Holidays
Talk Like a Pirate Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day was created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.
The holiday gained wide acceptance in 2002 after Baur and Summers sent a letter about their holiday to the humor columnist Dave Barry, who liked and promoted the idea.
What Happened On
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
September 19, 1970
The Mary Tyler Moore Show debuts on CBS. It starred Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards, a single independent woman of 30 focused on her career as associate producer at the fictional WJM news program in Minneapolis. It also co-starred Ed Asner as her boss Lou Grant and Valerie Harper as her friend and neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern.
The show was originally titled Mary Tyler Moore.
Dust raised by the blast
Dust raised by the blast
First Underground Nuclear Explosion
September 19, 1957
The U.S. explodes a device near Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the first atomic explosion to be entirely contained underground, producing no fallout.
World War II - Jewish Badge
September 19, 1941
Jews in German-occupied lands are ordered to wear a yellow Star of David for identification.
Bacon's Rebellion: Burning of Jamestown
Bacon's Rebellion: Burning of Jamestown
Bacon's Rebellion
September 19, 1676
Nathaniel Bacon, leading a group of settlers, burns down Jamestown and overthrows the Virginia governor. They were rebelling against excessive taxes, loss of self rule, and the governor's refusal to protect them against Indians. Bacon died shortly after the rebellion due to dysentery.
Iraq War
September 19, 2002
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declares, "There are a number of terrorist states pursuing weapons of mass destruction - Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, just to name a few - but no terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people than the regime of Saddam Hussein and Iraq."
Simon and Garfunkel Reunion
September 19, 1981
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunite after an 11-year split, performing a free concert at Central Park. At the time, it was claimed that over 400,000 people attended the concert, but later estimates claimed that the park could only hold 48,500 people. A film and recording of the event were made of the event. The proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park.
Titan II Missile Explosion
September 19, 1980
After a fire in an Arkansas missile silo, the missile explodes killing one and injuring 21. The 9-megaton nuclear warhead it was carrying landed, unexploded, about 600 feet away. The fire started the previous day when a technician dropped a socket wrench in the silo.
Linus
September 19, 1952
The blanket-wielding Linus Van Pelt is introduced into the Peanuts comic strip, although his name wasn't revealed until three days later.
"…he's under the thumb of his dominating sister and a mother who puts notes in his lunch telling him to study harder. As Charlie Brown says, 'No wonder he carries that blanket.'" - Charles M. Schulz
First Carpet Sweeper
September 19, 1876
The first carpet sweeper is patented, by American inventor Melville Bissell.
First Newspaper to Publish the U.S. Constitution
September 19, 1787
The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser prints the U.S. Constitution, which had been signed two days earlier.
Birthdays
Abbot pitching for the Calgary Cannons minor league team
Photo Credit: John Traub / Albuquerque Isotopes Baseball Club
Abbot pitching for the Calgary Cannons minor league teamPhoto Credit: John Traub / Albuquerque Isotopes Baseball Club
One-Handed Pitcher
Jim Abbott
Born September 19, 1967
American Major League Baseball pitcher. Born with only one hand. He pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees against Cleveland (1993) and also won a gold medal pitching for the U.S. in the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Photo Credit: twiggy-lawson.com
Photo Credit: twiggy-lawson.com
Twiggy (Leslie Hornby)
Born September 19, 1949
English actress, model. Known for her thin figure, short hair, and androgynous looks, she became a fashion icon of the 1960s. She was named "The Face of 1966" by the Daily Express and voted British Woman of the Year. Film: The Boyfriend (1971).
Mama Cass Elliot (Ellen Naomi Cohen)
Born September 19, 1941 d. 1974
American folk singer, with The Mamas & the Papas. Music: California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday. She claimed she was hit on the head by a pipe that fell at a construction site and it increased her vocal range by three notes. The urban legend that she died from choking on a ham sandwich is false. She actually died of heart failure.
Even though she initially chose the nickname "Mama Cass" at the formation of The Mamas & the Papas, she grew to dislike the name after she later began her solo career.
She died at 32 years old in the same flat Keith Moon would die in four years later, also 32 years old.
The Fifth Beatle
Brian Epstein
Born September 19, 1934 d. 1967
British impresario. He discovered and was the first manager of The Beatles. Paul McCartney referred to him as the "Fifth Beatle." Epstein's initial attempts to get a recording contract for the Beatles were rejected by virtually every label in London, until he secured a contract with EMI, who had also previously turned them down. He died at age 32 from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol.
