Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

December 12

2002
Iraq War: CIA Director George Tenet is said to have assured Pres. Bush that the evidence against Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction was a slam dunk.  Pres. Bush would later declare "George Tenet did a superb job for America."

1992
Swift-Tuttle comet reaches its closest point to the Sun. It was discovered during its last approach in 1862.

1985
Pres. Reagan signs the Gramm-Rudman bill, which was supposed to end the federal deficit.

1983
Pres. Reagan tells the Congressional Medal of Honor Society the stirring story of a Congressional Medal of Honor winner; unfortunately the story was not true.

1983
Nancy Reagan sits on Mr. T's lap and kisses him on top of his head.

1963
Kenya: The British colony declares its independence.

1957
Jerry Lee Lewis: The singer secretly marries his 13-year-old third cousin Myra Gale Brown. It was his third marriage. (Source: Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis)

1957
Elvis Presley: Portland, Oregon DJ Al Priddy is fired for playing Elvis Presley's version of White Christmas. The station management said, "it's not in the spirit we associate with Christmas."

1952
First nuclear reactor accident: The Chalk River nuclear plant in Canada experiences a melt down and explosion of its reactor core.

1937
Mae West seduces dummy Charlie McCarthy on radio causing a public outcry which lead to an FCC investigation.

1925
First U.S. motel: Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo, California opens.

1901
First transatlantic wireless telegraph communication: Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi sends a message from England to Newfoundland.

1899
Golf tee: George F. Grant receives a patent for the first golf tee.

1897
Katzenjammer Kids comic strip premiers.

1870
First black member of the U.S. House of Representatives: J.H. Rainey of South Carolina is sworn in.

1790
First American bishop: Father Carroll is installed and placed in charge of the Diocese of Baltimore.

1787
Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd state.

1962
Tracy Ann Austin, American tennis Hall-of-Famer. She won her first Wimbledon match at age 14 and became the youngest player to earn $1,000,000.

1956
Ana Alicia (Ana Alicia Ortiz), Mexican-born actress. TV: Falcon Crest (Melissa).

1946
Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian auto racer. Winner of the Formula World Champion (1972, '74) and Indianapolis 500 (1989, '93).

1943     d. 1999
Grover Washington Jr., American saxophonist. Music: Just the Two of Us (1981, #2). He was one of the most commercially successful jazz musicians of the '70s and '80s.

1940
Dionne Warwick, American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Valley of the Dolls (1968), Do You Know The Way To San Jose (1968, Grammy), Then Came You (1974, #1), I'll Never Love This Way Again (1979, Grammy), We Are The World (1985, #1), and That's What Friends Are For (1985, #1).

1938
Connie Francis (Concetta Franconero), American singer, actress. Music: Who's Sorry Now (1958) and Where The Boys Are (1961).

1927     d. 1990
Robert Norton Noyce, American businessman, nicknamed "Mayor of Silicon Valley. He co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor (1957) and Intel (1968). He and Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit (1961).

1924
Edward I. Koch, American politician, ex-mayor of New York City.

1923
Bob Barker, American TV personality. TV: Truth or Consequences (host), Miss USA Pageant (emcee), Miss Universe Pageant (emcee), and Price Is Right.

1921     d. 1982
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr., American imposter. He lied and forged his way into jobs as a surgeon; professor of applied psychology; Trappist monk; and prison guidance counselor; all of which he performed admirably, although he didn't even possess a high-school diploma. He was the basis for the film The Great Imposter (1961).

1915     d. 1998
Frank Sinatra (Francis Albert Sinatra), American singer, actor. Music: Strangers in the Night (1966). He did it his way.

1906     d. 1993
Zack Mosley, American cartoonist, creator of Smilin' Jack (1933-73).

1893     d. 1973
Edward G. Robinson (Emmanuel Goldenberg), American actor. Film: Little Caesar (1931, the gangster boss).

1821     d. 1880
Gustave Flaubert, French author. Writings: Madame Bovary.

1745     d. 1829
John Jay, 6th president of the Continental Congress (1778-79), co-author of the Federalist papers (1787), Secretary of State ad interim (until Thomas Jefferson could take office, 1790), the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1789-95) and governor of New York (1795-1801).

1999     b. 1923
Joseph Heller, American author. Writings: Catch-22 (1961).

1985     b. 1923
Anne Baxter, American Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Razor's Edge (1946, Oscar) and All About Eve (1950, title role). TV: Hotel (Victoria Cabot).

1971     b. 1891
David Sarnoff, Russian-born American radio and TV pioneer, president of RCA (1930-70), and founder of NBC (1926). He started out as a telegraph operator.

1968     b. 1903
Tallulah Bankhead, American actress. Stage: The Little Foxes (1939, Regina) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943, Sabrina). Film: Lifeboat (1944).

1939     b. 1883
Douglas Fairbanks (Douglas Elton Ullman), American actor, first of the Hollywood swashbucklers. He co-founded United Artists (1919).

1922     b. 1838
John Wanamaker, American merchant, U.S. Postmaster General (1889-93). He introduced the use of mailboxes in an effort to make mail delivery more efficient (1891). Until then the mailman would knock on your door and hand deliver the mail.

1757     b. 1671
Colley Cibber, English actor, dramatist. He wrote the first opera performed in America: Flora; or Hob in the Well (1735).

1721     b. 1676
Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor. He was the basis for Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. In October 1704, he had himself put ashore on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile. He wasn't rescued until February 1709.

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