On this day in history, October 2, 1945, 'American Pie' singer-songwriter Don McLean is born
Don McLean, still touring today, has amassed over 40 gold and platinum records in his career


Singer Don McLean, perhaps best known for his 1972 mega-hit "American Pie," was born in New Rochelle, New York, on this day in history, Oct. 2, 1945.

"American Pie" singer Don McLean — who is still performing and touring — was born on this day in history, Oct. 2, 1945, in New Rochelle, New York.

He is forever associated with his iconic hit "American Pie" — named one of the Top 5 Songs of the 20th Century in a poll by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

1959: The Twilight Zone premiers
'The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be our journey.' So intones Rod Serling as his new anthology series, 'The Twilight Zone,' premieres on CBS. The science-fiction-fantasy show will develop a cult following with this and its 155 additional episodes.

 

October 2

1187 - The First Sultan of Egypt and Syria Saladin captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders.


1535 - French Explorer Jacques Cartieros the first to visit the Iriquois settlement of Hochelaga( now Montreal)


1789 - George Washington transmits the proposed Constitutional Ammendments( United States Bill of Rights) to the states for ratification.


1871- US Mormon leader Brigham Young arrested for binary.


1902 - Beatrice Potter's " The Take of Peter Rabbit" is published by Frederick Wayne and Co. In London.


1919 - US President Woodrow Wilson has a stroke leaving him b partially paralyzed.


1950 - First strip of Charlie Brown ,"Lil Folks" (later Peanuts) , by Charles M. Schultz published I n seven nationwide newspapers.


1967 - Thurogood Marshall sworn in as Supreme Court Justice.

 

October 2

Film and TV
1933 - Eugene O'Neil's comedy play " Ah, Wilderness" premieres in NYC.


1953 - Victor Borge's one man show " Comedy in Music" opens at John Golden Theatre in NYC.


1957 - " Bridge Over River Kwai" , directed by David Lean and starring William Holden and Alec Guiness is released. Won Academy Awards for Best Picture, 1959.


Music

1925 - Josephine Baker first performs in Paris in LA Revue Negrecat the Theatre des Champs-Elyses.


Sports

1947 - Yogi Berra hits the first pinch-hit home run in a Game 3 loss of 9-8 against the Brooklyn Dodgers.


1974 - Hall of Fame baseball right fielder Hank Aaron hits his final home run. It was number 733rd career home run on his last at bat.

 

On October 3, 1941, John Huston's adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's famed 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon, had its world premiere in NewYork City. The movie was an immediate success, eventually becoming one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

The film was actually the third Maltese Falcon made, and is considered by some to be the greatest detective movie ever made, and a foreshadowing of the post war Film Noir movement.

The film involves a motley group of crooks chasing after what Hitchcock would come to call a 'McGuffin' - simply an object that provides the impetus for the proceedings:

"In 1539 the Knight Templars [sic] of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels—but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."

—Introductory text appearing after the film's opening credits.

 

October 3

52BC - Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Roman's under Julius Caesar, ending the Siege and Battle of Alesia.

42BC - First Battle of Phillippi: Mak A Antony a ND Oct a vianbfight and indecisive Battle against Caesar's assassin's Brutus and Cassiuos.

1778 - Captain Jaames Cook anchors at Alaska.


1863 - US President Abraham Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.


1908 - Pravda newspaper is founded by Leon Tolstoy and other Russian exiles in Vienna.


1913 - US Federal income tax signed into law(at 1%) by President Woodrow Wilson.

1977 - Indira Ghandi is arrested with four other members of her cabinet on corruption allegations, acquitted the next day.



989 - Panamanian Defense Forces attempted a couple of Manuel Noriega unfortunately fails.

1990 - Reunification of East and West Germany. West German flag isvraised above the b Brand r burger Gate at the stroke of midnight.

 

3 Oct 1944
A 60-hour truce began in Dunkirk, France between Allied and German troops to allow the evacuation of civilians.
US Third Army began a 10-day attack on Fort Driant, Metz. Despite stringent gasoline rationing that went into effect that day, XX Corps' 5th Division mounted an attack on the fort, one of the fortress complexes protecting Metz from the south and west. The attack would ultimately fail with a 50% US casualty rate, one of Patton's greatest failures.

