Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

October 11

2001
President Bush on War: We learned some very important lessons in Vietnam. Perhaps the most important lesson that I learned is that you cannot fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces.

1984
First U.S. woman to walk in space: Dr. Kathryn Sullivan aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

1983
Just say no: Nancy Reagan introduces her anti-drug philosophy.

1978
Sex Pistols: Sid Vicious' girlfriend "nauseating Nancy" Spungen is stabbed to death at her and Sid's New York hotel room. Sid died of a heroin overdose before he could be tried.

1968
Apollo 7 launched, provided first live TV transmissions from space.

1950
Color TV: CBS is issued a license by the FCC to begin color TV broadcasting.

1919
First airline in-flight meal: A cold boxed lunch is offered on Handley Page Transport flights.

1868
Edison applies for his first patent, for an electrical vote recorder.

1950
Andrew Woolfolk, American reeds player, with Earth, Wind & Fire. Music: Shining Star (1975, #1, Grammy), Best of My Love (1977, #1), and After the Love has Gone (1979, #2, Grammy).

1948
Daryl Hall (Daryl Hohl), American singer with Hall & Oates.

1928     d. 1993
Roscoe Robinson Jr., American brigadier general, first black U.S. four-star general.

1914     d. 1970
Mickey Daniels (Richard Daniels, Jr.), American actor, appeared in 49 of the Our Gang films.

1910     d. 1989
Joseph W. Alsop, American syndicated political columnist, co-wrote the columns Capitol Parade (1937-40) and Matter of Fact (1945-58).

1900     d. 1964
Eddie Dyer, American baseball player, manager. He was the first rookie manager to win the World Series (1946, St. Louis Cardinals).

1884     d. 1949
Friedrich Bergius, German Nobel-winning chemist. He invented the process of extracting oil from coal and discovered a process for converting wood into sugar.

1884     d. 1962
Eleanor Roosevelt, Pres. F.D. Roosevelt's wife.

1844     d. 1919
Henry John Heinz, American food manufacturer, founder of H.J. Heinz Co. (1888).

1821     d. 1905
Sir George Williams, English merchant, founded the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA, 1844).

1758     d. 1840
Wilhelm Olbers, German astronomer, discovered two asteroids, several comets, a method of determining their orbits, and Olbers' Paradox: "If the stars are distributed evenly through infinite space, why is the night sky dark?"

1991     b. 1922
Redd Foxx (John Elroy Sanford), American actor. TV: Sanford & Son (Fred Sanford). He was the only entertainer to attend Elvis Presley's wedding (1967).

1985     b. 1917
Tex Williams (Sol Williams), American country singer. Music: Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) (1947, #1), which was Capitol Records' first million-seller.

1961     b. 1891
Chico Marx (Leonard Marx), American comedian, piano-playing Marx Brother.

1953     b. 1876
James Earle Fraser, American sculptor. He designed the U.S. Buffalo nickel.

1918     b. 1836
Archibald M. Willard, American artist. He is best known for his painting The Spirit of '76, which is exhibited in Abbott Hall in Massachusetts.

1889     b. 1818
James Prescott Joule, English physicist, for whom Joule's Law is named.

1809     b. 1774
Meriwether Lewis, American soldier, explorer, governor of Louisiana territory. With Clark he explored the American West (1804-06) establishing a route to the Pacific.

1779     b. 1747
Casimir Pulaski, Polish general and American Revolutionary War hero.

1347     b. circa 1287
Louis IV, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1314-47).

1303     b. circa 1228
Boniface VIII, 193rd Pope (1294-1303), did not believe in the immortality of the soul.

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