On This Day October 9

1992
First birth-control shot for women is announced by scientists in India. It is effective for a full year.

1992
A 30-pound meteorite strikes a parked car in New York. It penetrated the car leaving a small crater underneath.

1930
First transcontinental flight by a woman: Laura Ingalls, flying a biplane, arrives in Glendale, California. She had departed from Roosevelt Field, New York four days earlier.

1890
First manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight: French inventor Clément Ader, during secret military tests, flies his batwing monoplane 160 feet (50 meters), crashing on landing. However, his craft was not well controlled, leaving controlled flights to later aviators. (source: Myth Information: More Than 590 Popular Misconceptions, Fallacies, and Misbeliefs Explained!)

1888
Washington Monument: The first national monument to honor George Washington is opened to the public.

1865
First U.S. underground oil pipeline: A five-mile stretch of line is completed by Samuel Van Syckel in Pennsylvania.

1776
Mission Delores: The mission is founded. It is the oldest building in San Francisco.

1948
Jackson Browne, American singer. Music: Doctor My Eyes (1972), Running On Empty (1978), and Lawyers In Love (1983).

1944
John Entwistle, British musician, with The Who. Music: My Generation (1965) and Pinball Wizard (1969).

1940 d. 1980
John Lennon, British musician, member of the Beatles. He was shot and killed by Mark Chapman, for whom he had signed an autograph for earlier that day.

1925 d. 1958
Johnny Stompanato, Jr. American murder victim. While fighting with his movie star girlfriend, Lana Turner, Turner's 14-year-old daughter rushed in and fatally stabbed him with a carving knife.

1916
Harold Robert Perry, American clergyman, first black American-born Catholic bishop (1966, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans).

1908
Jacques Tati, French actor, director. Film: Monsieur Hulot's Holiday and Mon Oncle.

1889 d. 1980
Rube Marquard (Richard William Marquard), American baseball Hall of Fame pitcher. He pitched 19 consecutive wins for the New York Giants in 1912 - a modern day major-league record.

1863 d. 1930
Edward William Bok, American Pulitzer-winning author. Books: The Americanization of Edward Bok (1920, Pulitzer). Editor: The Ladies' Home Journal (1889-1919).

1859 d. 1935
Alfred Dreyfus, French army officer of Jewish descent. In 1894, he was of convicted of treason by an anti-Semitic military court. A national scandal erupted in 1897 when evidence surfaced indicating his innocence. He was again convicted, but was pardoned by the French president.

1757 d. 1836
Charles X, King of France (1824-30), his unpopular rule led to a revolution in which he lost the throne.

1991 b. 1931
Joseph "Mr. Google Eyes" August, pioneer rhythm and blues musician.

1972 b. ????
Percy Pearl Washington, American heavyweight, the world's heaviest woman (880 pounds). (source: Guinness Book of World Records)

1967 b. 1885
André Maurois (Émile Herzog), French author. Writings: Ariel: The Life of Shelly (1923), which became the first Penguin Book.

1958 b. 1876
Pius XII (Eugenio Maria Giovanni Pacelli), Italian religious leader, 260th Pope (1939-58), was elected pope on his 63rd birthday. In 1952 he declared TV a threat to family life, and proclaimed (1950) the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

1911 b. 1846
Jack Daniels (Jasper Newton Daniel), American whiskey maker. He died of blood poisoning from a wound incurred while kicking a safe because he had forgotten the combination. (Biography: Blood and Whiskey : The Life and Times of Jack Daniel).

1906 b. 1813
Joseph Farwell Glidden, American farmer. He invented the first practical barbed wire.

October 9

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