Today's Reading:"Bright After Dark" by Pearse Hutchinson from SELECTED POEMS, published by The Gallery Press.
It was on this day in 1979 when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran, taking about 90 hostages, 52 of whom were Americans who were held in captivity for 444 days.
It's the birthday of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, born in Floral Park, New York, 1946.
The first air-conditioned automobile, a Packard, went on exhibition at the Chicago Automobile Show on this day in 1939.
Poet C. K. Williams was born on this day in Newark, New Jersey, 1936.
Actor Art(hur) (William) (Matthew) Carney, Ralph Cramden's neighbor on THE HONEYMOONERS, was born on this day in Mount Vernon, New York, 1919.
Journalist Walter (Leland) Cronkite (Jr.) was born on this day in Joseph, Missouri, 1916.
It's the birthday of the designer and industrialist who developed the Ferguson tractor, Harry George Ferguson, born in County Down, Ireland, 1884.
Humorist Will(iam) (Penn) (Adair) Rogers, the "cowboy philosopher," was born on this day near Oologah, in Indian territory that is now Oklahoma, in 1879.
Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married on this day in 1842 in Springfield, Illinois.
The first wagon train of settlers reached California on this day in 1841. It had left Independence, Missouri, on May 1 that year.
Today's Reading:"For You O Democracy" by Walt Whitman. "Success is Counted Sweetest" by Emily Dickinson.
Today is Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
In England, it's Guy Fawkes Day, the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I, and install a Catholic monarchy.
The first FM-stereo broadcast was made on this day in 1955.
It's the birthday of actor, playwright, Sam (uel) Shepard (Rogers), born in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, 1943. His play BURIED CHILD (1978) won the Pulitzer Prize.
Sinclair Lewis became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature on this day in 1930, for his novel, BABBITT.
It's the birthday of cardiologist, author George Sheehan in Brooklyn, New York, 1918. He took up running at the age of 44 and in 1978 published the best-selling RUNNING AND BEING, which inspired the running movement.
Industrial designer Raymond Loewy, designer of the Coca-Cola bottle, was born on this day in Paris, 1893.
It's the birthday of organic chemist Paul Sabatier, who discovered nickel is a catalyst for hydrogenation, the process of adding hydrogen to molecules of carbon compounds. He was born in Carcassonne, France, in 1854.
Today's Reading:"First Early Morning Together" by Robert Pinsky from SADNESS AND HAPPINESS, published by Princeton University Press (1975).
Today marks the halfway point of Autumn; 44 days remain until the winter solstice on December 21.
The Norsefest gets underway today in Madison, Minnesota with a lutefsk eating contest and a ball.
Network TV's longest running program, MEET THE PRESS, first went on the air on this day in 1947.
It's the birthday of stage and film director Mike Nichols (THE ODD COUPLE; THE GRADUATE; CARNAL KNOWLEDGE), born in Berlin, 1931.
Novelist James Jones (FROM HERE TO ETERNITY ) was born on this day in Robinson, Illinois, 1921.
Composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky died on this day in 1893 in St. Petersburg, Russia. His death is now suspected to have been a suicide.
The founder of THE NEW YORKER, Harold W. Ross, was born on this day in Aspen, Colorado, 1892.
Pitcher Walter "Big Train" Johnson, was born on this day in Humboldt, Kansas, 1887.
It's the birthday of the inventor of basketball, James A. Naismith, in Almonte, Ontario, 1861.
Composer and bandleader John Philip Sousa, ("The Stars and Stripes Forever") was born on this day in Washington, D. C., in 1854.
It's the birthday of the Dow of Dow Jones, Charles Henry Dow, born in Sterling, Connecticut, 1851.
Today's Reading:"Forty Something" by Robert Hass from SUN UNDER WOOD, published by The Ecco Press.
Franklin Roosevelt became the only U.S. president to be elected to a fourth term on this day in 1944.
It's the birthday in McLeod, Alberta, of singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell, 1943.
Danish writer and musician Benny Andersen was born on this day in a suburb of Copenhagen, 1929.
It's the birthday of evangelist Billy Graham, born in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1918.
It's the anniversary today of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, led by Vladimir Lenin.
