What Happened On
Electric Razor
November 6, 1928
Colonel Jacob Schick patents his first electric razor. Schick went on to form the Schick Dry Shaver, Inc. razor company and has become known as "The Father of Electric Razors."
The patent application stated, "The invention is designed to provide a shaving implement that does not require the usual prior application of lather, or its equivalent to the face as the cutting of the hair can be done while the face and hairs are comparatively dry."
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Killed
November 6, 1908
The notorious outlaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, are trapped by Bolivian officials and reportedly killed in the ensuing gun battle around 2 a.m. that night. Although, there are many claims that these were not them and that they survived.
Packard Automobile
November 6, 1899
James and William Packard take their first automobile for a test drive on the streets of Warren, Ohio.
James Packard, an engineer, was dissatisfied with the Winton car owned by Winton investor George Lewis Weiss. When he sent suggestions for improvements to the manufacturer of the Winton, they said if he thought he could build a better car, he should do so - so he did! He and his brother William partnered with Weiss to form the Packard Motor Car Company.
Packards were the first car to offer factory-installed air conditioning (1939).
The Only Third-Party U.S. President
November 6, 1860
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) is elected.
He was the 16th U.S. president, with Hannibal Hamlin serving as his vice president.
His victory was due to his support in the North and West, with no ballots cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states. He won only two of 996 counties in all the Southern states, receiving 1,866,452 votes (39.8%) of the total in a four-way race, carrying the free Northern states, along with California and Oregon.
The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by northern states opposed to the expansion of slavery. While they opposed the expansion of slavery, they did not call for ending it in the southern states.
Columbus Discovers Smoking - Sailor Jailed 7 Years for Smoking
November 6, 1492
Christopher Columbus first notes in his journal the smoking of tobacco by the Indians. He and his crew had been given tobacco as a gift the previous month, but didn't know what to do with it, until they witnessed, "men and women with a half-burnt weed in their hands, being the herbs they are accustomed to smoke."
The sailors who tried it, soon found themselves addicted. Upon returning to Spain, one of the sailors who took up smoking, Rodrigo de Jerez, was jailed by the Spanish Inquisition, for it was believed that only the Devil could blow smoke from his mouth and nose. By the time he was released seven years later, smoking tobacco had caught on in Europe.
Last Kuwait Oil Well Fire Extinguished
November 6, 1991
Last of the Kuwait Oil Well fires are extinguished. They had been set as part of a scorched earth policy by retreating Iraqi forces in the Gulf War. The nearly 700 oil wells had burned for about 10 months because land mines had been set around them and the ground had to be cleared before firefighting crews could approach them.
Phil Donahue Show
November 6, 1967
The TV show Phil Donahue Show debuts as a local program in Dayton, Ohio. Hosted by Phil Donahue, it was a pioneer in controversial daytime talk-shows. His first guest was atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, known as "The Most Hated Woman in America." The show was picked up for national syndication in 1970.
Laura Bush Kills Friend in Auto Accident
November 6, 1963
Laura Welch, the 17-year-old future first lady Laura Bush (wife of U.S. President George W. Bush), runs a stop sign striking a car and killing its sole occupant, 17-year-old Michael Douglass. Douglass was her close friend and classmate. Bush and her 17-year-old passenger were treated for minor injuries. She was not charged in the incident. In her book Spoken from the Heart, she says that the crash caused her to lose her faith "for many, many years."
First U.S. Intercollegiate Football Game
November 6, 1869
Rutgers beats Princeton 6-4, although the rules were more like soccer.
Birthdays
Sally Field (Sally Margaret Field)
Born November 6, 1946
American Oscar-Emmy-winning actress. TV: Gidget (1965-66, title role), The Flying Nun (1967-70, title roll), and Sybil (1976, Emmy as Sybil). Film: Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Norma Rae (1979, Academy Award for Best Actress), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and Forrest Gump (1994).
Jonathan Harris (Jonathan Charasuchin)
Born November 6, 1914 d. 2002
American actor. TV: Lost in Space (1965-68, Dr. Zachary Smith).
The Zachary Smith character in Lost in Space 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.
Inventor of Basketball
James Naismith
Born November 6, 1861 d. 1939
Canadian-American gym instructor. He invented basketball while an instructor for the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts (1891). A few years later basketball was banned by the YMCA, which claimed not enough people could play at one time.
He invented the game of basketball after being given two weeks to create a game that:
• Would provide an "athletic distraction" to calm rowdy boys.
• Could be played indoors.
• Not take up too much room.
• Keep track athletes in shape.
• Fair for all players.
• Not too rough.
To reduce physical contact, players were required to pass the ball instead of running with it. Dribbling wasn't introduced until 1901 and didn't become popular until the 1950s with improvements to the shape of the balls.
