| In 1611, a publication on the newly discovered phenomenon of sunspots was dedicated. Narratio de maculis in sole observatis et apparente earum cum sole conversione. ("Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation with the Sun"). This first publication on such observations, was the work of Johannes Fabricius, a Dutch astronomer who was perhaps the first ever to observe sunspots. On March 9, 1611, at dawn, Johannes had used his telescope to view the rising sun and had seen several dark spots on it. He called his father to investigate this new phenomenon with him. The brightness of the Sun's center was very painful, and the two quickly switched to a projection method by means of a camera obscura. |
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| By 1774, Rhode Island's 3,761 blacks were the third highest total in New England. Most colonists in Rhode Island were farmers. Many owned large plantations along Narragansett Bay where slaves raised crops and cared for cattle. Even though slavery was important to its economy, Rhode Island was the first colony to prohibit the importation of slaves in 1774. |
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| When the nineteen-year-old Gilbert du Motier, the marquis de Lafayette, arrived in America on June 13, 1777, he was at the beginning of one of the most illustrious military careers in American history. Six weeks earlier the idealistic young officer had ignored his relatives and defied the king of France by setting sail to participate in the American Revolution. |  |
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| Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, wife of America's first Secretary of the Treasury, served it to George Washington in 1789 at her home in New York. He obviously enjoyed it, for he spent $200 on ice cream during the next summer. Four years later, an item in Washington's expense ledger indicates he bought a "cream machine for ice" so his staff could make ice cream whenever necessary. |
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| The Bureau of Labor was established in the Department of the Interior by the Bureau of Labor Act on June 27, 1884 to collect information about employment and labor. It became an independent (sub-Cabinet) department by the Department of Labor Act on June 13, 1888. |
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| Emile Levassor won the event which launched auto racing as a competitive sport - the grueling 732-mile Paris-Bordeaux-Paris contest of 1895. Levassor, in a 2-cylinder, 4 hp Panhard et Levassor, drove the entire distance himself averaging a then-amazing 15 mph. He was denied the prize of 31,000 francs because his car had but two seats. Emile Levassor and Rene Panhard (France) also stablished the present design of cars - with the engine in front. |
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| Hamilton was a Curtiss exhibition pilot who gained fame with his daredevil feats at air shows from Tucson, to Kiev. |  |
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| Babe Ruth connected for a 460-foot home run deep into the center-field bleachers at the Polo Grounds in New York City. It was the longest homer in the career of ‘The Sultan of Swat’. The Yankees ran into trouble with their pitching in the June 13 game in their 1921 series with Detroit. Miller Huggins called a clubhouse meeting and asked, "Who can pitch today? There isn't anyone left." "I'll pitch, Hug," Ruth volunteered. Huggins gave Babe the ball, even though he hadn't pitched a single inning in more than a year. Ruth went five innings against a potent Detroit lineup, striking out one man, Cobb. The Yankees won. Ruth's record that year as a pitcher was 2-0. |
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| The first-place Yankees come to Detroit with the Tigers close on their heels. New York leads 10-6 in the top of the ninth. Bob Meusel takes a pitch in his back, hurls his bat at P Bert Cole, and charges the mound. Players from both teams start swinging. Fans rush out of the stands, eager to mix it up with players, police, and each other. The fight goes on for nearly 30 minutes while umpire Billy Evans, unable to clear the field, forfeits the game to New York. Cole and Meusel are suspended for 10 days; Meusel is fined $100, and Cole and Ruth $50 each. |
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| When Lindbergh returned home, America greeted their new hero with unbridled enthusiasm. Four million people lined the streets of Fifth Avenue in New York City for a ticker tape parade in his honor. Roughly 6 tons of confetti was thrown into the street in celebration of his historic flight. When the parade ended, Lindbergh was presented with an honorary key to the city of New York. |  |
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| The lamps were an experimental installation on Balltown Road near Schenectady, N.Y. The GE 10,000-lumen Sodium-vapor Lamp consisted of a long, evacuated bulb of special glass, enclosing at each end a coiled filament (cathode) surrounded by an open-ended box of molybdenum (anode). Each anode is connected to one side of the filament, the conductors passing through a seal at one end of the bulb and connecting to a four-pin molded-composition tube base. A small quantity of pure metallic sodium, and neon at low gas pressure (for starting) are included in the bulb. |
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| The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) was a New Deal agency established in 1933 under President Franklin Roosevelt. Its purpose was to refinance homes to prevent foreclosure. It was usually used to extend loans from shorter, expensive payments of 15 year loans to lower payments of 30 year loans. Through its work it granted long term mortgages to over a million people facing the loss of their homes. |
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| DiMaggio would also have 3-homer games on May 23, 1948 and Sept. 10, 1950. He would finish the 1937 season, his second in the beg leagues, with 46 home runs and a .346 batting average. |  |
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| Lionel Hampton was the first jazz vibraphonist and was one of the jazz giants beginning in the mid-'30s. Hampton recorded with B.G., Teddy Wilson, and Gene Krupa as the Benny Goodman Quartet, and, in 1936, officially joined Goodman. Hampton became one of the stars of his organization, appearing in films with Goodman, at the famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, and nightly on the radio. |  |