French writer Albert Camus (THE STRANGER; THE PLAGUE; THE FALL) was born on this day in Mondovi, Algeria, 1913.
Zoologist and animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz, was born today in Vienna, 1903.
It's the birthday of writer Herman Mankiewicz (DINNER AT EIGHT; CITIZEN CANE), born in New York City, 1897.
Physicist Marie Curie, winner of two Nobel Prizes for chemistry, was born in Warsaw in 1867.
On this day in 1637, Anne Hutchinson was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, charged with heresy for preaching that faith alone was enough for salvation.
Today's Reading:"The Ram's Horn" by John Hewitt from THE BOOK OF IRISH VERSE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF IRISH POETRY, published by Galahad Books (1995).
The Four Corner States Bluegrass Festival starts today in Wickenburg, Arizona.
The 27th annual Longhorn World Championship Rodeo begins today in Greenville, South Carolina.
New York's Museum of Modern Art opened on this day in 1929.
The first dial telephone service began on this day in 1919 in Norfolk, Virginia.
It's the birthday of dramatist and novelist Peter Weiss, born in Nowawes, Germany, in 1916.
Katharine Hepburn (AFRICAN QUEEN; THE PHILADELPHIA STORY; GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER) was born on this day in Hartford, Connecticut, 1909. She won her first academy award for MORNING GLORY (1932).
Novelist Margaret Mitchell was born on this day in Atlanta, Georgia, 1900. She retired from her job as a reporter at the ATLANTA JOURNAL and spent the next ten years writing her only novel, GONE WITH THE WIND.
Journalist and activist Dorothy Day was born on this day in Brooklyn, New York, 1897.
It was on this day in 1895 that German physicist Wilhlem Konrad Roentgen discovered X-rays while studying cathode rays.
Today's Reading:"You Went Away" by Norman MacCaig from RIDING LIGHTS, published by Hogarth Press Ltd.
It's the anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
A massive power blackout hit the East Coast on this day in 1965, leaving over 30 million people without electricity across the northeastern United States and Canada.
It's the anniversary of Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) in 1938 when Nazi mobs roamed German streets destroying Jewish synagogues, homes and businesses.
Astronomer Carl Sagan was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1934.
It's the birthday of poet Anne Sexton, born in Newton, Massachusetts, 1928. Her psychiatrist suggested she begin writing poetry as therapy. She committed suicide in 1974.
The influential photographer Robert Frank was born in Zurich on this day in 1924.
Poet, novelist, playwright James Schuyler was born on this day in Chicago, 1923.
A fierce storm struck the Great Lakes on this day in 1913. Ten ships sank and over 200 sailors drowned.
Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to visit a foreign country while in office when he traveled on a battle ship to Panama in 1906.
It's the birthday of German mathematician Herman Weyl, an important contributor to theoretical physics and colleague of Albert Einstein, born in Elmshorn, Germany, 1885.
Stanford White, one of the most popular architects of his time, was born on this day in New York City in 1853.
It's the birthday of Russian writer Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY; FATHERS AND SONS) in Orel, Russia, 1818.
Gail Borden, who developed the first commercial method of condensing milk, was born on this day in Norwich, New York, 1801.
Today's Reading:"Rumors from an Aeolian Harp" by Henry David Thoreau.
It was on this day in 1975 that the ore carrier EDMUND FITZGERALD broke in two and sank during a November gale on Lake Superior, drowning all 29 crew members. This evening in Two Harbors, Minnesota, a special memorial beacon lighting will take place to honor the FITZGERALD and its crew.
The children's television program SESAME STREET debuted on PBS in 1969.
Poet and critic Karl Shapiro was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1913.
The first motorcycle trip was made on this day in 1885 in Germany when Paul Daimler rode for six miles. The motorcycle was intended only for the purpose of testing his newly developed petrol engine.
It's the birthday in Dublin, 1879, of Irish nationalist and poet Patrick Henry Pearse. He wrote in Gaelic to promote the language, helped to plan the Easter Uprising of 1916, was commander-in-chief of Irish forces during the revolt, and became the first president of the provisional government. He was executed by the British on 3 May 1916.
Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk who started the Reformation, was born on this day in Eisleben, Saxony, 1483.
