Disneyland Gets A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

July 15, 2005

The Disneyland theme park becomes the first location to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Marriage Cost Limit

July 15, 1992

The state of Orissa in India passes a law limiting the cost of a marriage ceremony to $800 (the average annual middle-class income) and limits the reception to 50 guests, punishable by up to six years in jail.

Dan Quayle

July 15, 1989

U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle states, "As America celebrates the 20th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buz Lukens walking on the Moon." - Apparently confusing Buzz Aldrin who walked on the Moon with Buz Lukens, a Congressional sex offender.

First Manned Soviet-American Space Project

July 15, 1975

Apollo 18 and Soviet Soyuz 19 are launched. Two days later they linked together in space.

First Transatlantic Helicopter Flight

July 15, 1952

Two U.S. Air Force pilots - in separate helicopters - take off from Massachusetts, completing the 3,410-mile Atlantic crossing on July 31.

Civil War

July 15, 1870

Georgia becomes the last state readmitted to the Union.

Spanish Inquisition

July 15, 1834

The infamous Inquisition, established by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478, is officially ended. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control.
It is estimated that around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offences during the Spanish Inquisition, of whom between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed.

First Crusade Massacre of Jews and Muslims

July 15, 1099

Christian soldiers, after a seven-day siege during the First Crusade, take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Jews and Muslims were slaughtered in the aftermath of the siege.
Pope Urban II began the First Crusade in 1095 with the goals of repelling invading Turks from Anatolia, the Christian re-conquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Muslim rule. The crusade ended in 1099.

Willie Aames

Born July 15, 1960

American actor. TV: Charles in Charge (Buddy Lembeck) and Eight Is Enough (Tommy Bradford).

Jesse "The Body" Ventura (James George Janos)

Born July 15, 1951

American wrestler, actor. Governor of Minnesota (1999-2003, Reform Party). Film: Predator (1987, Blain)

Linda Ronstadt

Born July 15, 1946

American Grammy-Emmy-winning singer. Music: You're No Good (1975, #1), When Will I Be Loved (1975), and Blue Bayou (1977).

Jan-Michael Vincent

Born July 15, 1945 d. 2019

American actor. Film: The World's Greatest Athlete (1973, Nanu the Greatest Athlete). TV: Airwolf (1984-86, Hawke). In 2014, Vincent revealed that he had a prosthetic right leg, because it had been amputated just below the knee in 2012 due to complications from peripheral artery disease.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Born July 15, 1943

British astronomer. She discovered pulsars (1967). While studying quasars, she noticed an unusual radio signal pulsing every 1.3 seconds which turned out to be the new type of celestial object.

Ken Kercheval

Born July 15, 1935 d. 2019

American actor. TV: Dallas (1978-91, Cliff Barnes).

Alex Karras

Born July 15, 1935 d. 2012

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).

Carl Richard Woese

Born July 15, 1928 d. 2012

American microbiologist. He defined the Archaea (1977, a new domain or kingdom of life) and identified methanogens, a form of life that lives in oxygen-deprived environments and survive by reducing CO2 and oxidizing hydrogen, and releasing the resulting methane. He also originated the RNA world hypothesis (1967).

Leon Max Lederman

Born July 15, 1922 d. 2018

American Nobel-winning physicist. He and Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger received the Nobel Prize for Physics (1988) for the discovery of the subatomic particle the muon neutrino. Quote: "Physics isn't a religion. If it were, we'd have a much easier time raising money."

Richard Willard Armour

Born July 15, 1906 d. 1989

American author, poet. Writings: It All Started With Eve (1956).
Armour wrote humorous poems that were featured in newspapers as Armour's Armory.
Poem: "Middle Age is a time of life, that a man first notices in his wife."

Thomas Francis, Jr.

Born July 15, 1900 d. 1969

American virologist, epidemiologist. He was the first American to isolate the influenza A virus (1934) and showed that there are other strains, such as influenza B (1940), and developed an effective vaccine against both strains. He also conducted the field trials of the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk.