 

On this day in history, October 3, 1863, Lincoln issues powerful Thanksgiving proclamation
President, amid savagery of Civil War, called for 'a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens'

The Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Lincoln's words of gratitude stood in sharp contrast to the misery of surrounding circumstances.

Abraham Lincoln, in a stirring call to spiritual unity amid the carnage of the Civil War, issued his emotionally powerful Thanksgiving proclamation on this day in history, Oct. 3, 1863.

The president invited Americans at home and abroad "to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

The tradition of Thanksgiving in America dated back to the first Pilgrim and Wampanoag feast of 1621. President George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving exactly 74 years before Lincoln's decree on Oct. 3, 1789.

 

1990: A nation carved up by he Cold War is made whole
In what will later be celebrated as 'Unity Day,' a country torn in two after the Second World War is reunited as the once Soviet-controlled East Germany is dissolved and its territory and citizens merged with the Federal Republic of Germany, formerly known as West Germany.

 

October 3

FILM and TV

1955 - "The Mickey Mouse Club" television series premieres.


1961 - "The Dick Van Dyke Show" created by Carl Reiner and starring Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler premieres on CBS.


MUSIC

1945 - Elvis Presley's first public appearance,at age 10, singing "Old Shep" in youth talent contest at Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in Tupelo, Mississippi. The contest is broadcast over WELO Radio. He wins 5th prize - $5 in Fair ride tickets.

SPORTS

1965 - Whitey Ford notches win #232 in season ending 11=5 victory over the Boston Red Sox becoming the Yankees winningest pitcher.


1974 - 39 year old Frank Robinson becomes MLB's first African-American manager when he signs as player manager with a one year contract for the Cleveland Indians. Contract an estimated $180,000.


1974 - Basketball Hall of Fame guard Jerry "Mr. Clutch" West retires after 14 NBA seasons with the Lakers. He had 25,192 career points and averaged 29.1 ppg in 153 playoff games.

 

This afternoon, the surgeon removed the chest tube, and the improvement in breathing is remarkable.

 

October 4

1675 - Dutch mathematician Christian Huygens patents the pocket watch.


1777 - Battle of Germantown: General George Washington's troops attack and are defeated by the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania.


1854 - Abraham Lincoln resumes his political career with a speech denouncing recent federal legislation extending slavery
1883 - The Orient Express departs on its first oofficial journey from Paris to Istanbul.


1983 - West German parliament officially confirmed Helmut Kohl as it's new chancellor.
.
1993 - Troops and tanks under Russian President Boris Yeltsin shell and occupy the Russian White House in Moscow.

FILM AND TV

1918 - Musical "Sometime" with Mae West premieres in NYC



1978 - Film adaptation of Ira Levin's novel "
The Boys from Brazil " starring Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier premieres.

 

October 4 commemorates the sad day in 1970 that Janis Joplin was found dead at the Landmark Hotel Hollywood after an accidental heroin overdose.

Joplin rose to prominence following an appearance in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival, where she was the lead singer of the then little-known San Francisco psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. After releasing two albums with the band, she left to continue as a solo artist with her own backing groups, first the Kozmic Blues Band and then the Full Tilt Boogie Band. She appeared at the 1969 Woodstock festival.

Her greatest success came after her death - the posthumous 1971 US #1 single 'Me And Bobby McGee' witten by Kris Kristofferson, and the 1971 US #1 album 'Pearl' (which is what her friends called her). Joplin remains one of the top-selling musicians in the United States, with over 15.5 million albums sold in the USA.

The famous show at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival:






Continue to Rest in Peace, Janis Lyn Joplin

 

Happy Birthday Anniversary to
Johanna van Gogh. Born on this day in 1862.






Pictured her with her husband,
Vincent’s younger brother, Theo.


The Sunflowers painting was her favorite. it was the last masterpiece she parted with
She died within a year after it went to the National Gallery in London.

Vincent’s brother Theo, an art dealer, died at the age of 33, only 6 months after Vincent passed at the age of 37. Theo left his young widow with an infant, also named Vincent.

