October 18
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Events on This Day
1767 - The border between Maryland and Pennsylvania was agreed upon. Dubbed the ‘Mason-Dixon Line’, it became the unofficial boundary between North and South portions of the United States. In 1763, two British surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, had been hired to explore, mark and chart the proper boundary. They finalized their work on this day, having explored and marked the entire boundary out to a point just above modern Morgantown, WV, or about 25 miles short of Pennsylvania’s current western border. The last stretches were surveyed in the 1770s.1776 - Pro-revolutionary tavern keeper, Betsy Flanagan, who during the American War of Independence, stole chickens from a neighbor’s farm. Betsy fed the stolen chickens to her guests, some French troops (Lafayettes) and some of George Washinginton’s officers. To celebrate this deed, she decorated the drinks and the bar with the feathers of the stolen chickens. It is believed that the Lafayettes toasted to her bravery this day, by shouting, “Vive La Cock Tail.” (Or so goes just one of many theories of the origin of that word ‘cocktail’.)
1842 - Samuel Finley Breese Morse, of Morse code fame, laid his first telegraph cable in New York Harbor between the Battery and Governor’s Island. The experiment was a failure. A ship’s anchor caught the wire and the sailors pulled it up and cut it. A couple of years later, however, Congress passed a bill to support the testing of the telegraph and Morse strung a line from the Capitol all the way to Baltimore, MD. As a large crowd of spectators watched, he tapped out, in code, his famous message, “What hath God wrought.”
1867 - The U.S. took formal possession of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. October 18th is celebrated as Alaska Day.
1870 - From the I Never Would Have Thought You Could Patent That department.: Sand blasting was patented by Benjamin Chew Tilghman. Ben had developed a process for “working hard materials with a blast of sand, driven by air pressure.”
1892 - The first long-distance telephone communication was established between the mayors of New York and Chicago.
1898 - The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico just before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S. It was the end of four centuries of Spanish Imperial occupation and the beginning of U.S. sovereignty at the dawn of what has been called the American Century.
1922 - As the British observed the wild growth of radio in the U.S., they realized the potential of broadcasting in their own country, as well as the need for its regulation. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was established on this day to monitor the development of the radio biz in Great Britain.
1924 - The term ‘The Four Horsemen’ was used in a New York Herald Tribune article by columnist Grantland Rice. The referenced Four Horsemen were the backfield of the University of Notre Dame which had beaten Army, 13-7.
1929 - Today is ‘Persons Day’ in Canada. The On this day the Judicial Committee of England’s Privy Council ruled that women were to be considered as persons in Canada. Previously, under English common law, women were persons in matters of pains and penalties, but were not persons in matters of rights and privileges.
1935 - Victor record #25236 was recorded by Tommy Dorsey and orchestra. It would become one of the most familiar big band themes of all time, I’m Getting Sentimental Over You.
1943 - The first broadcast of Perry Mason was presented on CBS radio. In the 15-minute (Monday-Friday) shows, Perry was played by Barlett Robinson, Santos Ortega, Donald Briggs and John Larkin. Larkin played the role the longest and was reportedly very disappointed when Raymond Burr got the gig on TV (1957).
1944 - Forever Amber, was first published this day. This historic-romance novel was written by Kathleen Windsor. Although the book was very popular among women between the ages of 12 and 24, it was considered scandalous to be seen reading it; a reaction that lasted at least another three decades.
1945 - The German war crimes trials began. The International Military Tribunal met at Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Germany in proceedings that lasted through to 1946. Ranking Nazi officials were tried and convicted of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. William D. Denson was the chief prosecutor for the U.S.
1950 - Connie Mack announced that he was going to retire after 50 seasons as the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.
1954 - The comic strip Hi and Lois appeared in newspapers for the first time. Created by Beetle Bailey cartoonist Mort Walker (and Dik Browne), Hi and Lois are still tickling us (now done by Brian and Greg Walker and artist Chance Browne). The strip appears in more than 1,100 newspapers around the world in 37 countries and is translated into ten languages.
