Post by farmgal on Jul 7, 2010 22:23:27 GMT -5
July 9 is the 190th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
There are 175 days remaining until the end of the year.
117 days until Election Day Tuesday November 2nd, 2010
852 days until Election Day Tuesday November 6th, 2012
1595 Johannes Kepler inscribes geometric solid construction of universe. Kepler published Mysterium cosmographicum (Mystery of the Cosmos) He described an invisible underlying structure determining the six known planets in their orbits. Thinking as a mathematician, he devised a structure based on only five convex regular solids. The path of each planet lay on a sphere separated from its neighbors by touching an inscribed polyhedron. An inscribed cube separated the spheres of the outermost planets, Saturn and Jupiter. Inside the path of Jupiter, an inscribed tetrahedron contained the sphere for Mars. Spheres for the Earth, Venus and Mercury were respectively nested within a regular dodecahedron, icosohedron, and regular octahedron. The orbital data fitted this model so surprisingly well. It was, nevertheless, wrong-headed!
1755 - French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition – British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat by French and Native American forces.
1776 Declaration of Independence read aloud to General Washington's troops in NY.
1777 - New York elects its first governor.
1793 - The Act Against Slavery is passed in Upper Canada and the importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.
1808 - The leather splitting machine was patented this day by Samuel Parker of Billerica, MA. (located 20 miles northwest of Boston.)
1815 - The first developed natural gas well in the U.S. was discovered accidentally at Burning Springs during the digging of a salt brine well near Charleston, West Virginia. In the U.S., natural seepage had been observed centuries earlier in various places, but here, there was development and use of the natural gas and oil. In 1921, Fredonia, New York, the first gas well dug specifically for natural gas in the U.S. was drilled to 27 feet by gunsmith, William Hart to develop the seepage seen on the banks of Canadaway Creek. Early use was limited. The first industrial use of natural gas in the US was to evaporate brine for its salt, in 1841 by William Tompkins. Earlier, manufactured gas was first used in the U.S. for street lamps in Baltimore (1816).
1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain.
1846 - The territory of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia through an Act of Congress.
1846 Captain Montgomery claims Yerba Buena (SF) for US
1847 - A 10-hour work day was established for workers in the State of New Hampshire, largely in response to the efforts of the Manchester mill girls, the New Hampshire state legislature passed a law regarding the ten hour work day. This law, however, ultimately failed to protect them because it included a clause that allowed mill girls to sign a contract with the manufacturers saying that they would work longer hours. Girls who did not sign the contracts often lost their jobs. Soon the New Hampshire born mill girls were replaced by immigrants form Ireland, Quebec, and other places. The mill girls' struggle for the ten hour work day paved the way for later struggles to improve working conditions and wages.
1850 - President Zachary Taylor dies of cholera and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.
1860 - A hot blast of air in the middle of a sweltering summer pushed the mercury up to 115 degrees at Fort Scott and Lawrence, KS. (David Ludlum)
1863 - American Civil War: the Siege of Port Hudson ends.
1867 - An unsuccessful expedition led by E.D Young sets out to search for Dr David Livingstone (Scottish missionary and explorer).
1868 - The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
1872 - New England sea captain, John F. Blondel of Thomaston, Maine, patented the doughnut cutter, (but can't take credit for the hole). The origin of the doughnut as a deep-fried egg-batter pastry was from Holland with the Dutch name of olykoeks -- "oily cakes." In 1847, another New England ship captain's enjoyed his mother's pastries. Made using a deep-fried spiced dough, Elizabeth Gregory put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center, where the dough might not cook through - "doughnuts." Captain Hanson Gregory claimed credit for originating the hole in the doughnut. Originally, he cut the hole using the top of a round tin pepper box. This made more uniform frying possible with increased surface area, commemorated by a bronze plaque at his hometown, Rockport, Maine.
1877 - Wimbledon tournament begins.
1878 An improved corncob pipe patented by Henry Tibbe, Washington, Mo
1893 - Suture of the pericardium (the fluid sac surrounding the heart muscle) was performed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. When a 24-yr-old victim of a stabbing during a bar-fight was brought to Provident Hospital in Chicago, Williams operated without using anesthesia to remove the knife, open the thoracic cavity, then suture the wound to the pericardium, a daring procedure for the time. He allowed a small (1/10" long) nick to heal on its own. The patient recovered and lived for at least 20 years afterward. Dr. Williams was the only African-American in a group of 100 charter members of the American College of Surgeons in 1913. He founded and became the first vice-president of the National Medical Association.
1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetalism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1918 - Great train wreck of 1918: in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
1922 - Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.
1941 - Enigma key broken.
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/enigma-key-broken
1944 - World War II: Battle of Normandy - British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Saipan - Americans take Saipan.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Tali-Ihantala - Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, which is to date largest battle of north Europe. Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into defensive position, which ends the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.
