632 Islam’s founder, Muhammad dies in the arms of his wife, Aisha [ Interesting foundational story which is, of course, sterilized and politically correct: http://tinyurl.com/7gpm6ge%5D

793 Vikings plunder St Cuthbert’s monastery on Lindisfarne [ H/T to Ragnor Lothbrok of “Vikings” tv fame

1786 Commercially made ice cream first advertised (Mr Hall, NYC) [Everything you ever wanted to know about ice cream: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodicecream.html

1789 James Madison introduces a proposed Bill of Rights in the U.S. House of Representatives.

1809 William Hyde Wollaston invents the first reflective goniometer. [Must guess before googling. 😉 ]

1824 Washing machine patented by Noah Cushing of Quebec; it was the first Canadian Patent.

1861 US Sanitary Commission is given executive approval. This was a private agency giving care and support to the soldiers of the Civil War.

1869 Ives W McGaffey of Chicago patents first vacuum cleaner

1872 Congress endorses penny post card

1892 Homer A Plessy refuses to go to segregated RR car (Plessy v Ferguson) The subsequent Supreme Court decision upheld state racial segregation laws under a “separate but equal” mandate.

1896 Cleveland asks for inquiry into number of “aliens” in federal employment [Same as it’s ever been…] The Democratic party was anti-immigrant and they saw then much of the same civil economic/disruptions we find today with our illegal immigrants (and refugees).

1913 Forensic evidence captures a murderous father Pioneer in forensic medicine, Sydney Smith noticed the condition of the bodies of two young boys as well as other clues. See: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/forensic-evidence-captures-a-murderous-father

1920 Reds’ Edd Roush falls asleep in center during long infield argument; Heinie Groh goes to wake him, but ump ejects Roush for delay of game

1928 First US-to-Australia flight lands (Sir Charles Kingford)

1936 First parking meters are invented [history.com tells a tale of their colorful creator http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/worlds-first-parking-meter-installed ]

1937 World’s largest flower blooms in NY Botanical Garden, 12′ calla lily

1938 Discovery of an early hominid, later named Paranthropus Robustus. Found at Kromdraai, Blaauwbank River Valley in South Africa. Science: http://tinyurl.com/y7bu6ydr

1940 Discovery of element 93, neptunium, announced

1944 First SS-Panzer Korps counter attacks at Normandy

1944 Allies occupy Port-en-Bessin Normandy

1944 General Montgomery lands in Normandy, sets up HQ in Chateau de Creully

1946 Sukarno calls for anti colonial defiance in Indonesia [Interesting when you consider Obama’s distaste for Colonialism, in addition to Kenya under the British empire, given he’s supposed to have been born in Indonesia.]

1948 “Milton Berle Show” premieres on NBC TV “If evolution works, how come mothers only have two hands?” Bonus video for today’s history!

1948 John Rudder becomes first black commissioned officer in US marines

1948 First Porsche completed [hand-built aluminum, labeled “No. 1”. history.com: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-porsche-completed ]

1949 Siam changes name to Thailand

1949 FBI report names Hollywood figures as communists “Hollywood figures, including film stars Frederic March, John Garfield, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson, are named in a FBI report as Communist Party members. Such reports helped to fuel the anticommunist hysteria in the United States during the late-1940s and 1950s.” http://tinyurl.com/6aa2et7

1953 Cluster of 6 tornadoes touches down in Flint Michigan killing 113

1953 Segregated lunch counters in DC forbidden by Supreme Court.

1956 Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. killed by another USAF airman in Vietnam, becoming the first American killed in the Vietnam War

1959 First official “missile mail” lands (Jacksonville, Fla)

1959 X-15 makes first unpowered flight, from a B-52 at 11,500 m

1965 US troops ordered to fight offensively in Vietnam

1966 Topeka, Kansas is devastated by a tornado that registers as an “F5” on the Fujita Scale: the first to exceed US $100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.

1968 Don Drysdale pitches a record 58th consecutive scoreless inning

1968 Gary Puckett & Union Gap release “Lady Will Power”

1968 James Earl Ray, alleged assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., captured

1968 The body of assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

1969 “Smothers Brothers comedy Hour” last airs on CBS-TV

1969 Nixon says 25,000 US troops would leave Vietnam by end of August

1971 North Vietnam demands US end aid to South Vietnam

1974 Keyboardist Rick Wakeman quits rock group “Yes”, though he had several runs with the band over the years. He’s talented in areas beside music as well: http://tinyurl.com/yaxhmvpm

1978 Nevada jury rules Howard Hughes “Mormon Will” is a forgery

1979 “The Source,” first computer public information service, goes on-line

1982 US President Ronald Reagan addresses the British Parliament in his “ash heap of history” speech

1983 “Trading Places”, “Ghostbusters” & “Gremlins” premiere

1986 Alleged Nazi Kurt Waldheim elected President of Austria

1987 Oliver North’s secretary Fawn Hall testifies at Iran-Contra hearing

1988 Nippon Airways announces that painting eyeballs on Jets cut bird collisions by 20%

1991 Victory parade held in Washington, D.C. (Persian Gulf War)

1994 7.8 earthquake strikes North Bolivia

1995 Downed U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O’Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia.

1996 Revival of the legendary procession of Lady Godiva (Godgifu) naked through Coventry, England [Good legend telling at infogalactic: http://tinyurl.com/ybcrjjgn She was one good woman, and not just good looking…] [Here’s info about the revival: http://tinyurl.com/y97mkveo ]

2008 The Akihabara massacre (Japan) took place on the Sunday-pedestrian-zoned Chūōdōri street. The attacker killed 3 and injured 2 with his truck before he went on to stabbing others. In total, 7 were killed. During the attack, he was yelling. He appears to be genuinely psychotic rather than a terrorist of his time. infogalactic: http://tinyurl.com/y9ztg3xk

Bonus Video: Ten minutes of Milton Berle’s Comedy skit with Basil Rathbone, giving a taste of comedic banter of the day: