What Happened On
Al Jolson in blackface performing "My Mammy"
Al Jolson in blackface performing "My Mammy"
First Major "Talkie" Movie
October 6, 1927
The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson premieres. It was the first feature-length motion picture with a synchronized score and synchronized singing and speech in some scenes. It heralded the end of the silent film era.
Although the use of blackface was common in the era, it is now seen as racist.
Rap Music Killer Executed
October 6, 2005
Ronald Ray Howard is executed for the 1992 murder of a state trooper. He claimed the anti-police rap music he was listening to made him do it.
Photo Credit: Siddharth Patil
Photo Credit: Siddharth Patil
LSD Becomes Illegal
October 6, 1966
The psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is declared an illegal substance in the U.S.
First Black Actress Nominated for an Emmy
October 6, 1961
Ethel Waters appears in an episode of the TV show Route 66, for which she was nominated for an Emmy.
Oral Polio Vaccine
October 6, 1956
Dr. Albert Sabin announces his oral polio vaccine (OPV) was ready for wide-scale testing. It was administered by sugar cube, as opposed to Jonas Salk's polio vaccine that was administered by injection.
By 1961, Sabin's OPV had been tested on at least 100 million people in the USSR, parts of Eastern Europe, Singapore, Mexico, and the Netherlands. Clinical trials of the OPV in the United States began in April 1960 on 180,000 Cincinnati school children. This effectively eradicated polio in Cincinnati.
American Library Association
October 6, 1876
American Library Association is founded, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
First U.S. Robbery of a Train in Motion
October 6, 1866
The Reno Gang throws two safes off a train as it was leaving the station. This was the first peacetime train robbery in the U.S. An earlier robbery was perpetrated by armed guerrillas during the American Civil War.
American Chess Association
October 6, 1857
American Chess Association is organized.
Birthdays
Inventor of the Super Soaker
Lonnie Johnson
Born October 6, 1949
African-American Toy Hall of Fame inventor, NASA aerospace engineer. Johnson invented the Super Soaker (1990) water gun and Nerf Gun (1995) toys.
In 2013, Johnson sued Hasbro for underpaying him royalties on the Super Soaker and was awarded $73 million.
In 1968, Johnson represented his Alabama high school at the state fair. He was the only black student attending the fair, winning first prize with a robot powered by compressed air.
First to Split an Atom with a Particle Accelerator
Ernest Walton (Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton)
Born October 6, 1903 d. 1995
Irish nuclear physicist. Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft became the first to split an atom with a particle accelerator (1932); for this they were awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize.
The Swedish Nightingale
Jenny Lind (Johanna Maria Lind)
Born October 6, 1820 d. 1887
Swedish singer. Known as "The Swedish Nightingale." In 1850, Lind went to America and performed 93 highly-successful concerts for P.T. Barnum and then continued to tour on her own. She earned more than $350,000 from these concerts, donating the proceeds to charities.
Britt Ekland (Britt Eklund)
Born October 6, 1942
Swedish actress. Film: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974, Mary Goodnight).
Shana Alexander
Born October 6, 1925 d. 2005
American journalist, author of The Feminine Eye (1970). She represented the liberal view on TV's "Point/Counterpoint" segment of 60 Minutes.
Henry Morris
Born October 6, 1918 d. 2006
American young earth creationist. Considered the father of modern creation science. Co-wrote The Genesis Flood (1961) which used Noah's flood from the Bible to explain many geological formations.
Gerry Wilmot
Born October 6, 1914 d. 1978
Canadian ice hockey commentator. According to Guinness Book of Records, he is the world's fastest speaking broadcaster.
Carole Lombard (Jane Alice Peters)
Born October 6, 1908 d. 1942
American actress. Film: Nothing Sacred (1937) and To Be or Not to Be (1942).
Milton Ager
Born October 6, 1893 d. 1979
American composer. Music: Ain't She Sweet and Happy Days Are Here Again.
Reginald Fessenden
Born October 6, 1866 d. 1932
Canadian inventor. He invented the radio transmission method of continuous wave and made the first long-range radio transmission of voice (1906).
George Westinghouse
Born October 6, 1846 d. 1914
American inventor. Invented railway air brakes (1868) and provided alternating current to the U.S.
Deaths
Bette Davis in Jezebel (left) and a publicity photo
Bette Davis in Jezebel (left) and a publicity photo
Bette Davis (Ruth Elizabeth Davis)
Died October 6, 1989 b. 1908
American Oscar-winning actress. After her success in her Oscar-winning role as as a spoiled Southern belle in Jezebel (1938), she sought the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), but was turned down by producer David O. Selznick.
On the death of her nemesis Joan Crawford she commented, "You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good. Joan Crawford is dead. Good."
Film: All About Eve (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).
Giulio Gavotti on a Farman biplane, Rome 1910
Giulio Gavotti on a Farman biplane, Rome 1910
Conducted First Air Raid from an Airplane
Giulio Gavotti
Died October 6, 1939 b. 1882
Italian pilot. In 1911, Giulio Gavotti conducted the first air raid from an airplane. He used his Etrich Taube monoplane to drop 4 4½-pound (2 kg) grenades on the Ottoman military in Libya from an altitude of about 600 feet (183 meters). There were no casualties from the attack. The Ottoman Empire issued a protest against these types of raids as the dropping of bombs from balloons had been outlawed by the Hague Convention of 1899, but Italy argued that this ban did not extend to heavier-than-air craft.
The following year, Gavotti performed the first night mission of a heavier-than-air aircraft.
Johnny Nash (John Lester Nash Jr.)
Died October 6, 2020 b. 1940
American singer, songwriter. Music: I Can See Clearly Now (1972, #1).
Photo Credit: Carl Lender
Photo Credit: Carl Lender
Eddie Van Halen
Died October 6, 2020 b. 1955
Dutch-born American guitarist. He is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Music: Runnin' With the Devil (1976) and Jump (1984, #1).
Photo Credit: Angela George
Photo Credit: Angela George
Rip Taylor (Charles Elmer Taylor, Jr.)
Died October 6, 2019 b. 1931
American comic. Known for his confetti-throwing TV personality. He was a regular throughout the 1970s as a celebrity guest panelist on television game shows such as Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth, and The Gong Show.
Rap Music Killer
Ronald Ray Howard
Died October 6, 2005 b. 1973
American criminal, "Rap Music Killer." He was executed for the 1992 murder of a state trooper. He claimed the anti-police rap music he was listening to made him do it.
Ted Bessell (Howard Weston Bessell, Jr.)
Died October 6, 1996 b. 1935
American actor, Emmy-winning director. TV: That Girl (1966-71, Marlo Thomas' character's boyfriend) and The Tracey Ullman Show (director).
Denholm Elliott
Died October 6, 1992 b. 1922
British actor. Film: Trading Places (Eddie Murphy's butler).
Anwar Sadat (Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat)
Died October 6, 1981 b. 1918
Egyptian president (1970-81), Time magazine's Man of the Year (1977), and co-winner of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize (with Menachem Begin).
Will Keith Kellogg
Died October 6, 1951 b. 1860
American breakfast-cereal manufacturer, philanthropist, founded the W.K. Kellogg Company (1906) to sell toasted corn flakes.
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Died October 6, 1892 b. 1809
English poet, poet laureate of England (1850-92). He wrote Charge of the Light Brigade (1855), inspired by the Crimean War battle.
Henry Timrod
Died October 6, 1867 b. 1828
American poet, known as the "Poet Laureate of the Confederacy."