Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

November 17

1992
NBC's Dateline airs a segment showing a GM truck exploding during a car crash test, not disclosing that they had used an explosive device to ensure the explosion.

1968
Heidi Game: An NBC broadcast of the Oakland Raiders-New York Jets game is cut off in the last minutes to start the movie Heidi; during which, Oakland scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to come from behind and win 43-32.

1966
The greatest meteor shower ever recorded, at the rate of 2,300 meteors per minute over Arizona at 5 a.m.

1955
First inductees into the Jockey Hall of Fame: Eddie Arcaro, Earle Sande and George Woolf.

1934
Buck Rogers: Buck's XZ-31 rocket pistol goes on sale. Over 2,000 people lined up outside Macy's in New York City.

1869
Suez Canal: The North-South waterway connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas opens, cutting the trip from London to Bombay almost in half.

1800
Washington, D.C.: First meeting of the U.S. Congress in the newly formed Capital city.

1944
Danny DeVito, American Emmy-winning actor. Film: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Romancing the Stone (1984), Ruthless People (1986), Throw Momma From the Train (1987) TV: Taxi (Louie).

1943
Lauren Hutton, American model, Playboy bunny, actress. Film: American Gigolo (1979).

1942
Martin Scorsese, American director. Film: Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

1941
Gene Clark, American singer, with The Byrds. Music: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965, #1).

1938
Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer, songwriter. Music: If You Could Read My Mind (1970), Sundown (1974, #1), and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1976).

1937     d. 1995
Peter Cook, English actor, comedian. He is often credited with founding contemporary British satire.

1934
James Mountain Inhofe, American politician, U.S. Senator (Republican Oklahoma, 1995-). Known for his position that global warming is the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." In a 2006 speech he proclaimed, "my wife and I have been married 47 years. We have 20 kids and grandkids. I'm really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship."

1925     d. 1985
Rock Hudson (Roy Scherer Jr.), American actor. TV: McMillan and Wife (McMillan). He was the first major public figure to announce he had AIDS.

1914     d. 1987
Archie Campbell, American comedian, known for his "Rindercella" routine. TV: Hee Haw (1969-87).

1906     d. 1991
Soichiro Honda, Japanese motorcycle and automobile maker.

1901     d. 1982
Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, the father of method acting in America. His disciples include Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

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

9 A.D.     d. 79 A.D.
Vespasian, Roman Emperor (69-79 A.D.), responsible for the building of the Colosseum.

1975     b. 1897
Detlev Wulf Bronk, American scientist, educator, "Father of Biophysics." He served as president of Johns Hopkins University (1949-53).

1917     b. 1840
Auguste Rodin, French sculptor, noted for his famous statue The Thinker (1888). When motion photography proved that horses didn't gallop in the manner often depicted by artists he responded, "It is the artist who is truthful and it is photography which lies, for in reality time does not stop."

1558     b. 1516
Mary Tudor, Queen of England and Ireland (1553-58). Her persecution of Protestants for heresy to the Roman Catholic Church earned her the name "Bloody Mary."

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