© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Almanac - Tuesday 9/5/17

Happy Birthday to comedian Bob Newhart!

 

Today is Tuesday, September 5th, 2017, the 248th day of the year with 117 days remaining.

  • Sunrise: 6:44am  
  • Sunset: 7:33pm

...giving us 12 hours and  49 minutes of daylight.  97% of the moon will be visible, rising at 7:30pm 

Tides at the Golden Gate

  • High: 12:23am/11:52pm
  • Low: 5:33am/5:39pm

Special international celebrations today…

Anniversary of Chachapoyas - Peru

It’s also…

  • Be Late For Something Day
  • International Day of Charity
  • Jury Rights Day
  • National Cheese Pizza Day

On this day in…

1698 - Russia's Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

1774 - The first session of theU.S. Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. The delegates drafted a declaration of rights and grievances, organized the Continental Association, and elected Peyton Randolph as the first president of the Continental Congress.

1793 - In France, the "Reign of Terror" began. The National Convention enacted measures to repress the French Revolutionary activities.

1836 - Sam Houston was elected as the first president of theRepublic of Texas.

1877 - Sioux chief Crazy Horse was killed by the bayonet of aU.S. soldier. The chief allegedly resisted confinement to a jail cell.

1881 - The American Red Cross provided relief for disaster for the first time. The disaster was the Great Fire of 1881 in Michigan.

1882 - The firstU.S. Labor Day parade was held in New York City.

1885 - Jake Gumper bought the first gasoline pump to be manufactured in theU.S.

1900 - France proclaimed a protectorate over Chad.

1901 - The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was formed in Chicago,IL. It was the first organized baseball league.

1905 - The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed by Russia and Japan to end the Russo-Japanese War. The settlement was mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in New Hampshire.

1906 - Bradbury Robinson executed the first legal forward pass in football. Robinson threw the ball to Jack Schneider of St. Louis University in a game against Carroll College.

1914 - Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional player in the International League.

1914 - The Battle of the Marne began. The Germans, British and French fought for six days killing half a million people.

1917 - Federal raids were carried out in 24 cities on International Workers of the World (IWW) headquarters. The raids were prompted by suspected anti-war activities within the labor organization.

1930 - Charles Creighton and James Hagris completed the drive from New York City to Los Angeles and back to New York City all in reverse gear. The trip took 42 days in their 1929 Ford Model A.

1938 - The NBC Red network broadcast "Life Can Be Beautiful" for the first time.

1939 - TheU.S. proclaimed its neutrality in World War II.

1945 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino was arrested. D'Aquino was suspected of being the wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose". She served six years and was later pardoned byU.S. President Ford.

1953 - The first privately operated atomic reactor opened in Raleigh,NC.

1957 - Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" was first published.

1958 - The first color videotaped program was aired. It was "The Betty Freezor Show" on WBTV-TV in Charlotte,NC.

1958 - Boris Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago" was published for the first time in theU.S.

1960 - Cassius Clay of Louisville, KY, won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

1961 - The U.S. government made airline hijacking a federal offense.

1971 - J.R. Richard (Houston Astros) tied Karl Spooner’s record when he struck out 15 batters in his major-league baseball debut.

1977 - TheU.S. launched Voyager .

1980 - The St. Gothard Tunnel opened in Switzerland. It is the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles long.

1982 - Eddie Hill set a propeller-driven boat water speed record when he reached 229 mph.

1983 -U.S. President Reagan denounced the Soviet Union for shooting down a Korean Air Lines. Reagan demanded that the Soviet Union pay reparations for the act that killed 269 people.

1983 - "Sports Illustrated" became the first national weekly magazine to use four-color process illustrations on every page.

1983 - The "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) became the first hour-long network news show.

1984 - The space shuttle Discovery landed after its maiden voyage.

1984 - Mortimer Zuckerman purchased the newsmagazine, "U.S. News & World Report" for $163 million.

1985 - Rioting in South Africa spilled into white neighborhoods for the first time.

1986 - Merv Griffin aired his final program for Metromedia Television after 23 years on various talk shows.

1986 - NASA launched DOD-1.

1989 - Chris Evert retired from professional tennis after a 19 year career.

1989 - Deborah Norville became the news anchor of the "Today" show.

1990 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urged for a Holy War against the West and former allies.

1991 - Soviet lawmakers created an interim government to usher in the confederation after dissolving the U.S.S.R. The new name the Union of Sovereign States was taken.

1992 - A General Motors Corporation strike ended with a new agreement being approved. Nearly 43,000 workers were on strike.

1995 - France set off an underground nuclear blast in the South Pacific.

1996 - The play "Summer and Smoke" opened at the Criterion Theatre.

2001 - Fox News Channel terminated Paula Zahn for breach of contract.

2003 - In London, magician David Blaine entered a clear plastic box and then suspended by a crane over the banks of the Thames River. He remained there until October 19 surviving only on water.

Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...

  • Louis VIII (King of France) 1187
  • Louis XIV (King of France) 1638
  • Johann Christian Bach 1735
  • Jesse James 1847
  • Morris Carnovsky 1897
  • Arthur Charles Nielsen 1897
  • Florence Eldridge 1901
  • Darryl F. Zanuck 1902
  • Arthur Koestler 1905
  • John Cage 1912
  • Gail Kubik 1914
  • Jack Buetel 1917
  • Jack Valenti 1921
  • Bob Newhart 1929 - Actor, comedian (The Bob Newhart Show)
  • Andrian G Nikolayev 1929
  • Robert Dennard 1932
  • Carol Lawrence 1935 - Actress, singer
  • John Ferguson 1938
  • William Devane 1939 - Actor
  • George Lazenby 1939 - Actor
  • Clay Regazzoni 1939
  • Susumu Tonegawa 1939
  • John Stewart (The Kingston Trio) 1939
  • Raquel Welch 1940 - Actress
  • Eduardo Mata 1942
  • Al Stewart (Alastair Ian "Al" Stewart) 1945 - Singer
  • Buddy Miles 1946
  • Loudon Wainwright III 1946  - Singer, actor
  • Freddie Mercury (Queen) 1946
  • Kathy Cronkite 1950
  • Cathy Lee Guisewaite 1950 - Cartoonist ("Cathy")
  • Jamie Oldaker (The Tractors) 1951
  • Michael Keaton 1951 - Actor ("Batman")
  • Sandra Guiboard 1956
  • Kristian Alfonso 1964
  • Terry Ellis (En Vogue) 1966
  • Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine) 1968
  • Dweezil Zappa 1969 - Musician, TV personality
  • Dina Yothers 1973 - Actress
  • Rose McGowan 1974
  • Andrew Ducote 1986

David Latulippe is host of On the Arts, KALW's weekly radio magazine of the performing arts, as well as for Explorations in Music, and the Berkeley Symphony broadcasts. He has also hosted and produced the radio series From the Conservatory, Music from Mills, and Music at Menlo, and is principal guest host for Revolutions Per Minute.