Today's Puzzle
Transform one word into another by changing one letter at a time and always making valid words. Example: East to West — east, vast, vest, west. Now change Dog to Cat in 3 moves.
What Happened On
American Pie
May 26, 1971
Don McLean records his #1 hit song American Pie. The song's refrain "the day the music died" refers to a plane crash in 1959 that killed Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and Ritchie Valens, ending the era of early rock and roll.
Presidential Impeachment
May 26, 1868
U.S. President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by one vote. The Senate voted 35-19 in favor of impeachment, one vote short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
The impeachment was for "high crimes and misdemeanors", in accordance with Article Two of the U.S. Constitution. The action stemmed from Johnson's suspending Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, which required him to get congressional approval.
The Tenure of Office Act had been passed in 1867 over Johnson's veto.
Johnson was the first United States president to be impeached.
Jesuit Priest Converting Indians
Jesuit Priest Converting Indians
Death to Jesuit Priests in Massachusetts
May 26, 1647
Roman Catholic Jesuit priests are forbidden by law from entering Massachusetts territory under Puritan jurisdiction. This was punishable by banishment, and by death for a second offense. However, no priests were ever executed by this law. The English Puritans believed the Pope was the Antichrist and his followers were in league with the Devil. They were also concerned that Jesuit missionaries had converted large numbers of Indians in Canada to Catholicism, making the Indian converts potential allies of France and enemies of the English. Ironically, the Catholic population would grow in Massachusetts due largely to Irish immigration starting in the 1800s. John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts citizen and descendant of these immigrants, would become the first Roman Catholic president of the U.S.
First War Between the Settlers and Indians
May 26, 1637
The first battle of the Pequot War (the first war between the New England settlers and Indians) begins, near present-day New Haven, Connecticut. The war ended in 1638 with the defeat of the Pequot and the extinction of their tribe. About 700 Pequots were killed or taken into captivity and hundreds were sold into slavery to colonists in Bermuda or the West Indies.
Tom Cruise Criticizes Brooke Shields
May 26, 2005
Tom Cruise criticizes Brooke Shields' use of Paxil to treat her postpartum depression. He would later personally apologize to her.
Taliban
May 26, 1997
The Saudi government becomes the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan. Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates will follow suit, making them the only countries to officially recognize the Taliban as of September 11, 2001.
Michael Jackson
May 26, 1994
The King of Pop Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley (Elvis Presley's daughter) in the Dominican Republic.
Genetically-Altered Food
May 26, 1992
The U.S. announces it will allow the sale of many genetically altered foods without government testing and the first genetically altered wheat is announced (by professor Indra Vasil of the Univ. of Florida).
Dodge Viper
May 26, 1992
The first production models roll off the assembly line; they are capable of 165 mph.
Birthdays
First U.S. Woman In Space
Sally Kristen Ride
Born May 26, 1951 d. 2012
American astronaut. First U.S. woman in space (1983). She is still the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32.
She was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982).
Stevie Nicks (Stephanie Lynn Nicks)
Born May 26, 1948
American singer, with Fleetwood Mac. Music: Rumours (1977) and Bella Donna (1982).
Suicide Doctor
Jack Kevorkian (Murad Jacob Kevorkian)
Born May 26, 1928 d. 2011
American euthanasia proponent. Known as the "Suicide Doctor" or "Doctor Death", Kevorkian assisted over 130 patients in their death. He was convicted of murder in 1999 and served eight years of a 10 to 25-year prison sentence.
James Arness (James Aurness)
Born May 26, 1923 d. 2011
American 6′ 7″ (2.01 m) tall actor. He received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart during WWII. TV: Gunsmoke (1955-75, Marshal Matt Dillon). Film: The Thing from Another World (1951, The Thing).
He was the older brother of actor Peter Graves.
Jay Silverheels (Harold J. Smith)
Born May 26, 1912 d. 1980
Canadian-born Mohawk Indian, actor. TV: The Lone Ranger (1949-57, Yes Kemosabe, it's Tonto).
Jay earned the nickname Silverheels while playing Lacrosse during the 1930s with the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association and was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997. He also placed 2nd in the 1938 Middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament.
John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison)
Born May 26, 1907 d. 1979
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: True Grit (1969, Oscar win), The Shootist (1976). Some attribute his death to radiation exposure received from an A-bomb test near the filming of a movie in 1953.
Al Jolson (Asa Yoelson)
Born May 26, 1886 d. 1950
Russian-born American jazz singer, comedian, actor. Called "The World's Greatest Entertainer", he was the highest paid entertainer of the 1920s. He is now seen as controversial for his use of blackface while performing traditional African-America music for American and European audiences that weren't receptive to black performers. He was the first star to entertain U.S. troops overseas after the outbreak of WWII. Film: The Jazz Singer (1927) and The Jolson Story (1946, in which Larry Parks played Jolson, with the Jolson dubbing for Parks).
Isadora Duncan (Dora Angela Duncan)
Born May 26, 1877 d. 1927
American dancer, pioneer of interpretative dance. Her emphasis on "free dance" made her a precursor of modern dance. She died when her scarf got caught in the spokes of the automobile she was riding in and broke her neck.
William Barton
Born May 26, 1748 d. 1831
American Revolutionary officer. Famous for his capture of the British general Robert Prescott in 1777. He also helped design the Great Seal of the U.S. It bore a spread eagle with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one).
Philip Michael Thomas
Born May 26, 1949
American actor. TV: Miami Vice (Det. Tubbs).
Hank Williams, Jr.
