1498 - Tomas de Torquemada, inquisitor who burned 10,000 people, dies

1620 - The "Mayflower" set sail from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World. On board were 48 crew members and 101 colonists (including 35 Separatists from Leiden, Holland, known afterward as the Pilgrims). During the three-month voyage, two passengers died and two babies were born

1630 - The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston.

1804 - French physicist Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac ascends to a record height of 7,016 m (23,018 ft) in a hydrogen balloon. He took measures of the earth's magnetism, temperature, air pressure, and chemical composition

1810 - Father Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla begins a revolt for Mexican independence from Spain, which will be formally granted ten years later after a long revolutionary war

1890 - News writer George Whitney Calhoun names Green Bay team the Packers

1890 - The Hamilton (Ontario) Public Library opened

1893 - Calgary incorporated as Alberta's first city; population has grown to almost 4,000 people in the decade following the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway

1903 - Frederick Henry Royce, of Rolls-Royce Ltd., successfully tested his first gasoline engine on this day. The two-cylinder, 10 hp engine was one of three experimental cars designed by Royce during the automobile's early years

1908 - General Motors founded by William C Durant

1914 - Sir Sam Hughes sets up the first Canadian military air service, the Canadian Aviation Corps; forerunner of the RCAF

1916 - Prohibition goes into effect in Ontario, after a night when liquor stores and saloons sell out all their stocks

1949 - Warner. Bros. introduces the Road Runner in the cartoon short "Fast and Furry-ous."

1952 - After a massive manhunt, the Boyd Gang are captured in a barn near Leslie Street in North York

1960 - Amos Alonzo Stagg retires as a football coach at 98

1960 - Canadian diplomat Yves Prévost becomes President of the United Nations General Assembly

1963 - "Outer Limits" premiers on TV

1963 - Malaysia formed from Malaya, Singapore, Br. N. Borneo & Sarawak; 2 years later Singapore withdrew

1964 - "Shindig" premiers

1972 - First TV series about mixed marriage - Bridget Loves Bernie

1972 �?Ricky Nelson releases Garden Party

1974 - Canada's first female RCMP recruits sworn into the force as constables

1975 - Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia (National Day)

1976 - Episcopal Church approves ordination of women as priests & bishop

1977 - 90 minute pilot of "Logan's Run" premiers on TV

1984 - "Miami Vice" premiers

1989 �?Aerosmith releases Love In An Elevator

1990 - 101 year old Sam Ackerman weds 95 year old Eva in New Rochelle NY

1991 - Jenny Jones debuts her TV talk show 'The Jenny Jones Show' in syndication; born in London, Ontario, Jones started her career touring Canada and the US as a drummer in a rock band

Birthdays

1638 - Louis XIV [Sun King] Palais du Louvre - King of France (1643-1715); Canada his personal property
1848 - Sir William James Gage, Palestine Ont - publisher and philanthropist
1858 - Andrew Bonar Law, Kingston, NB - British Prime Minister from Oct. 23, 1922, to May 20, 1923; had to retire after only 209 days as PM because of poor health; only British Prime Minister to come from the Empire
1875 - James Cash Penney - J.C. Penney department store founder
1880 - Alfred Noyes, England - poet: The Highwayman
1891 - Karl Dönitz - German Admiral, creator of Germany's WW II U-boat fleet
1914 - Allen Funt, Brooklyn NY - TV host & creator of Candid Camera
1919 - Laurence Johnston Peter, Vancouver - psychologist/writer: The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong
1923 - Kuan Yew Lee - first prime minister of Singapore (1959-1990); resigned as prime minister in November 1990, but retained his leadership of the ruling People's Action Party
1924 - Lauren Bacall [Betty Joan Perske] Staten Island NY - actress: Dark Passage, Key Largo, The Shootist, Misery
1924 - Paddy Stone, Winnipeg - choreographer: Piccadilly Palace
1925 - Riley BB [Blues Boy] King, Itta Bena Miss - blues singer: The Thrill is Gone; He affectionately names his guitars Lucille, a habit that began early in his career when his guitar was almost destroyed in a fire started in a fight over a woman named Lucille
1927 - Jack Kelly, Astoria Queens - actor: Bart - Maverick, Get Christie Love
1927 - Peter Falk, Ossining NY - actor: Colombo, Scared Straight; As a child he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour, which was removed along with his right eye
1932 - Anne Francis, Ossining NY - actress: Honey West, Pancho Villa
1933 - George Chakiris, Norwood Ohio - actor: West Side Story
1934 - Elgin Baylor - NBA player: 1958-59 Rookie of the Year �?Lakers
1947 - Lucius Allen - NBA player -Milwaukee Bucks
1948 - Rosemary Casals - professional tennis player
1949 - Ed Begley Jr, LA California - actor: Eating Raoul, St Elsewhere, Parenthood
1949 - Susan Ruttan, Oregon City Oregon - actress: Roxanne - LA Law
1953 - Jerry Pate, Macon Ga - PGA golfer
1956 - David Copperfield [David Kotkin] Metuchen, New Jersey - illusionist; youngest person ever admitted into the Society of American Magicians
1956 - Mickey [Philip Andre] Rourke, Schenectady, New York - actor: Body Heat, Diner, The Pope of Greenwich Village, 9 1/2 Weeks
1959 - Jennifer Tilly, LA California - actress: Let it Ride, Off Beat, Psycho II, Liar Liar; Tilley grew up in Victoria BC; sister of actress Meg Tilly
1963 - Richard Marx, Chicago Illinois - singer: Hold on to the Night
1967 - Michael Smith, Kenora, Ontario - decathlete: Gold at 1990 & 1994 Commonwealth Games; best score of 8,625 points - the Canadian Record

 

 

Did You Know

 

The average person blinks 25 times per minute, which works out to about 13,140,000 blinks per year

 

Humans blink about one billion times in a lifetime.

 

A woman blinks almost twice as many times as a man

 

Both humans and chimpanzees have equal amounts of hair per given surface area. A chimp's is just heavier.

 

Eighty percent of all body heat escapes through the head.

 

The surface area of your lungs is 1000 square feet (93 square meters). That is 50 times greater than the surface area of your skin.

 

Your body produces one billion red blood cells every day.

 

Your ears can discriminate more than 300,000 tones.

 

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

 

Blue eyes are the most sensitive to light, dark brown the least sensitive.