On This Day July 11

1993
Don't joke about God: A Saudi newspaper editor is arrested for printing a B.C. comic strip in which the cartoon character asks "God, if your up there, give me a sign." He is then rained on and replies "Well, we know two things. He's up there, and He's got a sense of humor." It is against the Muslim religion to even question the existence of God.

1991
Total eclipse of the sun, visible in California.

1979
Skylab: The 82-ton U.S. space station - launched in 1973 - crashes to earth. About 22 tons of it were expected to survive reentry prompting much public concern. It landed safely over the Indian Ocean and Australia.

1962
First person to swim the English Channel under water, Fred Baldasare of the U.S. using scuba gear.

1955
In God We Trust: The phrase becomes required by law to appear on all U.S. currency. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1934
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins operation. Its function is to regulate radio and television.

1910
First U.S. submarine accident: The submarine C4 is rammed by the gunboat Castine (serving as a submarine tender) and beached to prevent sinking. The crew of 15 was unharmed.

1892
Electric Light: The U.S. Patent Office declares that Joseph Wilson Swan of England had invented the carbon filament incandescent lamp, a year before Thomas Edison.

1804
U.S. Vice-Pres. Aaron Burr mortally wounds Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

1656
First Quakers in America: Ann Austin and Mary Fisher arrive in Boston. They were immediately arrested for their Quaker beliefs and sent back to England.

1533
Henry VIII: Pope Clement excommunicates the King of England from the Roman Catholic Church for remarrying after his divorce. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1953
Leon Spinks, American boxer, world heavyweight champion (1978), and 1976 Olympic gold medal winner.

1931
Tab Hunter (Arthur Gelien), American actor. TV: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Mary's father - after plastic surgery).

1923
Dan Barry, cartoonist, drew the Tarzan comic strip starting in 1947 and Flash Gordon starting in 1951.

1915 d. 1941
Colin Purdie Kelly, American soldier, first U.S. air hero of World War II. Died when his B-17 was shot down by the Japanese, for which he was awarded the distinguished Service Cross.

1903 d. 1971
Rudolf Abel (Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher), Soviet spy. He was captured by the FBI (1957) and later exchanged for American U-2 pilot F. Gary Powers (1962). He transported microfilm inside a hollowed-out nickel.

1899 d. 1985
E.B. White (Elwyn Brooks White), American Pulitzer-winning author, essayist, Charlotte's Web (1952).

1892 d. 1962
Thomas Mitchell, American Oscar-Tony-Emmy-winning actor. Broadway: Hazel Flagg (1953, Tony). Film: Stagecoach (1939, Oscar) and Gone With the Wind (1939, Scarlett O'Hara's father).

1838 d. 1922
John Wanamaker, American merchant, U.S. Postmaster General (1889-93). He introduced the use of mailboxes in an effort to make mail delivery more efficient (1891). Until then the mailman would knock on your door and hand deliver the mail.

1767 d. 1848
John Quincy Adams, 6th U.S. President (1825-29), son of the 2nd president John Adams.

1754 d. 1825
Thomas Bowdler, English physician. The term "bowdlerize" - meaning self-righteous censorship - is derived from his rewrites of Shakespeare and parts of the Old Testament in which he removed all text he considered offensive.

2006 b. 1915
Barnard Hughes (Bernard Hughes), American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. TV: Guiding Light (Dr. Bruce Banning) and The Cavanaughs (Pop Cavanaugh).

1989 b. 1907
Sir Laurence Olivier, British Oscar and Emmy-winning actor. He starred in and directed Hamlet (1948) which won five Oscars and was the first British film to win a Best Picture Oscar. He was knighted in 1947.

1983 b. 1915
Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar), American mystery author, creator of the private eye Lew Archer.

1963 b. 1881
Herbert Thomas Kalmus, American film pioneer, inventor of technicolor (1912).

1937 b. 1898
George Gershwin (Jacob Gershvin), American Pulitzer-winning composer. Music: Rhapsody in Blue (1923) and Of Thee I Sing (1931).

1808 b. 1736
William Shippen, Jr., American physician. He was the first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery, and obstetrics in the United States and one of the first to use cadavers in the teaching of anatomy (1762).

1806 b. circa 1719
James Smith, American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

July 11

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