21 September 2018
Interesting tidbits:
1896 – British force under Horatio Kitchener took Dongola in the Sudan. Kitchner was a British Field Marshal and colonial administrator who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway through it. He was one of the most famous names in the expansion of the British Empire.
1897 – The "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial was published in the New York Sun.
1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, or "There and Back Again" was published. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction.
1942 – The B-29 Superfortress made its maiden flight.
2001 – Deep Space 1 flew within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly.
2003 – Galileo mission was terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes.
Today's birthday crew:
1756 – John Loudon McAdam, Scottish engineer and road builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads with a smooth hard surface that would be more durable and less muddy than soil-based tracks. Of subsequent improvements, the most significant was the introduction of tar to bind the road surface's stones together – "tarmac" (TAR MACadam) – followed later by the use of hot-laid tarred aggregate or tar-sprayed chippings to create better road metalling.
1863 – John Bunny, American actor was one of the first comic stars of the motion picture era. Between 1910 and his death in 1915 Bunny was one of the top stars of early silent film, as well as an early example of celebrity.
1866 – H.G. Wells, English author, now best known for his work in science fiction. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games.
1912 – Chuck Jones, American animator, screenwriter, and producer of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros Cartoons studio.
1962 – Rob Morrow, American actor known for his portrayal of Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series." Although it has been off the air for many years, Northern Exposure fans still meet each year in the town where the series was filmed to celebrate Moosefest.
1965 – David Wenham, Australian actor known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Carl in Van Helsing, and Dilios in 300.
1990 – Allison Scagliotti, American actress best known for her role in Drake & Josh and as Claudia Donovan in Warehouse 13.
Happy birthday guys!