This Date in History - January 13

 

Happy birthday in Heaven, Rip Taylor.  Wonder if the toupee went with him.

888:  ODO, COUNT OF PARIS, BECOMES KING OF THE FRANKS.

Step aside, Oscar Meyer.

1547:  HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY, IS SENTENCED TO DEATH.

A surrey with no fringe on top.

1607:  THE BANK OF GENOA FAILS AFTER ANNOUNCEMENT OF NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY IN SPAIN.

Salami sales dropped off.

1815:  WAR OF 1812 - BRITISH TROOPS CAPTURE FORT PETER IN GEORGIA, THE ONLY BATTLE IN THE WAR TO TAKE PLACE IN THIS STATE.

Don't worry.  They'll get plenty of chances during the Civil War.

1822:  THE DESIGN OF THE GREEK FLAG IS ADOPTED BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

Now they have something to put up all those flagpoles.

1830:  THE GREAT FIRE OF NEW ORLEANS BEGINS.

The polar opposite of their next calamity when the city was under water thanks to a hurricane.

1840:  THE STEAMSHIP LEXINGTON BURNS AND SINKS FOUR MILES OFF THE COAST OF LONG ISLAND WITH 139 LIVES.

Good rubbernecking views from Jones Beach.

1847:  THE TREATY OF CAHUENGA ENDS THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR IN CALIFORNIA.

Also a street in Los Angeles.

1884:  SINGER SOPHIE TUCKER IS BORN.

The first of the red hot mamas.

1893:  THE INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM HOLDS ITS FIRST MEETING.

Rhetorical question:  how did the "-our" spelling begin in England?

1898:  EMILE ZOLA'S "J'ACCUSE"  EXPOSES THE DREYFUS AFFAIR.

Richard Dreyfuss had an affair?  With who?

1910:  THE FIRST PUBLIC RADIO BROADCAST TAKES PLACE - A LIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE OPERA "CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA" IS SENT OUT FROM THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE IN NY.

Does that come with a side of pasta?

1915:  AN EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY KILLS 29,800.

That's the average attendance at a Met game.

1919:  ACTOR ROBERT STACK IS BORN.

Untouchable.

1929:  WYATT EARP DIES.

But lived in reruns with Hugh O'Brian.

1931:  ACTOR CHARLES NELSON REILLY IS BORN.

Brilliant on TV's "Match Game."

1934:  COMIC RIP TAYLOR IS BORN.

Obviously, January 13 is a big birthday for comedians wearing wigs.

1942:  HENRY FORD PATENTS A PLASTIC AUTOMOBILE.

Well, that'll hold up in a head-on collision.

1953:  AN ARTICLE APPEARS IN PRAVDA ACCUSING SOME VERY PROMINENT DOCTORS, MOSTLY JEWS, IN THE SOVIET UNION OF TAKING PART IN A VAST PLOT TO POISON RUSSIAN MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS.

The food in Russia alone could kill you.

1961:  ACTRESS JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS IS BORN.

Or is it this Dreyfus with the affair?

1962:  COMIC ERNIE KOVACS DIES.

In a car crash which happened about a half-block from my current LA home.

1964:  ANTI-MUSLIM RIOTS BREAK OUT IN CALCUTTA, RESULTING IN 100 DEATHS.

Even then.

1964:  KAROL WOJTYLA, THE FUTURE POPE JOHN PAUL II, IS APPOINTED ARCHBISHOP OF KRAKOW, POLAND.

With a name like that, where else?

1968:  JOHNNY CASH PERFORMS LIVE AT FOLSOM STATE PRISON.

Wearing black, no doubt.

1978:  THE US FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION REQUIRES ALL BLOOD DONATIONS TO BE LABELED "PAID" OR "VOLUNTEER" DONORS.

Not sure what this means, but I'll print it anyway.

1978:  POLITICIAN HUBERT HUMPHREY DIES.

So he didn't last 10 years after running for President.  Interesting.

1982:  SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, AIR FLORIDA FLIGHT 90, A BOEING 737 JET CRASHES INTO WASHINGTON DC'S 14TH STREET BRIDGE.

Which prompted a prank call from Howard Stern asking how much it costs to fly from one part of Washington DC to another.

1985:  ACTRESS CAROL WAYNE DIES.

She may have drowned and, if you remember her, you wonder how that would be possible.

1990:  DOUGLAS WILDER BECOMES THE FIRST ELECTED AFRICAN AMERICAN GOVERNOR AS HE TAKES OFFICE IN VIRGINIA.

It took that long?  Also interesting.

2000:  BILL GATES RESIGNS AS CEO OF MICROSOFT.

No Longer Working V 2.0.

2002:  COMIC FRANK SHUSTER DIES.

Partner of Wayne.  Two guys whose act I never got.

2008:  BASEBALL PITCHER JOHNNY PODRES DIES.

The main reason behind the Dodgers only World Series win in Brooklyn.

2009:  ACTOR PATRICK MCGOOHAN DIES.

Secret Agent Man.

2017:  ACTOR DICK GAUTIER DIES

Hymie!

2018:  A FALSE NEWS ALERT ABOUT AN IMPENDING MISSILE STRIKE IN HAWAII CREATES A PANIC.

If the report was on MSNBC, why would anybody believe it in the first place?

2019:  PITCHER MEL STOTTLEMYRE DIES.

Pitching coach of the 1986 NY Mets.

Dinner last night:  Leftover pot roast.