Today In History: July 6th

From Those Were The Days (In Part)

1699 – Pirate Captain William Kidd was captured in Boston, MA and deported back to England.

Captain Kidd

B.S.–Not to be confused with other famous captains like:

1885 – Louis Pasteur, famous for discovering the pasteurization process, made history by accomplishing the first effective antirabies inoculation (on a boy bitten by an infected dog).

Louis Pasteur

B.S.–His vaccine doesn’t work on all rabid dogs…like this one:

1905 – John Walker’s fingerprints were the first ones to be exchanged by police officials in Europe and America. Law enforcement units in London and St. Louis, MO completed the exchange.

1912 – Jim Thorpe gained fame as the world’s greatest athlete when the Olympic Games opened in Stockholm, Sweden. Thorpe, a full-blooded Indian, was known as Bright Path, his given Indian name. When the King of Sweden called Thorpe “the greatest athlete in the world,” Thorpe replied by saying, “Thanks, King.”

1919 – The British dirigible R-34 landed (or was hauled in, as they say) at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, NY. It was the first airship to cross the Atlantic. The 600-foot-long airship, piloted by Royal Air Force Cmdr. G.H. Scott with a crew of 30, reached a top speed of 62 mph during the 108-hour trip from Scotland.

Another famous balloonist: The Wizard of Oz

1928 – The New York Strand Theatre was the scene of a sneak, midnight preview of the film, The Lights of New York. The Warner Bros. film was the first talkie (a talking motion picture). The film’s transitions were still a little bumpy, so 24 titles were used to explain them. The 6,000 feet of film in Lights of New York told a gangster tale and introduced the phrase, “Take him for a ride.”

1937 – The big band classic, Sing, Sing, Sing was recorded by Benny Goodman and his band. Sitting in on this famous Victor Records session was Gene Krupa, Ziggy Elman and Harry James.

1943 – Judy Canova, the ‘Queen of the Hillbillies’, began a weekly comedy show on CBS radio.

1957 – Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon women’s singles tennis title. Gibson was the first black tennis star to win the prestigious event.

1971 – Karen and Richard Carpenter hosted the summer series, Make Your Own Kind of Music, on NBC-TV.

1984 – Michael Jackson and his brothers started their Victory Tour in Kansas City, Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium. The tour turned out to be a victory for the Jacksons when the nationwide concert tour concluded months later.

2000 – Venus Williams beat her sister, Serena, at Wimbledon. In one of the most eagerly anticipated Wimbledon matches in years, 18-year-old Serena was in tears after the final game. It was her fourth loss in five tennis matches to her 20-year-old sister.