Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

September 16

1987
Ozone protection: 24 countries sign an agreement in Montreal to reduce the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The gases, which are used in aerosols and refrigerants, are blamed for creating a hole in the Earth's ozone layer.

1984
Miami Vice debuts on NBC.

1983
Webster debuts on ABC.

1976
Episcopal Church: The Church officially approves the ordination of women, thus allowing the recognition of 15 women previously ordained in Philadelphia and Washington.

1972
The Bob Newhart Show debuts on CBS.

1953
First CinemaScope feature: 20th Century-Fox releases The Robe using its new wide-screen stereophonic film process.

1919
The American Legion: This patriotic organization is incorporated by an act of Congress.

1915
Haiti: Treaty signed with Haiti making it a protectorate of the U.S. for 10 years.

1908
General Motors: The automobile company is incorporated. It was formed by the merger of Buick and Oldsmobile.

1893
World's largest scramble for free land: More than 100,000 homesteaders descend on the 7,000,000-acre 226-mile wide Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma to stake their claim on land that had originally been set aside for the Cherokee Indians.

1782
Great Seal: The seal bearing a spread eagle with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one) is first used. It was used on an authorization for George Washington to negotiate a prisoner-of-war agreement with the British.

1692
Salem Witch Trials: An 80-year-old man is pressed to death for refusing to plead guilty to witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

1620
The Mayflower: The ship sets sail from Plymouth, England with 102 Pilgrims.

1956
David Copperfield, American magician.  He made both a Lear Jet (1981) and the Statue of Liberty (1983) disappear on TV.

1950
David Bellamy, American singer, with the Bellamy Brothers. Music: Let Your Love Flow (1976, #1), If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me? (1979, #1), and Kids of the Baby Boom (1987, #1).

1949
Ed Begley Jr., American actor. TV: St. Elsewhere (Dr. Victor Ehrlich).

1948
Kenny Jones, British drummer. With Small Faces (1965-78), then joined The Who (1979) after the death of Keith Moon.

1930
Anne Francis, American actress. TV: Rip Tide (charter boat operator Mama Jo). She started as a child star of radio soap operas.

1927
Peter Falk, American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Columbo (title role).

1926
Tommy Bond, American actor. Film: The Little Rascals (Butch). He appeared in 27 Our Gang films.

1926
Robert H. Schuller, American televangelist, founder of the Crystal Cathedral and host of TV's Hour of Power.

1925
B.B. King (Riley B. King), American Grammy-winning blues singer. He was the first blues singer to tour the USSR (1979). Music: Three O'Clock Blues (1951, #1).

1924
Lauren Bacall (Betty Joan Perske), American Tony-winning actress. Film: To Have and Have Not (1944), Key Largo (1948), and Applause (1970, Tony).

1919     d. 1990
Laurence Johnston Peter, Canadian author, creator of the Peter Principle - "In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."

1914     d. 1999
Allen Funt, American TV personality, creator and host of Candid Camera.

1875     d. 1971
J.C. Penney (James Cash Penny), American businessman, founded the J.C. Penney department store chain (1902).

1387     d. 1422
Henry V, King of England (1413-22). Although greatly outnumbered (13,000 to 50,000), he defeated the French at Agincourt (1415).

2005     b. 1920
Gordon Gould, American Physicist. He is credited with inventing the laser (1957) and he also coined the term "laser" (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).

1977     b. 1947
Marc Bolan (Mark Feld), English musician, lead singer for T-Rex. Music: Bang a Gong (1971, #1 Britain) and Jeepster (1971, #2 Britain). He died in a car accident.

1911     b. 1840
Edward Whymper, British explorer, first person to climb the Matterhorn (1865). Four of his seven member team died during the descent.

1903     b. 1840
Luther Childs Crowell, American inventor of the square bottomed paper grocery bag (1872).

1824     b. 1755
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier), King of France (1814-24).

1736     b. 1686
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, German physicist. He created the mercury thermometer (1714) and devised the Fahrenheit temperature scale (1714).

1672     b. circa 1612
Anne Dudley Bradstreet, American poet, the first published poet of New England (1650).

1498     b. 1420
Tomás de Torquemada, Dominican prior. He organized the Spanish Inquisition for which he became famous for the severity in which he administered the office. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1087     b. circa 1026
Victor III, Italian religious leader, 158th Pope (1086-87).

655     b. ????
Saint Martin I, Italian religious leader, 74th Pope (649-655). He was deposed in 653 by Emperor Constans II for condemning the Monothelite heretics at the Lateran Synod of 649.

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