1953 Phillies Robin Roberts ends streak of 28 consecutive complete games
1956 Dick Clark's 1st appearance as host of American Bandstand
1958 Giant splash caused by fall of 90 million tons of rock & ice into Lituya Bay, Alaska washes 1,800 feet up the mountain. On 9 July 1958, a giant landslide at the head of Lituya Bay in Alaska, caused by an earthquake, generated a wave with an initial amplitude of 524 meters (1,720 ft). This is the highest wave ever recorded, and surged over the headland opposite, stripping trees and soil down to bedrock, and surged along the fjord which forms Lituya Bay, destroying a fishing boat anchored there and killing two people. Howard Ulrich and his son managed to ride the wave in their boat, and both survived.
1960 "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" by Connie Francis topped the charts
1960 - Thresher was launched, the first of a class of U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines. During sea trials after commissioning it sank in April 1963 for reasons that remain unknown. With 129 persons on board, it was the worst loss in submarine history. It was armed with Subroc antisubmarine missiles that could be fitted with either high explosives of a nuclear warhead. The wreckage was observed from the bathyscaphe Trieste at a depth of about 8,500-ft.
1962 - In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opens at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.
1968 - Columbus, MS received 15.68 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for the state. (The Weather Channel)
1976 Uganda asks UN to condemn Israeli hostage rescue raid on Entebbe
1978 Nearly 100,000 demonstrators march on Washington, DC for ERA
1979 Voyager 2 flies past Jupiter
1982 - Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.
1982 Margaret Thatcher begins her 2nd term as British prime minster
1989 - Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.
1995 - The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lankan Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.
Births:
1577 - Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English Jamestown colonist, the Englishman after whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, an American Indian people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named. (d. 1618)
1686 - Philip Livingston, American politician, Upon the death of his father, Robert Livingston the Elder, he became the Secretary of Indian Affairs, as well as the second Lord of Livingston Manor. He was a member of the Provincial Council for most of his life. He married Catherine van Brugh, the only daughter of Albany mayor Pieter Van Brugh. He accumulated considerable wealth through the Triangular Trade in African slaves. (d. 1749)
1766 - Jacob Perkins (d. 1849). American inventor, of Newburyport, Mass., a Freemason, who produced innovations in diverse fields. For example, in 1794, under his patent of January 16 of that year, he made the first nails which were both cut and headed by machine in America. Around 1817, he installed a hot air furnace of his own design in the Massachusetts Medical College. While living in London, England, he advocated high pressure steam techniques and designed in 1827-28 a steam gun for the French Government. Also, Perkins advanced the art of engraving and platemaking for bank notes. In 1834, he was issued the first US patent for a refrigerating machine for sulphuric ether compression in a closed cycle. (It utilized a concept displayed by Oliver Evans, 1805.) Back in England, he printed 64 million of the first penny postage stamp in 1840.
1802 - Thomas Davenport (d. 1851) American inventor of what was probably the first commercially successful electric motor, which he used with great ingenuity to power a number of established inventions. Though several other inventors had experimented with motors, Davenport was the first to secure a U.S. patent (No. 132 on 25 Feb 1837) for his direct current motor. He incorporated the concept of the electromagnet invented by Joseph Henry in a way that produced a rotary motion using his own idea of a commutator and brushes to control the direction of current flow. He used a motor he built to power shop machinery, and also built the first electric model railroad car.
1808 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier, Doniphan graduated from Augusta College in 1824, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. He began his law practice in Lexington, Missouri, but soon moved to Liberty, Missouri, where he was a successful lawyer. He served in the state legislature in 1836, 1840, and 1854, representing the Whig Party. (d. 1887)
1819 - Elias Howe, American inventor and sewing machine pioneer. (d. 1867)
1838 - Philip P. Bliss, American gospel singer and songwriter. His best-remembered hymns include 'Wonderful Words of Life,' 'It is Well with My Soul' and 'Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.'
1843 - Ralph E. Hudson, sacred composer and music publisher. His most enduring hymns include 'At the Cross' and 'Blessed Be the Name.'
1847 - Edwin Houston (d. 1914). U.S. electrical engineer. Together with another Philadelphia high school teacher, Elihu Thomson, he experimented with electricity, invented (patented 1881) and manufactured arc street-lighting. He presented the first paper, Notes on Phenomena in Incandescent Lamps, to The American Institute of Electrical Engineers when it began in 1884 (AIEE - the predecessor society of the present IEEE, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) . The merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric companies (1892) formed General Electric. In 1894 he joined with Arthur Kennelly (who resigned from Edison's laboratory) to form a consulting company.
1858 - Franz Boas (d. 1942) German-born American anthropologist who is best known for his work with the Kwakiutl Indians from Northern Vancouver, B.C., Canada. While studying the Kwakiutl, he established a culture-centred school of thought in anthropology that came to the forefront in the 20th century. He maintained that cultural traits - behaviors, beliefs, and symbols - were to be examined in their local context with historical, social and geographic conditions. The approach he established was continued by his students, which included Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, linguist Edward Sapir and Alfred L. Kroeber, who in turn influenced Claude Lévi-Strauss.
