What Happened On
Iraq War Cost Underestimated
September 15, 2002
U.S. President George W. Bush's economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsay, estimates the cost of the Gulf War to be $100-200 billion. This figure was criticized by Donald Rumsfeld, who said it would be under $50 billion. A 2007 Congressional Budget Office report estimated the long-term price of the war at about $1.9 trillion.
Columbo
September 15, 1971
After two previous pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the detective series Columbo starring Peter Falk debuts on NBC. It was one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie (McCloud, Hec Ramsey, Columbo, McMillan & Wife). The show also featured his car, an old Peugeot 403, his Basset Hound, and his unseen wife. Oh yeah, "And just one more thing".
Lost in Space
September 15, 1965
"Danger, Will Robinson!" The science fiction TV show Lost in Space debuts on CBS with the episode The Reluctant Stowaway. The show's action is set in the year 1997.
The Zachary Smith character (Jonathan Harris) was originally intended to be a temporary villain, but Harris began rewriting his lines and ad-libbing his scenes making his character a flamboyant, self-serving coward. The character caught on with fans and became a central part of the show.
The Lone Ranger
September 15, 1949
The television show The Lone Ranger debuts on ABC, starring Clayton Moore as the masked hero. The TV series ran until 1957. It had been a successful radio show since 1933.
Jumbo's circus poster and Jumbo after being hit by the train
Jumbo's circus poster and Jumbo after being hit by the train
Jumbo the Elephant Killed
September 15, 1885
Jumbo the Giant African Circus Elephant is killed when he is hit by an oncoming train while being loaded into a boxcar in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. In those days, circuses traveled cross country by trains. Jumbo had finished his performance that night and was being led back to his boxcar when he was hit by an oncoming train. He died within minutes. According to P. T. Barnum, who owned Jumbo, a young circus elephant named Tom Thumb was walking on the railroad tracks and Jumbo was attempting to lead him to safety when the train hit Tom Thumb and then derailed and hit Jumbo.
Jumbo was an African elephant born in Sudan in 1860. After his mother was killed by elephant hunters, he was sent to a zoo in Paris, and then transferred in 1865 to London Zoo in England, and then sold to P.T. Barnum, who took him to the U.S. for exhibition in 1882 as part of Barnum & Bailey's Circus where he was billed as the "World's Largest Elephant".
After his death, Jumbo's body was stuffed and toured with the circus for two years before it was donated to Tufts University, where it was displayed at P.T. Barnum Hall there for many years. The hide was destroyed in a fire in April 1975. Jumbo's skeleton also toured with the circus for a while before it was donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where it remains.
Dan Quayle
September 15, 1988
The future U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle states, "The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history… No, not our nation's, but in World War II. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century, but in this century's history."
First Issue of USA Today
September 15, 1982
They were sold from TV-shaped vending machines.
Shogun
September 15, 1980
The TV miniseries Shogun, starring Richard Chamberlain, begins airing on NBC.
Watergate
September 15, 1972
The five Watergate burglars, G. Gordon Liddy, and Howard Hunt, Jr. are indicted on federal charges.
The Big Valley
September 15, 1965
The Big Valley debuts on ABC.
Nina Khrushcheva, Mamie Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and Dwight Eisenhower at a state dinner
Nina Khrushcheva, Mamie Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and Dwight Eisenhower at a state dinner
Khrushchev
September 15, 1959
The Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrives in the U.S. for an unprecedented visit. Khrushchev was supposed to visit Disneyland, but the visit was canceled for security reasons.
First Woman Minister in the U.S.
September 15, 1853
Antoinette Brown Blackwell becomes the first woman minister in the U.S. when she is ordained at the Congregational Church in New York.
Birthdays
The King of Country Music
Roy Acuff (Roy Claxton Acuff)
Born September 15, 1903 d. 1992
American country singer. He was known as "The King of Country Music". Acuff is credited with changing country music from its "hoedown" style to the modern singer-based style.
Songs: Wabash Cannonball and The Great Speckled Bird. He was the first living artist elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame (1962).
William Howard Taft
Born September 15, 1857 d. 1930
American politician. 27th U.S. President (1909-13), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-30), and U.S. Secretary of War (1904-08). He was the first U.S. president to throw out the opening ball of baseball season (1910), starting a long-held tradition. He is the only person to serve as both a U.S. President and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
A common myth is that Taft, weighing over 300 pounds (136 kg), got stuck in the White House bathtub. While this is probably just a myth, he did have an oversized tub installed.
Quote: "Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood."
Photo Credit: Dick Thomas Johnson
Photo Credit: Dick Thomas Johnson
Tommy Lee Jones
Born September 15, 1946
Oscar-Emmy-winning actor. He and future U.S. Vice President Al Gore were college roommates at Harvard. Jones also played guard on the Harvard football team from 1965 to 1968, including Harvard's 1968 undefeated football season.
