On This Day May 11

1992
Obsessed David Letterman fan: Margaret Ray is arrested for the 7th time after trespassing on his property. She had previously been arrested for breaking into his home, sleeping in his bedroom, and stealing his Porsche.

1992
First woman to head an FBI field office: Burdena Pasenelli is selected to head the field office in Anchorage, Alaska.

1930
First U.S. planetarium: The Adler Planetarium and Astronomical Museum of Chicago opens.

1928
First regularly scheduled U.S. TV broadcasts: By GE station WGY of Schenectady, New York.

1862
Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly the Merrimac) is blown up by her commander to prevent capture by Union forces.

1682
Christmas: Massachusetts repeals its law making it illegal to celebrate the holiday. Also repealed was a law requiring capital punishment for Quakers reentering the territory after banishment.

1659
Christmas: Celebration of the holiday is made illegal in Massachusetts. This remained in effect until 1681.

1993
Andrew Gobea, American medical first, first newborn to receive gene therapy. His genes were altered to correct ADA enzyme deficiency - an inherited condition known as "bubble boy" disease.

1946
Robert Jarvik, American surgeon. He performed the first successful implant of a permanent artificial heart (1982) into Dr. Barney Clark.

1927
Mort Sahl, Canadian-born American comedian, specializing in political and social satire.

1920 d. 1997
Denver Pyle, American actor. TV: The Dukes of Hazzard (Uncle Jesse) and The Doris Day Show (1968-70, Buck Webb - Doris Day's Father).

1912 d. 1985
Phil Silvers (Philip Silversmith), American Emmy-winning comic actor. Film: Top Bananna (1954) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966). TV: The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt. Bilko, Emmy).

1912 d. 2001
Foster Brooks, comic, "The Lovable Lush." TV: The drunk on Dean Martin's celebrity roasts. Quote: "I never drew a sober breath from Friday night to Monday. Eight years ago, I quit. Fellow made me a $10 bet I couldn't quit, and I haven't had a drink since. At the time I needed the $10." -Interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1972.

1906 d. 1980
Jacqueline Cochran (Bessie Lee Pittman), American aviator. She was the first civilian awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, the first woman to break the sound barrier (1953), and the first woman to break Mach 2 (1960), the first woman to pilot a bomber across the North Atlantic (1941), the first woman inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame, the first pilot to make an instrument landing, the first woman President of the Federation Aeronautique lnt'l (58-61), and the first pilot to fly above 20,000 feet with an oxygen mask. She was the first woman to compete in the famous Bendix Trophy Transcontinental Race across the U.S. (1934) and was the first woman to win it (1938). The Associated Press named her "Woman of the Year in Business." for her cosmetics business (1953, 1954). (See Biography)

1904 d. 1989
Salvador Dali, Spanish artist, The Persistence of Memory (1931).

1888 d. 1989
Irving Berlin (Israel Bayline), songwriter. Music: God Bless America, and White Christmas. Recordings of White Christmas have sold over 100,000,000 copies.

1752 d. 1840
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German naturalist and physiologist. He originated the science of natural anthropology and proposed the division of humans into the five species: Caucasian, Mongolian, Malay, American, and African/Ethiopian).

1985 b. 1900
Chester Gould, American cartoonist, creator of Dick Tracy (1931).

1981 b. 1945
Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer. Music: I Shot The Sheriff (1972), Roots, Rock, Reggae (1976), and Jamming (1977).

1979 b. 1914
Lester Raymond Flatt, American bluegrass singer, with Earl Scruggs, Foggy Mountain Breakdown (1948), and the themes for The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction.

1973 b. 1919
Lex Barker (Alexander Crichlow Barker), American actor. Film: played Tarzan in five of the movies between 1949 and 1953.

1923 b. 1837
Henry Martyn Robert, American army engineer and author of Robert's Rules of Order (1876).

1814 b. 1731
Robert Treat Paine, American politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

May 11

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