20 September 2018
Interesting tidbits:
1519 – Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe.
1848 – The American Association for the Advancement of Science was created. It is the world's largest and most prestigious general scientific society, and is the publisher of the well-known scientific journal Science.
1893 – Charles Duryea and his brother road-tested the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile. The Duryea's "motor wagon" was a used horse drawn buggy that the brothers had purchased for $70 and into which they had installed a 4 HP, single cylinder gasoline engine. This particular car was put into storage in 1894 and stayed there until 1920, when it was rescued by a former Duryea engineer Inglis M. Uppercu and presented to the Smithsonian.
1906 – Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania was launched at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
1911 – White Star Line's RMS Olympic collided with British warship HMS Hawke. The Olympic, along with the Brittanic, was one of the RMS Titanic's sister ships. After the Olympic was retired and dismantled, secions of the interior were preserved. They provide an example of what the interior of the Titanic looked like before it sank.
1946 - The first Cannes Film Festival was held, having been delayed seven years due to World War II.
1971 – Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regained enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific.
Today's birthday crew:
524 – Kan B'alam I, Mayan ruler of Palenque.
1844 – William H. Illingworth, English photographer who accompanied both Captain James L. Fisk's 1866 expedition to the Montana Territory and Lt. Colonel George Custer's 1874 U.S. military expedition into the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory.
1920 – Jay Ward, American creator and producer of animated TV cartoon shows. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken.
1924 – Gogi Grant, American singer (The Wayward Wind).
1929 – Anne Meara, American actress and comedienne.
1935 – Keith Roberts, English science fiction author.
1947 – Steve Gerber, American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck.
1948 – George R. R. Martin, American author of fantasy, horror, and science fiction prose, as well as being a screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his international bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for Game of Thrones.
1953 - Siân Thomas, Welsh actress who appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as Amelia Bones.
Happy birthday guys!