1956 - Football commissioner Bert Bell turned thumbs down on the use of radio-equipped helmets by NFL quarterbacks. Bell had received, um, a lot of static about the devices which were quite popular with coach Paul Brown of Cleveland. Word was that severe whiplash was possible with the long antennas used and, like mom used to say, “Hey, watch it! That thing could put somebody’s eye out!”
1959 - The Soviet Union announced an unmanned Luna 3 space vehicle had taken the first pictures of the far side of the moon.
1961 - Le Bateau, by French painter Henri Matisse, went on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The painting attracted large numbers (over 100,000) of viewers. For 47 days, nobody realized that Le Bateau was hanging upside down.
1962 - Dr. James D. Watson of the United States and Dr. Francis Crick and Dr. Maurice Wilkins of Great Britain, were named winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
1967 - The Soviet space probe Venera 4 became the first to send data back from Venus.
1968 - Circus Circus Casino opened in Las Vegas “to attract all members of the family.” The football-field-sized casino and big top was a giant pink and white oval shaped circus tent across from the Riviera Hotel. To separate the gamblers from their kids, as required by law, a second level contained midway games and attractions for the tykes, but still in view of the circus acts.
1968 - The Biscayne Coral Reef Preserve became a U.S. national monument this day. It was designated as the first underseas national park on June 28, 1980. Biscayne National Park is near Miami, Key Biscayne & Homestead, Florida.
1969 - The U.S. government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
1973 - Raisin opened at 46th St. Theater New York City. It ran for 847 performances.
1977 - Reggie Jackson made history and earned the nickname, Mr. October. Regg-a-roo (as Howard Cosell called him) hit three home runs on three successive pitches. He lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 thrashing of the Los Angeles Dodgers and rookie manager Tommy Lasorda in Game 6 of the World Series. Three different pitchers served up the gopher balls to Jackson. The New York Yankees won the series, 4 games to 2; their first Series title in 15 years.
1979 - Following extensive renovation to return Radio City Music Hall to the look and feel of its 1931 art deco glory, the venerable New York City theatre reopened. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first live presentation.
1981 - General Wojciech Jaruzelski, prime minister of Poland, succeeded Stanislaw Kania as first secretary of the Polish Communist Party.
1983 - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton received some gold to add to their collections -- for their smash, Islands in the Stream.
1986 - Huey Lewis and The News had the number one album in the U.S. Fore was perched at the pinacle of popdom for one week. Fore featured these tracks: Jacob’s Ladder, Stuck with You, Whole Lotta Lovin’, Doing It All for My Baby, Hip to Be Square, I Know What I Like, I Never Walk Alone, Forest for the Trees, Naturally and Simple as That.
1988 - French economist Maurice Allais won the Nobel Prize for Economics (or, more precisely, the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) “for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and efficient utilization of resources.”
1991 - Confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice-designate Clarence Thomas took the oath of office at a ceremony at the White House.
1996 - Sleepers opened in U.S. theatres. The movie stars Kevin Bacon, Robert Deniro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt and Minnie Driver. Also debuting this day was To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, from Triumph Films. This one starred Peter Gallagher, Claire Danes and Michelle Pfeiffer.
1997 - The Women In Military Service for America Memorial was dedicated by U.S. Vice President and Mrs. Gore and other distinguished guests. The memorial at Arlington National Cemetery honors all military women - past, present and future - in the United States armed forces during all eras and in all services.
1999 - The New York Yankees won a record 36th pennant, beating the Boston Red Sox 6-to-1 in game five of the American League Championship Series.
2000 - Torch singer, actress Julie London died in Los Angeles at age 74.
2000 - Broadway musical and Hollywood film star Gwen Verdon died in Woodstock, VT. She was 75 years old.
