Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

September 10

1989
Hungary lifts restrictions on its border to the West: East Germans flooded through Hungary seeking the freedoms of the West.

1980
Marijuana: The U.S. approves the use of drug marijuana for medical purposes such as to ease nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients.

1955
Gunsmoke debuts on CBS-TV. John Wayne had turned down the role of marshall Matt Dillon.

1939
World War II: Canada declares war on Germany.

1913
First coast-to-coast paved U.S. highway: The Lincoln Highway opens.

1897
First drunk driving offense: London taxi-driver George Smith is arrested and convicted the same day. He had driven his electric cab onto the pavement after having "a few" beers.

1875
American Forestry Association is established, in Chicago.

1846
Elias Howe receives a patent for his sewing machine.

1813
War of 1812 - Battle of Lake Erie: Oliver Hazard Perry defeats the British and makes his famous quote "We have met the enemy and they are ours."

1958
Dan Castellanetta, Italian-American actor. TV: The Simpsons (voice of Homer, Grampa, Barney, Krusty, and others).

1953
Amy Irving, American actress, ex-wife of Steven Spielberg. Film: Yentl (1983)

1945
Jose Feliciano, Grammy-winning singer, born blind. He created and performed the theme song for TV's Chico and the Man (1974).

1939
Greg Mullavey, American actor. TV: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Mary's husband Tom).

1934     d. 1985
Roger Eugene Maris, American baseball legend, American League MVP (1960-61). He broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record by hitting 61 (1961).

1934
Charles Kuralt, American Emmy-winning TV journalist.

1929
Arnold Palmer, American golfer. He was the first golfer to win $1,000,000 in career earnings.

1928
Yma Sumac, Peruvian-born singer, Voice of the Xtabay (1950, #1).

1914
Robert Wise, American director. Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), West Side Story (1961), and The Sound of Music (1965).

1907
Fay Wray, Canadian actress, King Kong's main squeeze (1933).

1890     d. 1973
Elsa Schiaparelli, Italian-born French fashion designer. She was the first major designer to include zippers in their creations (1931) and was the inventor of "shocking pink."

1839     d. 1912
Isaac Kauffman Funk, American publisher, co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company (1891), which first published its famous dictionary in 1912.

1736     d. 1797
Carter Braxton, American statesman, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

1983     b. 1941
Jon Brower Minnoch, American heavyweight, world's heaviest human weighing in at 1,387 pounds. (source: Guinness Book of World Records)

1935     b. 1893
Huey Pierce Long, Louisiana governor (1928-31), U.S. Senator (1931-35), who ran for the presidency under his "share the wealth" plan. He was assassinated by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss Jr.

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