07 September 2018
Interesting tidbits:
1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee made the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist).
1876 – In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang attempted to rob the town’s bank but were driven off by armed citizens.
1895 – The first game of what would become known as rugby league football was played, in England, starting the 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season.
1896– The first successful heart surgery was conducted on this day by Ludwig Rehn.
1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flew his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France for the first time successfully.
1909 – Eugene Lefebvre crashed a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first 'pilot' in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft.
1927 – The first fully electronic television system was achieved by Philo Farnsworth.
1936 – The last surviving member of the thylacine species, Benjamin, died alone in her cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
1978 – While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella.
Today's birthday crew:
1860 – Grandma Moses, American primitive painter.
1914 – James Van Allen, American scientist (Van Allen Belt).
1926 – Don Messick, American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. His best remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Astro the dog, Muttley the dog, Gears, Ratchet, and Scavenger in The Transformers, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest in Jonny Quest.
1936 - Buddy Holley, American musician and singer-songwriter.
1950 – Julie Kavner, American actress (Marge Simpson).
1955 – Mira Furlan, Croatian actress best known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on all five seasons of Babylon 5 (1993–98), and as Danielle Rousseau on Lost.
1989 – Hugh Mitchell, English actor best known for playing Colin Creevey in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Happy birthday guys!
