This Day Trivia - May 28

Events

2006 DWI Coors Brewing Company CEO and TV pitchman Peter Coors is arrested for DWI.

1980 First women to graduate from West Point Military Academy

1975 First whooping crane born in captivity to parents raised in captivity, at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. Source: Famous First Facts

1959 The U.S. launches two monkeys Able and Baker, into space. They were both recovered alive, although Able died during surgery to remove a test probe from under her skin.

1951 Willie Mays hits his first major-league home run.

1934 First payments by the FDIC on a closed bank Fond du Lac State Bank of East Peoria, Illinois closes. The FDIC paid off its depositors the following July.

1754 French and Indian War The first fighting takes place when Gen. George Washington defeats the French near Great Meadows. He then built Fort Necessity on the site.

585 B.C. First historical event for which the exact date is known A battle between the Medes and the Lydians is called off when both armies are frightened by an eclipse of the Sun.

Births

1986 Michael Oher (Michael Jerome Williams, Jr.), American football player, offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. The movie The Blind Side (2009) was loosely based on his difficult childhood and adoption by an affluent white couple to becoming a successful NFL player.

1947 Sondra Locke American actress, often teamed with Clint Eastwood. Film: The Outlaw Josey Wales (1975), The Gauntlet (1977), and Every Which Way But Loose (1978).

1944 Gladys Knight American Grammy-winning singer, with the Pips. Music: Midnight Train to Georgia (1973, #1).

1938 Jerry West American basketball player, coach, manager. He set the NBA record for most free throws made in a single season (840 in 1966).

1934 Emilie, Marie, Cecile, Annette, and Yvonne Dionne Canadian quintuplets, the world's first known surviving quintuplets.

1931 Carroll Baker American actress. Film: Baby Doll (1956, the thumb-sucking wife).

1910 T-Bone Walker d. 1975 (Aaron Walker), American singer, Daddy of the Blues.

1908 Ian Fleming d. 1964 British author, creator of James Bond 007. He also wrote Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.

1908 Ernest Stavro Blofeld Polish evil genius. James Bond's fictional foe and SPECTRE's #1 in the movies and books. He is known for his white Persian cat and is parodied as Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films. He shares his birth date with his creator, Ian Fleming.

1888 Jim Thorpe d. 1953 (Bright Path), American athlete, considered the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century. He played professional football and baseball, and excelled in boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, swimming, hockey, basketball, and track.

1818 Pierre T. Beauregard d. 1893 American Confederate general. He led the attack on Fort Sumter starting the Civil War.

1738 Joseph Ignace Guillotin d. 1814 French physician. His campaign for the use of a machine to provide humane executions led to the invention of the guillotine by a German mechanic.

Deaths

2010 Gary Coleman b. 1968 American actor, "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?" His short 4 foot 8 inch stature was due to congenital kidney disease and its treatment. TV: Diff'rent Strokes (1978-86).

2003 Martha Scott b. 1912 American actress. Film: Our Town (1940), The Ten Commandments (1956, Moses' mother), and Ben-Hur (1959, Ben-Hur's mother). TV: The Bob Newhart Show (Bob's mother), Dallas (Sue Ellen's mother), The Six Million Dollar Man (Steve Austin's mother).

1998 Phil Hartman b. 1948 (Phillip Edward Hartmann), Canadian-born American actor. He was shot to death by his wife in a murder-suicide. TV: Saturday Night Live, Pee-Wee's Playhouse (Captin' Carl. He and Paul Reubens co-created the Pee-Wee Herman character), and The Simpons (voice of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz).

1972 Edward VIII b. 1894 (Duke of Windsor), King of England (1936). He gave up the Throne in 1937 to marry American divorcee Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson.

1971 Audie Murphy b. 1924 American war hero, actor. He was the most decorated American hero of World War II; he received the Medal of Honor along with 27 other decorations.

1937 Alfred Adler b. 1870 Austrian psychiatrist, chief proponent of the "inferiority complex" as the source of psychological problems.

1843 Noah Webster b. 1758 American lexicographer, schoolmaster to America. Works: Blue-Backed Speller (1783) and An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828).

1672 Richard Nicolls b. 1624 first English colonial governor (1664-68) of New York. Introduced the first organized sport in American when he built (1664) a horse racing track on Long Island.

1081 Saint Bernard of Montjoux b. ???? patron saint of mountain climbers.