If it wasnt for Johanna, Vincent might not have been as popular, she translated the letters between her husband and Vincent to French and German and had them published. She was left with 200 of his paintings. She gradually placed them on exhibit.

Thank you Johanna

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_van_Gogh-Bonger

 

On this day in history, October 4, 1927, Mount Rushmore's moment of creation begins in South Dakota
American landmark took 14 years to complete, meant to commemorate the nation 'until the end of time'


Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, with fireworks in the background.

The creation of Mount Rushmore, which set the images of four American presidents in towering monumental relief in the Black Hills of South Dakota, began on this day in history, Oct. 4, 1927.

"Mount Rushmore is a project of colossal proportion, colossal ambition and colossal achievement," writes the National Park Service, which assumed management of the landmark by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

The monument immortalizes presidents George Washington (1789-97), Thomas Jefferson (1801-09), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) and Abraham Lincoln (1861-65).

Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum led the effort, which employed about 400 men and women before it was completed on Oct. 31, 1941.

"A monument's dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated," Borghlum said of his majestic relief, in which the face of each president stands about 60 feet in height.

The artist never saw his vision to completion.

He died of a heart attack in March 1941. His son Lincoln Borglum oversaw the project in its final months.

 

October 4

MUSIC

1999 - Faith Hill released the single "Breathe" which I went on.to winn Billboard Song of the Year 2020.

2015 - Van Halen's final public appearance takes place at the Hollywood Bowl.

SPORTS

1953 - 50th Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 4- 3 at Yankee Stadium for a 4-2 series win. It was Yankees recor fifth consecutive WS. Yankee second baseman Billy Martin wins MVP.


1980 - Baseball Hall of Fame 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt hits his 48rh home run setting the record for 3rd baseman.

 

October 5

1274 - About 1,000 soldiers of the Mongol army land on the Japa

 

October 5

1274 - About 1,000 soldiers of the Mongol army land on the Japanese island of Tsushima in the first attack of Kublai Khan's Mongol invasion of Japan.

1568 - Conference of York begins the trial of Mary, Queen of Scotts.


1789 - Women of Paris march to Vesailles to confront King Louis XVI about hiss refu9sal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread and have the king and his court moved to Paris.


1813 - Battle of Thames American forces under General Henry Harrisonfuture 9th US President) defeat Shawnee leader Tecumseh and their British allies near Chatham, Upper Canada.


1877 - Chief Joseph and his people surrender to theUS Army, ending The Nez Perce War in the Western United States.


1916 - Adolf Hitler is wounded (unfortunately not killed) by an exploding shell during the Battle of the Somme.


1947 - US President Harry Truman gives the first televised presidential address from the White House.


1983 - Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

On October 5, 1969, Monty Python's Flying Circus hit the airwaves on the BBC for the first time. The show ran until 1974, and arguably changed the nature of sketch comedy all over the world.

The stars were Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam (who provided the trademark animation), who became known collectively as 'Monty Python' or the 'Pythons'.

The program came about as the six Pythons, having met each other through university and in various radio and television shows in the 1960s, sought to make a new sketch comedy show unlike anything else on British television. Jones and Palin were members of The Oxford Revue, while Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of Cambridge University's Footlights, and while on tour in the United States, met Gilliam.

The cast went on to have flourishing careers, mostly as actors, but with Gilliam as an accomplished and respected director (Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and others).

From Spam to the Dead Parrot to The Gumby's (twits), The Ministry of Silly Walks, and beyond, their timeless bits are referenced everywhere to this day.







The Gumbys:

 

On this day in history, October 5, 1813, William Henry Harrison routs Brits, Tecumseh in Battle of the Thames
General Harrison parlayed War of 1812 heroics into presidency, Shawnee hero Tecumseh killed in the battle


Native American Shawnee chief Tecumseh shot and killed by Richard Johnson in the Battle of the Thames on Oct. 5, 1813, during the War of 1812.
General William Henry Harrison led a stunning victory over British forces and their Native allies in the Battle of the Thames on this day in history, Oct. 5, 1813.

The swift American victory in the War of 1812 had long-term repercussions on U.S., British and Native American history and on the settlement of the west.

The battlefield heroics propelled Harrison, the son of Founding Father and Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, to the White House in 1841.