Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

November 13

1989
The most violent quasar outburst ever observed, in two minutes its energy output increased by an amount equal to the total energy released by the Sun in 340,000 years.

1986
Iran-Contra Affair: Pres. Reagan confirms that arms had been shipped to Iran. He defended his administration's actions by claiming that less than a planeload had been shipped.

1974
Amityville Horror: 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo murders his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. George and Kathleen Lutz purchased the house the following year. Their experiences in the house were the basis for the The Amityville Horror.

1971
First man-made object to orbit another planet: Mariner 9 orbits Mars.

1967
First black mayor of a major U.S. city: Carl Stokes is sworn in as mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.

1967
Hair: The musical opens at the Public Theater in New York.

1956
Civil Rights: Segregation on interstate buses is ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1946
First successful seeding of clouds to make snow: Dry-ice pellets are dropped from a plane at 14,000 feet over Massachusetts. The snow fell about 3,000 feet before evaporating.

1942
World War II - Battle of Guadalcanal: The first U.S. offensive during the war. It marked the turning point in the war for the U.S. forces.

1938
First American Saint: Mother Frances Xavier Cabrina (1850-1917), founder of the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, is beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. She became a Saint in 1946 and was named the Patron Saint of Emigrants.

1927
First U.S. underground automobile tunnel: The Holland Tunnel opens, connecting New York and New Jersey.

1907
First helicopter flight: A French aviator achieves a height of six feet for 20 seconds.

1897
First successful all-metal dirigible flight: Its Hungarian inventor David Schwarz takes off from Berlin. Using a 16-hp engine, he managed to travel several miles before a gas leak caused it to crash.

1875
First football game with uniforms: Yale, wearing dark pants, blue shirts, and yellows hats beats Harvard who wore crimson shirts, pants, and stockings (4-0).

1749
First American University: William Penn Academy in Philadelphia is established. It also housed the first American medical school (1765) and became the University of Pennsylvania (1779).

1959
Tracy Scoggins, American actress. TV: The Colbys (Monica Colby) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (gossip columnist "Cat" Grant).

1955
Whoopi Goldberg, American Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Color Purple (1985) and Ghost (1990).

1947
Joe Mantegna, American actor. Broadway: Glengarry Glen Ross (Tony). Film: House of Games (1987).

1947
Greg Evans, American cartoonist, creator of Luann (1985).

1941     d. 1994
Dack Rambo (Norman Rambeau), American actor. TV: All My Children (Steve Jacobi) and Dallas (Jack Ewing).

1934
Gary Marshall, American director, producer, writer. TV: Dick Van Dyke Show, Happy Days, and Laverne & Shirley.

1932
Richard Mulligan, American actor. TV: Soap (Bert Campbell) and Empty Nest (Dr. Weston).

1922
Madeleine Sherwood (Madeleine Thornton), Canadian actress. TV: The Flying Nun (Mother Superior).

1916     d. 1980
Emmett Littleton Ashford, American baseball umpire. He was the first black major-league umpire (1965, American League). (Source: Famous First Facts)

1906     d. 1986
Hermione Baddeley, British actress. Film: Room at the Top (1959) and Mary Poppins (1964, the housekeeper). TV: Maude (Mrs. Naugatuck) and Upstairs Downstairs (Mrs. Bridges the cook).

1856     d. 1941
Louis Dembitz Brandeis, American jurist. He was the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1916-39).

1850     d. 1894
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson, British author. Writings: New Arabian Nights (1882), Treasure Island (1883) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).

1848     d. 1922
Albert I, Prince of Monaco, oceanographer.

1833     d. 1893
Edwin Thomas Booth, American Shakespearean actor, and older brother of Pres. Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth.

1814     d. 1879
"Fighting Joe" Hooker, American Civil War general (Union). His proclivity for overnight female "guests" caused his name to be entered into the English language.

1312     d. 1377
Edward III, King of England (1327-77). His rein was marked by numerous successful military ventures.

354     d. 430
Saint Augustine, North African Christian philosopher, bishop of Hippo (396-430).

1973     b. 1890
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."

1953     b. 1882
Herbert Eugene Ives, American inventor of long-distance television transmission (1927). He transmitted live images of Commerce Secretary Hoover from Washington D.C. to New York over long distance wires.

1883     b. 1813
James Marion Sims, American physician, gynecologist. He invented the silver suture.

1868     b. 1792
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini, Italian operatic composer. Opera: The Barber of Seville (1816) and William Tell (1829).

1687     b. 1650
Nell Gwynn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II, by whom she had two children.

867     b. ????
Saint Nicholas I, Italian religious leader, 105th Pope (858-867).

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