2001 - Four disciples of Osama bin Laden were sentenced in New York to life without parole for their roles in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
2001 - Mamma Mia! opened on Broadway. The jukebox musical was based on the songs of ABBA composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. The title of the musical was taken from the group’s 1975 chart-topper Mamma Mia. The show opened at the Winter Garden Theatre from 10/18/2001-5/04/2002, moved to the Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre from 5/05/2002 - 12/31/2006, back to the Winter Garden from 1/01/2007-10/19/2013 and finally winding up at the Broadhurst Theatre from 1/02/2013-9/12/2015 -- for a total run of 5,758 performances.
2002 - These films debuted in the U.S.: Abandon, starring Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Gabrielle Union, Zooey Deschanel, Charlie Hunnam, Fred Ward, Melanie Lynskey, Gabriel Mann and Will McCormack; Auto-Focus, with Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Michael Rogers, Kurt Fuller, Christopher Neiman and Lyle Kanouse; Formula 51, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Nigel Whitmey, Robert Jezek, Emily Mortimer and Meat Loaf; and Real Women Have Curves, with America Ferrera, Michelle Moretti, Lupe Ontiveros, Ingrid Oliu, George Lopez, Brian Sites, Soledad St. Hilaire, Sandie Torres, Dona Carlota and Dale E. Turner.
2003 - Manuel Vázquez Montalbán died at 64 years of age. Montalban was one of Spain’s best-known authors and the creator of the Barcelona-based detective Pepe Carvalho.
2004 - The Dover, PA school district voted 6-3 to mandate the teaching of ‘intelligent design’ in public schools -- along with the theory of evolution.
2005 - Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, England was formally opened -- five years overdue and way over budget. The tower offered the highest public vantage point in the U.K. Project manager David Greenhalgh was trapped in the tower’s external glass lift (elevator) for over an hour at the opening. And after years of problems with the Spinnaker Tower’s external lift, it was decided in December 2012 to remove it entirely.
2006 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japan would not be building a nuclear bomb, declaring discussion on that topic “finished,” despite the atomic test by North Korea.
2007 - Benazir Bhutto made a dramatic return to Pakistan, ending eight years of exile, to reclaim a share of power with the country’s military leader, Pervez Musharraf. More than 150,00 jubilant supporters gathered in Karachi to greet her amid massive security. Marring the celbration, a suicide bomber killed 115 people as Bhutto was driven through Karachi.
2007 - 18-year-old pop star Belinda, who starred in the Disney Channel’s Cheetah Girls 2, won the video of the year award at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America in Mexico City. The native of Madrid, Spain, who grew up in Mexico, also won best solo artist.
2008 - As the global financial crisis lifted unemployment to the highest rate in a decade, Britain’s new immigration minister, Phil Woolas, said his government would impose tougher restrictions on immigration.
2009 - Russia’s unmanned Progress M-03M space freighter docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a three-day maneuvering trip from Earth. It delivered food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the orbiting station.
2009 - China reported it had started resettling 330,000 people in central Hubei and Henan provinces to make way for a massive project to divert water hundreds of miles to cities in arid northern China. The estimated $62-billion water diversion project would be nearly three times as expensive as the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project to date.
2010 - French truck drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, while rail strikes intensified and petrol stations ran out of fuel as protests increased ahead of a Senate vote on an unpopular pension overhaul.
2011 - The Obama administration increased U.S. support for Libya’s new leaders as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a visit to Tripoli and pledged millions of dollars in new aid.
2012 - A Portland, Oregeon law firm released internal Boy Scouts of America files on 1,247 volunteers expelled from Scouting because they were suspected of abusing children. The cases during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s had been covered up by scout executives, who apparently, figured they had addressed the problem by pressuring the suspected pedophiles to quit.
2012 - Dutch film star Sylvia Kristel died in Amsterdam at 60 years of age. Kristel was best known for playing Emmanuelle in the first four (of seven) Emmanuelle films.
