This Dat Trivia - april 17

Events

1982 World record for standing on one foot 34 hours, is set by N. Ravi (India). Source: Guinness Book of World Records

1964 Mustang Ford's new sports car is unveiled at the New York World's Fair. At a base price of $2,368, it sold an industry record of 417,000 units in its first year.

1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion Led by Cuban exiles, trained, armed, and directed by the U.S., in effort to overthrow Castro. It failed.

1943 First Soldier's Medal Awarded to a Woman Nurse Edith Greenwood exhibits heroism in saving patient's lives during an Arizona hospital fire, for which she was awarded the medal the following June.

1861 Civil War Virginia becomes the 8th state to secede from the Union. Source: The Civil War Day by Day

1777 Thomas Paine The American patriot is elected Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

1610 Henry Hudson The famed explorer sets sail on his fateful voyage to find a North-West passage. His crew would mutiny 14 months later, setting him adrift never to be heard from again.

1492 Agreement signed between Columbus and the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, for a voyage to find a new route to the East Indies.

Births

1959 Teri Austin Canadian actress. TV: Knots Landing (Jill Bennett).

1923 Harry Reasoner d. 1991 American newscaster (What do you get if you cross a gorilla with a computer?).

1918 William Holden d. 1981 (William Franklin Beedle Jr.), American actor.

1905 Arthur Lake d. 1987 (Arthur Silverlake), American actor. He played Dagwood Bumstead on radio, TV, and the movies.

1897 Thornton Wilder d. 1975 American Pulitzer-winning novelist, playwright. Writings: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927, Pulitzer), Our Town (1938, Pulitzer), and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942, Pulitzer). Quote: "Marriage is the price men pay for sex; sex is the price women pay for marriage."

1893 Irene Castle d. 1969 American dancer. She and her husband Vernon popularized the Fox-trot dance (c1912).

1891 George Adamski d. 1965 Polish-American extraterrestrial abductee. Some regard him as the first modern abductee.

1837 John Pierpont Morgan d. 1913 American financier, co-founder of U.S. Steel (1901).

1797 Linus Yale d. 1857 American inventor, invented the Yale lock (1848).

1741 Samuel Chase d. 1811 American Revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Deaths

2007 Kitty Carlisle b. 1910 (Catherine Conn), American actress, singer. TV: To Tell the Truth (panelist). Film: A Night at the Opera (1935) and Six Degrees of Separation (1992).

1998 Linda McCartney b. 1941 American photographer, singer, wife of Paul.

1991 Sir David Lean b. 1908 British director, whose films have won 28 Oscars. Film: Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Dr. Zhivago (1965).

1985 Scott Brady b. 1924 (Gerald Tierney), American actor. TV: Laverne & Shirley (Shirley Feeney's dad).

1960 Eddie Cochran b. 1938 American musician. Music: Summertime Blues (1958).

1904 Samuel Smiles b. 1812 Scottish author, Thrift (1875), containing the adage "A place for everything, and everything in its place."

1843 Samuel Morey b. 1762 American inventor. He patented the first U.S. internal combustion engine. It was later used to power the first automobile ride in the U.S. (The second in the world).

1790 Benjamin Franklin b. 1706 Signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the U.S., and for whom the short-lived State of Franklin was named.

1680 Kateri Tekakwith b. 1656 Mohawk Indian. She was the first American Indian beatified by the Catholic Church (1980).

858 Benedict III b. ???? Italian religious leader, 104th Pope (855-858).

485 Proclus b. 410 Greek mathematician, discovered that with a given point only one line can be drawn which is parallel to another given line.