This Day In History: October 6, 1866 An innovation in the world of Wild West crime was made on October 6, 1866 when the Reno gang committed the first robbery ever made on a moving train. (There was an earlier one committed by guerrilla soldiers in 1865, but it’s thought to have taken place while the train was stopped). Robbing […]

This Day In History: October 3, 1967 On October 3, 1967, Woody Guthrie, legendary icon of the 50’s folk music revival, died of Huntington’s Disease in Queens, New York at the Creedmoor State Hospital. A prolific artist, Woody composed almost 3,000 song lyrics, authored two novels, and wrote poems, plays and prose during his lifetime. He served as an inspiration […]

This Day In History: October 2, 1869 “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” -Mahatma Gandhi One of the most influential people of 20th century, Mahatma (“the great-souled one”) Gandhi was born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He led […]

This Day In History: October 1, 1942 On October 1, 1942 the first Little Golden Books were published, making children’s books affordable for the average family during an era when they were considered a luxury item for most. Priced at 25 cents each (about $3.50 today), Little Golden Books were an instant hit with young readers and parents alike. Before […]

This Day In History: September 30, 1868 “The great literary hit of the season is undoubtedly Miss Alcott’s Little Women, the orders for which continue to flow in upon us to such an extent as to make it impossible to answer them with promptness.” – Roberts Brothers Publishing Little Women did not just flow forth from the imagination of author […]

This Day In History: September 29, 1982 On the morning of September 29, 1982, a 12-year-old girl in suburban Chicago named Mary Kellerman complained to her parents that she wasn’t feeling well. They gave her two Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules, and she continued preparing for her day. A short time later, her parents found her collapsed in the bathroom. They rushed […]

This Day In History: September 26, 1969 The show was mercilessly panned by critics and mocked by most TV viewers. It never once reached the top ten in the Neilson ratings. Yet it ran for five seasons and has been in continuous syndication ever since its final show in 1974. As goofy and clean-cut as The Brady Brunch appears to […]

This Day In History: September 25, 1981 Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in by Chief Justice Warren Burger as the first female Supreme Court Justice in the United States on September 25, 1981. Born in El Paso Texas in 1930, Sandra Day’s interest in the law was sparked by a legal issue involving her family’s cattle ranch in Arizona, where […]

This Day In History: September 24, 1896 F. Scott Fitzgerald, who exemplified the highs and lows of the Jazz Age through both his writing and his personal life, was born in St. Paul Minnesota on September 24, 1896. The son of an alcoholic father and an Irish immigrant mother, Fitzgerald was always painfully aware of the divide between his family […]

This Day In History: September 23, 1912 On September 23, 1912, movie history was made in several different ways. When Mack Sennett’s first groundbreaking Keystone comedy, “The Water Nymph” was released, Mabel Normand became the first actress to appear on-screen wearing a bathing suit. Additionally, Sennett promoted the film using Normand’s name and likeness, which was a big deal because […]

This Day In History: September 22, 1529 Thomas Wolsey, as high and mighty as he became, rose from humble beginnings. He was born around 1473 as the son of a butcher – as common as it gets. His climb to the top began after he attended Oxford University and was ordained into the clergy in 1498. His ambition and ability […]

This Day In History: September 19, 1952 “A democracy is a place where you can express your ideas freely—or it isn’t a democracy.” – Charles Chaplin During the Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, legendary actor and film maker Charlie Chaplin, who never gave up his British citizenship and was well-known for his liberal politics, ran afoul […]

Today in History: September 18, 1923 On September 18, 1923, Princess Anne Antoinette Francois Charlotte of Bourbon-Parma was born in Paris, France. The second child of Prince Rene of Bourbon-Parma and princess Margrethe of Demark, she spent her early years with her parents and three brothers in France before they fled from the Nazis and headed for Spain in 1939. […]

This Day In History: September 17, 1630 Long before the Red Sox, Whitey Bulger, or Tom Brady, Boston’s first European settlers called the area Trimountaine in reference to its now non-existent three mountains. The name didn’t stick for very long. The land that was called Shawmut by the local Algonquin inhabitants was named Boston (after Boston, England) on September 17, […]

This Day In History: September 16, 1932 In the early days of Hollywood, many pretty girls, whether they had acting experience or not, decided to head out west to try and make a career in motion pictures. Competition was fierce, and most of them eventually went home to the Midwest or the East Coast – or where-ever – after facing […]

This Day In History: September 15, 1963 The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama not only served as a house of worship for its predominately black congregation, but it also was a meeting place for organizers of the Civil Rights movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many of the 1960s Civil Rights marches in Birmingham began at the […]

This Day In History: September 12, 1966 The television series The Monkees revolved around four young guys trying to make it in the music business and the mad-cap adventures they had while doing so. The four “insane boys” (as the casting call described the perfect candidates for the job) chosen by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider to portray The […]

This Day In History: September 11, 1297 “Wallace fought for Scotland and left the name of Wallace to be found like wild flowers all over his dear country” – William Wordsworth On September 11, 1297, The Earl of Surrey’s English forces met Scottish troops led by William Wallace and Andrew de Moray at Stirling Bridge. The Scots were stationed on […]