1889 - Leo Dandurand, American-born Canadian hockey executive (d. 1964)
1894 - Percy Le Baron Spencer (d. 1970) invented the microwave oven. In 1940, Sir John Randall and Dr. H. A. Boot invented the magnetron tube to produce radar microwaves. After the war, Dr. Percy Spencer at the Raytheon Company was investigating the magnetron tube. During one experiment, he discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had totally melted, though the heating effect of microwaves was known earlier. Dr. Spencer deduced the magnetron radiation had melted the chocolate, not his body heat. This led Spencer to researched cooking food. The first commercial microwave ovens were made for restaurants.
1896 - William Cameron Townsend, American missionary and linguist. In 1942 heestablished what has become the largest evangelical missionary agency in the world --Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT).
1911 - John A. Wheeler, American theoretical physicist. One of the later collaborators of Albert Einstein, he tried to achieve Einstein's vision of a unified field theory. He is also known for having coined the terms black hole, quantum foam and wormhole and the phrase "it from bit". (d. 2008)
1915 - David Diamond Rochester NY, composer (Paderewski Prize-1943)
1918 - Jarl Wahlström, the 12th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1999)
1925 - Charles Wicks Emeritus professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University. His focus throughout his career has been mass transfer, and important aspect of chemical engineering along with momentum transfer and heat transfer.
1926 - Ben Roy Mottelson Danish American nuclear physicist. He won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the non-spherical geometry of atomic nuclei.
1927 - Ed Ames, [Edmund Dantes Urick] American singer and actor, with brothers, Ames Brothers, (Ragg Mopp; You, You, You; It Only Hurts for a Little While; The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane)
1932 - Donald Rumsfeld, 13th & 21st United States Secretary of Defense
1934 - Michael Graves, American architect
1938 - Brian Dennehy, American actor, (Check is in the Mail, F/X, Cocoon, Ants)
1943 John H Casper Greenville SC, Col USAF/astronaut (STS-36, sk:STS-50)
1945 - Dean R. Koontz, American author
1947 - O.J. Simpson, American football player, actor.
1949 - Jesse Duplantis, Evangelist, Author, and Inspirational Speaker
1951 - Chris Cooper, American actor
1952 - John Tesh, American composer
1954 Debbie Sledge Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
1955 - Lindsey Graham, American politician
1956 - Tom Hanks, American actor
Deaths:
1228 Stephen Langton (b.ca.1155), Archbishop of Canterbury. It was Langtonwho formulated the original division of the Bible into chapters in the late 1100s.
1755 British General E Braddock mortally wounded during French & Indian War
1766 - Jonathan Mayhew, noted American minister at Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts. He is credited with coining the phrase "no taxation without representation." (b. 1720)
1797 - Edmund Burke, British philosopher and statesman (b. 1729)
1850 - Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
1850 - Báb, Persian founder of the Bábi Faith (b. 1819)
1852 - Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan (b. 1794) nineteenth century politician and lawyer who briefly served as United States Secretary of the Interior.
1856 - James Jesse Strang (b. 1813) was one of three major contenders for leadership of the Latter Day Saint movement during the 1844 succession crisis. Rejected by the main body of Mormonsa in Nauvoo, Illinois, he became the founder and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite),b claiming it to be the sole legitimate continuation of the Church of Christ founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr.. In this capacity, he served as the crowned "king" of an ecclesiastical monarchy that existed for six years within the U.S. state of Michigan. Building an organization that eventually rivaled Brigham Young's, Strang gained nearly 12,000 adherents[1] prior to his murder in 1856, which brought down his Beaver Island kingdom and all but extinguished his sect.
1875 - Francis Preston Blair, Jr. (b. 1821) was an American politician and Union Army general during the American Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President in 1868.
1932 - King Camp Gillette (b. 1855) was an American businessman, popularly known as the inventor of the safety razor, although several models were in existence prior to Gillette's design. While Gillette did improve the design of the safety razor (patent US775134), his true invention was an inexpensive, high profit-margin stamped steel disposable blade and a unique business model that later became known as freebie marketing. This beat out competitors and became the most popular razor of its time.
1937 - Oliver Law (b. 1899) was an African American communist, labor organizer, and social activist, who commanded the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.
1938 - Benjamin Nathen Cardozo (b. 1870) was a well-known American lawyer and associate Supreme Court Justice. Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law in the 20th century, in addition to his modesty, philosophy, and vivid prose style. Although Cardozo only served on the Supreme Court from 1932 until his death six years later, the majority of his landmark decisions were delivered during his eighteen year tenure on the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court of that state.
1972 - Robert Weede, American baritone (b. 1903)
1974 - Earl Warren, American jurist (b. 1891)
1977 - Alice Paul, American suffragist figure (b. 1885)
1977 - Loren (Corey) Eiseley (b. 1907) U.S. anthropologist, educator, and was one of the preeminent literary naturalists of our time. He wrote for the lay person in eloquent, poetic style about anthropology, the history of the civilatization and our relationship with the natural world. Scientific American published Loren Eisleys' first popular essay, The Folsum Mystery (1942). Eiseley's best-known book, The Immense Journey, combines science and humanism in a collection of essays, many with origins to his own early Nebraska experiences. Eiseley became known internationally, winning major prizes and honorary degrees for his unique work.
