This Day Trivia - March 8th

Events

1983 IBM introduces the PC XT (XTended).

1976 4.4 ton meteor shower strikes Jilin, China.

1952 First use of an artificial heart on a human keeping a 41-year-old male alive for 80 minutes.

1910 First licensed woman pilot Baroness Raymonde de la Roche, France.

1862 The Confederate ironclad Virginia (formerly the Merrimac) is launched, during the Civil War.

1785 First U.S. Secretary of War is appointed, Henry Knox.

Births

1959 Aidan Quinn American actor. Film: Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Stakeout (1987), and Benny & Joon (1993).

1946 Randy Meisner American singer, with The Eagles. Music: Take It Easy (1972) and Hotel California (1976, #1).

1945 Mickey Dolenz American drummer, actor, one of The Monkees. Music: Last Train to Clarksville (1966) and I'm a Believer (1966). TV: Circus Boy (Corky).

1943 Lynn Redgrave British red-haired actress, Georgy Girl (1966), and Weight-Watcher advertisements on TV.

1918 Alan Hale Jr d. 1990 American actor. TV: Gilligan's Island (Skipper Jonas Grumby).

1914 Priscilla Lawson d. 1958 (Priscilla Shortridge), American actress. Film: Flash Gordon movie serials (1936, Princess Aura the daughter of Ming the Merciless). She was Miss Miami Beach (1935).

1902 Louise Beavers d. 1962 American actress, one of TV's first black stars, the second (1952-53) Beulah of the TV series.

1900 Howard Hathaway Aiken d. 1973 American engineer, builder of the second digital computer (Mark I, 1944).

1879 Otto Hahn d. 1968 German chemist, co-discovered, with Fritz Strassman, nuclear fission (1938) for which he won the Nobel Prize. He also discovered the element protactinium and is credited with being the first person to split an atom.

1859 Kenneth Grahame d. 1932 English author. Writings: The Wind in the Willows (1908).

1787 Karl Ferdinand von Graefe d. 1840 German surgeon, founder of modern plastic surgery.

Deaths

1999 Joe DiMaggio b. 1914 (Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr.), American Baseball Hall-of-Famer, and ex-husband of Marilyn Monroe. His is the only major league player selected for the All-Star Game in every season they played. His record-breaking 56-game hitting streak in the 1941 season still stands.

1993 Billy Eckstine b. 1914 (William Eckstein), American blues singer. Music: Blue Moon, Fools Rush In, and I Apologize. He was the first black singer to become a national sex symbol.

1971 Harold Lloyd b. 1893 American comic actor, known for his dangerous stunts. Film: Grandma's Boy (1922), Safety Last (1923), and The Kid Brother (1927).

1961 Sir Thomas Beecham b. 1879 British conductor, founded the London Philharmonic orchestra (1932).

1930 William Howard Taft b. 1857 27th U.S. President (1909-13), and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-30). He was the first president to throw out the opening ball of baseball season (1910).

1917 Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin b. 1838 German aviator. He designed and built large dirigible balloons capable of long controlled flights.

1889 John Ericsson b. 1803 Swedish-born American Naval engineer. He invented the twin-screw propeller and built the first armored turret warship (1862, USS Monitor).

1887 Henry Ward Beecher b. 1813 American preacher. Writings: Seven Lectures to Young Men (1844). He was one of the leading opponents to slavery in his time.

1874 Millard Fillmore b. 1800 13th U.S. President (1850-53) and 12th U.S. Vice-President (1849-50). A popular myth is that he installed the first bathtub in the White House, however, this myth started as a joke by H. L. Mencken in the New York Evening Mail.

1144 Celestine II b. ???? religious leader, 165th Pope (1143-44).