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| Camras developed his first basic wire recorder in the 1930s. During World War II, Camras pursued military applications of the magnetic recorder, developing the famed "Model 50," a portable machine that the Allies used to play recorded, amplified battle sounds at decoy locations during the Normandy invasion. His wartime patents of a ferric oxide magnetic tape, and a method for reducing noise and distortion by using high-frequency bias, are still standards in consumer tape recorders. He also developed multi-track tape recording, magnetic sound for motion pictures, and the video tape recorder. |
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| In 1944, the first German V1 flying bomb hit London, England. A V-1 flying bomb resembled a 25-ft aircraft, with a wingspan of 17-ft. Ordinary truck fuel kept its pulse-jet engine running, which was mounted above the bomb fuselage carrrying a 1,870-pound warhead. It was simple, inexpensive to build, but it was inaccurate, unable to target even a village. However, it was accurate enough to hit a target the size of London, and that was all that was expected - a way to hit London with flying bombs launched from ramps in Europe without risking the depleted reserves of the Luftwaffe's bomber fleet. It had a maximum speed of about 400 mph. |
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| The Yankees retire Babe Ruth's No. three jersey in the Babe's final appearance at Yankee Stadium on the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium. After the ceremonies the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3. |  |
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| By 1950, Faith was working for Mitch Miller at Columbia, who found Faith's rich but not overbearing string work perfect for the sound he was trying to cultivate. Faith began recording instrumentals under his own name in 1951 and soon had a #1 hit with his adaptation of a popular Brazilian song, "Delicado." Faith had three #1 hits: "Delicado" in 1952; "Theme from 'Moulin Rouge'" in 1953, and "Theme from 'A Summer Place'" in 1960. |
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| For the second time this year, the Red Sox Ted Williams hits three HRs in a game, a 9-2 win over the Indians. Williams is the first to do this in the AL. |  |
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| "Battle of New Orleans" was written by Jimmy Driftwood, an Arkansas high school principal and history teacher who loved singing and writing songs. He often wrote songs to help students learn about historical events like this battle. This won the 1959 Grammys for Song of the Year (for composer Jimmy Driftwood) and Best Country and Western Performance for Johnny Horton. |  |
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| "Cathy's Clown" was the first single ever released on the Warner Brothers label. The Everly Brothers signed with them after 3 successful years with Cadence Records. It was the first single to simultaneously top the UK and US charts. |  |
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| "Chapel of Love" was written Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Phil Spector, who produced the song using his heavily-layered "Wall Of Sound" technique, also got a songwriter credit. It was originally recorded in 1963 by The Crystals, a group Spector often worked with. Their version was never issued on an album nor as a single. |
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| The Miranda decision was a landmark 5-4 decision of the United States Supreme Court which was argued February 28March 1, 1966 and decided June 13, 1966. The Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police. |
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| On June 13, 1967, President Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place." He was the 96th person to hold the position, and the first African-American. |  |
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| Jagger reportedly did not want to hold auditions to replace Brian Jones. Jagger simply asked John Mayall from the Bluesbreakers for his advice. Mick Taylor was recommended, and Jagger invited him to a recording session. Taylor arrived at the studio thinking they wanted him to do some session work, but after a while he realized he was in fact being auditioned as a new guitarist for the band. Taylor did overdubs on two tracks, "Country Honk" and "Live With Me" from the 1969 Let It Bleed album. |
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| "Let It Be" is the twelfth and final album by The Beatles, released on May 8, 1970 by the band's own Apple Records label. Much of what became Let It Be was recorded in early 1969, with production by George Martin, before the recording and release of the album Abbey Road. However, The Beatles were unhappy with the album and it was temporarily shelved. Let It Be was later 're-produced' (some critics have said overproduced) by Phil Spector and, in 1970, it became The Beatles' final release. |
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| Right after the Carpenters' "(They Long To Be) Close To You" was the number one record in America, the other major adult contemporary group of the Seventies, Bread, followed them into the top position on the pop charts with "Make It With You." The three original members of this soft-rock band were David Gates, James Griffin and Robb Royer. |  |
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| One of the last Beatles songs, Paul McCartney wrote this based on tensions within the band. The road McCartney is talking about is the B842 which runs down the east coast of Kintyre and on into Campbeltown near his Scottish farmhouse. |  |
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| United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, a top-secret report, became known as the Pentagon Papers. Most, but not all of the Pentagon Papers were given ("leaked") to The New York Times in early 1971 by a former State Department official Daniel Ellsberg, with his friend Anthony Russo assisting in copying them. The Times began publishing excerpts as a series of articles on June 13. The Papers revealed, among other things, that the government had deliberately expanded its role in the war by conducting air strikes over Laos, raids along the coast of North Vietnam, and offensive actions taken by U.S. Marines well before the American public was told that such actions were necessary. |