2013 - Films debuting in U.S. theatres: Carrie, with Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore and Judy Greer; Escape Plan, starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 50 Cent, Sam Neill, Caitriona Balfe and Amy Ryan; Adventures in the Sin Bin, with Michael Seater, Emily Meade and Bo Burnham; All Is Lost, starring Robert Redford; the documentaries American Promise and Broadway Idiot; The Fifth Estate, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl and Carice van Houten; I’m in Love with a Church Girl, starring Michael Madsen, Stephen Baldwin and Martin Kove; Lost for Words, with Jennifer Birmingham, Candy Cheung and Joman Chiang; Paradise, starring Julianne Hough, Nick Offerman, Holly Hunter, Russell Brand and Octavia Spencer; and Two Jacks, with Sienna Miller, Jack Huston, Billy Zane, Jacqueline Bisset, Lydia Hearst and Richard Portnow.
2013 - 100 bushfires raged across New South Wales state, Australia, killing one person, destroying dozens of houses and forcing hundreds of evacuations as the annual fire season got off to an early start.
2013 - France’s constitutional court ruled that mayors could not refuse to carry out same-sex marriages just because they oppose them.
2014 - Rome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino, registered 16 gay marriages that had been entered into abroad. This, in defiance of Italian law, which does not recognize same-sex unions.
2014 - Japan’s Mitsubishi pushed into the booming regional jet sector. The industrial giant unveiled the first passenger aircraft, the MRJ, to be built in Japan in nearly four decades.
2015 - Conditional sanctions waivers were instituted for Iran as POTUS Obama ordered the U.S. government to take steps towards lifting the sanctions. This, in accordance with the historic nuclear deal struck between world powers and Tehran.
2016 - POTUS Barack Obama hosted Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for the final official visit and state dinner of his presidency. Obama announced his support for efforts that Renzi was taking to overhaul the Italy’s political system and enhance its economy.
2016 - “Stop whining,” President Barack Obama rebuked Donald Trump, speaking out on the upcoming election and chiding the Republican for sowing suspicion about the integrity of America’s presidential vote. Obama also accused Trump of cozying up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin to a degree “unprecedented in American politics.”
2018 - Canada legislators in Quebec passed a religious neutrality bill that required citizens to uncover their faces while giving and receiving state services.
2018 - The French parliament adopted an anti-terror law that gave authorities permanent new powers to search homes, shut places of worship and restrict freedom of movement.
2018 - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it had continued to see weapons being transported from Russia to rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine, contradicting Moscow’s claim it was not arming the rebels.
2018 - The Baltimore police department announced that it was shutting down its administrative functions in order to add those 230 officers to those already patroling the streets. Baltimore had suffered 250 homicides at this point in 2018.
2019 - Films opening in U.S. theatres included: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Imelda Staunton; Zombieland: Double Tap, starring Zoey Deutch, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Bill Murray, Woody Harrelson, Rosario Dawson, Avan Jogia, Jesse Eisenberg, Luke Wilson and Dan Aykroyd; Cyrano, My Love, with Thomas Solivérès, Olivier Gourmet and Mathilde Seigner; Greener Grass, starring D’Arcy Carden, Mary Holland, and Dot-Marie Jones; Jojo Rabbit, with Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie and Scarlett Johansson; The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson and Valeriia Karaman; Trick, with Omar Epps, Jamie Kennedy and Vanessa Aspillaga; and Wounds, with Zazie Beetz, Dakota Johnson and Armie Hammer.
2019 - Former Georgia police officer Zechariah Presley, who fatally shot Tony Green, an unarmed, fleeing black man, was sentenced to one year in prison. The jury had acquitted him of manslaughter charges but found him guilty of violating his oath of office in the June 2018 killing.
2019 - Johnson & Johnson recalled some 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the U.S. after the health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a single bottle purchased online. The company said that it was working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which tested the bottle, and had started an investigation into how and when the product was contaminated.
2020 - A federal judge blocked Donald Trump’s effort to end food stamp benefits for some 700,000 unemployed people.
2020 - Coronavirus cases were surging across the U.S., and just two states — Missouri and Vermont — recorded a 10% improvement in the average number of reported cases over the previous week.
