1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots, executed

1644 - Queen Christina, at the age of 18, becomes the active ruler of Sweden

1813 - Ludwig von Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premieres

1846 - Hector Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" premieres

1849 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Luisa Miller" premieres in Naples

1852 - Université Laval receives a royal charter; founded by Bishop Laval in 1663 as the Seminary of Quebec; North America's oldest French University

1854 - Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in his apostolic letter, "Ineffabilis Deus." It asserted that by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, Mary was freed from original sin "in the first instant of conception."

1869 - Timothy Eaton opens his first shop at Yonge and Queen in Toronto, offering a 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' refund policy

1880 - First edition of The Edmonton Bullet, Alberta's first newspaper

1891 - Ottawa imposes duty on fish imported from Newfoundland

1907 - Christmas seals were sold for the first time in the US, to raise funds to fight tuberculosis. Today, Christmas seal income is used primarily in the fight against birth defects

1915 - Canadian MD John McCrae's poem 'In Flanders Fields' first published in Punch magazine

1940 - First NFL championship on national radio; Bears beat Redskins 73-0

1941 - US & Britain declare war on Japan, US enters WWII

1949 - Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa

1960 - Henry Mancini records "Moon River"

1961 - Wilt Chamberlain scores the 2nd highest total in the NBA �?78 points

1961 - Larry Costello scores 32 consecutive points without a miss (NBA record)

1966 - US & USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space

1967 - Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released in UK

1967 - NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals

1978 - Golda Meir, Israel's PM (1969-74), dies in Jerusalem at 80

1980 - John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, is shot and killed by an obsessed fan, Mark David Chapman, in New York City

1980 - "Bravo" network premieres on cable TV

1987 - At a summit meeting in Washington, D.C., President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign the first treaty between the two superpowers to reduce their massive nuclear arsenals

1987 - Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes first goalie to actually score a goal

1993 - NAFTA, a trade pact between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, eliminating virtually all tariffs and trade restrictions between the three nations is signed into US law by President Bill Clinton

 

Birthdays

65BC - Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus], Venusia - Roman lyric poet: Satires, Ars poetica
1542 - Mary, Queen of Scots, Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian, Scotland - Queen of Scotland (1542-67) and queen consort of France (1559-60)
1731 - Frantisek Xaver Dusek - composer
1765 - Eli Whitney, Westborough, Massachusetts - inventor of the Cotton Gin; he is actually more important for inventing machines that produced interchangeable gun parts, the basis for his reputation as the originator of mass production
1861 - William Crapo Durant - founded General Motors
1865 - Jean Sibelius, Tavastehus Finland - composer: Valse Triste, Finlandia
1879 - Paul Klee - Swiss/German painter: Bauhaus
1886 - Diego Rivera - Mexican mural painter
1888 - Paul Cavanagh, Chislehurst England - actor: Tarzan & his Mate
1894 - James (Grover) Thurber, Columbus Ohio - humorist: Men, Women & Dogs, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1899 - John Qualen, Vancouver BC - actor: Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers
1905 - Frank Faylen, St Louis MO - actor: Herbert Gillis-Dobie Gillis
1906 - Richard Llewellyn, Wales - author: How Green Was My Valley
1909 - Gratien Gélinas, St-Tite, Quebec - actor, playwright, producer, director:  founding director of La Comédie canadienne
1911 - Lee J Cobb, NY City - actor: Virginian, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront
1915 - Andy Russell, Lethbridge Alberta - author/film producer: Memoirs of a Mountain Man, The Life of a River
1921 - Terence Morgan, London England - actor: Adventures of Sir Francis Drake
1923 - Keith Waples - sulky driver; in 1959 Waples and his horse Mighty Dudley were the first to break the 2 minute barrier for the one mile race - in 1 minute 59.3 seconds. In 1967 he drove to a record 246 wins on Canadian tracks
1925 - Sammy Davis Jr, NY City - singer/dancer/actor: Ocean's 11, Candy Man
1930 - Maximilian Schell, Austria - actor/director: Odessa File, Julia
1933 - Flip Wilson [Clerow] Jersey City NJ - comedian: Flip Wilson Show
1936 - David Carradine, Hollywood California - actor: Kung Fu, Mean Streets
1937 - James MacArthur, Los Angeles California - actor: Danny Williams - Hawaii 5-0
1939 - James Galway, Belfast Ireland - flutist: 18k gold flute, Royal Philharmonic
1939 - Jerry Butler, Sunflower MS - singer: Never Give You Up
1943 - Jim Morrison, Melbourne Florida - singer: Doors
1943 - Mary Woronov, Brooklyn Heights NY - actress: Eating Raoul, Terror Vision
1946 - John Rubinstein, Los Angeles - actor/composer: Family, Boys from Brazil
1947 - Belinda Balaski, Inglewood CA - actor: Cannonball, Proud Men, Howling
1947 - Gregg Allman, Nashville Tennessee - guitarist/vocalist: Allman Brothers Band
1950 - Dan Hartman, Harrisburg PA - singer: This Is It, I Can Dream About You
1952 - Sam Kinison - comedian/actor: Back to School, Charlie Hoover
1953 - Kim Basinger, Athens Georgia - actress: 9½ Weeks, Batman
1958 - Billy Hufsey - actor: Christopher-Fame, Days of our Life
1959 - Paul Rutherford - singer: Frankie Goes to Hollywood �?Relax
1964 - Teri Hatcher, Sunnyvale California - actress: Lois Lane - Lois & Clark
1965 - Troy Sadowski - NFL player: Cincinnati Bengals
1966 - Matthew Laborteaux, Los Angeles - actor: Albert-Little House on Prairie
1966 - Siñead O'Connor, Dublin Ireland - singer: Nothing Compares To You
1967 - Jeff George - NFL player: Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders
1967 - Ron George - NFL player: Minnesota Vikings
1967 - Tony Mayberry - NFL player: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1968 - Bill Johnson - NFL player: St Louis Rams
1968 - Mike Mussina, Williamsport Pennsylvania - baseball pitcher: Baltimore Orioles
1969 - Darrin Shannon, Barrie Ontario - NHL player: Winnipeg Jets
1969 - Victor Green - NFL player: New York Jets
1971 - Garvin Alston, Mount Vernon NY, baseball player: Colorado Rockies
1971 - James Stewart - NFL player: Minnesota Vikings
1973 - Mitch Jacoby - NFL player: St Louis Rams
1973 - Monty Montgomery - NFL player: Indianapolis Colts
1978 - Haley Wickenheiser, Shaunavon, Saskatchewan - hockey player; Canadian Women’s Olympic team �?first woman to regularly play professional hockey on a men’s team

 

 

 

Nursing Home

 

One day a family brings their frail, elderly mother to a nursing home and leaves her, hoping she will be well cared for.

 

The next morning, the nurses bathe her, feed her a tasty breakfast and set her in a chair at a window overlooking a lovely flower garden. She seems OK, but after a while she slowly starts to lean over sideways in her chair. Two attentive nurses immediately rush up to catch her and straighten her up.

 

Again she seems OK, but after a while she starts to tilt to the other side. The nurses rush back and once more bring her back upright. This goes on all morning.

 

Later the family arrives to see how the old woman is adjusting to her new home. "So Ma, how is it here? Are they treating you good?" they ask.

 

It's pretty nice," she replies. "Except they won't let you fart."