Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

July 9

1993
Russian Revolution: British DNA tests confirm that the bodies dug up in 1991 are of Czar Nicholas II, his wife, and three of his five children. They were killed in 1918 during the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. The bodies of his two other children, Alexi and Anastasia have never been found.

1965
First black woman U.S. ambassador: Patricia Roberts Harris is sworn in as ambassador to Luxembourg.

1958
Landslide causes a 100 mph, 1,720 ft. high wave, Lituya Bay, Alaska.

1957
Nobelium: The discovery is announced. It is element 102 and has an atomic weight of 253.

1947
First woman regular U.S. Army officer: Florence Aby Blanchfield is appointed lieutenant colonel.

1922
First person to swim 100 meters in less than a minute: Future Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller in 58.6 seconds.

1918
Collision of two trains, near Nashville, Tenn., killing 101 people.

1893
First successful heart surgery: Daniel Hale Williams sutures the heart of a stabbing victim at a Chicago hospital.

1877
First Wimbledon men's singles title is won, by Spencer W. Gore.

1868
14th Amendment ratified: Defined U.S. citizenship and granted it to those born or naturalized in the U.S. It also stated that the rights of a citizen could not be removed without due process of the Law.

1793
Slavery: Upper Canada passes the Act Against Slavery prohibiting slavery.

1776
Declaration of Independence: New York votes to accept it, making it unanimous for all 13 colonies.

1976
Fred Savage, American actor. TV: The Wonder Years (for which he was youngest person nominated for an Emmy for outstanding leading performer). Film: Austin Powers in Goldmember (2003, Number Three).

1964
Courtney Love (Courtney Michelle Harrison), American rock musician, widow of Kurt Cobain.

1957
Kelly McGillis, American actress. Film: Witness (1985) and Top Gun (1986).

1956
Tom Hanks, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Big (1988) and Philadelphia (1993, Oscar). TV: Bosom Buddies (cross-dresser Kip Wilson/Buffy).

1955
Jimmy Smits, American actor. TV: L.A. Law (Victor Sifuentes) and NYPD Blue (Det. Bobby Simone).

1952
John Tesh, American entertainer, Emmy-winning composer. TV: Entertainment Tonight (host). Theme Music: Pan American Games (Emmy) and World Track and Field Championships (Emmy).

1947
O.J. Simpson (Orenthal James Simpson), American football Hall of Fame running back, sportscaster, actor. He was head of the San Francisco street gang "Gladiators" when he was 13. In 1994, he was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife and her 25-year-old male friend.

1945
Dean Koontz, American author.

1942
Richard Roundtree, American actor. Film: Shaft (1971, title role), and Earthquake (1974, Miles Quade). TV: Shaft (title role).

1936
James Hampton, American actor. TV: F Troop (trooper Dobbs).

1933
Dr. Oliver Sacks, English physician, author. His book Awakenings, describing his work in the 1960s with sleeping sickness patients, was made into the 1990 movie. Writings: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

1932
Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense (1975-77, 2001-). He holds the distinction of being both the youngest and oldest Secretary of Defense in U.S. history.

1927
Ed Ames, American singer, with the Ames Brothers. Music: Rag Mop (1950, #1).

1916     d. 2005
Sir Edward Heath, British prime minister (1970-74). An avid yachtsman, he captained Britain's winning team for the Admiral's Cup in 1971.

1911
John Archibald Wheeler, American theoretical physicist. He coined the term "Black Hole" (1967) to describe a collapsed star. Quote: "If you haven't found something strange during the day it hasn't been much of a day."

1901     d. 2000
Dame Barbara Cartland, British romance novelist. Her more than 600 books - sometimes written at a rate of one every two weeks - have sold over 600 million copies.

1894     d. 1970
Percy Spencer, American scientist, invented the microwave oven (1946). While working for the Raytheon company, he stopped for a minute in front of a magnetron, a vacuum tube that generates high-frequency radio waves, and noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket was melting. An orphan at age eight who never graduated from grammar school, he became Senior Vice President at Raytheon and received 150 patents.

1819     d. 1867
Elias Howe, American inventor. He patented the first practical sewing machine (1846).

1802     d. 1851
Thomas Davenport, American inventor. He built the first practical electric motor (1837).

2006     b. 1917
June Allyson (Ella Geisman), American actress, typically portraying "the girl next door." Film: Best Foot Forward (1943), Two Girls and a Sailor, and The Glenn Miller Story.

2002     b. 1925
Rod Steiger, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: In the Heat of the Night (1967, Oscar) and The Amityville Horror (1979).

1992     b. 1912
Eric Sevareid, American Emmy-winning broadcast journalist for CBS.

1974     b. 1891
Earl Warren, American Chief Justice of the United States. "It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of one of those liberties which make the defense of our nation worthwhile."

1932     b. 1855
King Camp Gillette, American manufacturer, inventor of the safety razor (1895).

1850     b. 1784
Zachary Taylor, 12th U.S. President (1849-50), and father-in-law of Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis. He died in office making Vice-Pres. Millard Fillmore president.

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

1440     b. circa 1386
Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter, The Adoration of the Lamb (altarpiece at Ghent Cathedral) and the Arnolfini Marriage Portrait.

Please send Corrections and Omissions to epicidiot.com