Carmen Miranda and Carole King enjoy(ed) their birthday today!
Today is Friday, February 9, 2017, the 40th day of the year with 325 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 7:06am
- Sunset: 5:42pm
...giving us 10 hours and 37 minutes of daylight. 39% of the waning moon will be visible, setting at 12:50pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 12:14am/1:41pm
- Low: 6:35am/8:53pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Feast of St. Maron - Lebanon
- St. Apollonia's Day, patron of dentists
It’s also…
- National Bagel Day
- National Pizza Day
- Read in the Bathtub Day
- Toothache Day
On this day in…
1825 - The U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president. No candidate had received a majority of electoral votes.
1861 - The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America elected Jefferson Davis as its president.
1870 - The United States Weather Bureau was authorized by Congress. The bureau is officially known as the National Weather Service (NWS).
1884 - Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny executed a patent application for a chemical recording stock quotation telegraph (U.S. Pat. 314,115).
1885 - The first Japanese arrived in Hawaii.
1895 - Volley Ball was invented by W.G. Morgan.
1895 - The first college basketball game was played as Minnesota State School of Agriculture defeated the Porkers of Hamline College, 9-3.
1900 - Dwight F. Davis put up a new tennis trophy to go to the winner in matches against England. The trophy was a silver cup that weighed 36 pounds.
1909 - The first forestry school was incorporated in Kent, Ohio.
1932 - America entered the 2-man bobsled competition for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games held at Lake Placid, NY.
1942 - The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II.
1942 - Daylight-saving "War Time" went into effect in the U.S.
1943 - During World War II, the battle of Guadalcanal ended with an American victory over Japanese forces.
1950 - U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists. This was the beginning of "McCarthyism."
1960 - A verbal agreement was reached between representatives of the American and National Football Leagues. Both agreed not to tamper with player contracts.
1960 - The first star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was for Joanne Woodward.
1969 - The Boeing 747 flew its inaugural flight.
1971 - The San Fernando Valley experienced the Sylmar earthquake that registered 6.4 on theRichter Scale.
1971 - The Apollo 14 spacecraft returned to Earth after mankind's third landing on the moon.
1975 - The Russian Soyuz 17 returned to Earth.
1984 - NBC Entertainment president, Brandon Tartikoff, gave an interviewer the "10 Commandments for TV Programmers."
1989 - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. completed the $25 billion purchase of RJR Nabisco, Inc.
1995 - Bernard Harris became the first African American to walk in space.
1997 - "The Simpsons" became the longest-running prime-time animated series. "The Flintstones" held the record previously.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- William Henry Harrison 1773
- George Ade 1866
- Amy Lowell 1874
- Ronald Colman 1891
- Brian Donlevy 1899
- Carmen Miranda 1909
- Bill Veeck 1914
- Ernest Tubb 1914
- Gypsy Rose Lee 1914
- Kathryn Grayson 1922
- Brendan Behan 1923
- Roger Mudd 1928
- Robert Morris 1931
- Jo Ann Prentice 1933
- Janet Suzman 1939
- Barry Mann 1942
- Carole King 1942
- Joe Pesci 1943
- Barbara Lewis 1943
- Alice Walker 1944 - Author ("The Color Purple")
- Mia Farrow 1945 - Actress
- Joe Ely 1947 - Musician
- Major Harris 1947
- Judith Light 1949 - Actress ("Who's the Boss?")
- Dennis "DT" Thomas (Kool & the Gang) 1951
- Charles Shaughnessy 1955
- Julie Warner 1965 - Actress
- Charlie Day 1976 - Actor ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia")
- Ziyi Zhang 1979 - Actress ("Memoirs of a Geisha")
- David Gallagher 1985
