Walter Williams(age 117: last known Civil War vet)–
Hope Lange(actress)–
Born
Joe "King" Oliver(jazz musician)–
Fritz Reiner(conductor)–
Cicely Tyson(actress)–
Tim Reid(actor)–
Jennifer Beals(actress)–
Criss Angel(illusionist)–
Alyssa Milano(actress)–
Jake Gyllenhaal(actor)–
Marla Sokoloff(actress)–
Events
Fictional Robinson Crusoe left island after 28 years. Daniel Defoe’s story is based on an actual person, Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, who was found on an island where he had been stranded for 52 months. (He was rescued on Feb. 1, 1709) –
Mark Twain received a patent for suspenders –
The National Hockey League began its first professional season with four teams –
Robert Ripley’s column, Believe It or Not!, first appeared in The New York Globe –
The first known radio broadcast from outer space was transmitted when President Eisenhower’s recorded voice issued a holiday greeting for the whole world from the Atlas satellite which was launched the previous day –
New transatlantic submarine cable, CANTAT-1, between Britain and Canada (first link in a proposed around-the-world Commonwealth system) is inaugurated by a telephone conversation between Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Diefenbaker of Canada –
Intelsat III F-2 communications satellite launched –
Weather
Louisiana Purchase explorer William Dunbar wrote, “… the e[a]ves of our cabin hang with beautiful icicles” –
The temperature at Yellowstone National Park was -59 degrees F –
It was so cold in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, that several children got stuck to their playground equipment and had to be thawed off. (It was -43F or -41.5C.) –
