Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

December 30

1969
Inter-American Foundation is established, supports social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

1959
First nuclear submarine capable of launching missiles: The USS George Washington is commissioned.

1903
Iroquois Theater Fire: A fire in this Chicago theater killed 588 people, making it the deadliest fire in U.S. history.

1862
Civil War: The Union's first iron-clad warship, Monitor, sinks off the coast of North Carolina. (Source: The Civil War Day by Day)

1854
First U.S. oil company, Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company of Connecticut.

1853
Gadsden Purchase: U.S. buys 30,000 square miles of territory in New Mexico and southern Arizona from Mexico.

1961
Ben Johnson, Canadian track athlete, stripped of his 1988 Olympic gold medals for using steroids.

1959
Tracey Ullman, English pop singer, Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Tracey Ullman Show (1988), on which The Simpsons made their debut.

1947
Michael Burns, American actor. TV: Wagon Train (orphan Barnaby West).

1946
Davy Jones, English singer, actor, one of The Monkees, with hits Last Train to Clarksville (1966) and I'm a Believer (1966).

1942
Michael Nesmith, American singer, actor, one of The Monkees.

1939     d. 1990
Del Shannon (Charles Westover), American singer. Music: Runaway (1961, #1).

1935
Sandy Koufax, American baseball Hall of Famer, sportscaster.

1930
Jack Lord (John Joseph Ryan), American actor. TV: Hawaii Five-O (detective Steve McGarrett).

1928
Bo Diddley (Ellas Bates), American rhythm and blues singer, composer.

1919
Jo Van Fleet, American Oscar-Tony-winning actress. Theater: The Trip to Bountiful (1954, Tony). Film: East of Eden (1955, Oscar). TV: Cinderella (1965, the wicked Stepmother).

1914
Bert Parks (Bert Jacobson), American emcee, host of the Miss America pageant (1955-80, 1990).

1911
Jeanette Nolan, American actress. TV: The Virginian (Holly Grainger).

1906     d. 1966
Sergei Korolev, Soviet scientist, rocket pioneer. He designed the rocket systems used for launching the first Soviet satellites and rockets to the moon.

1884     d. 1948
Tojo Hideki, Japanese prime minister (1941-44) during World War II. He and six others were hanged together as war criminals.

1867     d. 1941
Simon Guggenheim, American philanthropist. He and his wife created the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1925) in memory of their son.

1865     d. 1936
Rudyard Kipling, English Nobel-winning author, poet. Writings: The Jungle Book (1894).

1993     b. 1907
Irving "Swifty" Lazar, American talent agent. Clients: Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, Vladimir Nabokov, Truman Capote, Pres. Nixon, Tennessee Williams, and Neil Simon. He was known for his yearly star-studded parties on Oscar Awards night.

1979     b. 1902
Richard Rodgers, American Oscar-winning composer, teamed with Oscar Hammerstein II, hits include Oklahoma! (1955), Carousel (1956), and The Sound of Music (1965).

1894     b. 1818
Amelia Jenks Bloomer, American women's rights advocate. She published the Lily, the first major women's rights newspaper (1849), in which she advocated the wearing of bloomers.

1691     b. 1627
Robert Boyle, British physicist, creator of Boyle's Law (1662, "The pressure of gas is proportional to the number of molecules in a given space and their temperature").

1591     b. 1519
Innocent IX, Italian religious leader, 230th Pope (Oct. - Dec. 1591).

274     b. ????
Saint Felix I, Italian religious leader, 26th Pope (269-274).

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