computer processor giant introduced a Pentium III that ran at 1.13 GHz.
2000 - The Republican National Convention opened in Philadelphia. It would nominate Texas Governor George W. Bush as its presidential candidate.
2002 - In Chicago’s South Side, a mob beat Anthony Stuckey (49) and Jack Moore (62) to death after their van veered over a curb and injured three women. (Seven people were charged Aug 3 with first degree murder.)
2003 - The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages. The church warned Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was “gravely immoral”.
2004 - Deaths on this day: actress Virginia Grey died in Los Angeles. She was 87 years old. Grey appeared in over 100 films and 40 TV shows; and Italian film actress Laura Betti died at 70 years of age. Her debut was in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita 1960).
2005 - Monsoon rains returned to Mumbai, India, just as it was attempting to recover from recent floods (death toll was estimated at near 1,000 people).
2006 - SanDisk Corp. of Milpitas, CA (flash storage maker) agreed to buy msystems Ltd. (flash disk pioneers) of Kefar Saba, Israel for $1.35 billion in stock.
2007 - Johnson & Johnson announced a reduction in its global work force by up to 4 percent to cut costs due to slumping sales of heart stents and looming patent expirations.
2007 - English historian Norman Cohn died at 92 years of age. Cohn’s 1957 book, Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages drew parallels between millenarian movements in the Middle Ages and the rise of 20th-century totalitarianism.
2008 - California Governor Schwarzenegger ordered the layoffs of thousands of state workers along with steep pay cuts for most other state employees to ease the state’s budget gap of $15.2 billion.
2009 - Motion pictures opening in U.S. theatres: Aliens in the Attic, with Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler, Ashley Boettcher, Henri Young, Regan Young, Tim Meadows, Gillian Vigman and Kevin Nealon; Funny People, starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Bana and Andy ****; The Cove, with Richard O’Barry; and Thirst, starring Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun and Kim Ok-bi.
2009 - Turkey’s navy commandos aboard a frigate captured seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia’s coast. Turkish commandos had captured five other pirates in a similar operation in the Gulf during the previous week.
2009 - Venezuelan regulators revoked the broadcast rights of 34 radio stations for allegedly failing to submit the proper paperwork to the broadcasting regulator, deepening a rift between President Hugo Chavez’s government and the private media.
Birthdays July 31
1867 - S.S. (Sebastian Spering) Kresge
merchant: S.S. Kresge’s five & dime stores [now Kmart]; died Oct 18, 1966
1911 - George Liberace
musician: violinist, conductor; administrator of Liberace Museum; brother of pianist/entertainer Liberace; died Oct 16, 1983
1913 - Bryan Hextall
Hockey Hall of Famer: New York Rangers: Stanley Cup [1940]; Art Ross Trophy winner [1941-1942]; died Jul 25, 1984
1915 - Chet Forrest
songwriter, composer: It’s a Blue World, Donkey Serenade, Strange Music, And This Is My Beloved, Stranger in Paradise, Night of My Nights; died Oct 10, 1999
1916 - Bill (William) Todman
game show producer: Goodson-Todman Productions: The Price is Right, To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, I’ve Got a Secret, What’s My Line; died Jul 29, 1979
1918 - Hank Jones
pianist: accompanied Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald; led Hank Jones Trio; died May 16, 2010
1919 - Curt Gowdy
sports commentator: ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO; voice of NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox [1949-1966]; TV play-by-play: AFL, NFL, major league baseball, World Series, All-Star Games, Rose Bowls, Super Bowls, Olympics, NCAA Final Fours; host: The American Sportsman; radio station owner: WCGY-FM, Lawrence [Boston] MA; recipient of George Foster Peabody Award for achievement in radio and TV [1970]; Curt Gowdy Award presented by Hall of Fame Board of Trustees for meritorious contributions by the media; Curt Gowdy State Park [Wyoming] named after him [1971]; died Feb 20, 2006
