1957: US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connects smoking with lung cancer

 

On July 13, 1966, eight women were murdered by Richard Speck when, armed with a gun and a knife, he broke into a townhouse for student nurses of the South Chicago Community Hospital after after he had been drinking heavily at several Chicago bars.

Speck used his gun to force three nurses into a bedroom, where he found three more women. He then tied the women’s hands and feet with strips torn from bedsheets. By midnight, more nurses had come home only to be tied up as well. Speck assured the women that he was only going to rob them.

After stealing from the women, he took them into separate rooms, killing them one by one, by strangling and stabbing.

Speck's victims were Gloria Davy, Patricia Matusek, Nina Jo Schmale, Pamela Wilkening, Suzanne Farris, Mary Ann Jordan, Merlita Gargullo, and Valentina Pasion.

There was only one survivor, Corazon (Cora) Amurao, who managed to save her life by hiding under a bed - the drunken Speck had either not known she was there or had lost count of his victims.

Speck was arrested the next day at the Cook County Hospital. With Amurao’s eye-witness identification and his fingerprints left at the scene, Speck was convicted and sentenced to death. It only took the jury 49 minutes to reach the verdict. However, in 1972, when the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty law under which he was sentenced, Speck was re-sentenced to 400 years in prison. He died in prison of a heart attack on December 5, 1991.

 

July 13

1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured by forces loyal to King Henry II of England.

.1787 - The Congregation of Confederation enact the Northwest Ordinance establishing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also established procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.

1985 Vice President George H W Bush becomes Acting President when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to have polops removed from his colon.

 

There are many wonderful and bad things that have happened on July 13th, but the MOST important thing is:
On this day in history, July 13, 2007,
I became married to the sweetest woman in the world no offense to all the other ladies. She is my everything and my all.

 

July 14

982- King Otto II and his Frakist army are defeated the Muslim army of al-Quasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy.

1440 - Joan of Arc, taken prisoner by the Burgundian in May, is handed over to Pierre Colchon, bishop of Beouvais.

1769 - An expedition led by Gaspar de Portola leaves it's base in San Diego sets out to find Port of Monterey (Monterey, California)

1933 - Nazi eugenics program begins with the "Proclamation of the Law of the Heriditarily Diseaseed Offspring. This required the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffers from alleged genetic disorders.

Also Hitler abolished all German political parties except the Nazi party.

 

On July 14, 1977, Elvis Costello and The Attractions made their live debut supporting Wayne County & the Electric Chairs at the Penzance Winter Gardens in Cornwall, England.

Eight days later, EC's debut album, credited only to 'Elvis Costello' will be released in the UK, but it was not The Attractions we heard on that record, it was the Huey Lewis band The Clovers, who would go on to form the very popular band Huey Lewis & The News.

The Attractions consisted of Steve Nieve (pronounced 'naive' - born Steve Nason; keyboards) from London, Bruce Thomas (bass guitar) from Stockton-on-Tees, and Pete Thomas (drums) from Sheffield. The two Thomases are unrelated. They provided backup for Elvis for many years, specifically on EC's sterling albums 2 through 5, where the Elvis Costello legend was cemented.




I became an instant fan the first time I heard 'Alison' on the radio, and went right out and bought the album:

 

1969: "Easy Rider", directed by Dennis Hopper, starring himself, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, is released.

 

On this day in history, July 14, 1968, Hank Aaron hits 500th career home run
Born in 1934 in Alabama, baseball great Aaron would go on to break Babe Ruth's home run record.


Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron smiles as he is honored with a street named after him outside CoolToday Park, the spring training baseball facility of the Atlanta Braves, in North Port, Florida, in this Feb. 18, 2020, file photo.

 

July 15

70 - First Jewish-Roman War: Titus and his armies break the walls of Jerusalem.

1834 - The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after 356 years.

1799 - The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian valley of Rosetta by Captain Pierre-Franois Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.

1870 - Canadian Confederation: Rupertls Land and the North Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson Bay Company and the provinces of Manitoba and North Western Territory are formed.

