Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

February 3

1966
First successful soft landing on the moon: The Soviet Luna 9 lands and begins transmitting back photos.

1943
World War II: Four U.S. Navy chaplains give away their life preservers and go down with the USAT Dorchester after it was hit by torpedoes.

1919
League of Nations: A commission, presided over by Pres. Woodrow Wilson in Paris, begins working on the League's draft covenant.

1913
16th Amendment ratified, gave Congress the power to lay and collect income taxes.

1870
15th Amendment is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote.

1730
First newspaper stock-market quotes: By London's Daily Advertiser.

1690
First paper money: The state of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1950
Morgan Fairchild (Patsy McClenny), American actress. TV: Search For Tomorrow (Jennifer Pace), Dallas (Jenna Wade), and Flamingo Road (Constance Carlyle).

1945
Bob Griese, American Football Hall of Famer.

1943
Blythe Danner, American Tony-winning actress. Stage: Butterflies Are Free (Tony).

1940
Fran Tarkenton, American football quarterback. He holds the record for touchdown passes.

1926
Shelley Berman, American stand-up comic, popular in the 1950s and '60s. He was the first comedian to perform at Carnegie Hall.

1920
Dr. Henry J. Heimlich, German physician.  He is credited with inventing the Heimlich maneuver (1974) to aid choking victims.

1918
Joey Bishop (Joseph Abraham Gottlieb), comedian.

1907
James A. Michener, American Pulitzer-winning author. Writings: The Bridges at Toko-ri (1953).

1894     d. 1978
Norman Rockwell, American illustrator, known for his covers on the Saturday Evening Post.

1890     d. 1972
Charles J. Correll, American comedian. Radio: Amos 'n' Andy (Andy).

1883     d. 1956
Clarence Edward Mulford, American author. He created the character Hopalong Cassidy, which was the first character featured on a metal lunch box (1950-53).

1874     d. 1946
Gertrude Stein, American author, poet, famous for her phrase "A rose is a rose is a rose."

1821     d. 1910
Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician, the first U.S. woman doctor of medicine (1849).

1811     d. 1872
Horace Greeley, American editor, author, co-founder of the New Yorker (1834), founder of the New York Tribune (1841), and famous for the phrase "Go West, young man."

1809     d. 1847
Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, musician. He wrote Midsummer's Night's Dream overture before he was 17.

1747     d. 1813
Samuel Osgood, American politician, member of the Continental Congress (1781-84), first commissioner of the U.S. treasury (1785-89), and U.S. postmaster general (1789-91).

2006     b. 1910
Al Lewis, American actor. TV: Car 54, Where Are You? (Leo) and The Munsters (Grandpa).

2000     b. 1920
Pierre Plantard, French "historian." His claims about the Priory of Sion were the basis of such books as Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982) and The Da Vinci Code (2003). He also claimed he was descended from King Dagobert II, and therefore was a Merovingian claimant to the throne of France.

1991     b. 1921
Nancy Kulp, American actress. TV: The Beverly Hillbillies (Jane Hathaway).

1989     b. 1929
John Cassavetes, American actor. He wrote and directed Faces (1968) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).

1959     b. 1941
Ritchie Valens (Richard Valenzuela), American singer. Music: Donna (1958, #2) and La Bamba (1959). He died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly.

1959     b. 1936
Buddy Holly (Charles Harden Holley), American rock 'n' roll pioneer. He died in a plane crash with the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens (The Day the Music Died).

1959     b. 1930
Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), American singer. Music: Chantilly Lace (1958) and Little Red Riding Hood (1958). He died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly.

1925     b. 1850
Oliver Heaviside, English physicist, made long-distance telephone operation practical, predicted the increase in mass of an electric charge moving at high velocity, and predicted the existence of the ionosphere.

1924     b. 1856
Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. President (1913-21). He suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1919 while still in office. Some claim that it was his wife who actually ran the government for the remainder of his term.

1889     b. 1848
Belle Starr (Myra Belle Shirley), American outlaw, horse thief, "The Bandit Queen." Her 18-year-old son, Eddie Reed, is believed by some historians to be the one who killed her while she was riding in Montana.

1468     b. circa 1398
Johann Gutenberg, German inventor. He and Lauren Janszoon Koster invented printing with movable type.

929     b. ????
Leo VI, Italian religious leader, 123rd Pope (May - Dec. 928). It is said he was put to death by Marozia.

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