1979 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
1985 - Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish-born American founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
1992 - Eric Sevareid, American reporter (b. 1912)
1996 - Melvin Belli, American attorney (b. 1907)
1996 - Douglas George Chapman (b. 1920) Canadian-born U.S. mathematical statistician and an expert on wildlife statistics. He was one of the scientific advisors to the International Whaling Commission that warned in the 1960s that the number of whales being taken by the whaling industry was far in excess of what the population could stand, and proposed annual fin whale catch quotas that would permit the depleted populations of this species to recover. His later research on fish farming expanded to include mollusk aquaculture and he directed a program to develop quantitative methods to aid in the management of fisheries resources
2002 - Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
2004 - Paul Klebnikov (Russian: Па́вел Ю́рьевич Хле́бников[1]) (b. 1963) was an American journalist of Russian descent. He worked for Forbes Magazine for over 10 years. His murder in Moscow was seen as a blow against investigative journalism in Russia. The organizers of this crime have never been found. Russian tycoons (primarily Boris Berezovsky), Chechen mafia and corrupt state officials responsible for government expenditures in Chechnya have been named among possible organizers but their guilt has never been proven.
Holidays and observances:
Martyrdom of the Báb (Bahá'í Faith)
Christian Feast Day:
Agilulfus of Cologne
Everilda
Martyrs of Gorkum
Our Lady of Peace, Octave of the Visitation
Veronica Giuliani
daysuntil.com/Election-Day/index.html
www.weatherforyou.com/cgi-bin/weather_history/today2S.pl
www.amug.org/~jpaul/jul09.html
www.todayinsci.com/7/7_09.htm
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/7/9
www.scopesys.com/cgi-bin/today2.cgi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_9
There are 175 days remaining until the end of the year.
117 days until Election Day Tuesday November 2nd, 2010
852 days until Election Day Tuesday November 6th, 2012
1595 Johannes Kepler inscribes geometric solid construction of universe. Kepler published Mysterium cosmographicum (Mystery of the Cosmos) He described an invisible underlying structure determining the six known planets in their orbits. Thinking as a mathematician, he devised a structure based on only five convex regular solids. The path of each planet lay on a sphere separated from its neighbors by touching an inscribed polyhedron. An inscribed cube separated the spheres of the outermost planets, Saturn and Jupiter. Inside the path of Jupiter, an inscribed tetrahedron contained the sphere for Mars. Spheres for the Earth, Venus and Mercury were respectively nested within a regular dodecahedron, icosohedron, and regular octahedron. The orbital data fitted this model so surprisingly well. It was, nevertheless, wrong-headed!
1755 - French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition – British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat by French and Native American forces.
1776 Declaration of Independence read aloud to General Washington's troops in NY.
1777 - New York elects its first governor.
On this day in 1777, New York elects Brigadier General George Clinton as the first governor of the independent state of New York. Clinton would go on to become New York`s longest-serving governor, as well as the longest-serving governor in the United States, holding the post until 1795, and again from 1801 to 1804. In 1805, he was elected vice president of the United States, a position he held under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, until his death in 1812. George Clinton belonged to a politically minded family. His father, Charles, immigrated to New York from Ireland and served in the New York colonial assembly. His brother, James, served as a major general during the War for Independence, and James` son, DeWitt Clinton, would follow in his uncle`s footsteps and serve as the governor of New York from 1817 to 1823. Clinton`s career was marked by his friendship with George Washington and his hatred of New York Tories. In fact, as governor, he attempted to keep the public`s tax burden low by confiscating and selling land belonging to Tories to maintain state coffers. Clinton went on to represent New York in the Continental Congress and voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence, but was not present to sign the document because he had already left to serve General Washington in the field. Although Clinton refused to endorse the U.S. Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added to the document, he remained a dedicated supporter of the new federal government and threw a celebratory feast for President Washington after riding with him to his first inauguration.www.history.com/this-day-in-history/new-york-elects-its-first-governor
1793 - The Act Against Slavery is passed in Upper Canada and the importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.
1808 - The leather splitting machine was patented this day by Samuel Parker of Billerica, MA. (located 20 miles northwest of Boston.)
1815 - The first developed natural gas well in the U.S. was discovered accidentally at Burning Springs during the digging of a salt brine well near Charleston, West Virginia. In the U.S., natural seepage had been observed centuries earlier in various places, but here, there was development and use of the natural gas and oil. In 1921, Fredonia, New York, the first gas well dug specifically for natural gas in the U.S. was drilled to 27 feet by gunsmith, William Hart to develop the seepage seen on the banks of Canadaway Creek. Early use was limited. The first industrial use of natural gas in the US was to evaporate brine for its salt, in 1841 by William Tompkins. Earlier, manufactured gas was first used in the U.S. for street lamps in Baltimore (1816).
1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain.
1846 - The territory of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia through an Act of Congress.
