Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

August 22

1911
Mona Lisa stolen: Leonard da Vinci's famous painting is stolen from the Louvre in Paris. It was recovered unharmed two years later.

1902
First U.S. president to ride in an automobile: Pres. Teddy Roosevelt tours Hartford, Connecticut in a Columbia Electric Victoria.

1865
Liquid soap: William Sheppard of New York is granted the first patent for making liquid soap.

1851
First America's Cup Yacht race: The America defeats 14 British entries. The U.S. would remain undefeated in this event until 1983.

1826
First white man to cross the Mohave Desert: American explorer Jedediah Smith and his crew set out from the Great Salt Lake, Utah. They arrived in San Diego the following November.

1787
First manned American steamboat: John Fitch rides his craft down the Delaware River at a speed of 3 mph.

1762
First American woman newspaper editor: Ann Franklin - Ben Franklin's sister-in-law - takes over the Newport Rhode Island Mercury after the death of her son, who had started the paper four years earlier.

1670
First American Indian Christian preacher: Hiacoomes is ordained by John Eliot and John Cotton. He held services in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

1654
First Jew to settle in North America: Jacob Barsimson arrives at New Netherlands.

1947
Cindy Williams, American actress. Film: American Graffiti (1973). TV: Laverne & Shirley (Shirley Feeney).

1945
Ron Dante (Carmine Granito), American singer, lead singer for The Archies. Music: Sugar Sugar (1969, #1) and Jingle Jangle (1970).

1942
Kathy Lennon, American singer, one of the Lennon Sisters.

1940
Valerie Harper, American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Rhoda Morganstern) and Rhoda.

1932
Gerald Paul Carr, American astronaut, commander of the third manned Skylab mission (1973).

1926
Honor Blackman, English actress. Film: Goldfinger (1964, Pussy Galore).

1920
Ray Bradbury, American science-fiction author. Writings: The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953).

1917
John Lee Hooker, American blues singer, one of the most successful blues musicians of the 1960s.

1908
Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer, one of the greatest photographers of all time.

1893     d. 1967
Dorothy Parker, American author, humorist. She is the author of the couplet "Men seldom make passes - at girls who wear glasses."

1891     d. 1973
Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-born American sculptor, one of greatest sculptures of the 20th century, known for his bronze statues of humans and animals.

1880     d. 1944
George Herriman, American cartoonist, creator of Krazy Kat (1910).

1862     d. 1918
Claude Debussy, French musician, composer, known for his impressionist "tone poems."

1848     d. 1929
Melville Elijah Stone, American newspaper publisher. He is credited with introducing the odd-pricing strategy. He encouraged his advertisers to subtract a penny from the price - for example, making a $3 item $2.99.

1836     d. 1918
Archibald M. Willard, American artist. He is best known for his painting The Spirit of '76, which is exhibited in Abbott Hall in Massachusetts.

1834     d. 1906
Samuel Pierpont Langley, American aviation pioneer, built the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine (1896) and for whom Langley Air Force Base in Virginia is named.

1778     d. 1860
James Kirke Paulding, American author, poet. He wrote Koningsmarke, the Long Finne (1823) in which the tongue-twister "Peter Piper pick'd a peck of pickled peppers" first appeared.

1760     d. 1829
Leo XII, Italian religious leader, 252nd Pope (1823-29).

1989     b. 1942
Huey Percy Newton, American political leader, co-founder of the Black Panthers (1966). His 1967 conviction for killing a police officer was overturned after a nationwide "Free Huey" campaign.

1980     b. 1899
James Smith McDonnell Jr., American aircraft manufacturer, founded McDonnell Aircraft Co. (1939), which merged with Douglas Aircraft Co. (1967), and sold the U.S. Navy the first carrier-based jet fighter (1946, FH-1 Phantom).

1978     b. circa 1894
Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman, first president of Kenya (1964-78). He played an African chief in the British film Sanders of the River (1934).

1967     b. 1903
Gregory Goodwin Pincus, American endocrinologist whose work led to the development of the first effective oral contraceptive (the pill). He was the first to achieve in-vitro fertilization of rabbits (1934), which paved the way for "test-tube babies."

1940     b. 1851
Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, English physicist, spiritualist, pioneer in wireless telegraphy.

1485     b. 1452
Richard III, King of England (1483-85). He was killed in battle with Henry Tudor after being deserted by his key nobleman.

1280     b. circa 1216
Nicholas III, Italian religious leader, 188th Pope (1277-80).

1241     b. circa 1145
Gregory IX, Italian religious leader, 178th Pope (1227-41). Started the Inquisition in 1229 as a means of preventing and punishing heresy against the Roman Catholic Church.

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