First American Saint

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (Francesca Saverio Cabrini)

Born July 15, 1850 d. 1917

American religious sister, patron Saint of Emigrants. She was the first American declared a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church (1946). She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Suicide on Live TV

Chris Chubbuck

Died July 15, 1974 b. 1944

Florida talk-show host. During her live TV broadcast she announced "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood… and guts in living color. We bring you another first: an attempt at suicide." She then fatally shot herself in the head. The notes she was reading from at the time of the shooting included a description of the suicide and a news bulletin to be read afterwards about the shooting.
Family and friends said she had been depressed about her lack of personal relationships.
The first televised suicide happened in 1938.

World's Tallest Person

Robert Pershing Wadlow

Died July 15, 1940 b. 1918

American giant, the world's tallest person: 8 ft. 11.1 in. (2.72 m) tall and weighed 490 lb (220 kg) at his death at age 22. His size was due to hyperplasia of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He was still growing at the time of death, having grown over 3 inches (7.5 cm) during the previous year. His death was due to an infection from a sore caused by a faulty leg brace.

General Tom Thumb (Charles Sherwood Stratton)

Died July 15, 1883 b. 1838

American dwarf. At 102 cm (3.35 ft) tall, he traveled with P.T. Barnum. His marriage to Lavinia Warren (81 cm (2.66 ft) tall) made front page news and had 10,000 guests. The wedding couple was then received by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at the White House.

Dr. William T. G. Morton (William Thomas Green Morton)

Died July 15, 1868 b. 1819

American dentist. He performed the first tooth extraction under anesthesia (1846). He used ether for anesthesia, although he unsuccessfully tried to disguise the substance he used by calling it Letheon. Shortly after, the use of ether came into common use for many types of surgery.
The word anesthesia is from the Greek for "without sensation".

Martin Landau

Died July 15, 2017 b. 1928

American Oscar-winning actor. TV: Mission: Impossible (1966-69, Make-up artist Rollin Hand). Film: Ed Wood (1994, Bela Lugosi).

Celeste Holm

Died July 15, 2012 b. 1917

American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Gentleman's Agreement (1947, Oscar) and All About Eve (1950). Stage: Oklahoma! (1943, Ado Annie).

Robert H. Brooks

Died July 15, 2006 b. 1937

American businessman, founder of Naturally Fresh Foods. He purchased the Hooters restaurant chain. Quote: "Good food, cold beer and pretty girls never go out of style."

Bert Convy

Died July 15, 1991 b. 1933

American Emmy-winning game show host, actor. TV: Super Password. Convy also played Perchick in the original cast of Fiddler on the Roof (1964).

John Joseph Pershing

Died July 15, 1948 b. 1860

American general. He was commander in chief of the American forces during World War I (1917-19) and U.S. Army chief of staff (1921-24).

Eugen Bleuler

Died July 15, 1939 b. 1857

Swiss psychiatrist. He coined the term "Schizophrenia" (1908, schizo=split, phrene=mind). He also coined the terms "ambivalence" (1911) and "autism" (1912).

Carl Fisher

Died July 15, 1939 b. 1874

American entrepreneur, Mr. Miami Beach. He started what is considered the first automobile dealership in the U.S., helped organize the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and developed Miami Beach. He lost his fortune, an estimated $100 million, in the 1929 stock market crash leaving him penniless.

Richard Dixon Oldham

Died July 15, 1936 b. 1858

Irish geologist and seismologist. He discovered evidence of the Earth's molten core (1906) by studying the 1897 Indian Earthquake.

Discovered Truth Serum

Robert Ernest House

Died July 15, 1930 b. 1875

American physician. He discovered that scopolamine hydrobromide could be used as a "truth serum." However, later research showed that its use was unreliable due to its hallucinogenic effects.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Died July 15, 1904 b. 1860

Russian author, The Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904).

Jean-Antoine Houdon

Died July 15, 1828 b. 1741

French sculpture. He created the bust of George Washington (1788) that now appears on the U.S. quarter.