1846 Captain Montgomery claims Yerba Buena (SF) for US
1847 - A 10-hour work day was established for workers in the State of New Hampshire, largely in response to the efforts of the Manchester mill girls, the New Hampshire state legislature passed a law regarding the ten hour work day. This law, however, ultimately failed to protect them because it included a clause that allowed mill girls to sign a contract with the manufacturers saying that they would work longer hours. Girls who did not sign the contracts often lost their jobs. Soon the New Hampshire born mill girls were replaced by immigrants form Ireland, Quebec, and other places. The mill girls' struggle for the ten hour work day paved the way for later struggles to improve working conditions and wages.
1850 - President Zachary Taylor dies of cholera and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.
Raised in Kentucky with little formal schooling, Zachary Taylor received a U.S. Army commission in 1808. He became a captain in 1810 and was promoted to major during the War of 1812 in recognition of his defense of Fort Harrison against attack by Shawnee chief Tecumseh. In 1832, he became a colonel and served in the Black Hawk War and in the campaigns against the Seminole Indians in Florida, winning the nickname of "Old Rough and Ready" for his informal attire and indifference to physical adversity.www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-taylor-dies-of-cholera
Sent to the Southwest to command the U.S. Army at the Texas border, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846. In May, Taylor defeated the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and in September he captured the city of Monterrey. In February 1847, he achieved his crowning military victory at the Battle of Buena Vista, where his force triumphed despite being outnumbered three to one. This victory firmly established Taylor as a popular hero, and in 1848, despite his lack of a clear political platform, he was nominated the Whig presidential candidate.
Elected in November, Taylor soon fell under the influence of William H. Seward, a powerful Whig senator, and in 1849 he supported the Wilmot Proviso, which would exclude slavery from all the territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War. His inflexible responses to Southern criticisms of this policy aggravated the nation's North-South conflict and revealed his political inexperience. Matters were at a stalemate when he died suddenly on July 9, 1850.
1860 - A hot blast of air in the middle of a sweltering summer pushed the mercury up to 115 degrees at Fort Scott and Lawrence, KS. (David Ludlum)
1863 - American Civil War: the Siege of Port Hudson ends.
1867 - An unsuccessful expedition led by E.D Young sets out to search for Dr David Livingstone (Scottish missionary and explorer).
1868 - The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
1872 - New England sea captain, John F. Blondel of Thomaston, Maine, patented the doughnut cutter, (but can't take credit for the hole). The origin of the doughnut as a deep-fried egg-batter pastry was from Holland with the Dutch name of olykoeks -- "oily cakes." In 1847, another New England ship captain's enjoyed his mother's pastries. Made using a deep-fried spiced dough, Elizabeth Gregory put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center, where the dough might not cook through - "doughnuts." Captain Hanson Gregory claimed credit for originating the hole in the doughnut. Originally, he cut the hole using the top of a round tin pepper box. This made more uniform frying possible with increased surface area, commemorated by a bronze plaque at his hometown, Rockport, Maine.
1877 - Wimbledon tournament begins.
On July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, then an outer-suburb of London. Twenty-one amateurs showed up to compete in the Gentlemen's Singles tournament, the only event at the first Wimbledon. The winner was to take home a 25-guinea trophy.www.history.com/this-day-in-history/7/9
Tennis has its origins in a 13th-century French handball game called jeu de paume, or "game of the palm," from which developed an indoor racket-and-ball game called real, or "royal," tennis. Real tennis grew into lawn tennis, which was played outside on grass and enjoyed a surge of popularity in the late 19th century.
In 1868, the All England Club was established on four acres of meadowland outside London. The club was originally founded to promote croquet, another lawn sport, but the growing popularity of tennis led it to incorporate tennis lawns into its facilities. In 1877, the All England Club published an announcement in the weekly sporting magazine The Field that read: "The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon, propose [sic] to hold a lawn tennis meeting open to all amateurs, on Monday, July 9, and following days. Entrance fee pounds 1 1s 0d."
The All English Club purchased a 25-guinea trophy and drew up formal rules for tennis. It decided on a rectangular court 78 feet long by 27 feet wide; adapted the real tennis method of scoring based on a clock face--i.e., 15, 30, 40, game; established that the first to win six games wins a set; and allowed the server one fault. These decisions, largely the work of club member Dr. Henry Jones, remain part of the modern rules.
Twenty-two men registered for the tournament, but only 21 showed up on July 9 for its first day. The 11 survivors were reduced to six the next day, and then to three. Semifinals were held on July 12, but then the tournament was suspended to leave the London sporting scene free for the Eton vs. Harrow cricket match played on Friday and Saturday. The final was scheduled for Monday, July 16, but, in what would become a common occurrence in future Wimbledon tournaments, the match was rained out.
It was rescheduled for July 19, and on that day some 200 spectators paid a shilling each to see William Marshall, a Cambridge tennis "Blue," battle W. Spencer Gore, an Old Harrovian racket player. In a final that lasted only 48 minutes, the 27-year-old Gore dominated with his strong volleying game, crushing Marshall, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. At the second Wimbledon in 1878, however, Gore lost his title when his net-heavy game fell prey to a innovative stroke developed by challenger Frank Hadow: the lob.