1922 - Hank (Henry Albert) Bauer
baseball: NY Yankees [World Series: 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958: 4 home runs/all-star: 1952, 1953, 1954], KC Athletics; manager: NY Yankees, KC Athletics; died Feb 9, 2007
1923 - Ahmet Ertegün
co-founder of Atlantic Records; chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; described as one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry; co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League; brother of producer Nesuhi Ertegun; died Dec 14, 2006
1929 - Don Murray
actor: Bus Stop, Knots Landing, The Outcasts, Baby the Rain Must Fall, Peggy Sue Got Married, Advice and Consent
1931 - Kenny Burrell
guitarist: played with Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman; own combos; jazz professor: UCLA
1932 - Ted Cassidy
actor: The Addams Family, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie, Greatest Heroes of the Bible, Goin’ Coconuts, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Trigger Law, The Last Remake of Beau Geste; died Jan 16, 1979
1937 - John Sellers
jockey: winner: Kentucky Derby [1961: on Carry Back], Belmont Stakes [1965: on Hail To All], Brooklyn Handicap [1965: on Pia Star]; died Jul 2, 2010
1939 - France Nuyen (Vannga)
actress: The Joy Luck Club, South Pacific, Diamond Head, St. Elsewhere
1939 - John West
musician: keyboards: group: Gary Lewis and the Playboys: This Diamond Ring
1942 - Daniel Boone
songwriter, singer: Beautiful Sunday
1943 - Susan Flannery
Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress: Days of Our Lives [1975], The Bold and the Beautiful [2000, 2002]; Dallas, Anatomy of a Seduction
1944 - Geraldine Chaplin
actress: Nashville, Rosalind, Chaplin, Dr. Zhivago, The Wedding; daughter of comedian Charlie Chaplin
1945 - Gary Lewis (Levitch)
singer: group: Gary Lewis and the Playboys: This Diamond Ring; entertainer Jerry Lewis’ son
1946 - Bob Welch
guitarist, singer: group: Fleetwood Mac; solo: Sentimental Lady
1947 - Karl Green
musician: guitar, harmonica: group: Herman’s Hermits: I’m into Something Good, Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter, I’m Henry VIII, I Am, Listen People, A Must to Avoid, Leaning on the Lamp Post
1950 - Lane Davies
actor: Santa Barbara, Lois and Clark, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital
1951 - Evonne Goolagong
tennis champion: Australian Open [1974, 1975, 1976, 1977]; Wimbledon [1971, 1980]; French Open [1971]
1951 - Barry Van Dyke
actor: Diagnosis Murder, The Van Dyke Show, Foxfire Light, It Happened at Lakewood Manor, Casino; son of actor **** Van Dyke
1952 - Chris Ahrens
hockey: NHL: Minnesota North Stars; WHA: Edmonton Oilers
1952 - Alan Autry
actor: In the Heat of the Night, Proud Men, Blue De Ville, At Close Range; mayor of Fresno California
1953 - James Read
actor: Remington Steele, North and South series, Legally Blonde series, Not Another Teen Movie, Full Circle, The Other Woman, Love Crimes, Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III
1956 - Mark Arden
actor: The Oblivion Boys, Charlie , Jack and Jeremy’s Police 4, Drunk and Disorderly, Carry On Columbus, Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale, Romeo and Juliet [1978]
1956 - Michael Biehn
actor: The Rock, Breach of Trust, Blood of the Hunter, Tombstone, A Taste for Killing, Timebomb, Aliens, The Terminator, The Fan, Coach, The Runaways
1957 - Daniel Ash
musician: guitar, singer: groups: Bauhaus, Love and Rockets
1957 - Dirk Blocker
actor: Baa Baa Black Sheep [series], McBride: The Chameleon Murder, Inherit the Wind, Night of the Scarecrow, A Year in the Life, Bonanza: The Return
1957 - Leon Durham
baseball: St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs [all-star: 1982, 1983], Cincinnati Reds
1958 - Bill Berry
