Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

January 12

1987
The Morning Show: The TV show debuts on CBS, with hosts Mariette Hartley and Rolland Smith.

1981
Dynasty: The TV show debuts on ABC.

1971
All in the Family: The TV show debuts on CBS.

1969
First AFL team to win the Super Bowl: The New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts (16-7). Although first played in 1967, this was the first year this championship was called the "Super Bowl."

1966
Batman: The TV show debuts on ABC.

1960
First professional basketball player to score 15,000 points: Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1949
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends: The TV show debuts on CBS.

1932
First woman elected to the U.S. Senate: Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas is elected. She had been serving by appointment as a replacement for her deceased husband since November.

1896
First U.S. medical X-ray: Performed by Dr. H.L. Smith at Davidson College.

1812
First steam boat to travel down the Mississippi: The New Orleans arrives in New Orleans. It had departed from Pittsburgh in September.

1773
First public museum in America: The Charleston Museum in South Carolina is organized.

1967
Vendela (Vendela Kirsebom), Swedish model. She was the cover for the 1993 Sports Illustrated swim suit issue.

1955
Kirstie Alley, American actress. Film: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, the bald-headed Lt. Saavik) and Look Who's Talking (1989). TV: Cheers (Rebecca).

1954
Howard Stern, American radio disc jockey, TV personality. He signed a five year, $500 million deal with the satellite radio service Sirius. It also had an additional $225 million stock bonus which he received for attracting a certain number of listeners in a given time.

1944
Joe Frazier, American heavyweight boxing champion (1970-73) and heavyweight Olympic gold medalist (1964).

1925     d. 1990
Bill Burrud, American TV personality. TV: Animal Safari (host) and Safari to Adventure (host).

1910
Luise Rainer, Austrian Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Great Ziegfeld (1936, Oscar, Anna Held) and The Good Earth (1937, Oscar).

1906
Henny Youngman, comedian, "Take my wife, please..."

1893     d. 1946
Herman Wilhelm Goering, German Field Marshall under Hitler. He was sentenced to death for war crimes, but committed suicide while in prison.

1876     d. 1916
Jack London (John Griffith London), American author. Writings: The Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang (1905).

1874     d. 1939
Carl Fisher, American entrepreneur, Mr. Miami Beach. He started what is considered the first automobile dealership in the U.S., helped organize the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and developed Miami Beach. He lost his fortune, an estimated $100 million, in the 1929 stock market crash leaving him penniless.

1729     d. 1797
Edmund Burke, British statesman. Noted for his famous quote "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

1628     d. 1703
Charles Perrault, French author. In 1697, he published his now famous versions of popular folk tales, which included: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Little Red Riding-Hood, and Puss in Boots.

1588     d. 1649
John Winthrop, English colonizer. He was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) and the first president of the united colonies of New England (1645).

2003     b. 1949
Maurice Gibb, British singer, songwriter, with the Bee Gees. Music: Stayin' Alive (1977) and Night Fever (1977, #1).

2000     b. 1913
Marc Davis, American animator.  He is the designer of many Disney characters, such as Thumper in Bambi, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, and Cruella De Vil.

1991     b. 1904
Keye Luke, Chinese-born American actor. Film: Charlie Chan's No. 1 son. TV: Kung Fu (Master Po).

1981     b. 1883
Beulah Bondi, American actress. Film: It's a Wonderful Life (George Bailey's mother).

1976     b. 1890
Dame Agatha Christie, English mystery author, creator of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Her literary career began when her sister challenged her to write a mystery in which the identity of the culprit couldn't be guessed.

1943     b. 1858
Howard Atwood Kelly, American surgeon, gynecologist. He developed the open cystoscope, used to introduce light into the interior of the body, and was a pioneer in use of radium to treat cancer.

1909     b. 1864
Hermann Minkowski, Russian mathematician. In 1907, he laid the mathematical foundation for Einstein's general theory of relativity.

1519     b. circa 1475
Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer, the first European to discover the Pacific Ocean (1513). He was falsely charged with treason and beheaded.

1519     b. 1459
Maximilian I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1493-1519).

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