In 1884, the Lady's Singles was introduced at Wimbledon, and Maud Watson won the first championship. That year, the national men's doubles championship was also played at Wimbledon for the first time after several years at Oxford. Mixed doubles and women's doubles were inaugurated in 1913. By the early 1900s, Wimbledon had graduated from all-England to all-world status, and in 1922 the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, as it was then known, moved to a large stadium on Church Road. In the 1950s, many tennis stars turned professional while Wimbledon struggled to remain an amateur tournament. However, in 1968 Wimbledon welcomed the pros and quickly regained its status as the world's top tennis tournament.
The Wimbledon Championships, the only major tennis event still played on grass, is held annually in late June and early July.
1878 An improved corncob pipe patented by Henry Tibbe, Washington, Mo
1893 - Suture of the pericardium (the fluid sac surrounding the heart muscle) was performed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. When a 24-yr-old victim of a stabbing during a bar-fight was brought to Provident Hospital in Chicago, Williams operated without using anesthesia to remove the knife, open the thoracic cavity, then suture the wound to the pericardium, a daring procedure for the time. He allowed a small (1/10" long) nick to heal on its own. The patient recovered and lived for at least 20 years afterward. Dr. Williams was the only African-American in a group of 100 charter members of the American College of Surgeons in 1913. He founded and became the first vice-president of the National Medical Association.
1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetalism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1918 - Great train wreck of 1918: in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
1922 - Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.
1941 - Enigma key broken.
On this day in 1941, crackerjack British cryptologists break the secret code used by the German army to direct ground-to-air operations on the Eastern front.
British experts had already broken many of the Enigma codes for the Western front. Enigma was the Germans' most sophisticated coding machine, necessary to secretly transmitting information. The Enigma machine, invented in 1919 by Hugo Koch, a Dutchman, looked like a typewriter and was originally employed for business purposes. The Germany army adapted the machine for wartime use and considered its encoding system unbreakable. They were wrong. The Brits had broken their first Enigma code as early as the German invasion of Poland and had intercepted virtually every message sent through the occupation of Holland and France. Britain nicknamed the intercepted messages Ultra.
Now, with the German invasion of Russia, the Allies needed to be able to intercept coded messages transmitted on this second, Eastern, front. The first breakthrough occurred on July 9, regarding German ground-air operations, but various keys would continue to be broken by the Brits over the next year, each conveying information of higher secrecy and priority than the next. (For example, a series of decoded messages nicknamed "Weasel" proved extremely important in anticipating German anti-aircraft and antitank strategies against the Allies.) These decoded messages were regularly passed to the Soviet High Command regarding German troop movements and planned offensives, and back to London regarding the mass murder of Russian prisoners and Jewish concentration camp victims.
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/enigma-key-broken
1944 - World War II: Battle of Normandy - British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Saipan - Americans take Saipan.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Tali-Ihantala - Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, which is to date largest battle of north Europe. Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into defensive position, which ends the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.
1953 Phillies Robin Roberts ends streak of 28 consecutive complete games
1956 Dick Clark's 1st appearance as host of American Bandstand
1958 Giant splash caused by fall of 90 million tons of rock & ice into Lituya Bay, Alaska washes 1,800 feet up the mountain. On 9 July 1958, a giant landslide at the head of Lituya Bay in Alaska, caused by an earthquake, generated a wave with an initial amplitude of 524 meters (1,720 ft). This is the highest wave ever recorded, and surged over the headland opposite, stripping trees and soil down to bedrock, and surged along the fjord which forms Lituya Bay, destroying a fishing boat anchored there and killing two people. Howard Ulrich and his son managed to ride the wave in their boat, and both survived.
1960 "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" by Connie Francis topped the charts
1960 - Thresher was launched, the first of a class of U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines. During sea trials after commissioning it sank in April 1963 for reasons that remain unknown. With 129 persons on board, it was the worst loss in submarine history. It was armed with Subroc antisubmarine missiles that could be fitted with either high explosives of a nuclear warhead. The wreckage was observed from the bathyscaphe Trieste at a depth of about 8,500-ft.
1962 - In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opens at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.
1968 - Columbus, MS received 15.68 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for the state. (The Weather Channel)
1976 Uganda asks UN to condemn Israeli hostage rescue raid on Entebbe
1978 Nearly 100,000 demonstrators march on Washington, DC for ERA
1979 Voyager 2 flies past Jupiter
1982 - Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.
1982 Margaret Thatcher begins her 2nd term as British prime minster
1989 - Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.
1995 - The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lankan Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.
