Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day
August 23
Copyright 1989-2007 epicidiot.com1984
Pres. Reagan: The President on liberals: "You know, we could say they spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors." However, his economic policies were built upon deficit spending, pushing the national debt from approximately $900 billion to over $2 trillion. His administration transformed the United States from the world's leading creditor (as late as 1983) to the number-one debtor by 1986.
1977
First successful man-powered flight: Bryan Allen flies Paul MacCready's Gossamer Condor three miles.
1965
The Sound of Music is released, starring Julie Andrews.
1940
World War II: German bombers begin flying night raids on London.
1937
Legless Swimmer: 46-year-old Charles Zimmy (also known as the human fish) takes off from a pier in Albany, NY. He would swim to the125th Street Ferry dock in New York City, a distance of 150 miles, taking six days. His legless body provided enough buoyancy to allow him to float while sleeping. He had lost his legs at the age of nine.
1913
Little Mermaid: The mermaid statue in the harbor of Denmark, Copenhagen is dedicated. This tribute to the 1834 story by Hans Christian Andersen is visited by 500,000 tourists annually.
1859
First hotel passenger elevator: Installation is completed in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York.
1838
First U.S. women's college: Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, South Hadley, Massachusetts, graduates its first class. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)
1833
Slavery Abolition Act: The act is passed abolishing slavery in the British colonies. It went into effect August 1, 1834. However, slaves had to continue to work without pay for four years to receive full emancipation.
1784
The State of Franklin: East Tennessee declares itself an independent state, choosing the name Franklin in honor of Benjamin Franklin. It ceased to exist in 1788.
1970 d. 1993
River Phoenix, American actor. Film: Stand By Me (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and My Own Private Idaho (1991).
1949
Stephanie Beacham, British actress, Sable Colby of The Colbys.
1949
Shelly Long, American Emmy-winning actress. TV: Cheers (Dianne).
1949
Rick Springfield, Australian singer, actor. Music: Jessie's Girl (1981, #1). TV: General Hospital (Dr. Noah Drake).
1947 d. 1978
Keith Moon, British singer, with The Who. Music: My Generation (1965) and Pinball Wizard (1969).
1940
Richard Sanders, American actor. TV: WKRP in Cincinnati (Less Nessman).
1934
Barbara Eden, American actress. TV: I Dream of Jeannie (Jeannie).
1932
Mark Russell (Mark Ruslander), American political satirist, piano player. Quote: "You've got the brain-washed, that's the Republicans, and the brain-dead, that's the Democrats!"
1929
Vera Miles (Vera Ralston), American actress, Miss Kansas (1948). Film: The Searchers (1956), Psycho (1960, shower scene victim's sister), and The Wrong Man (1957).
1922 |
1917 d. 1985
Tex Williams (Sol Williams), American country singer. Music: Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) (1947, #1), which was Capitol Records' first million-seller.
1912 d. 1996
Gene Kelly, American Emmy-winning actor, dancer. Film: Singin' in the Rain (1952, with his famous dance scene).
1905 d. 1982
Ernie Bushmiller (Ernest Paul Bushmiller), American cartoonist, creator of Nancy and her friend Sluggo.
1785 d. 1819
Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval hero, famous for his quote "We have met the enemy, and they are ours" (1813).
1754 d. 1793
Louis XVI, King of France (1774-92), responsible for square handkerchiefs; as a favor to Marie Antoinette he decreed that all handkerchiefs must have this shape. He was beheaded by French revolutionaries.
1977 b. 1918
Sebastian Cabot, English actor. TV: Family Affair (Mr. French).
1962 b. 1892
Hoot Gibson (Edmund Richard Gibson), American silent-western actor, performing in some 200 silent films and 75 talkies from 1912-59. He also won the title of World's All-Around Champion Cowboy (1912).
1960 b. 1895
Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist, of Rogers and Hammerstein. Music: Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949, 1950 Pulitzer Prize for drama).
1926 b. 1895
Rudolph Valentino (Rudolfo Guglielmi), Italian actor, The Sheik (1921). He was arrested for blackmail in 1916 and again for marrying his second wife before his divorce became final.
1888 b. 1810
Philip Henry Gosse, English naturalist. He coined the word "Aquarium."
1819 b. 1785
Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval hero, famous for his quote "We have met the enemy, and they are ours" (1813).
1806 b. 1736
Charles Augustin Coulomb, French physicist, and for whom the coulomb (a measure of electrical charge) is named.
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