What Happened On
Vice-President Agnew Resigns
October 10, 1973
U.S. Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew resigns and pleads no contest to income tax evasion and is fined $10,000 and put on three years' probation in exchange for dropping charges of political corruption against him. He was under investigation for taking kickbacks for construction projects in Baltimore while he was chief executive of Baltimore County and later governor of Maryland. He was the second U.S. Vice-President to resign.
The Vice-Presidency was filled by Gerald Ford, who became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation the following year.
First Interactive TV Show
October 10, 1953
Winky Dink and You debuts on CBS TV as the first interactive TV show. The home audience would draw on their TV screen using a "magic drawing screen," which was a piece of vinyl plastic that stuck to the television screen via static electricity. So if Winky Dink needed help crossing a river, children at home could draw him a bridge on the TV screen. A kit containing the screen and Winky Dink crayons could be purchased for 50¢.
Although the show was popular, it was canceled in 1957 due to concerns about x-rays from sitting so close to the TV picture tube and complaints that children who didn't buy the interactive screen were drawing directly on their TV screen.
Eleanor Rigby Died in the Church - Nobody Came
October 10, 1939
From the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby:
"Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people"
A tombstone with the name Eleanor Rigby is in the graveyard of St Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, where Paul McCartney and John Lennon spent time during their teenage years sunbathing. Just a few yards away from Rigby's tombstone is another with the name McKenzie on it. The names Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie were used in the Beatles' 1966 hit song, Eleanor Rigby, written primarily by McCartney. While McCartney claims he just made up the names for the song, he says the coincidence could be a product of his subconscious.
The graveyard, coincidentally, is also close to where McCartney and Lennon first met.
Buckwheat Selected
October 10, 1934
3-year-old Billie Thomas appears at an open audition for the Little Rascals and is selected to play Buckwheat by producer Hal Roach. He died of a heart attack at age 49 on October 10, 1980, exactly 46 years to the day of his audition.
Wambsganss completing the unassisted triple play
Wambsganss completing the unassisted triple play
First World Series Unassisted Triple Play
October 10, 1920
In the fifth inning of game five of the 1920 World Series, second baseman Bill Wambsganss (Cleveland Indians) catches a line drive by Clarence Mitchell (Brooklyn Robbins - later called the Brooklyn Dodgers). He then stepped on second base to retire Pete Kilduff, and then tagged Otto Miller coming from first base, to complete the first and only unassisted triple play in World Series history.
Earlier in the same game, Elmer John Smith (Cleveland) hit the first World Series bases-loaded grand slam.
Elmer John Smith
Elmer John Smith
First World Series Bases-Loaded Grand Slam
October 10, 1920
Elmer John Smith batting for Cleveland against Brooklyn.
In the 5th inning of the same game, Bill Wambsganss (Cleveland) makes the first World Series unassisted triple play.
Jack Daniel Dies After Kicking Safe
October 10, 1911
According to legend, American whiskey maker Jack Daniel dies of blood poisoning from a wound incurred while kicking a safe because he had forgotten the combination. (Biography: Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel).
Iraq War
October 10, 2002
"If we think there is a fast solution to changing the governance of Iraq, then we don't understand history, the nature of the country, the divisions, or the underneath-suppressed passions that could rise up. God help us if we think this transition will occur easily." Quote by Four-star Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni.
Gulf War - Fake News and the Buildup to War
October 10, 1990
A 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl testifies at a hearing on Capitol Hill that she had seen Iraqi soldiers come into a Kuwaiti hospital with guns, take babies out of the incubators, steal the incubators, and leave the babies on the floor to die. It later turned out that the story was false. She had used a fake name and was actually the daughter of Kuwait's Ambassador to the U.S. The fake story had been repeatedly used by the George H. W. Bush administration to justify backing Kuwait in the Gulf War.
The U.S. and its allies would launch a major air offensive against Iraq three months later.