Births:
1577 - Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English Jamestown colonist, the Englishman after whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, an American Indian people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named. (d. 1618)
1686 - Philip Livingston, American politician, Upon the death of his father, Robert Livingston the Elder, he became the Secretary of Indian Affairs, as well as the second Lord of Livingston Manor. He was a member of the Provincial Council for most of his life. He married Catherine van Brugh, the only daughter of Albany mayor Pieter Van Brugh. He accumulated considerable wealth through the Triangular Trade in African slaves. (d. 1749)
1766 - Jacob Perkins (d. 1849). American inventor, of Newburyport, Mass., a Freemason, who produced innovations in diverse fields. For example, in 1794, under his patent of January 16 of that year, he made the first nails which were both cut and headed by machine in America. Around 1817, he installed a hot air furnace of his own design in the Massachusetts Medical College. While living in London, England, he advocated high pressure steam techniques and designed in 1827-28 a steam gun for the French Government. Also, Perkins advanced the art of engraving and platemaking for bank notes. In 1834, he was issued the first US patent for a refrigerating machine for sulphuric ether compression in a closed cycle. (It utilized a concept displayed by Oliver Evans, 1805.) Back in England, he printed 64 million of the first penny postage stamp in 1840.
1802 - Thomas Davenport (d. 1851) American inventor of what was probably the first commercially successful electric motor, which he used with great ingenuity to power a number of established inventions. Though several other inventors had experimented with motors, Davenport was the first to secure a U.S. patent (No. 132 on 25 Feb 1837) for his direct current motor. He incorporated the concept of the electromagnet invented by Joseph Henry in a way that produced a rotary motion using his own idea of a commutator and brushes to control the direction of current flow. He used a motor he built to power shop machinery, and also built the first electric model railroad car.
1808 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier, Doniphan graduated from Augusta College in 1824, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. He began his law practice in Lexington, Missouri, but soon moved to Liberty, Missouri, where he was a successful lawyer. He served in the state legislature in 1836, 1840, and 1854, representing the Whig Party. (d. 1887)
1819 - Elias Howe, American inventor and sewing machine pioneer. (d. 1867)
1838 - Philip P. Bliss, American gospel singer and songwriter. His best-remembered hymns include 'Wonderful Words of Life,' 'It is Well with My Soul' and 'Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.'
1843 - Ralph E. Hudson, sacred composer and music publisher. His most enduring hymns include 'At the Cross' and 'Blessed Be the Name.'
1847 - Edwin Houston (d. 1914). U.S. electrical engineer. Together with another Philadelphia high school teacher, Elihu Thomson, he experimented with electricity, invented (patented 1881) and manufactured arc street-lighting. He presented the first paper, Notes on Phenomena in Incandescent Lamps, to The American Institute of Electrical Engineers when it began in 1884 (AIEE - the predecessor society of the present IEEE, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) . The merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric companies (1892) formed General Electric. In 1894 he joined with Arthur Kennelly (who resigned from Edison's laboratory) to form a consulting company.
1858 - Franz Boas (d. 1942) German-born American anthropologist who is best known for his work with the Kwakiutl Indians from Northern Vancouver, B.C., Canada. While studying the Kwakiutl, he established a culture-centred school of thought in anthropology that came to the forefront in the 20th century. He maintained that cultural traits - behaviors, beliefs, and symbols - were to be examined in their local context with historical, social and geographic conditions. The approach he established was continued by his students, which included Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, linguist Edward Sapir and Alfred L. Kroeber, who in turn influenced Claude Lévi-Strauss.
1889 - Leo Dandurand, American-born Canadian hockey executive (d. 1964)
1894 - Percy Le Baron Spencer (d. 1970) invented the microwave oven. In 1940, Sir John Randall and Dr. H. A. Boot invented the magnetron tube to produce radar microwaves. After the war, Dr. Percy Spencer at the Raytheon Company was investigating the magnetron tube. During one experiment, he discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had totally melted, though the heating effect of microwaves was known earlier. Dr. Spencer deduced the magnetron radiation had melted the chocolate, not his body heat. This led Spencer to researched cooking food. The first commercial microwave ovens were made for restaurants.
1896 - William Cameron Townsend, American missionary and linguist. In 1942 heestablished what has become the largest evangelical missionary agency in the world --Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT).
1911 - John A. Wheeler, American theoretical physicist. One of the later collaborators of Albert Einstein, he tried to achieve Einstein's vision of a unified field theory. He is also known for having coined the terms black hole, quantum foam and wormhole and the phrase "it from bit". (d. 2008)
1915 - David Diamond Rochester NY, composer (Paderewski Prize-1943)
1918 - Jarl Wahlström, the 12th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1999)
1925 - Charles Wicks Emeritus professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University. His focus throughout his career has been mass transfer, and important aspect of chemical engineering along with momentum transfer and heat transfer.
1926 - Ben Roy Mottelson Danish American nuclear physicist. He won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the non-spherical geometry of atomic nuclei.
1927 - Ed Ames, [Edmund Dantes Urick] American singer and actor, with brothers, Ames Brothers, (Ragg Mopp; You, You, You; It Only Hurts for a Little While; The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane)
1932 - Donald Rumsfeld, 13th & 21st United States Secretary of Defense
1934 - Michael Graves, American architect
1938 - Brian Dennehy, American actor, (Check is in the Mail, F/X, Cocoon, Ants)
1943 John H Casper Greenville SC, Col USAF/astronaut (STS-36, sk:STS-50)
1945 - Dean R. Koontz, American author
1947 - O.J. Simpson, American football player, actor.
