On This Day December 10

1992
Walt Disney: The entertainment giant announces that they are putting an NHL franchise in Orange County, California.

1971
Singer Frank Zappa is pushed off a London stage by a fan. He suffered a broken leg and ankle and a fractured skull.

1959
First black to win an Emmy: Tonight with Belafonte airs on CBS, for which Belafonte would win the award.

1958
First U.S. domestic jet airline passenger service: National Airlines opens a route between N.Y. and Miami.

1898
Spanish-American War: Treaty of Paris signed as a result of the war. The U.S. acquires the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Spain gives up all claims to Cuba.

1817
Mississippi becomes the 20th state. Mississippi is Chippewa for "great river."

1952
Susan Dey, American actress. TV: The Partridge Family (Laurie) and L.A. Law (Grace Van Owen).

1914 d. 1996
Dorothy Lamour (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton), American actress. Film: The Jungle Princess (1936, as Ulah) and star of numerous Hope-Crosby road films.

1911 d. 1974
Chet Huntley (Chester Robert Huntley), American newsman. TV: NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report. "Goodnight, Chet."

1900 d. 1956
Roy Edward "Dizzy" Carlyle, American baseball player. He hit the longest recorded home run (1929, 618 feet during a minor-league game). (source: Guinness Book of World Records)

1851 d. 1931
Melvil Dewey, American librarian, creator of the Dewey Decimal System (1876).

1830 d. 1866
Emily Dickinson, American poet. Of her over 1,800 poems, only seven were published during her lifetime.

1817 d. 1884
Alexander Wood, Scottish physician, the first to use a syringe to inject medicine (1855).

2005 b. 1940
Richard Pryor, American Emmy-Grammy winning comedian. Film: Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Blazing Saddles (1974, co-wrote), Silverstreak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip (1982), and Brewster's Millions (1985).

2005 b. 1916
Eugene McCarthy, U.S. Senator (1959-71). In 1968, he ran against incumbent Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, with the intention of influencing the government to curtail its involvement in the Vietnam War. A number of antiwar activists cut their long hair and beards in order to campaign for McCarthy door-to-door, leading to the slogan "Get clean for Gene."

1990 b. 1898
Armand Hammer, American businessman, president of Occidental Petroleum Corporation and founder of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Co.

1946 b. 1884
Damon Runyon, American author, columnist. Writings: Guys and Dolls (1932). The stage version of Guys and Dolls featured characters from his various stories.

1941 b. 1915
Colin Purdie Kelly, American soldier, first U.S. air hero of World War II. Died when his B-17 was shot down by the Japanese, for which he was awarded the distinguished Service Cross.

1896 b. 1833
Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite. The terms of his will established Nobel prizes.

1864 b. 1793
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, American explorer, discovered the source of the Mississippi (1832).

December 10

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