Friday! History, Music, Cinema, Space, Sports, Quotes, More!

On This Date In 1066 King Harold II of England was defeated by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, fought on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, England. At the end of the bloody, all-day battle, Harold was killed-shot in the eye with an arrow, according to legend-and his forces were destroyed. He was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.

On This Date In 1644 William Penn (October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) was born. He was an English founder and “Absolute Proprietor” of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony, and the future U.S. State of Pennsylvania. He was known as an early champion of democracy and religious freedom and famous for his good relations and his treaties with the Lenape Indians. Under his direction, Philadelphia was planned and developed.

On This Date In 1780 During the American Revolutionary War, a contingent of approximately 350 Patriot troops from the North Carolina and Virginia militias engaged a group of British Loyalists, numbering between 400 and 900, at the Shallow Ford crossing of the Yadkin River in North Carolina. The Battler of Shallow Ford was won by the outnumbered Patriots.

On This Date In 1857 Engineer and inventor Elwood Haynes was born in Portland, Indiana. Haynes designed one of the very first American automobiles, the Haynes “Pioneer”. He was also an accomplished metallurgist: He patented stainless steel, stellite and a cobalt-chromium alloy that was used to make sharp dental and surgical tools. Haynes died of influenza in 1925.

On This Date In 1863 The Battle of Bristoe Station was fought at Bristoe Station, Virginia, between Union forces under Maj. Gen. Governor K. Warren and Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill during the Bristoe Campaign of the American Civil War. The Union II Corps under Warren was able to surprise and repel the Confederate attack by Hill on the Union rearguard, resulting in a Union victory.

On This Date In 1888 “Roundhay Garden Scene”, a British short film directed by inventor Louis Le Prince, was filmed. It was recorded at 12 frames per second and is the earliest surviving motion picture.

On This Date In 1890 Future President Dwight D. Eisenhower was born near Abilene, Texas.

On This Date In 1891 Sarah Winnemucca, whose Paiute Indian name was Thocmetony or Shell Flower, died at her sister’s home in Henry’s Lake. Winnemucca was the first Native American woman known to secure a copyright and to publish in the English language. Her book, Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, is an autobiographical account of her people during their first forty years of contact with explorers and settlers. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct14.html

On This Date In 1892 “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, a collection of twelve stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective and illustrated by Sidney Paget, was published. These are the first of the Sherlock Holmes short stories, originally published as single stories in the Strand Magazine from July 1891 to June 1892. The book was published in England on October 14, 1892 by George Newnes Ltd and in a US Edition on October 15 by Harper. The initial combined print run was 14,500 copies.

On This Date In 1898 The SS Mohegan sank off the coast of the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall. She hit The Manacles, embedding the rudder into the rock and tearing the hull open. The ship rolled and sank 12 minutes after hitting the rocks, with the loss of 106 lives.

On This Date In 1911 Through October 26, in the 1911 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Giants four games to two. The 1911 Series echoed a classic rematch of the 1905 contest between the New York Giants and the returning Philadelphia Athletics… http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1911ws.shtml

On This Date In 1912 Before a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Theodore Roosevelt, the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party, is shot at close range by saloonkeeper John Schrank while greeting the public in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel. Roosevelt, who suffered only a flesh wound from the attack, went on to deliver his scheduled speech with the bullet still in his body. Schrank was immediately detained and reportedly offered as his motive that “any man looking for a third term ought to be shot”. Shrank was deemed insane and committed to a mental hospital, where he died in 1943.

On This Date In 1913 The Senghennydd Explosion, the worst pit-disaster of the 20th century occurred at the Universal, Senghennydd. More than 400 men were trapped underground by an explosion and fire. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/walesonair/database/senghenydd.shtml

On This Date In 1918 Among the German wounded in the Ypres Salient in Belgium was Corporal Adolf Hitler, temporarily blinded by a British gas shell and evacuated to a German military hospital at Pasewalk, in Pomerania.

On This Date In 1926 “Winnie-the-Pooh”, the first volume of stories about teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, was published. It is followed by The House at Pooh Corner.

On This Date In 1938 “The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories”, an anthology of writings by Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961), was published by Scribner’s. It contains Hemingway’s only full-length play, The Fifth Column, and 49 short stories.

On This Date In 1939 The HMS Royal Oak, a Revenge-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-47 while anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland. Of Royal Oak’s complement of 1,234 men and boys, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds.

On This Date In 1939 Ralph Lauren, the designer and purveyor of a line of popular clothes that sought to capture the ‘spirit of the West”, was born in New York.

On This Date In 1943 Sobibor, a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland, was the site of one of two successful uprisings by Jewish prisoners during World War II. Members of the Sobibor underground succeeded in covertly killing eleven German SS officers and a number of camp guards. Although their plan was to kill all the SS and walk out of the main gate of the camp, the killings were discovered and the inmates ran for their lives under fire. About 300 out of the 600 prisoners in the camp escaped into the forests. …

On This Date In 1944 German Gen. Erwin Rommel, nicknamed “the Desert Fox”, was given the option of facing a public trial for treason, as a co-conspirator in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, or taking cyanide. He chose the latter.