1862 - The ironclad CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with the Union Navy ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut
Severe damage to three union ships as well as the Arkansas.

1983 - Nintendo release the Famicplon in Japan.



1946 Linda Ronstadt is born.

1948 - John J. Pershing passed away.

 

On July 15, 1988, a sampling of Americans first heard the phrase "Yippee-Ki-Yay, motherfucker" when Die Hard was put out to the public in a limited release in 21 theaters across 20 markets. The movie was presented exclusively in 70mm. Three days earlier, the 'Guests Only" world premiere had taken place at the AVCO cinema in Westwood, CA. The wide U.S. release would happen on July 22.

Despite a slow start, word of mouth helped the film succeed, making it the tenth-highest-grossing film of 1988 and the highest-grossing action film of the year. On a budget of $28 million, it earned $86 million domestically and $138 million worldwide.

Die Hard also received four Academy Award nominations and helped establish Bruce Willis as a bankable leading man and action star and propelled Alan Rickman into star status. It would spur a number of sequels.

The 'word of mouth' worked like a charm. I knew nothing about the film - I heard about it from a friend, who was ready for a second go-round, so a bunch of us went to see it. By then, the theater was packed.

 

1806: Zebulon Pike begins his journey to explore the American Southwest

 

Sports History

1960 Baltimore's future Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson goes 5 for 5 including the cycle in the Orioles' 5-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.


Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr.

Full Name: Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr.
Profession: Baseball Hall of Fame Third Baseman

Nationality:

American
Biography: Robinson played for the Baltimore Orioles for his entire 23-year MLB career (1955-77). He was appeared in 18 All-Star games, won 16 Gold Glove Awards for his fielding., and was American League MVP in 1964. He set 7 team records - all later surpassed by Cal Ripken, Jr.

The Orioles advanced to the World Series four times between 1966 and 1971 with Robinson at third base, winning twice (1966 and 1970). He was selected as the Series MVP in 1970.

After he retired from playing, he served as a broadcaster for the team until 1993. In 1982 he helped to establish the start the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, In 1983, was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Born: May 18, 1937
Birthplace: Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Generation: Silent Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Ox
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: September 26, 2023 (aged 86)

 

July 16

1769 - Father Junipero Serra found California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcala, which would later become the city of San Diego.

1945 - World War II: The heavy cruiser USS Indiana leaves San Francisco with parts for the atomic bomb "Little Boy" bound for Tristian Island.

1951 - J.D. Salinger publishes his popular yet controversial book "Catcher in the Rye".

1990 The Parliament of Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of Ukrainian SSR.

1907 - Orville Redenbacher was born.

1911 - Ginger Roger Roger's is born.

 

On July 16, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was successfully tested with detonation at Alamagordo, New Mexico. The code name for the test was 'Trinity.'

The explosion was the result of 'The Manhattan Project' which began in 1942, and was directed by Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that designed the bombs.

3 weeks later, on August 6th, the first of the two available bombs, 'Little Boy,' using Uranium 235, was dropped on Hiroshima, and when no Japanese surrender was forthcoming, the second, 'Fat Man,' a plutonium device, was dropped on Nagasaki.

On August 15, Emperor Hirohito addressed his subjects via radio all over Japan announcing Japan's surrender. For most of his subjects, it was the first time that they had ever heard his voice.

The official surrender occured on September 2 aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The war was finally over.



Oppenheimer and Groves:

 

1969: Apollo 11 lifted off from NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and four days later two of its astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first humans to set foot on the Moon.

 

On this day in history, July 16, 1911, American actress and dancer Ginger Rogers is born
Rogers was best known for her on-screen chemistry with dance legend Fred Astaire.


Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire starred in 10 movies together — they danced their way through Hollywood.

Hollywood glamour has been part and parcel of the film industry for decades — with the 1930s and 1940s well-known as among the most glamorous time period in the movie-making business.

Ginger Rogers was an American actress and dancer who was best known for work with the legendary Fred Astaire during that time period and much of the 20th century.

On this day in history, July 16, 1911, American star Ginger Rogers was born in Independence, Missouri.

