What Happened On
First Game of N.F.L. Monday Night Football
September 21, 1970
The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Jets (31-21).
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
September 21, 1897
Francis Pharcellus Church's famous New York Sun response to 8-year-old Virginia O' Hanlon's letter, is published. It is the most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language. After asking her father if there was a Santa Claus, he suggested she write to The Sun, telling her that "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Church then wrote the now famous response. "…Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished…"
Nathan Hale hanged
Nathan Hale hanged
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country
September 21, 1776
Nathan Hale is captured by the British during the American Revolution and accused of spying. As he was being hanged the next day, he made his famous proclamation, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
View of the Dead Sea from a Qumran cave in which some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and portions of the scrolls
View of the Dead Sea from a Qumran cave in which some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and portions of the scrolls
Dead Sea Scrolls
September 21, 1991
Photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls are made public by the Huntington Library in California.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are Jewish religious texts found in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. Dating back to between 150 B.C. and A.D. 70, they include some of the oldest known surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible.
The scrolls were initially discovered between November 1946 and February 1947 by Bedouin shepherds who found seven scrolls in jars in a cave near what is now known as the Qumran site. They took a handful of scrolls back to their camp to show their family, where the scrolls were hung on a tent pole. Eventually, they took them to a dealer who rejected them, saying they were worthless, but were able to sell three of the scrolls to another dealer for seven Jordanian pounds (approximately $28, or $367 in 2022 dollars). It wasn't until 1948 the significance of the scrolls was determined and announced to the public.
Woman Wins Custody of Her Frozen Embryos
September 21, 1989
Her husband had filed for divorce saying he no longer wanted to be a father.
Pro Football's First Mid-Season Strike
September 21, 1982
The 57-day NFL strike begins, the longest strike in professional sports.
The strike ended in November with the owners raising the league's minimum salary and agreeing to improved pay for veterans and severance pay.
First NFL 98-Yard Punt
September 21, 1969
Steve O'Neal of the New York Jets boots one against the Denver Broncos.
Adam-12
September 21, 1968
The TV show Adam-12 debuts on NBC. One of its co-creators was Jack Webb, who also created Dragnet. It claimed to portray the life and work of typical police officers.
First Successful U.S. Daily Newspaper
September 21, 1784
The Pennsylvania Packet & General Advertiser begins publication. The U.S. Constitution was first published in this paper.
Birthdays
Bubble Boy (David Vetter)
Born September 21, 1971 d. 1984
He spent most of his life inside a protective bubble due to a severe immune deficiency. The film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976, starring John Travolta) was inspired by the lives of him and Ted DeVita, who lived most of his life in a sterile hospital room. The only treatment at the time was a bone marrow transplant or complete isolation from germs. At 12 years old Vetter was finally able to receive a bone marrow transplant from his sister. The transplant worked and he was able to leave his bubble and kiss his mother for the first time in his life. However, shortly thereafter, he became ill with infectious mononucleosis and died from lymphoma. The autopsy revealed that his sister's bone marrow contained traces of a dormant virus, Epstein-Barr, which had been undetectable in the pre-transplant screening.
Photo Credit: jonl1973
Photo Credit: jonl1973
Leonard Cohen
Born September 21, 1934 d. 2016
Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer, songwriter. Music Hallelujah (1984, covered by John Cale and used in the movie Shrek).
Note: While the movie uses Cale's version, the Shrek soundtrack uses a version by Rufus Wainwright.
Larry Hagman
Born September 21, 1931 d. 2012
American actor. TV: I Dream of Jeanie (1965-70, Master) and Dallas (1978-91, J.R. Ewing). He underwent a successful liver transplant surgery in 1995 and died of leukemia in 2012.
Hagman was the son of actress Mary Martin.
Chuck Jones (Charles M. Jones)
Born September 21, 1912 d. 2002
American Oscar-winning cartoonist, animator. Chuck Jones helped create Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzalez, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepé Le Pew, Porky Pig, and Tweetie Pie. Cartoons: One Froggy Evening (1955, with the reluctant singing frog), What's Opera Doc? (1957, voted #1 greatest cartoon of all time), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966).
H. G. Wells (Herbert George Wells)
Born September 21, 1866 d. 1946
English novelist. Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of his The War of the Worlds set off a national panic, as many believed it was reporting an actual alien invasion. Writings: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).
Rob Morrow
Born September 21, 1962
American actor. TV: Northern Exposure.
Bill Murray
Born September 21, 1950
American Emmy-winning comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live (1976-81). Film: Meatballs (1979, Tripper Harrison), Caddyshack (1980, greenskeeper Carl Spackler - licensed to kill gophers), Stripes (1981, Pvt. John Winger), Ghostbusters (1984, Dr. Peter Venkman), and Groundhog Day (1993, Phil Connors).
Murray and Don Herbert were the first guests on Late Night with David Letterman when it premiered in 1982.
Quote: It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.
Stephen King (Stephen Edwin King)
Born September 21, 1947
American horror writer. Writings: Carrie (1974) and The Shining (1976).
