Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

September 15

2005
President Bush: Veteran's Administration (VA) nurse Laura Berg's letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration is published in an Albuquerque newspaper.  She was subsequently accused of sedition by the VA and her computer seized in response to the letter.

2002
Iraq War: Pres. Bush's economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsay, estimates the cost of the Gulf War to be $100-200 billion. This figure was criticized by Donald Rumsfeld, who agreed with estimates of under $50 billion.

1982
First issue of USA Today. They were sold from TV shaped vending machines.

1980
Shogun miniseries, starring Richard Chamberlain, begins airing on NBC.

1972
Watergate: The five Watergate burglars, G. Gordon Liddy, and Howard Hunt, Jr. are indicted on federal charges.

1971
Columbo debuts on NBC.

1965
First black major-league baseball umpire: Emmett Littleton Ashford is hired by the American League. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1965
The Big Valley debuts on ABC.

1965
Lost in Space debuts on CBS with the episode The Reluctant Stowaway.

1959
Soviet Premier Khrushchev arrives in the U.S. for an unprecedented visit.

1949
The Lone Ranger debuts on ABC, starring Clayton Moore.

1857
Mormon leader Brigham Young forbids U.S. troops from entering the Utah Territory. The president had sent them to establish a new governor.

1853
First woman minister in the U.S., Antoinette Brown Blackwell is ordained at the Congregational Church in New York.

1853
First national librarian's convention is held in New York City.

1946
Oliver Stone, American film director, screenwriter, Midnight Express (1978, Oscar) and Platoon (1987, Oscar).

1940
Merlin Olsen, American football player, actor. TV: Little House on the Prairie (Jonathan Garvey) and Father Murphy.

1922
Jackie Cooper (John Cooperman Jr.), American actor, Emmy-winning director, called "America's Boy".  He appeared in 15 Our Gang films. Film: The Champ (1931), Sooky (1931), Superman (1978, Superman's boss).

1913     d. 1988
John Newton Mitchell, U.S. attorney general (1968-72), convicted in the Watergate scandal (1975).

1907     d. 1980
Jack Bailey, American game-show host. TV: Truth or Consequences, and Queen for a Day.

1903     d. 1992
Roy Claxton Acuff, American country singer, called the King of country.  Songs: Wabash Cannonball and The Great Speckled Bird. He was the first living artist to be elected (1962) the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1890     d. 1976
Dame Agatha Christie, English mystery author, creator of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Her literary career began when her sister challenged her to write a mystery in which the identity of the culprit couldn't be guessed.

1876     d. 1957
Frank Ernest Gannett, American publisher. He built a media network of 21 newspapers and 7 radio and TV stations.

1857     d. 1930
William Howard Taft, 27th U.S. President (1909-13), and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-30). He was the first president to throw out the opening ball of baseball season (1910).

1850     d. 1898
Mary Downing Barnes, American educator, the first woman faculty member of Stanford University (1891).

1789     d. 1851
James Fenimore Cooper, first major American novelist, The Last of the Mohicans (1826).

1787     d. 1875
Guillaume Henry Dufour, engineer. He and Robert Marc Séguin designed and built the first permanent wire-cable suspension bridge (1823).

1994     b. 1916
Mark Stevens (Richard Stevens), American actor. TV: Martin Kane, Private Eye (title role) and Big Town (Steve Wilson).

1991     b. 1905
John Hoyt, American actor. TV: Gimme a Break! (Grandpa Kaminsky).

1989     b. 1905
Robert Penn Warren, American author, first U.S. poet laureate, and the only person to win the Pulitzer for both fiction (All the King's Men, 1946) and poetry (Promises, 1958).

1943     b. 1876
John Schrank, Bavarian-born New York saloon keeper. He shot Pres. Roosevelt (1912, Milwaukee). He claimed William McKinley's ghost told him to shoot Roosevelt as a warning to those who'd run for three terms as President.

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