BIRTHDAYS . . .

—1686  Physicist Gabriel D. Fahrenheit (d. 9-16-1736)
—1727  Artist Thomas Gainsborough (d. 8-2-1788)
—1925  Opera Singer Patrice Munsel
—1936  Baseball's Dick Howren
⎯1936  Singer Bobby Darin (“Mack The Knife”) (d. 12-20-1973)
—1943  Musician Jack Bruce (Cream) (“Sunshine Of Your Love”)
—1944  Director/Writer/Producer George Lucas (Star Wars)
—1945  Guitarist Gene Cornish (The Rascals) (“Groovin”)
—1948  Actress Meg Foster (Cagney & Lacey)
—1952  Musician David Byrne (Talking Heads)
—1955  Baseball's Dennis Martinez
—1959  Football's Mike Quick
⎯1960  Opera Singer Ronan Tynan
—1964  Basketball's Walter Berry
⎯1969  Actress Cate Blanchett
⎯1984  Actress Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia)


THIS DAY IN HISTORY . . .

—1607  The first permanent English settlement in what is now the US took place at Jamestown, VA.
—1787  The Continental Congress began meetings in Philadelphia to hammer out a better agreement than the Articles of Confederation; result was the US Constitution.
—1796  Dr. Edward Jenner gave the first smallpox vaccine to a human - and the science of preventive medicine was born.
—1804  Lewis & Clark left St. Louis on an expedition to survey the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Before returning in 1806, they made their way to the Pacific Ocean.
—1853  Gail Borden applied for a patent for the process of making condensed milk.
—1878  Petroleum jelly was first sold under the tradename "Vaseline."
—1897  The anniversary of the first public performance of John Philip Sousa’s march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” at Philadelphia, PA.
—1942  Congress established the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, or WAACS.
—1948  Israel proclaimed its independence as British troops withdrew after partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish zones.  They were immediately attached by six Arab states, which vowed to “roll them back into the sea.”
—1970  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young announce their break-up.
—1973  The first US space station, Skylab I, blasted into orbit from Cape Canaveral.
⎯1973  The House of Representatives received formal approval of the appointment of female pages.
—1982  "Fast" Eddie Clark leaves Motorhead during the American tour.
—1983  Spandau Ballet's "True" tops both the British LP and singles chart.
—1987  Phil Collins announces that the film "Buster" will begin production.
⎯1988  Atlantic Records celebrates its 40th anniversary at Madison Square Garden as Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones reunite with Jason Bonham, son of late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, for an outstanding performance. Other performers include the Coasters, Debbie Gibson, Yes, Manhattan Transfer, Genesis, and the Rascals.
—1996  John Tesh announces that he’s leaving “Entertainment Tonight” to pursue his music career.
⎯1998  Entertainer Frank Sinatra died on this date at age 82.  He was born on December 12, 1915.  He passed away at 10:50pm at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center he had a heart attack.  The next evening the lights on the Vegas strip were dimmed in his honor.  Sinatra’s tombstone reads “The Best Is Yet To Come.”