Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

July 26

1956
Italian liner Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm the night before. 52 of the more than 1,600 people aboard are killed. One of its lifeboats was found on a New York beach in 1981.

1945
World War II - Potsdam Declaration: Issued by the U.S. and Great Britain, it called for Japan's unconditional surrender. They didn't accept.

1943
Smog: The first case of "eye-irritating" smog in Los Angeles is reported. Visibility was reduced to less than three blocks.

1938
First televised suicide: John Warde jumps from a New York City building.

1926
First Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. consecrated a Basilica: The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna, New York.

1908
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is created.

1788
New York becomes the 11th state.

1775
Benjamin Franklin: The colonial leader is chosen Postmaster General by the Continental Congress.

1946
Helen Mirren, English actress. TV: Mystery! (Det. Chief Inspector Jane Tennison of "Prime Suspect").

1943
Mick Jagger (Michael Philip Jagger), British singer, with The Rolling Stones.

1940     d. 1969
Mary Jo Kopechne, American teacher, secretary. She drowned when Sen. Edward Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island.

1928
Stanley Kubrick, American director. Film: Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and A Clockwork Orange (1971).

1922
Jason Robards Jr., American Oscar-winning actor. Film: All the President's Men (1976, Oscar) and Julia (1977, Oscar).

1922
Blake Edwards, American film producer, producer of the Pink Panther movies.

1912     d. 1979
Vivian Vance (Vivian Roberta Jones), American Emmy-winning actress. TV: I Love Lucy (Ethel Mertz).

1902     d. 1964
Gracie Allen (Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen), comic, wife and partner of George Burns.

1894     d. 1964
Aldous Huxley, British author. Writings: The Doors of Perception (1954, describing his psychedelic drug experiences and from which the music group The Doors took their name).

1886     d. 1928
George Barr McCutcheon, American author. Novels: Brewster's Millions (1902, It has been the basis for at least six movies).

1885     d. 1967
André Maurois (Émile Herzog), French author. Writings: Ariel: The Life of Shelly (1923), which became the first Penguin Book.

1856     d. 1950
George Bernard Shaw, British dramatist. Writings: Androcles and the Lion (1912) and Pygmalion (1913), which was later produced as My Fair Lady.

1739     d. 1812
George Clinton, American Revolutionary soldier, 4th U.S. Vice-President (1805-12), first governor of New York.

1030     d. 1079
Saint Stanislaus, Bishop of Krakow, and patron saint of Poland.

1995     b. 1907
George Romney, American politician, automotive executive, ex-Governor of Michigan. As chief executive of AMC from 1954-62, he bucked current trends and introduced the compact car (a word he coined).

1993     b. 1895
Matthew Bunker Ridgway, American four-star general, "Father of the 82nd Airborne" and Army chief of staff (1953-55). He created the 82nd Airborne - the Army's first airborne division - during World War II.

1984     b. 1901
George Horace Gallup, American pollster, inventor of the Gallup Poll (1935), which legitimized the use of polls to predict elections.

1980     b. 1920
Allen Clayton Hoskins Jr., American actor, Farina of The Little Rascals. He appeared in 105 Our Gang films - more than any one else in the series.

1974     b. 1889
Gene Byrnes, American cartoonist, creator of Reg'lar Fellers.

1926     b. 1843
Robert Todd Lincoln, eldest son of Pres. Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, US Secretary of War (1881-85). He was present when President Garfield was shot in 1881 and when McKinley was shot in 1901. He also claimed that Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated his father, saved him from serious injury at a railroad station in Jersey City in circa 1863.

1925     b. 1860
William Jennings Bryan, American orator, called the Great Commoner, made his famous "Cross of Gold" speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention, and was one of the prosecuting attorneys at the John Scopes Monkey Trial.

1879     b. ????
Ed Hoyt, killed by Dodge City marshal Wyatt Earp, the only man Earp killed as marshal.

1867     b. 1815
Otto I, King of Greece (1835-62). His unpopular rule caused him to be deposed in the revolution of 1862.

1863     b. 1793
Sam Houston, American soldier, politician, governor of Tennessee (1827-29) and first president of the Republic of Texas (1836).

1471     b. ????
Paul II, Italian religious leader, 211th Pope (1464-71).

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