Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

August 11

1993
Nazi's son nominated to nation's top military post: Pres. Clinton nominates Army general John Shalikashvili to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His father, Dimitri Shalikashvili, had been an officer in an elite Nazi military unit during World War II.

1989
Dan Quayle: "Mars is essentially in the same orbit. Mars is somewhat the same distance from the sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen, that means we can breathe."

1984
Pres. Reagan jokingly announces "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

1978
First transatlantic balloon crossing: Three Americans take off from Maine. They arrived in France six days later.

1966
The Beatles: John Lennon apologizes for earlier statements claiming the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and that Christianity would vanish.

1965
Watts Riots: Six day of rioting begins in Los Angeles after the arrest of Marquette Frye. 34 people were killed with $200,000,000 in damage.

1960
First object successfully recovered from orbit: A 350-pound payload is ejected and recovered from the U.S. Earth satellite Discoverer XIII.

1892
Lizzie Borden is arrested for the murder of her parents, who were axed to death a week earlier. She was tried and acquitted of the crime.

1877
First discovery of a Mars' moon, by Asaph Hall.

1955
Joe Jackson, British singer. Music: Steppin' Out (1982).

1953
Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), American wrestler. He played Thunderlips in Rocky III (1982).

1933
Jerry Falwell, American evangelist.

1925     d. 2006
Mike Douglas (Michael Dowd, Jr.), American Emmy-winning TV host, singer. Film: Cinderella (1950, singing voice of  Prince Charming). TV: The Mike Douglas Show (1961-81). One of his guests was two-year-old Tiger Woods who showed off his golf swing.

1925
Carl Thomas Rowan, American columnist, "strict gun control" advocate. In 1988 he was arrested for shooting a trespasser with an illegal hand gun.

1921     d. 1992
Alex Haley, American Pulitzer-winning author. Writings: Roots (Pulitzer. It had the largest printing for a hard-cover book in U.S. history). In 1978, Haley admitted that he copied large passages of Roots from The African by Harold Courlander and settled out-of-court for $650,000.

1917     d. 1989
Dik Browne, cartoonist, created Hagar the Horrible (1973).

1862     d. 1946
Carrie Jacobs Bond, American composer. Music: I Love You Truly and A Perfect Day.

1807     d. 1886
David Rice Atchison, American politician, on March 4, 1849 he became president of the U.S. until president-elect Zachary Taylor took the oath of office the following day.

1778     d. 1852
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German patriot, father of gymnastics. His teaching of gymnastics (1809) to young Berlin boys quickly spread to other cities. His was arrested in 1819 and imprisoned for six years by government leaders fearing his movement was a political plot.

2006     b. 1925
Mike Douglas (Michael Dowd, Jr.), American Emmy-winning TV host, singer. Film: Cinderella (1950, singing voice of  Prince Charming). TV: The Mike Douglas Show (1961-81). One of his guests was two-year-old Tiger Woods who showed off his golf swing.

1994     b. 1913
Peter Cushing, English-born American actor. Film: Star Wars (Grand Moff Tarkin) and numerous portrayals of Baron Frankenstein and Dracula.

1987     b. circa 1901
Clara Peller, American TV personality, the "Where's the beef?" lady for the Wendy's commercials.

1919     b. 1835
Andrew Carnegie, American steel-magnate, philanthropist.

1868     b. 1792
Thaddeus Stevens, American political leader. He introduced the 14th Amendment and the Reconstruction Act of Feb. 6, 1867.

Please send Corrections and Omissions to epicidiot.com