Henry Gibson (James Bateman)
Born September 21, 1935 d. 2009
American comedian. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968-71, known for his verse).
Rand Brooks
Born September 21, 1918 d. 2003
American actor. TV: The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (Corporal Boone). Film: Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick Lucky Jenkins in 12 movies.
Sir Allen Lane
Born September 21, 1902 d. 1970
British publisher. He founded Penguin Books (1935), which introduced low-priced paperbacks to the world.
First World Series Bases-loaded Grand Slam
Elmer John Smith
Born September 21, 1892 d. 1984
American baseball player. He hit the first World Series bases-loaded grand slam (1920), batting for Cleveland against Brooklyn in game 5 of the series.
Smith was an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians (1914-16, 1917 and 1919-21), Washington Senators (1916-17), Boston Red Sox (1922), New York Yankees (1922-23), and Cincinnati Reds (1925).
Gustav Holst
Born September 21, 1874 d. 1934
English composer. Music: The Planets (1919) and The Perfect Fool (1923).
John Bunny
Born September 21, 1863 d. 1915
American actor, comedian, the first comic star of the American screen (1910). This 300-pound actor made over 200 comic shorts during his brief five-year film career.
Super-Conductivity
Heike Onnes
Born September 21, 1853 d. 1926
Dutch Nobel-winning physicist. First to liquefy helium (1908), and coined the term "super-conductivity" after discovering the drop in electrical resistance exhibited by solids at extremely low temperatures.
John Loudon McAdam
Born September 21, 1756 d. 1836
Scottish engineer. Creator of macadam road surface.
Deaths
Brennan as Amos McCoy
Brennan as Amos McCoy
Walter Brennan
Died September 21, 1974 b. 1894
American Oscar-winning actor. TV: The Real McCoys (1957-63, Amos McCoy). He was the first actor to win three Oscars (1936, 38, 40). According to Brennan, an event he described as "the luckiest break in the world," occurred during a fight scene when an actor accidentally kicked him in the face and knocked his teeth out, requiring him to get dentures. "When necessary I could take 'em out - and suddenly look about 40 years older."
Three-Legged Man
Frank Lentini (Francesco A. Lentini)
Died September 21, 1966 b. 1889
Italian-American showman. He had three legs, four feet, and two sets of genitals. Lentini was born with a parasitic twin who attached to his body at the base of his spine and consisted of a pelvis, male genitalia, a full-sized leg, and a small foot protruding from its knee. He toured the U.S. as "The Great Lentini." All three legs were different lengths prompting him to proclaim, "Even with three legs, I still didn't have a pair." He is portrayed by Jonathan Redavid in the film The Greatest Showman (2017).
Arthur Schopenhauer
Died September 21, 1860 b. 1788
German philosopher. Quote: "All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Rex Humbard (Alpha Rex Emmanuel Humbard)
Died September 21, 2007 b. 1919
American televangelist. Founder of the Cathedral of Tomorrow (1958). He was the first televangelist to have a nationally-broadcast TV show (1952-83).
Humbard officiated at Elvis Presley's funeral, as Elvis had been an admirer of Humbard.
Alice Ghostley
Died September 21, 2007 b. 1923
American actress. TV: Bewitched (1969-70, 1972, Esmeralda) and Designing Women (1986-93, Bernice Clifton).
World's Fastest Woman
Florence Griffith Joyner (Flo Jo)
Died September 21, 1998 b. 1959
American athlete. "World's Fastest Woman." She was the first U.S. female athlete to win four medals at a single Olympics (1988, three gold and a silver), and was the co-chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness. She died of epilepsy at age 38.
Valley of the Dolls
Jacqueline Susann
Died September 21, 1974 b. 1918
American actress, author. Writings: Valley of the Dolls (1966), selling 17,000,000 copies and becoming the all-time best-selling novel.
John Stafford Smith
Died September 21, 1836 b. 1750
English composer. Music: To Anacreon in Heaven, which is the melody to The Star-Spangled Banner.
Sir Walter Scott
Died September 21, 1832 b. 1771
Scottish poet, novelist. Writings: Waverley (1814) and Ivanhoe (1819).
Joseph Rodman Drake
Died September 21, 1820 b. 1795
American poet. Writings: The Culprit Fay (1816) and The American Flag (1819).
"When Freedom, from her mountain height,
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there!"
George Read
Died September 21, 1798 b. 1733
American lawyer, politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Charles V
Died September 21, 1558 b. 1500
King of Spain (1516-56) and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1519-56). He declared Martin Luther an outlaw and a heretic.
Decreed an Inch was Equal to 3 Barleycorns
Edward II
Died September 21, 1327 b. 1284
King of England (1307-1327). He decreed that an inch was equal to three average barleycorns laid end to end (1324).
Conon
Died September 21, 687 b. circa 630
religious leader, 83rd Pope (686-687).
Virgil
Died September 21, 19 B.C. b. 70 B.C.
Roman epic poet, teacher. He is considered the greatest poet of Rome's Golden Age. Writings: Aeneid.