Born Virginia Katherine McMath, Rogers began her entertainment career when she was just a child in Texas, according to Britannica.

Rogers was a student at Central High School in Fort Worth, Texas, when she starred in a play that was written and produced by her mother, according to The Kennedy Center.

After working on her craft in school, Rogers became a last-minute dancer in Eddie Foy’s vaudeville troupe — which then led her to go on her own vaudeville tour in the late 1920s.

In 1929, Rogers made her Broadway debut in "Top Speed" — then performed in "Girl Crazy" a year later, according to Britannica.

After her stint on Broadway, Rogers headed west to Hollywood, California — where she set her sights on a career in the movie industry.

By 1933, Rogers had appeared in three successful films: "42nd Street," "Gold Diggers of 1933" and "Sitting Pretty," according to The Kennedy Center.

The film that truly launched her to stardom, however, was "Flying Down to Rio," in which she starred with dancer Fred Astaire.

The two had a clear chemistry on screen during the dance scenes — and the world loved to see it.

The pair would go on to partner in nine other films over the years.

Rogers became best known for her dancing skills. She also appeared in over 70 films throughout her career.

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Kitty Foyle," the 1940 film subtitled "The Natural History of a Woman."

That film was RKO's top film for 1940 and reportedly earned a profit of $869,000 that year.

 

July 17

1203 The Fourth Crusade:Constantinople, the Byzantine capital falls emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital and goes into exile.

1429 - Hundred Years' War: Charles VII is crowned king of France after a successful campaign by Joan of Arc.

1821 - The Kingdom of Spain cedes Florida to the United States.
1902 -Willis Carrier creates the first air conditioner in Buffalo,NY.

1955 - Disneyland is dedicated and opened by Walt Disney in Anaheim,California.

1959 - "North by Northwest " directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janes Cagbey and Eva Marie Saint premieres in Los Angeles.
1899 - James Cagney is born.

1917 - Phyllis Diller is born.

1961 - Ty Cobb passes away.

 

On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. The huge amusement park featured attractions based on the creations of Walt Disney and the Disney Company.

Disney initially envisioned building a tourist attraction adjacent to his studios in Burbank to entertain fans who wished to visit. However, he soon realized that the proposed site was too small for the ideas that he had, so he hired the Stanford Research Institute to perform a feasibility study to determine an appropriate site for his project, leading Disney purchase the 160-acre site in 1953.

Disneyland has had a larger cumulative attendance than any other theme park in the world, with 757 million visits since it opened (as of December 2021), and has spawned numerous other parks. As of October 2023, Disney has 12 theme parks across six resorts in North America, Europe, and Asia.





This is the image that caused hearts to race as we neared the park on the freeway:



This is the ride that seemed to be responsible for the most barfing. Everyone in the cup would help crank that center wheel to make the cup spin faster:

 

On this day in history, July 17, 1945, the Potsdam Conference begins, final Allied summit after WWII
Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin began the meeting in the suburb of Berlin, Germany.


Shown in 1945, Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), the 33rd president of the United States. After succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt to power during the last months of World War II.

The Potsdam Conference shaped the diplomacy of the end of World War II.

And on this day in history, July 17, 1945, following Nazi Germany's surrender in the war, President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began meeting at Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, Germany, in the final Allied summit of World War II, according to Britannica.com.

The purpose of the conference was to negotiate the terms for the end of World War II.

The three most pressing issues discussed at Potsdam concerned how to handle a defeated Germany; the fate of Poland; and the final destruction of Japanese military power, according to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

"Questions dealing with German reparations, the economic rehabilitation of Germany, Poland’s postwar borders and the composition of Poland’s government proved to be the most contentious," the same source recounted.

These esteemed world leaders worked out many of the details of the postwar order in the Potsdam Agreement, signed on August 1, stated History.com.

They confirmed plans to disarm and demilitarize Germany, which would be divided into four Allied occupation zones controlled by the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

 

1945: Leaders Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill hold their first post World War II meeting at the Potsdam Conference.