1949 - Jesse Duplantis, Evangelist, Author, and Inspirational Speaker
1951 - Chris Cooper, American actor
1952 - John Tesh, American composer
1954 Debbie Sledge Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
1955 - Lindsey Graham, American politician
1956 - Tom Hanks, American actor
Deaths:
1228 Stephen Langton (b.ca.1155), Archbishop of Canterbury. It was Langtonwho formulated the original division of the Bible into chapters in the late 1100s.
1755 British General E Braddock mortally wounded during French & Indian War
1766 - Jonathan Mayhew, noted American minister at Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts. He is credited with coining the phrase "no taxation without representation." (b. 1720)
1797 - Edmund Burke, British philosopher and statesman (b. 1729)
1850 - Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
1850 - Báb, Persian founder of the Bábi Faith (b. 1819)
1852 - Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan (b. 1794) nineteenth century politician and lawyer who briefly served as United States Secretary of the Interior.
1856 - James Jesse Strang (b. 1813) was one of three major contenders for leadership of the Latter Day Saint movement during the 1844 succession crisis. Rejected by the main body of Mormonsa in Nauvoo, Illinois, he became the founder and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite),b claiming it to be the sole legitimate continuation of the Church of Christ founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr.. In this capacity, he served as the crowned "king" of an ecclesiastical monarchy that existed for six years within the U.S. state of Michigan. Building an organization that eventually rivaled Brigham Young's, Strang gained nearly 12,000 adherents[1] prior to his murder in 1856, which brought down his Beaver Island kingdom and all but extinguished his sect.
1875 - Francis Preston Blair, Jr. (b. 1821) was an American politician and Union Army general during the American Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President in 1868.
1932 - King Camp Gillette (b. 1855) was an American businessman, popularly known as the inventor of the safety razor, although several models were in existence prior to Gillette's design. While Gillette did improve the design of the safety razor (patent US775134), his true invention was an inexpensive, high profit-margin stamped steel disposable blade and a unique business model that later became known as freebie marketing. This beat out competitors and became the most popular razor of its time.
1937 - Oliver Law (b. 1899) was an African American communist, labor organizer, and social activist, who commanded the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.
1938 - Benjamin Nathen Cardozo (b. 1870) was a well-known American lawyer and associate Supreme Court Justice. Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law in the 20th century, in addition to his modesty, philosophy, and vivid prose style. Although Cardozo only served on the Supreme Court from 1932 until his death six years later, the majority of his landmark decisions were delivered during his eighteen year tenure on the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court of that state.
1972 - Robert Weede, American baritone (b. 1903)
1974 - Earl Warren, American jurist (b. 1891)
1977 - Alice Paul, American suffragist figure (b. 1885)
1977 - Loren (Corey) Eiseley (b. 1907) U.S. anthropologist, educator, and was one of the preeminent literary naturalists of our time. He wrote for the lay person in eloquent, poetic style about anthropology, the history of the civilatization and our relationship with the natural world. Scientific American published Loren Eisleys' first popular essay, The Folsum Mystery (1942). Eiseley's best-known book, The Immense Journey, combines science and humanism in a collection of essays, many with origins to his own early Nebraska experiences. Eiseley became known internationally, winning major prizes and honorary degrees for his unique work.
1979 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
1985 - Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish-born American founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
1992 - Eric Sevareid, American reporter (b. 1912)
1996 - Melvin Belli, American attorney (b. 1907)
1996 - Douglas George Chapman (b. 1920) Canadian-born U.S. mathematical statistician and an expert on wildlife statistics. He was one of the scientific advisors to the International Whaling Commission that warned in the 1960s that the number of whales being taken by the whaling industry was far in excess of what the population could stand, and proposed annual fin whale catch quotas that would permit the depleted populations of this species to recover. His later research on fish farming expanded to include mollusk aquaculture and he directed a program to develop quantitative methods to aid in the management of fisheries resources
2002 - Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
2004 - Paul Klebnikov (Russian: Па́вел Ю́рьевич Хле́бников[1]) (b. 1963) was an American journalist of Russian descent. He worked for Forbes Magazine for over 10 years. His murder in Moscow was seen as a blow against investigative journalism in Russia. The organizers of this crime have never been found. Russian tycoons (primarily Boris Berezovsky), Chechen mafia and corrupt state officials responsible for government expenditures in Chechnya have been named among possible organizers but their guilt has never been proven.
Holidays and observances:
Martyrdom of the Báb (Bahá'í Faith)
Christian Feast Day:
Agilulfus of Cologne
Everilda
Martyrs of Gorkum
Our Lady of Peace, Octave of the Visitation
Veronica Giuliani
daysuntil.com/Election-Day/index.html
www.weatherforyou.com/cgi-bin/weather_history/today2S.pl
www.amug.org/~jpaul/jul09.html
www.todayinsci.com/7/7_09.htm
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/7/9
www.scopesys.com/cgi-bin/today2.cgi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_9