2021 - Former secretary of state Colin Powell died from Covid-19 at 84 years of age. He was a politician, statesman, diplomat, and army officer who served as the U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. Powell was being treated for multiple myeloma, had been vaccinated, but the myeloma had compromised his immune system; he also had early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
2021 - Washington State University reported that it had fired its football coach Nick Rolovich, and four of his assistants -- for not getting vaccinated.
2022 - Cellist Yo-Yo Ma was awarded the $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize. He was the fifth recipient and the first instrumentalist to receive the accolade, presented by the King of Sweden. Named for the celebrated 20th-century Swedish opera singer Birgit Nilsson, the prize is awarded to artists and institutions who have made significant contributions to the music world.
2022 - The Girl Scouts of the U.S. announced the receipt of donations totaling $84.5 million from U.S. philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The donation, awarded to GSUSA and 29 local councils selected by Ms. Scott, was meant to accelerate GSUSA’s initiatives that give girls the tools to become the next generation of powerful women leaders.
2023 - The U.S. government was receiving dozens of reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, more commonly known as UFOs, each month. Sean Kirkpatrick, head of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the Pentagon said the office had received approximately 800 reports of unidentified objects to investigate as of April, 2023, up from 650 reports in August 2022.
2024 - Movies opening in the U.S. included: Goodrich, starring Michael Keaton, Carmen Ejogo and Andie MacDowell; and Smile 2, with Kyle Gallner, Naomi Scott and Drew Barrymore.
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Birthdays on This Day October 18
1697 - Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canale)
landscape artist: Venice, London; died Apr 10, 17681854 - Salomon Andrée
explorer: ill-fated North Pole expedition: killed in Oct 1897 attempting to drift across North Pole in hot-air balloon1859 - Henri Bergson
1927 Nobel prize-winning philosopher, author: Creative Evolution; died Jan 4, 19411898 - Lotte Lenya (Karoline Blamauer)
Tony Award-winning singer, actress: The Threepenny Opera [1956]; From Russia with Love, Semi-Tough, Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone; died Nov 27, 19811902 - Miriam Hopkins
actress: The Children’s Hour, The Chase, Carrie, Barbary Coast; died Oct 9, 19721906 - James Brooks
artist: Flight: 235 ft. mural at La Guardia National Airport, NY; abstract expressionist exhibit: Ninth Street Exhibition; died Mar 9, 19921914 - Roberta Gale
actress: Alias John Law, Cheers of the Crowd, Terror of the Plains, Missourie Nightingale, Police Call, Girl of the Rio, Are These Our Children, Behind Office Doors; died Jan 29, 20081916 - Anthony Dawson
actor: Dial M for Murder, The Curse of the Werewolf, Spieler, The Jigsaw Man, Ghoulies II, The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, Tiger Bay; died Jan 8, 19921918 - Bobby Troup
actor: Emergency; singer, musician, TV host: Stars of Jazz; married to singer Julie London; died Feb 7, 19991919 - Anita O’Day (Anita Belle Colton)
jazz singer: Chickery Chick, Boogie Blues; films: The Gene Krupa Story, Jazz on a Summer’s Day, Zigzag, The Outfit; died Nov 23, 20061919 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada [1968-1979]; died Sep 28, 20001920 - Melina Mercouri
actress: Never on Sunday, Once is Not Enough, Topkapi; Greece’s Minister of Culture [1981-1989, 1993-1994]; died Mar 6, 19941921 - Jesse Helms
U.S. Senator from North Carolina [1973-2003]; died July 4, 20081926 - Chuck Berry (Charles Edward Anderson Berry)
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [inducted 1986]; Lifetime Achievement Grammy [1985]; Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, School Day, Rock & Roll Music, Sweet Little Sixteen, Johnny B. Goode, My Ding-A-Ling; in films: Rock, Rock, Rock, London Rock and Roll Show, American Hot Wax, Chuck Berry: Rock and Roll Music, Christmas in Washington; died Mar 18, 2017