West (right) as Batman with Burt Ward as Robin
Adam West (William West Anderson)
Born September 19, 1928 d. 2017
American actor. TV: Batman (1966-68, Bruce Wayne) and Family Guy (2000-2017, voice of mayor Adam West). Film: Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964, Major Dan McCready).
Eric Robert Rudolph
Born September 19, 1966
American terrorist. He bombed the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, two abortion clinics, and a lesbian nightclub, killing three people and injuring 150 others. In 2003, after spending more than five years in the Appalachian wilderness as a fugitive, he was captured and sentenced to life in prison.
Joan Lunden
Born September 19, 1950
American broadcast journalist.
Jeremy Irons
Born September 19, 1948
English Oscar-winning actor. Film: Reversal of Fortune (1990, Oscar, Claus von Bulow).
Randolph Mantooth
Born September 19, 1945
American actor. TV: Emergency! (John Gage) and Loving (Alex Masters).
Paul Williams
Born September 19, 1940
American singer, songwriter. He co-wrote hits We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, and Just an Old Fashioned Love Song. Film: Phantom of the Paradise (1974).
David McCallum
Born September 19, 1933 d. 2023
Scottish actor. TV: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68, Illya Kuryakin) and NCIS (2003-24, Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard).
Sir William Golding
Born September 19, 1911 d. 1993
British Nobel-winning author. Writings: Lord of the Flies (1954) and Rights of Passage (1980).
Henry Peter Brougham
Born September 19, 1778 d. 1868
Scottish orator. Quote: "Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
Charles Carroll
Born September 19, 1737 d. 1832
American Revolutionary leader. He was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the richest U.S. citizen at the time of his death.
Blackbeard's head hanging from Maynard's ship
Blackbeard's head hanging from Maynard's ship
Lt. Robert Maynard
Born September 19, 1684 d. 1751
British naval officer. He killed Blackbeard the Pirate in hand-to-hand combat (1718).
Blackbeard's severed head was then hung from Maynard's ship. The English pirate had served as a privateer in the War of the Spanish Succession. Afterwards, he turned to a life of crime.
Antonius Pius
Born September 19, A.D. 86 d. 161
Roman emperor (A.D. 138-161).
Deaths
Raging Bull
Jake LaMotta (Giacobbe LaMotta)
Died September 19, 2017 b. 1922
American Hall of Fame boxer. Known as "The Bronx Bull" and "Raging Bull." He was the first person to defeat Sugar Ray Robinson, knocking him out in the first round. He admitted to throwing a fight in order to get a title bout. His life is portrayed in the 1980 film Raging Bull.
First Xerox copy
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Xerox
First Xerox copyPhoto Credit: Courtesy of Xerox
Invented Xerox Copying
Chester F. Carlson
Died September 19, 1968 b. 1906
American physicist, inventor of the Xerox copying (1938). Carlson approached IBM with his invention, but they turned it down. In 1947, Carlson sold the rights to the Haloid Company (later renamed Xerox), who used the technology to create the Xerox 914 in 1959. It was the first plain paper photocopier, and has been called the "most successful product of all time."
James A. Garfield
Died September 19, 1881 b. 1831
American politician. 20th U.S. President (Mar. 4 - Sept. 19, 1881). He was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau, who shot and mortally wounded Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C.
Guiteau believed he deserved an appointed position due to his support of Garfield's presidential campaign, feeling that he was largely responsible for Garfield's victory. Angry that Garfield rejected his requests, and believing that God told him to kill Garfield so that Chester A. Arthur would become president, Guiteau shot Garfield. Garfield eventually died from the wound. Guiteau was apprehended at the shooting and was tried and hanged for his crime.
When Guiteau was purchasing the gun for the assassination he chose one with pearl handles, because he thought it would look better in a museum. Ironically, the gun has since been lost.
Elizabeth Allen
Died September 19, 2006 b. 1929
American singer, actress. TV: The Jackie Gleason Show (the woman who proclaimed "And away we go!"), C.P.O. Sharkey (Capt. Quinlan), and Texas (Victoria Bellman).
Orville Redenbacher
Died September 19, 1995 b. 1907
American popcorn maker, co-creator of "snowflake" popcorn.
Thomas Dartmouth Rice
Died September 19, 1860 b. 1808
American entertainer, "father of American minstrelsy." In 1828 he began performing Jim Crow - a song he had learned from an elderly black in Kentucky - in blackface. His act became a hit in England (1836), making "Jim Crow" synonymous with blacks.