Born May 26, 1949
American Grammy-Emmy-winning, country singer. Music: Long Gone Lonesome Blues (1964), Eleven Roses (1972, #1), and Dixie on My Mind (1981, #1),
Peggy Lee (Norma Egstrom)
Born May 26, 1920 d. 2002
American singer, actress. Music: Somebody Else Is Taking My Place (1942, #1). Film: Pete Kelly's Blues (1955).
Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
Peter Cushing
Born May 26, 1913 d. 1994
English-born American actor. Film: Star Wars (1977, Grand Moff Tarkin) and numerous portrayals of Baron Frankenstein and Dracula.
First Woman U.S. Ambassador
Eugenie Anderson
Born May 26, 1909 d. 1997
American diplomat. She was the first woman U.S. Ambassador, appointed by U.S. President Harry S. Truman as ambassador to Denmark (1949-53).
She was later appointed by U.S. President John F. Kennedy as ambassador to Bulgaria (1962-1964).
Heinrich Geissler
Born May 26, 1814 d. 1879
German inventor. He invented an electric light in 1858 - 21 years before Edison's incandescent bulb. Now known as the Geissler tube, it consisted of a gas-filled vacuum tube which would light up when electricity was applied.
William Petty
Born May 26, 1623 d. 1687
English statistician. He co-wrote the first book of statistics.
The Last Judgment - central portion
The Last Judgment - central portion
Clement VII
Born May 26, 1478 d. 1534
Italian religious leader, 219th Pope (1523-34). He was the illegitimate son of Giuliano de Medici. Just days before his death, he commissioned Michelangelo's painting of The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.
Deaths
Bart Starr
Died May 26, 2019 b. 1934
American Hall of Fame football player. He was the winning quarterback and MVP for the first two Super Bowls (1967-68, Green Bay Packers).
Bean on the Moon
Bean on the Moon
Alan L. Bean
Died May 26, 2018 b. 1932
American astronaut. The fourth man to walk on the Moon (1969).
Art Linkletter (Gordon Arthur Kelly)
Died May 26, 2010 b. 1912
Canadian-born American Emmy-winning TV personality. Linkletter was a major investor in Milton Bradley's Game of Life and his picture is on its $100,000 bill. Linkletter was also a major investor in the Hula Hoop. TV: House Party (1952-69) and People are Funny (1954-60).
Sydney Pollack
Died May 26, 2008 b. 1934
American Oscar-winning director. Film: Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Out of Africa (1985, Oscar)
Eddie Albert (Edward Albert Heimberger)
Died May 26, 2005 b. 1906
American actor. TV: Green Acres (Oliver Wendell Douglas).
Gerald S. Hawkins
Died May 26, 2003 b. 1928
English astronomer and mathematician. He showed that Stonehenge was an ancient astronomical observatory (1963).
Isadore "Friz" Freling
Died May 26, 1995 b. 1906
Oscar-Emmy winning animator. His works include Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Pink Panther, Sylvester and Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, Yosemite Sam, and Krazy Kat.
George Ball
Died May 26, 1994 b. 1909
American lawyer, economist, presidential advisor. In 1961, as U.S. President John F. Kennedy's undersecretary of state, he advised that if 15,000 troops were sent to Vietnam, it would take another 300,000 to bring them back home.
Phineas Newborn Jr.
Died May 26, 1989 b. 1931
American jazz pianist.
Jacques Lipchitz
Died May 26, 1973 b. 1891
Lithuanian-born American sculptor. Considered one of greatest sculptures of the 20th century, known for his bronze statues of humans and animals.
Lionel Conacher
Died May 26, 1954 b. 1900
Canadian athlete. Considered Canada's greatest all-around athlete. He excelled in: hockey (2 Stanley Cups, Hockey Hall of Fame), CFL Football (Grey Cup, Canadian Football Hall of Fame), Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, minor-league baseball, soccer, track, and amateur boxing champion. He was also a member of Parliament (1949-54).
Lincoln Ellsworth
Died May 26, 1951 b. 1880
American explorer. He led the first trans-arctic flights (1926) and the first trans-Antarctic flights (1935).
Goat Testicle Doctor
John R. Brinkley (John Romulus Brinkley)
Died May 26, 1942 b. 1885
American quack. Although he had no properly accredited medical training and bought his medical degree from a "diploma mill", Brinkley became rich and famous as the "goat-gland doctor". He would transplant goat testicles into humans for the purpose of improving virility and sexual performance. At the height of his career he had amassed millions of dollars, but died nearly penniless as a result of the large number of malpractice, wrongful death, and fraud suits brought against him. At least 42 of patients died shortly after treatment.
Brinkley was born to a poor North Carolina mountain man who practiced medicine and served as a medic for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Brinkley himself yearned to be a doctor, but dropped out of medical school due to inability to pay his tuition, and eventually bought a certificate from a diploma mill known as the Kansas City Eclectic Medical University.
In 1918, he opened a clinic in Milford, Kansas, initially treating victims of the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Soon after, he began implanting goat testicular glands, which Brinkley claimed would restore male virility and fertility. The cost was $750 ($11,000 in current dollars). He began a marketing campaign based on the birth of a child from one of his goat gland patients.
He would go on to build a radio station in Kansas to promote his medical practice, but the Federal Radio Commission refused to renew his station's broadcasting license. He then built the 50,000-watt border-blaster radio station XER in Mexico in 1931. Its signal was strong enough to be picked up in Kansas. But in 1932, Congress passed the Brinkley Act outlawing this practice. After a series of lawsuits, he declared bankruptcy in 1941 and died penniless in 1942.
Charles Horace Mayo
Died May 26, 1939 b. 1865
American surgeon. He and his brother, William James Mayo, co-founded the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (1915).
John Jacob Abel
Died May 26, 1938 b. 1857
American physiological chemist. He was the first to produce insulin in its crystalline form, and the first to isolate (1926) the pituitary hormone.