1927 - George C. (Campbell) Scott
Academy Award-winning actor: Patton [1970]; Anatomy of a Murder, The Day of the Dolphin, The Hanging Tree, Taps, Oklahoma Crude, The Prince and the Pauper, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Malice; died Sep 22, 19991928 - Keith Jackson
American Sportscasters Hall of Famer: ABC Sports, Wide World of Sports; “Whoa Nelly!”; died Jan 12, 20181933 - Forrest Gregg
Pro Football Hall of Famer: Green Bay Packers offensive tackle: Super Bowl I, II; Dallas Cowboys: Super Bowl VI; head coach: Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals: AFC Coach of the Year [1981]: Super Bowl XVI; Green Bay Packers; Southern Methodist University Athletic Director; died Apr 12, 20191934 - Inger Stevens (Stensland)
actress: The Farmer’s Daughter, Madigan, A Guide for the Married Man, Hang ’Em High; died Apr 30, 19701935 - Peter Boyle
Emmy Award-winning actor: The X-Files [1995-1996]; Everybody Loves Raymond, Taxi Driver, While You were Sleeping, Young Frankenstein, Midnight Caller, From Here to Eternity [TV]; died Dec 12, 20061937 - Boyd Dowler
football: Green Bay Packers wide receiver: Super Bowl I, II1938 - Dawn Wells
Miss Nevada [1959]; actress: Gilligan’s Island [and reunion movies: Rescue from Gilligan’s Island, The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island], 77 Sunset Strip, The Cheyenne Show, Maverick, Bonanza; died Dec 30, 20201939 - Mike Ditka
Pro & College Football Hall of Famer: Chicago Bears Rookie of the Year [1961]; Philadelphia Eagles; Dallas Cowboys tight end: Super Bowl V, VI; Chicago Bears head coach: Super Bowl XX; TV sports analyst: NBC Sports1940 - Cynthia Weil
Songwriters Hall of Famer [w/husband Barry Mann]: On Broadway, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, Walking in the Rain, Kicks, We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place; died Jun 1, 20231942 - Willie (Watterson) Horton
baseball: Detroit Tigers [all-star: 1965, 1968, 1970, 1973/World Series: 1968], Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners1943 - Russ Giguere
musician: guitar, singer: group: The Association: Along Comes Mary, Cherish, Windy, Never My Love1946 - Joe Egan
musician: keyboard; songwriter, singer: group: Stealers Wheel: Stuck in the Middle With You1946 - Howard Shore
composer: The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; has composed scores for over 80 films1947 - Joe Morton
actor: Scandal, Executive Decision, Speed, Of Mice and Men, Forever Young, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, City of Hope, Trouble in Mind, The Brother from Another Planet, Tribeca, Grady, Equal Justice, A Different World1947 - Laura Nyro
singer: Up on the Roof; songwriter: Wedding Bell Blues, Blowin’ Away, And When I Die, Stoney End, Stoned Soul Picnic, Sweet Blindness, Eli’s Coming, Time and Love, Save the Country; died Apr 8, 19971948 - Ntozake Shange (Paulette Williams)
poet, playwright: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf1949 - Gary Richrath
songwriter; musician: guitar: group: REO Speedwagon: Keep on Loving You, That Ain’t Love, Take It on the Run, I Don’t Want to Lose You, Here With Me, Roll With the Changes; died Sep 13, 20151950 - Wendy Wasserstein
writer: The Heidi Chronicles, Bachelor Girls; died Jan 30, 20061951 - Pam Dawber
actress: Mork & Mindy, My Sister Sam; wife of actor Mark Harmon1952 - Chuck Lorre
writer, director, producer: Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Mom, B Positive, The Kominsky Method, United States of Al, Bob Hearts Abishola1952 - Jerry (Jeron Kennis) Royster
baseball: LA Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, SD Padres, Chicago White Sox, NY Yankees1956 - Martina Navratilova
tennis champion: Australian Open [1981, 1983, 1985], French Open [1982, 1984], Wimbledon [1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990], U.S. Open [1983, 1984, 1986, 1987]; International Women’s Sports Hall of Famer1958 - Thomas Hearns