musician: drums: group: R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe, Talk about the Passion, So Central Rain, [Don’t Go Back To] Rockville, Seven Chinese Brothers
1958 - Mark Cuban
billionaire entrepreneur, owner of Dallas Mavericks [NBA] basketball team; founded MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com
1962 - Wesley Snipes
actor: Demolition Man, Rising Sun, Major League, Sugar Hill, White Men Can’t Jump, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, One Night Stand, U.S. Marshals
1963 - Norman (Quentin) Cook
singer: groups: The Housemartins: Caravan of Love; Beats International: Dub Be Good To Me; Freakpower: Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out; Mighty Dub Katz, Pizzaman, Norman Cook Presents Wildski, Fried Funk Food; Fatboy Slim: Better Living through Chemistry, The Rockafeller Skank, You've Come A Long Way, Baby
1963 - Brian Skrudland
hockey: Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, NY Rangers, Dallas Stars
1965 - Scott Brooks
basketball [guard]: California-Irvine; NBA: Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, NY Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers
1965 - J.K. Rowling
author: Harry Potter novels, films
1966 - Dean Cain
actor: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Las Vegas
1967 - Rudolf Martin
actor: Lautlos, The Scoundrel’s Wife, Swordfish, Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, Bedazzled, Watershed, Fall
1967 - Tony Massenburg
basketball [forward]: Univ of Maryland; NBA: SA Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, LA Clippers, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, NJ Nets, Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings
1971 - Gus Frerotte
football [quarterback]: Univ of Tulsa; NFL: Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins
1972 - Jason Gildon
football [defensive end]: Oklahoma State Univ; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars
1975 - Randy Flores
baseball [pitcher]: Univ of Southern California; Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals
1975 - Ruben Patterson
basketball [forward]: Univ of Cincinnati; NBA: LA Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers
1976 - Marty Booker
football [wide receiver]: Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins
1976 - Annie Parisse
actres: Pagans, NYPD 2069, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, On the Q.T., As the World Turns
1978 - Will Champion
musician: drums: group: Coldplay: Sparks, Fix You, Don’t Panic, Warning Sign, Clocks, Help Is Around the Corner, Everything’s Not Lost
ABA Birthdays Today
Gerardo Canales , Phottoman , ponce (53) , pokekidz (51) , jeff73160 (50) , MoonRock45 (50) , jerrybro (45) , luckystrike (45) , jorget1 (44) , bigal (43) , ram98 (42) , abby04 (39) , ahmednaeem (39) , lonbris8 (37) , karina2k16 (32) , yuks (25)
Chart Toppers July 31
1948You Can’t Be True, Dear - The Ken Griffin Orchestra (vocal: Jerry Wayne)
Woody Woodpecker Song - The Kay Kyser Orchestra (vocal: Gloria Wood & The Campus Kids)
It’s Magic - Doris Day
Bouquet of Roses - Eddy Arnold
1957Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley
Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone
It’s Not for Me to Say - Johnny Mathis
Bye Bye Love - The Everly Brothers
1966Wild Thing - The Troggs
Lil’ Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
I Saw Her Again - The Mamas & The Papas
Think of Me - Buck Owens
1975The Hustle - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
I’m Not in Love - 10cc
One of These Nights - Eagles
Touch the Hand - Conway Twitty
1984When Doves Cry - Prince
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
State of Shock - Jacksons
Angel in Disguise - Earl Thomas Conley
1993Can’t Help Falling in Love - UB40
Whoomp! (There It Is) - Tag Team
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
Chattahoochee - Alan Jackson
2002Complicated - Avril Lavigne
Hero - Chad Kroeger featuring Josey Scott
Hot In Herre - Nelly
The Good Stuff - Kenny Chesney
Chart Topper July 31st, 1966...Wild Thing - The Troggs
enjoy all