This Day Trivia - May 29

Events

1992 Secret Underground Bomb Shelter U.S. reveals the existence of a secret underground bomb shelter, which was built for Congress in case of a nuclear attack.

1987 Michael Jackson The London Hospital Medical College refuses to sell Jackson the remains of John Merrick, the Elephant Man.

1972 Woman gives birth to nine babies tie for the highest number medically recorded for a single birth (all died), Philadelphia, PA.

1953 Mount Everest summit is first reached, by Hillary and Norgay.

1949 Mr. I Magination debuts on CBS, starring Paul Tripp.

1942 Bing Crosby records White Christmas It went on to sale 25,000,000 copies.

1913 Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring premiers in Paris. Its daring harmonies and shifting rhythms created an uproar that is unequalled in music history.

1848 Wisconsin becomes the 30th state. Wisconsin is Chippewa for "grassy place."

1819 The poem The American Flag by Joseph Rodman Drake is first published, in the New York Evening Post.

1790 Rhode Island becomes the 13th state.

1630 John Winthrop begins writing The History of New England, which later became the inspiration for Longfellow's New England Tragedies.

1453 Start of the Renaissance The Turks capture Constantinople forcing many scholars to flee to the West.

Births

1979 Casey Austin Sheehan d. 2004 American soldier. His death by enemy action in Iraq caused his mother, Cindy Sheehan, to become a peace activist.

1956 La Toya Jackson (La Toya Yvonne Jackson), American singer.

1955 John Warnock Hinckley Jr American criminal. He shot Pres. Reagan and James Brady (1981) in an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster. He was tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity.

1944 Maurice Bishop d. 1983 prime minister of Grenada (1979-83). He was killed by the forces of his Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard - A hard-line Marxist.

1939 Al Unser Sr American auto racer, 4-time Indy 500 winner (1970-71, 78, 87).

1921 Clifton James American actor. Film: Live and Let Die (1973, the bumbling Louisiana sheriff J.W. Pepper) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).

1917 John Fitzgerald Kennedy d. 1963 35th U.S. President (1961-63), the youngest person elected president (43 years old). He was assassinated in Dallas.

1903 Bob Hope d. 2003 (Leslie Townes Hope), English-born American Emmy-winning comedian, entertainer of the troops. He has won five Oscars for his humanitarian actions and contributions to the industry.

1883 Alan Roy Dafoe d. 1943 Canadian physician, delivered the world's first known surviving quintuplets (1934).

1826 Ebenezer Butterick d. 1903 American inventor. He and his wife Ellen invented tissue paper clothing patterns (1863).

1781 John Walker d. 1859 English chemist, invented the friction match (1826). He refused to patent his idea, feeling it was too trivial of an invention.

1736 Patrick Henry d. 1799 American patriot. Known for his famous 1775 quote: "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

1439 Pius III d. 1503 Italian religious leader, 215th Pope (Sept. - Oct. 1503). He died 26 days after being elected.

Deaths

2012 Dick Beals b. 1927 (Richard Lee Beals), American actor. TV: Davey and Goliath (1960-64, voice of Davey) and Gumby (first actor to voice Gumby). He was also the voice of Speedy in the Alka-Seltzer radio and TV commercials, and sang the I'd love to be an Oscar Meyer wiener song.

2010 Dennis Hopper b. 1936 American actor, director. Commenting on his 8-day marriage to Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, "The first seven were pretty good." Film: Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Easy Rider (1969), Apocalypse Now (1979), and Blue Velvet (1986).

1995 Margaret Chase Smith b. 1897 American politician, former U.S. Senator (R-Maine). She was the first woman elected to both houses of the U.S. Congress. Her opposistion to the tactics of Joseph McCarthy earned her the nickname "Moscow Maggie."

1994 Erich Honecker b. 1912 East German political leader. He supervised the construction of the Berlin Wall.

1993 Billy Conn b. 1917 American Hall of Fame boxer. In 1941, while leading Joe Louis 8 rounds to 4, instead of playing it safe and taking the decision, he decided to slug it out with the heavyweight champ. Louis quickly knocked him out.

1982 Romy Schneider b. 1938 (Rosemarie Albach-Retty), Austrian actress. Film: Visconti's segment of Boccaccio '70 (1962, for which she gained international acclaim), The Trial (1962), and What's New, Pussycat? (1965).

1979 Mary Pickford b. 1893 (Gladys Smith), American Oscar-winning silent film actress, "America's Sweetheart." She was a co-founder of United Artists (1919).

1951 Fanny Brice b. 1891 American actress, singer, dancer. She starred in the Ziegfeld Follies (1910-23). She also played Baby Snooks on radio and her life was the basis for the musical Funny Girl (1968).

1942 John Barrymore b. 1882 (John Sidney Blyth), American actor. His portrayals of Hamlet and Richard III are considered the greatest of his time. According to Errol Flynn, when Barrymore died, some of his friends took his body from the funeral home and propped it up in a chair in Flynn's home to frighten him. Quote: "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."

1936 Norman Myers Chaney b. 1918 American actor, Chubby of The Little Rascals. He appeared in 18 Our Gang films. He had a glandular ailment and continued to gain weight as he got older. His weight dropped from over 300 pounds to less than 140 pounds after undergoing surgery for his ailment in 1935. He died a year later at age 18.

1892 Baha Ullah b. 1817 (Mirza Husayn Ali), Persian prophet, founder of the Baha'i faith (1863).

1866 Winfield Scott b. 1786 American general, noted for his service during the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. He was the last Whig presidential candidate (1852, losing to Franklin Pierce).

1829 Sir Humphry Davy b. 1778 English scientist, discovered the effects of inhaling laughing gas (1799), discovered potassium, sodium (1807), barium, strontium, calcium (1808), the first electric light (1808), and invented the safety lamp for miners (1815).

1814 Josephine b. 1763 French Empress, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Their marriage was dissolved (1809) when she failed to produce an heir.