Birthdays
Fell Two Miles From an Airplane - And then it got worse…
Juliane Koepcke
Born October 10, 1954
German airline crash survivor. She was the sole survivor of the LANSA Flight 508 plane crash over the Amazon rainforest in 1971. She fell roughly two miles (3.2 km) strapped to her seat and then survived an 11-day ordeal in the jungle. The plane was struck by lightning, igniting the right wing fuel tank and causing the plane to plummet into the Amazon rainforest, breaking into pieces as it fell. Koepcke's mother and another passenger who was riding in their seat row were ejected from their seats, but Koepcke remained strapped into hers. She sustained a broken collar bone, an eye injury, a torn ACL, a strained neck vertebra, a fractured shin, and a concussion. The loss of her eyeglasses, along with one eye swollen shut, limited her vision. She spent a day looking for her mother, but to no avail. She did find a bag of candy which was her only food for the next 10 days. She came across a river and followed it downstream, during which time her wounds became infested with maggots. She eventually encountered a lumberman's camp and they brought her to safety. Fourteen others, including her mother, had survived the initial crash, but died while waiting to be rescued. Koepcke was the sole survivor of the crash.
The movie Miracles Still Happen (1974) and the documentary Wings of Hope (2000) are based on her story.
Coincidentally, a LANSA crash the previous year also had only one survivor.
Photo Credit: Benjichilders
Photo Credit: Benjichilders
Tanya Tucker
Born October 10, 1958
American country singer. Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year (1991). Her first hit was Delta Dawn, in 1972 at the age of 13. Music: Just Another Love (1986, #1) and Strong Enough to Bend (1988, #1).
David Lee Roth
Born October 10, 1954
American singer, with Van Halen. Music: Runnin' With the Devil (1976) and Jump (1984, #1).
Ben Vereen
Born October 10, 1946
American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. TV: Roots (Chicken George) and Webster (Uncle Philip).
Ed Blackwell
Born October 10, 1929 d. 1992
American jazz drummer.
James Clavell (Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell)
Born October 10, 1921 d. 1994
British-born American author, screenwriter. Film: The Fly (1958), The Great Escape (1963), To Sir With Love (1967), and Shogun (1975).
Johnny Downs
Born October 10, 1913 d. 1994
American actor. As one of the Little Rascals, he appeared in 24 Our Gang films (1923-26). Film: Babes in Toyland (1934, Little Boy Blue).
Min Chueh Chang
Born October 10, 1908 d. 1991
Chinese-born American biologist. Co-inventor of the birth control pill.
Johnny Green (John Waldo Green)
Born October 10, 1908 d. 1989
American Oscar-winning Hall of Fame songwriter. Music: Coquette (1928), Body and Soul (1930), West Side Story (1961), and Oliver! (1968).
Founder of the United Negro College Fund
Frederick Douglass Patterson
Born October 10, 1901 d. 1988
American educator. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, President of the Tuskegee Institute (1935-53), and founder of the United Negro College Fund (1944).
Helen Hayes
Born October 10, 1900 d. 1993
American Oscar-Tony-Emmy-winning actress. Film: Victoria Regina (1935), Airport (1970, Oscar), and Herbie Rides Again (1974).
Henry Cavendish
Born October 10, 1731 d. 1810
English chemist, physicist. Discovered nitric acid and was the first to recognize that hydrogen and oxygen combined to make water.
Deaths
Scott Carpenter
Died October 10, 2013 b. 1925
American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts (1959). He was the second American to orbit the Earth and the fourth American in space.
Christopher Reeve
Died October 10, 2004 b. 1952
American actor. In 1995, Reeve became a quadriplegic after a horseback-riding accident. He had been scheduled to pose for an equestrian safety poster. Film: The Superman movies (1978-87, the man of steel). Writings: Still Me (1998, won a Grammy for the audio version).
Buckwheat (William Thomas, Jr.)
Died October 10, 1980 b. 1931
American actor, one of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) (1934-44), with his famous catch phrase, "Otay!" He appeared in 93 Our Gang films and later worked as a lab technician editing film for Technicolor. Biography: "Otay!" The Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas Story. He died of a heart attack at age 49, exactly 46 years to the day he auditioned for the role of Buckwheat.
Eleanor Rigby - from the Beatle's Song
Eleanor Rigby
Died October 10, 1939 b. 1895
English namesake.
"Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people"
A tombstone with the name Eleanor Rigby is in the graveyard of St Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, where Paul McCartney and John Lennon spent time during their teenage years sunbathing. Just a few yards away from Rigby's tombstone is another with the name McKenzie on it. The names Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie were used in the Beatles' 1966 hit song, Eleanor Rigby, written primarily by McCartney. While McCartney claims he just made up the names for the song, he says the coincidence could be a product of his subconscious.
The graveyard, coincidentally, is also close to where McCartney and Lennon first met.
Whitehead's craft in flight
Whitehead's craft in flight
First in Flight - Before the Wright Brothers
Gustave Whitehead
Died October 10, 1927 b. 1874
Bavarian-born American inventor. According to some documents, he made the first manned heavier-than-air flight in 1901 - two years before the Wright brothers. Reports were published in the New York Herald and the Bridgeport Herald, and the event was witnessed by several people, including a reporter for the Bridgeport Herald. Children and youngsters who were present signed affidavits about 30 years later about what they saw. Reports said he started on the wheels from a flat surface, flew 800 meters at a height of 15 meters, and landed softly on the wheels.
Jack Daniel (Jasper Newton Daniel)
Died October 10, 1911 b. 1846
American whiskey maker. According to legend, he died of blood poisoning from a wound incurred while kicking a safe because he had forgotten the combination. (Biography: Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel).
Mark Goddard
Died October 10, 2023 b. 1936
American actor. TV: Lost in Space (1965-68, Maj. Don West).
Alex Karras
Died October 10, 2012 b. 1935
American College Hall of Fame football player, pro wrestler, actor. TV: Webster (1983-89, Webster's adoptive father George). Film: Blazing Saddles (1974, Mongo). Football: NFL Detroit Lions (1958-62, 1964-70).
Yul Brynner (Taidje Khan)
Died October 10, 1985 b. 1920
Russian-born Oscar-Tony-winning actor. He portrayed the King of Siam in 4,625 Broadway performances of The King and I (1951-85).
In 1943 at age 22, Brynner became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He renounced his US citizenship in 1965 because he had lost his tax exemption as an American resident working abroad and would be bankrupted by his tax and penalty debts imposed by the Internal Revenue Service. He then became a Swiss citizen.
A heavy smoker since age 12, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1983, even though he had quit smoking in 1971. He would die of the disease two years later.
Orson Welles
Died October 10, 1985 b. 1915
American actor, director, producer, panicked the nation with his radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds (October 30, 1938). He was also the voice of radio's The Shadow and directed the film classic Citizen Kane (1941).
Austin Briggs
Died October 10, 1973 b. 1908
American cartoonist. Drew Secret Agent X-9 (1938-40) and Flash Gordon dailies (1940-44) and Sundays (1944-48).
George Frederick Dick
Died October 10, 1967 b. 1881
American physician. He and wife determined the cause of scarlet fever (1924) and developed an immunization for it.
Eddie Cantor (Edward Israel Iskowitz)
Died October 10, 1964 b. 1892
American comedian. He starred in the Ziegfeld Follies from 1917 to 1919.
Carl Ed
Died October 10, 1959 b. 1890
American cartoonist. Creator of Harold Teen (1919) which was later made into movies.
James Buchanan Duke
Died October 10, 1925 b. 1856
American tobacco magnate. He founded the American Tobacco Co. (1890) and Duke University (1925).
Carol I
Died October 10, 1914 b. 1839
the first King of Rumania (1881-1914).
John McCloskey
Died October 10, 1885 b. 1810
American Roman Catholic prelate, archbishop of New York, the first American cardinal (1875).
William Henry Seward
Died October 10, 1872 b. 1801
American statesman. He purchased Alaska for the U.S. from Russia for 2¢ an acre, which was derisively called "Seward's Folly." He was also governor of New York (1839-43), U.S. Senator (1849-61), and U.S. Secretary of State (1861-69).
He also gave President Abraham Lincoln two kittens, which became the first two pet cats in the White House. Lincoln named them Tabby and Dixie.
Carter Braxton
Died October 10, 1797 b. 1736
American statesman. Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He supported a bill to recruit slaves to fight for the Revolution, giving them their freedom in return. The bill was defeated.