Raise a glass...to Global Champagne Day!
Today is Friday, October 18, 2019, the 291st day of the year, with 74 days remaining. And only 382 days until the 2020 Presidential Election.
- Sunrise: 7:21am
- Sunset: 6:29pm ...giving us 11 hours and 10 minutes of daylight. 85% of the waning gibbous moon will be visible, rising at 9:54pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 3:52am/2:38pm
- Low: 8:26am/5:04pm
Special celebrations & commemorations today…
- Alaska Day - US
- National Flag Day - Chile
- National Independence Day - Azerbaijan
- Persons Day - Canada
- Global Champagne Day
- International Necktie Day
- Mammography Day
- Meatloaf Appreciation Day
- National Chocolate Cupcake Day
- Newpaper Comic Strip Appreciation Day
- World Menopause Day
On this day in…
1469 - Ferdinand of Aragon married Isabella of Castile. The marriage united all the dominions of Spain.
1685 - King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had established the legal toleration of the Protestant population.
1767 - The Mason-Dixon line was agreed upon. It was the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
1842 - Samuel Finley Breese Morse laid his first telegraph cable.
1867 - The U.S. took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. The land was purchased of a total of $7 million dollars (2 cents per acre).
1892 - The first long-distance telephone line between Chicago, IL, and New York City, NY, was opened.
1898 - The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico only one year after the Caribbean nation won its independence from Spain.
1929 - The Judicial Committee of England’s Privy Council ruled that women were to be considered as persons in Canada.
1944 - Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Soviets during World War II.
1956 - NFL commissioner Bert Bell disallowed the use of radio-equipped helmets by NFL quarterbacks.
1961 - Henri Matiss' "Le Bateau" went on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was discovered 46 days later that the painting had been hanging upside down.
1967 - The American League granted permission for the A's to move to Oakland. Also, new franchises were awarded to Kansas City and Seattle.
1968 - Two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, were suspended by the U.S. Olympic Committee for giving a "black power" salute during a ceremony in Mexico City.
1969 - The U.S. government banned artificial sweeteners due to evidence that they caused cancer.
1970 - Quebec's minister of labor was found strangled to death after eight days of being held captive by the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ).
1971 - After 34 years, the final issue of "Look" magazine was published.
1977 - Reggie Jackson tied Babe Ruth's record for hitting three homeruns in a single World Series game. Jackson was only the second player to achieve this.
1983 - General Motors agreed to hire more women and minorities for five years as part of a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
1985 - South African authorities hanged black activist Benjamin Moloise. Moloise had been convicted of murdering a police officer.
1989 - Egon Krenz became the leader of East Germany after Erich Honecker was ousted. Honeker had been in power for 18 years.
1989 - The space shuttle Atlantis was launched on a mission that included the deployment of the Galileo space probe.
1990 - Iraq made an offer to the world that it would sell oil for $21 a barrel. The price level was the same as it had been before the invasion of Kuwait.
1997 - A monument honoring U.S. servicewomen, past and present, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.
2013 - Saudi Arabia became the first nation to reject a seat on the United Nations Security Council. Jordan took the seat on December 6.
If today’s your birthday, you share it with…
- Giovanni Canaletto 1697
- Lotte Lenya (Karoline Blamauer) 1898
- James Brooks 1906 - Artist
- Bobby Troup 1918 - Actor
- Anita O'Day 1919 - Singer
- Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1919 - Prime Minister of Canada
- Melina Mercouri 1920 - Actress
- Chuck Berry (Charles Edward Anderson Berry) 1926 - Singer
- George C. Scott 1927 - Actor
- Peter Boyle 1935 - Actor ("The X-Files," "Everybody Loves Raymond")
- Lee Harvey Oswald 1939
- Willie Horton 1942 - Baseball player
- Russ Giguere 1943 - Guitar player, singer (The Association)
- Laura Nyro 1947 - Singer, songwriter
- Gary Richrath 1949 - Musician (REO Speedwagon)
- Wendy Wasserstein 1950 - Writer
- Pam Dawber 1951 - Actress ("Mork & Mindy")
- Martina Navratilova 1956 - Tennis player
- Jean-Claude Van Damme 1960- Actor ("Double Impact," "Hard Target")
- Erin Moran 1960 - Actress ("Happy Days," "Joanie Loves Chachi")
- Wynton Marsalis 1961 - Musician
- Vincent Spano 1962 - Actor
- Tim Cross 1966 - Musician (Sponge)
- Michael Stich 1968 - Tennis player
- Peter Svensson 1974 - Guitar player (The Cardigans)
- Zach Effron 1987 - Actor, singer
- Joy Lauren 1989 - Actress ("Desperate Housewives")
- Tyler Posey 1991 - Actor
