1571 Johannes Kepler - Noted German astronomer who discovered and confirmed Copernicus’s theory that the earth and planets circle the sun in elliptical orbits
1822 Louis Pasteur – French chemist and scientist who discovered that micro-organisms cause fermentation and infection. He developed the pasteurisation process and a vaccination for rabies
1823 Mackenzie Bowell – The fifth Prime Minister of Canada. Born at Rickinghall, England, he was one of only two Canadians to be Prime Minister while sitting in the Senate. He was the owner of the Belleville Intelligencer newspaper and Orange Order stalwart
1879 Sydney Greenstreet - British actor (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific, Passage to Marseilles, Malaya, They Died With Their Boots On, The Woman in White)
1901 Marlene Dietrich - German actress (The Blue Angel, Morocco, Kismet, Destry Rides Again, Judgement at Nuremberg, Witness for the Prosecution)
1906 Oscar Levant - Musician, actor (An American in Paris, The Bandwagon, Romance on the High Seas)
1913 Elizabeth Smart – Canadian author and poet (By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, A Bonus, The Assumption of Rogues and Rascals)
1931 Walter Norris - Pianist, composer (Drifting)
1939 John Amos - Actor (Good Times, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Coming to America, Future Cop)
1941 Leslie Maguire - Musician with the group Gerry and The Pacemakers (Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, I Like It)
1952 Tovah Feldshuh - Actress (Holocaust, The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal, Brewster's Millions, Blue Iguana, A Day in October)
1952 David Knopfler - Rock musician with Dire Straits (Sultans of Swing, Money for Nothing, Brothers in Arms) He is the brother of band-mate Mark Knopfler
1964 Ian Gomez – Actor (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Cougar Town, Felicity, The Drew Carey Show, The Norm Show)
1981 Emilie de Ravin – Australian actress (Lost, Once Upon a Time, Carrie, Roswell, BeastMaster)
Died this Day
1943 Curtis Veeder – Engineer who invented the modern automotive tachometer and odometer
1972 Lester B. Pearson – Former Canadian Prime Minister, and one of Canada’s foremost diplomats. His greatest achievement came in 1957 when he won the Nobel Peace prize for his proposal of introducing a UN peacekeeping force to ease the British and French out of Egypt
On this Day
1789 The first stagecoach service in Upper Canada began on the Niagara portage road between Queenston and Fort Erie
1831 British naturalist Charles Darwin set out from Plymouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle on a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information proved invaluable in the development of his theory of evolution, first put forth in his groundbreaking scientific work of 1859, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Most scientists quickly embraced the theory that solved so many puzzles of biological science, but orthodox Christians condemned the work as heresy. Controversy over Darwin's ideas deepened with the publication of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, in which he presented evidence of man's evolution from apes. By the time of Darwin's death in 1882, his theory of evolution had become generally accepted. In honour of his scientific work, he was buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and other illustrious figures from British history. Subsequent developments in genetics and molecular biology led to modifications in accepted evolutionary theory, but Darwin's ideas remain central to the field
1845 Ether was administered during childbirth for the first time in Jefferson, Georgia. Dr. C.W. Long used it during delivery of his wife's second child
1846 The rag-tag army of volunteers known as Doniphan's Thousand, led by Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan, won a major victory in the war with Mexico with the occupation of El Paso. Born in Kentucky in 1808, Doniphan moved to Missouri in 1830 to practice law. He volunteered as a brigadier general in the Missouri militia, and when war between Mexico and the US erupted in 1846, the men of the 1st Missouri Mounted Volunteers elected Doniphan their colonel, and marched south to join General Stephen Kearny's army in New Mexico. Since they were not professional military men, Doniphan's troops cared little for the traditional spit-and-polish of the regular troops, and reportedly looked more like tramps than soldiers. Doniphan, a casual officer, led more by example than by strict discipline. Nonetheless, Doniphan's Thousand proved to be a surprisingly effective force in the war with Mexico. In December, Doniphan led just 500 of his men and a large wagon train of supplies south to join General John E. Wool in his planned invasion of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Before he had a chance to meet up with Wool's larger force near the city of Chihuahua, Doniphan encountered an army of 1,200 Mexican soldiers about 30 miles north of El Paso, Texas. Although his opponents had more than twice the number of soldiers, Doniphan led his men to victory, leaving the path to El Paso now largely undefended. They occupied the city two days later
1904 J.M. Barrie’s new play, Peter Pan, opened in London
1927 The musical play Show Boat, with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York
1932 Radio City Music Hall opened in New York at the height of the Great Depression, when thousands turned out for the opening of the magnificent Art Deco theatre in New York City. Radio City Music Hall was designed as a palace for the people, a place of beauty where ordinary people could see high-quality entertainment. Since its 1932 opening, more than 300 million people have gone to Radio City to enjoy movies, stage shows, concerts, and special events. Radio City Music Hall was the brainchild of the billionaire John D. Rockefeller, Jr, who decided to make the theatre the cornerstone of the Rockefeller Complex he was building on a formerly derelict neighbourhood in midtown Manhattan. The theatre was built in partnership with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and designed by Donald Deskey. The result was an Art Deco masterpiece of elegance and grace constructed out of a diverse variety of materials, including aluminium, gold foil, marble, permatex, glass, and cork. Geometric ornamentation is found throughout the theatre. The famous Great Stage, measuring 60 by 100 feet, resembles a setting sun. Its sophisticated system of hydraulic-powered elevators allowed spectacular effects in staging, and many of its original mechanisms are still in use today. In its first four decades, Radio City Music Hall alternated as a first-run movie theatre and a site for gala stage shows. More than 700 films have premiered at Radio City Music Hall since 1933. In the late 1970s, the theatre changed its format and began staging concerts by popular music artists. The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, which debuted in 1933, draws more than a million people annually. The show features the high-kicking Rockettes, a precision dance troupe that has been a staple at Radio City since the 1930s. Today, Radio City Music Hall remains the largest indoor theatre in the world
1941 Rubber rationing was instituted by the US government, due to shortages caused by World War II. Tires were the first items to be restricted by law
1945 Twenty-eight nations signed an agreement creating the World Bank
1951 The Crosley car was put into use by the US Postal Service in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the first right-hand-drive car designed specifically for mail delivery. The Crosley put the driver on the mailbox-side of the car, and changed US mail delivery forever
1968 Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, returned safely to Earth after an historic six-day journey
1970 Hello, Dolly! closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances
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