Film: The Fugitive (1993, Oscar), JFK (1991), Lincoln (2012, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens), and the Men in Black franchise (1997-2012, Agent K).
Oliver Stone
Born September 15, 1946
American Oscar-winning film director, screenwriter. He received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam. Film: Midnight Express (1978, Oscar), Platoon (1987, Oscar), Born on the Fourth of July (1989, Oscar), and JFK (1991).
Merlin Olsen
Born September 15, 1940 d. 2010
American football player, actor. Played defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams (1962-1976). TV: Little House on the Prairie (1977-81, Jonathan Garvey) and Father Murphy (1981-83, title role).
Jackie Cooper (John Cooperman Jr.)
Born September 15, 1922 d. 2011
American actor, Emmy-winning director. Known as "America's Boy". He was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination. He appeared in 15 Our Gang films. Film: The Champ (1931), Sooky (1931), Superman (1978, Superman's boss).
Nipsey Russell
Born September 15, 1918 d. 2005
American comic actor. Frequent TV game show panelist, known for his poems. Film: The Wiz (1978, Tin Man).
John Newton Mitchell
Born September 15, 1913 d. 1988
U.S. attorney general (1968-72), convicted in the Watergate scandal (1975).
Jack Bailey
Born September 15, 1907 d. 1980
American game-show host. TV: Truth or Consequences (1945-56) and Queen for a Day (1948-64).
Fay Wray
Born September 15, 1907 d. 2004
Canadian-American actress. Film: King Kong, (1933, Kong's main squeeze).
Dame Agatha Christie
Born September 15, 1890 d. 1976
English mystery author. Creator of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Her literary career began when her sister challenged her to write a mystery in which the identity of the culprit couldn't be guessed.
Frank Ernest Gannett
Born September 15, 1876 d. 1957
American publisher. He built a media network of 21 newspapers and 7 radio and TV stations.
Mary Downing Barnes
Born September 15, 1850 d. 1898
American educator. The first woman faculty member of Stanford University (1891).
James Fenimore Cooper
Born September 15, 1789 d. 1851
first major American novelist. Writings: The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
Guillaume Henri Dufour
Born September 15, 1787 d. 1875
Swiss engineer. He and Robert Marc Séguin designed and built the first permanent wire-cable suspension bridge (1823, Saint Antoine Bridge).
Deaths
John Schrank and X-Ray of bullet in Roosevelt's chest
John Schrank and X-Ray of bullet in Roosevelt's chest
McKinley's Ghost Told Him to Shoot Theodore Roosevelt
John Schrank
Died September 15, 1943 b. 1876
Bavarian-born New York saloon keeper. He shot former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (1912, Milwaukee). He claimed William McKinley's ghost told him to shoot Roosevelt to avenge his death and as a warning to those who'd run for three terms as President. Roosevelt, who served as President from 1901 to 1909, was running for reelection.
Roosevelt was on the way to deliver a speech when shot. The bullet was deflected by his eyeglasses and a 50-page copy of his speech he was carrying in his jacket. Despite the wound, he insisted on delivering his speech before being taken to the hospital. Roosevelt completed his 90-minute speech with blood seeping through his shirt, opening with, "Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet - there is where the bullet went through - and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."
Doctors determined it would be too dangerous to remove the bullet, so Roosevelt carried it with him for the rest of his life.
Schrank was declared insane and institutionalized for the remainder of his life.
Discovered the Source of the Nile
John Hanning Speke
Died September 15, 1864 b. 1827
English explorer. He discovered the source of the Nile (1858).
Tito Jackson (Toriano Adryll Jackson)
Died September 15, 2024 b. 1953
American singer, one of the Jackson Five.
Rick Wright
Died September 15, 2008 b. 1943
English keyboardist. Founding member of Pink Floyd. Music: Dark Side of the Moon (1972, #1), Wish You Were Here (1975, #1), and The Wall (1979, #1).
Frederick De Cordova
Died September 15, 2001 b. 1910
American director-producer. Film: Bedtime for Bonzo (1951). TV: My Three Sons, The Smothers Brothers, and The Tonight Show (1971‑).
Mark Stevens (Richard Stevens)
Died September 15, 1994 b. 1916
American actor. TV: Martin Kane, Private Eye (title role) and Big Town (Steve Wilson).
John Hoyt
Died September 15, 1991 b. 1905
American actor. TV: Gimme a Break! (Grandpa Kaminsky).
Robert Penn Warren
Died September 15, 1989 b. 1905
American author, first U.S. poet laureate, and the only person to win the Pulitzer for both fiction (All the King's Men, 1946) and poetry (Promises, 1958).