Today's Trivia and What Happened on November 6

How many opticians does it take to change a light bulb?

How many opticians does it take to change a light bulb? Close Large View

One… or two? One… or two?

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Quote: There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. - Kenneth Olsen, co-founder of computer giant Digital Equipment Corporation

Quote: There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. - Kenneth Olsen, co-founder of computer giant Digital Equipment Corporation Close Large View

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What Happened On

Electric Razor

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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."

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Killed

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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.

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1899 Packard Model A 1899 Packard Model A

1899 Packard Model A 1899 Packard Model A
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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).

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The Only Third-Party U.S. President

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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.

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Rodrigo de Jerez, one of the first Spaniards to try smoking Rodrigo de Jerez, one of the first Spaniards to try smoking

Rodrigo de Jerez, one of the first Spaniards to try smoking Rodrigo de Jerez, one of the first Spaniards to try smoking
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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.

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Last Kuwait Oil Well Fire Extinguished

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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.

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Phil Donahue with guest Johnny Carson (1970) Phil Donahue with guest Johnny Carson (1970)

Phil Donahue with guest Johnny Carson (1970) Phil Donahue with guest Johnny Carson (1970)
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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.

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Laura Bush Kills Friend in Auto Accident

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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."

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First U.S. Intercollegiate Football Game

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First U.S. Intercollegiate Football Game

November 6, 1869

Rutgers beats Princeton 6-4, although the rules were more like soccer.

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Birthdays

Sally Field

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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).

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Jonathan Harris

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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.

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Naismith and the original 1891 "Basket Ball" court Naismith and the original 1891 "Basket Ball" court

Naismith and the original 1891 "Basket Ball" court Naismith and the original 1891 "Basket Ball" court
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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.

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John Philip Sousa

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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).

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Adolphe Sax Photo Credit: Musik- och teatermuseet

Adolphe Sax Photo Credit: Musik- och teatermuseet
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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.

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Maria Shriver

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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).

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Brad Davis

Born November 6, 1949 d. 1991

American actor. Film: Midnight Express. He died of AIDS.

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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).

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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).

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Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the film From Here to Eternity (1953) Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the film From Here to Eternity (1953)

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the film From Here to Eternity (1953) Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the film From Here to Eternity (1953)
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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.

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June Marlowe

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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).

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Alfred T. Ringling

Born November 6, 1861 d. 1919

American circus operator, with Ringling Brothers Circus.

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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.

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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.

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Deaths

Kellerman in her one-piece swimsuit (left) and in a scene from A Daughter of the Gods go to Video for Annette Kellerman
Kellerman in her one-piece swimsuit (left) and in a scene from A Daughter of the Gods

Kellerman in her one-piece swimsuit (left) and in a scene from A Daughter of the Gods Kellerman in her one-piece swimsuit (left) and in a scene from A Daughter of the Gods
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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).

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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Died November 6, 1893 b. 1840

Russian composer. Music: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker.

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Gene Tierney

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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).

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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).

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Howard Roger Garis

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Howard Roger Garis

Died November 6, 1962 b. 1873

American children's author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily the rabbit stories and board game.

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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.

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Samuel Cornish

Died November 6, 1858 b. 1795

American journalist. He co-published the first African-American newspaper in American, Freedom's Journal (1827).

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Charles X

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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.

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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.

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Innocent VII

Died November 6, 1406 b. 1336

Italian religious leader, 204th Pope (1404-06).

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