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| Carnes had several other hits before and after this, but none even close to this big. She was a member of The New Christy Minstrels before recording as a solo artist. This was a huge hit in the US, where it was #1 for 9 weeks. It was not, however, the year's biggest hit. "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John was #1 for 10 weeks. |  |
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| In 1983, space probe vehicle Pioneer 10 crossed the orbit of Neptune and became the first man-made object to leave our Solar System. It was launched March 2, 1972. It is moving in a straight line away from the Sun at a constant velocity of about 12 km/sec. Some 30 years after its launch, on April 27, 2002, NASA made successful contact with telemetry received from Pioneer 10 when it was at a distance from Earth of 7.57 billion miles, and the round-trip time for the signal (at the speed of light) was 22-hr 35-min. The probe sent information from the one scientific instrument that was still working, the Geiger Tube Telescope. The spacecraft is heading generally towards the red star Aldebaran, which forms the eye of Taurus (The Bull). |
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| A "Doonesbury" cartoon strip took a shot at Frank Sinatra by portraying the ‘Chairman of the Board’ as a friend of organized crime; the Mafia, in fact. Several of the over 800 newspapers that carried the strip by cartoonist, Garry Trudeau, carried the comic strip panel with a disclaimer. |
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| The crossover success of “Secret Lovers,” for better or worse, created the template for future Atlantic Starr releases, which took on a noticeably more pop-oriented approach. The group left A&M for Warner Brothers in 1987 and landed their first pop #1 with “Always,” a treacly adult contemporary wedding ballad that appeared completely severed from the group’s soul/funk origins. |
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1611 John Fabricius dedicates earliest
sunspot publication
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1774 Rhode Island becomes first colony to prohibit
importation of slaves
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1777 Marquis de Lafayette lands in US
More ...
1789 Mrs Alexander Hamilton serves ice cream for
dessert to Washington
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1888 Congress creates the Department of Labor
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1895 Emile Levassor wins first Paris-Bordeaux-Paris
auto race (24 kph)
More ...
1910 Pilot Charles Hamilton makes first 1-day
round-trip from NY to Philadelphia
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1921 Babe Ruth hits & pitches the Yanks to victory
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1924 Yanks win by forfeit over Tigers, their 3rd
forfeit win
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1927 Ticker-tape parade welcomed Charles A Lindbergh
to NYC
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1933 First sodium vapor lamps installed (Schenectady
NY)
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1933 Federal Home Owners Loan Corporation authorized
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1937 Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs against
St Louis Browns
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1939 Lionel Hampton and his band recorded "Memories
of You" for Victor Records
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1944 A patent was obtained by Marvin Camras for
the magnetic tape recorder
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1944 Nazi Germany begins V-1 (Fieseler Fi-103)
buzz-bomb attacks
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1946 First transcontinental round-trip flight
in 1-day, California-Maryland
1947 First night game at Fenway Park (Red Sox
5, White Sox 3)
1948 Babe Ruth's final farewell at Yankee Stadium,
he dies Aug 16th
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1953 "Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your
Heart)" by Percy Faith topped the charts
More ...
1957 Ted Williams becomes first in AL to have
2, 3-HR games in a season
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1959 "Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny
Horton topped the charts
More ...
1960 "Cathy's Clown" by The Everly Brothers
topped the charts
More ...
1964 "Chapel of Love" by the Dixie Cups
topped the charts
More ...
1966 Supreme Court's Miranda decision; suspect
must be informed of rights
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1967 Thurgood Marshall nominated as first black
Supreme Court justice
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1969 Mick Taylor leaves John Mayall Band &
joins the Rolling Stones
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1970 Beatles' "Let It Be," album goes
#1 & stays #1 for 4 weeks
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1970 The song "Make It with You", by
David Gates and Bread, was released
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1970 Beatles' "Long & Winding Road,"
single goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
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1971 NY Times began publishing "The Pentagon
Papers"
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1973 Garvey, Lopes, Cey & Russell play together
for first time, set record of staying together as an infield for 8+ years
(LA Dodgers)
1981 "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes
topped the charts
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1983 Pioneer 10 becomes first man-made object
to leave Solar System
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1985 “Doonesbury” lampoons Frank Sinatra
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1987 Daniel Buettner, Bret Anderson, Martin Engel
& Anne Knabe complete cycling journey of 15,266 mi from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
to Argentina
1987 "Always" by Atlantic Starr topped
the charts
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