‘Hit Man’: boxer: Titles: WBC Light Heavyweight Champion, WBA Light Heavyweight Champion, WBC Middleweight Champion, WBC Junior Middleweight Champion, WBA Welterweight Champion1959 - Chris Russo
sports radio host: Mike and the Mad Dog; author: The Mad Dog 100: The Greatest Sports Arguments of All Time1960 - Erin Moran
actress: Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi, The Don Rickles Show, Daktari, Galaxy of Terror, Twirl, Watermelon Man, How Sweet It Is!; died Apr 22, 20171960 - Jean-Claude Van Damme (Varenberg)
actor: Kickboxer, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Nowhere to Run, Last Action Hero, Hard Target, Timecop1961 - Wynton Marsalis
Grammy Award-winning musician: jazz/classical trumpet [1984, 1985]: Think of One [1983]; played on: Father & Sons; in orchestra for Sweeney Todd; composer: TV theme song for Shannon’s Deal1962 - Vincent Spano
actor: The Tie That Binds, The Ascent, Oscar, City of Hope, And God Created Woman, Blood Ties, Rumblefish, Baby, It’s You, The Double McGuffin1966 - Alan Mills
baseball [pitcher]: New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers1970 - Doug Mirabelli
baseball [catcher]; Wichita State Univ; San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers1973 - John Baldwin
pairs figure skating champ: two-time U.S. national champion [w/wife & partner Rena Inoue]; more1974 - Joy Bryant
actress: Parenthood, The Hunting Party, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, The Chicken Shack, Hit and Run, About Last Night, ER1975 - Alex Cora
baseball: LA Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians1976 - John Engelberger
football: Virginia Tech Univ; NFL: San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos1979 - Ne-Yo (Shaffer Chimere Smith)
Grammy Award-winning R&B songwriter, singer: So Sick, Because of You, Sexy Love, Closer, Miss Independent, Let Me Love You [Until You Learn to Love Yourself]; won Hal David Starlight Award from Songwriter’s Hall of Fame [2012]1984 - Freida Pinto
actress: Slumdog Millionaire, Immortals, Black Gold, Trishna, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger1984 - Esperanza Spalding
jazz bassist, singer: LPs: Junjo, Esperanza, Chamber Music Society, Radio Music Society; Grammy Award for Best New Artist [2011]; more1984 - Lindsey Vonn
alpine ski racer: first American woman to win Olympic gold medal [downhill: 2010 Winter Olympics]; won three consecutive overall World Cup championships [2008, 2009, 2010]1985 - Yoenis Céspedes
baseball [outfielder]: Oakland Athletics [2012–2014]; Boston Red Sox [2014]; Detroit Tigers [2015]; New York Mets [2015–2018, 2020]: 2015 World Series1987 - Zac Efron
singer, dancer, actor: High School Musical, Summerland, Hairspray, 17 Again, Me and Orson Welles, Charlie St. Cloud, The Derby Stallion, Miracle Run, The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke1990 - Brittany Griner
basketball [center]: 2016, 2020 Olympic gold medalist; 2014 Phoenix Mercury WNBA Championship; 8-time WNBA All-Star; WNBA scoring champion 2017, 2019; she was detained in Russia for drug smuggling Feb-Dec 20221991 - Tyler Posey
actor: Teen Wolf, Elena of Avalor, Jane the Virgin, Truth or Dare, Now Apocalypse, Taco Shop, The Last Summer, Alone, Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands, Fast & Furious: Spy Racers1995 - Yui Ohashi
Japanese swimming champ: first Japanese woman to beat the 2:08-barrier in the women’s 200 metre individual medley event [2017 World Aquatics Championships], finishing with a silver-medal time and a national record of 2:07.91; won Japan’s second gold in the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning the Women’s 400m individual medley; won the gold medal in the Women’s 200m individual medley
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day October 18
1946To Each His Own (facts) - Eddy Howard
Five Minutes More (facts) - Frank Sinatra
1955
1964
1973
1982
1991
2000
2009
2018
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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