Naismith also tried to reduce physical contact by locating the goals above the players' heads so they could not guard it. The goals were to have an opening parallel to the floor so that they would require a soft, lobbing toss to score. Naismith asked a janitor for a pair of boxes, but he returned with a pair of peach baskets, thus the name "basket ball". The players had to use a ladder to retrieve the ball from the basket. Eventually, they poked a small hole in the basket so they could use a stick to retrieve the ball.
John Philip Sousa
Born November 6, 1854 d. 1932
American bandmaster. The March King, bandmaster of the U.S. Marine Band. He and J.W. Pepper developed a type of bass tuba now known as the sousaphone. Music: The Stars and Stripes Forever (1897, National March of the USA), Semper Fidelis (1888, Official March of the U.S. Marine Corps), and The Liberty Bell (1893, theme for Monty Python's Flying Circus).
Photo Credit: Musik- och teatermuseet
Adolphe Sax
Born November 6, 1814 d. 1894
Belgian instrument maker. He patented the saxophone (1846). He spent much of life in legal battles over his musical patents and died in poverty.
Maria Shriver (Maria Owings Shriver)
Born November 6, 1955
American Emmy-winning TV journalist. She was John F. Kennedy's niece and was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger (1986-2021). TV: First Person with Maria Shriver (1991-93, anchorwoman).
Brad Davis
Born November 6, 1949 d. 1991
American actor. Film: Midnight Express. He died of AIDS.
Glenn Frey
Born November 6, 1948 d. 2016
American Grammy-winning singer, with The Eagles. Music: Take It Easy (1972), Hotel California (1976, #1), and Smuggler's Blues (1985).
Mike Nichols (Michael Igor Peschkowsky)
Born November 6, 1931 d. 2014
German-born American Oscar-Tony-Grammy-Emmy-BAFTA winning director. Stage: Barefoot in the Park (1963, Tony) and The Odd Couple (1965, Tony). Film: The Graduate (1967, Oscar).
James Jones
Born November 6, 1921 d. 1977
American author. Writings: From Here to Eternity (1951), which in 1954 was declared unmailable by the U.S. Post Office.
June Marlowe (Gisella Goetten)
Born November 6, 1903 d. 1984
American actress. She was billed as "The Most Beautiful Girl On the Screen." Film: The Little Rascals series (Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher).
Alfred T. Ringling
Born November 6, 1861 d. 1919
American circus operator, with Ringling Brothers Circus.
Colley Cibber
Born November 6, 1671 d. 1757
English actor, dramatist. In 1735, the first opera performed in America was Flora; or Hob in the Well. It appeared in the book The Dramatic Works of Colley Cibber, Esq., but is attributed to Thomas Doggett and John Hippisley.
Inventor of the Reflecting Telescope
James Gregory
Born November 6, 1638 d. 1675
Scottish mathematician, astronomer. He invented the reflecting telescope (Gregorian telescope) and discovered infinite series representations for a number of trigonometry functions.
Deaths
Million Dollar Mermaid
Annette Kellerman
Died November 6, 1975 b. 1887
Australian world record-holder swimmer, actress. She starred in the first sex-shocker movie, A Daughter of the Gods (1916). It was also the first U.S. film to cost more than $1,000,000 to produce. Earlier, in 1907, she had been arrested for wearing a one-piece bathing suit at a Boston beach. She was one of the first to wear the scandalous one-piece swim suit, as opposed the traditional pantaloons. Her life was portrayed in the movie Million Dollar Mermaid (1952).
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Died November 6, 1893 b. 1840
Russian composer. Music: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker.
Gene Tierney
Died November 6, 1991 b. 1920
American actress. Film: Laura (1944, title role), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), The Razor's Edge (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), and The Left Hand of God (1955).
Clarence Elmer Mitchell
Died November 6, 1963 b. 1891
American baseball player. He is the only person to have hit into a unassisted triple play in a World Series game (1920).
Howard Roger Garis
Died November 6, 1962 b. 1873
American children's author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily the rabbit stories and board game.
YMCA Founder
Sir George Williams
Died November 6, 1905 b. 1821
English merchant. Founded the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA, 1844). He wanted to create a place for young men that would not tempt them into sin.
Samuel Cornish
Died November 6, 1858 b. 1795
American journalist. He co-published the first African-American newspaper in American, Freedom's Journal (1827).
Charles X
Died November 6, 1836 b. 1757
King of France (1824-30). His unpopular rule led to a revolution in which he lost the throne.
Father of German Music
Heinrich Schütz
Died November 6, 1672 b. 1585
German composer, called the "Father of German music." He composed Dafne (1727), the first German opera.
Innocent VII
Died November 6, 1406 b. 1336
Italian religious leader, 204th Pope (1404-06).