Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

September 1

2005
Hurricane Katrina: FEMA director, Michael Brown states that he was unaware of people trapped in the New Orleans Convention Center. Apparently he didn't have access to a TV set. The following day Pres. Bush would commend him on his performance,  "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

1992
Office of Public Health in Jonesboro, Louisiana is closed due to rats.

1992
Bobby Fischer spits on a Treasury Department letter informing him that his planned Yugoslavian chess match with Boris Spassky would be in violation of U.S. law.

1985
The Titanic: The remains of the four-story "unsinkable" ship are located by ocean researchers. She sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic during her maiden voyage.

1983
A Soviet fighter shoots down a South Korean airliner after it strayed off course, killing all 269 aboard.

1979
Pioneer 2 flies past Saturn discovering an eleventh moon and two new rings.

1972
Mark Spitz wins the fourth and fifth of his seven 1972 Olympic gold medals.

1972
First American to win the world chess championship: Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky of the USSR. He was the first American to compete in the tournament.

1969
The Libyan Arab Republic is proclaimed, after Muammar el-Qaddafi led a successful revolution against King Idris.

1968
Clown College: The first U.S. school committed exclusively to training circus clowns is established in Venice, Florida by Irvin Feld of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

1946
First U.S. Women's Open golf championship: It was won by Patty Berg.

1939
World War II: Germany invades Poland, starting the war.

1923
Earthquake destroys Tokyo and Yokohama, killing 140,000 people.

1897
First U.S. municipal subway: Boston's Tremont Street Subway opens to traffic. Construction had begun in 1895.

1878
First woman telephone operator: Emma M. Nutt of Boston is hired.

1872
America's First trained nurse: Linda Ann Judson Richards begins her education at the Training School of the New England Hospital for Women and Children. She graduated September 1, 1873.

1859
First Pullman sleeping car: George Mortimer Pullman introduces his sleeper on a train ride from Bloomington Illinois to Chicago.

1854
First railroad bridge across the Mississippi River: The cornerstone is laid for a bridge between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa.

1836
First white women to cross the American continent: Narcissa Prentiss Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding, accompanied by their husbands, reach their destination - Fort Walla Walla, Washington.

1807
First arrest of a U.S. Vice-President: Former Vice-Pres. Aaron Burr is acquitted of treason against the U.S. He had organized an armed militia of about 60 men; the exact purpose of which has never been determined.

1804
Third discovery of an asteroid: Juno is discovered by K.L. Harding.

1651
Robinson Crusoe: The fictional character embarks on his first sea voyage, from Hull to London.

1957
Gloria Estefan (Gloria Fajardo), Cuban-born singer, with The Miami Sound Machine. Music: Anything For You (1988, #1) and Coming Out Of The Dark (1991, #1).

1946
Barry Gibb, British singer, with the Bee Gees. Music: Stayin' Alive (1977) and Night Fever (1977, #1).

1939
Lily Tomlin (Mary Jean Tomlin), American actress, comedian. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (the telephone operator and 5-year-old Edith Ann - and that's the truth, pthhhhh).

1933     d. 1993
Conway Twitty (Harold Lloyd Jenkins), American Grammy-winning country singer. Music: After The Fire is Gone (1971, Grammy). In 1982 he opened Twitty City, a nine-acre tourist attraction outside of Nashville.

1923     d. 1969
Rocky Marciano (Rocco Francis Marchegiano), American boxer, undefeated (49-0) world heavyweight champion (1952-56).

1922
Yvonne DeCarlo (Peggy Yvonne Middleton), Canadian-born actress. TV: The Munsters (Lily Munster).

1912
Chuck Jones (Charles M. Jones), American animator, helped create Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzalez, Road Runner, Porky Pig, and Tweetie Pie.

1900     d. 1976
Richard Arlen (Richard Cornelius van Mattimore), American actor. Film: Star of the first Oscar-winning film (Wings, 1927).

1898     d. 1963
James Hatlo, American cartoonist, creator of They'll Do It Every Time (1929) and Little Iodine (1943).

1875     d. 1950
Edgar Rice Burroughs, American novelist, creator of Tarzan (1914).

1866     d. 1933
James "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, American boxer, world heavyweight boxing champ (1892, the first to win under the Marquis of Queensberry rules). He is considered to be the first scientific boxer.

1854     d. 1921
Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer. Opera: Hänsel and Gretel (1893).

1850     d. 1919
Jim O'Rourke, American baseball player, made the first hit of the first National League game (1876), for Boston.

1849     d. 1927
Elizabeth Harrison, American educator, leader in the U.S. kindergarten movement. She was one of the founders of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.

1826     d. 1896
Alfred Ely Beach, American inventor, publisher of Scientific American (1846 et seq.). He built New York City's first underground transit system (1870, A 10-passenger car that was pushed and pulled through a tunnel by a giant fan).

1795     d. 1872
James Gordon Bennett, Scottish-born American publisher. Founder of The New York Herald (1835).

2003     b. 1918
Rand Brooks, American actor. TV: The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (Corporal Boone). Film: Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick Lucky Jenkins in 12 movies.

1977     b. 1896
Ethel Waters, American actress, singer, first black actress nominated for an Emmy (1961, for an episode of Route 66) and the first black star of a TV dramatic series (1950-53, Beulah). She was the second colored actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. Harold Arlen composed the song Stormy Weather for her.

1948     b. 1874
Charles Austin Beard, American historian, known for his economic interpretation of history, co-author with his wife of The Rise of American Civilization (1927).

1838     b. 1770
William Clark, American soldier, explorer, governor of the Missouri Territory. With Lewis he explored the American West (1804-06) establishing a route to the Pacific.

1715     b. 1638
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné), King of France (1643-1715), became king at the age of 5. His successor, great-grandson Louis XV, also became king at age 5.

1557     b. 1491
Jacques Cartier, French explorer, discovered the St. Lawrence River (1534) and claimed possession of Canada for France.

1159     b. ????
Adrian IV, English-born religious leader, 169th Pope (1154-59). He was the first English pope.

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