On This Date In 1947 Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager piloted the rocket-powered Bell X-1 to a speed of Mach 1.07, becoming the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. In breaking the sound barrier, Yeager became the fastest man alive - and the legend of the X-Planes began.

On This Date In 1952 The Battle of Triangle Hill, also known as Operation Showdown or the Shangganling Campaign, was a protracted military engagement during the Korean War. The main combatants were two United Nations infantry divisions, with additional support from the United States Air Force, against elements of the 15th and 12th Corps[nb 2] of the People’s Republic of China. The battle was part of American attempts to gain control of “The Iron Triangle”, and took place from October 14 - November 25, 1952.

On This Date In 1953 “The Big Heat”, a film noir directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Lee Marvin, was released. The film was written by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm based on a serial by William P. McGivern, which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, and was published as a novel in 1952.

On This Date In 1957 “Wake Up Little Susie” became the Everly Brothers' first #1 hit, topping the Billboard pop chart.

On This Date In 1962 A United States Air Force U-2 plane on a photoreconnaissance mission captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba. Through November 20, 1962, The Cuban Missile Crisis would ensue, one of the major confrontations of the Cold War, and generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict

On This Date In 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

On This Date In 1964 Nikita Khrushchev was ousted as both premier of the Soviet Union and chief of the Communist Party after 10 years in power. He was succeeded as head of the Communist Party by his former protégé Leonid Brezhnev, who would eventually become the chief of state as well.

On This Date In 1968 U.S. Defense Department officials announced that the Army and Marines will be sending about 24,000 men back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours because of the length of the war, high turnover of personnel resulting from the one year of duty, and the tight supply of experienced soldiers.

On This Date In 1972 Through October 22, the 1972 World Series matched the American League champion Oakland Athletics against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds, with the A’s winning in seven games. These two teams would meet again in the Fall Classic eighteen years later.

On This Date In 1975 Ronald DeFeo Jr. went on trial for the killings of his parents and four siblings in their Amityville, New York, home. The family’s house was later said to be haunted and served as the inspiration for the Amityville Horror book and movies.

On This Date In 1977 “Heroes”, an album by David Bowie, was released. The second installment of his ‘Berlin Trilogy’ with Brian Eno (the other releases being Low and Lodger) “Heroes” developed the sound of Low in a more positive direction. Recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in what was then West Berlin, “Heroes” reflected the zeitgeist of the Cold War, symbolized by the divided city.

On This Date In 1980 Through Octobe 21, the 1980 World Series matched the Philadelphia Phillies against the Kansas City Royals, with the Phillies winning in six games to capture the first of two World Series titles in franchise history to date.

On This Date In 1988 “Broadway the Hard Way”, a Frank Zappa live album recorded at various performances along his 1988 world tour, was released. It was first released as a 9-track vinyl through Zappa’s mail order label Barking Pumpkin in October 1988, and subsequently as a 17-track CD through Rykodisc in 1989.

On This Date In 1989 The 1989 World Series was played between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. The Series ran from October 14 through October 28, with the A’s sweeping the Giants in four games. It was the first World Series sweep since 1976, and is best remembered for the Loma Prieta earthquake, which occurred on October 17 before Game 3 was to begin, and caused a 10-day disruption in play.

On This Date In 1994 “Hoop Dreams”, a documentary film directed by Steve James following the story of two black high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players, was released.

On This Date In 1994 “Murder Was the Case”, a short film and soundtrack album starring Snoop Doggy Dogg, was released. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection after making a deal with the devil. The album topped the Billboard 200 on the number one spot on November 5, 1994 with a 329,000 one-week sale as well as on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.

On This Date In 1994 Writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”, a crime drama featuring multiple storylines and a large ensemble cast including John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis and Harvey Keitel, opened in theaters.

On This Date In 1996 “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus”, the fifth release of The Rolling Stones music by former manager Allen Klein’s ABKCO Records (who gained control of the band’s Decca/London material in 1970) after the band’s departure from Decca and Klein, was released. This live album captures the taping of their ill-fated 1968 TV special, which was not broadcast until decades later.

On This Date In 2003 “Measure of a Man”, Clay Aiken’s debut album, was released, five months after the conclusion of the second season of American Idol. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was, with 613,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest-selling debut for a solo artist since Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle in December 1993. It was #1 on the Billboard 200 for 2 consecutive weeks and received a Multi-Platinum certification November 17, 2003.

On This Date In 2003 Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman plucked a fly ball out of the air before outfielder Moises Alou could catch it-a catch that would have been a crucial out-in the sixth game of the league championship series against the Florida Marlins. As a result of Bartman’s interference, the Cubs lost their momentum and the game. And the championship. The Cubs still haven’t won a pennant.

On This Date In 2007 “Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection”, the first extended play (EP) by American country recording artist Taylor Swift, was released. The EP was first released by Big Machine Records exclusively to Target stores in the United States and online, then was re-released to iTunes in December 2008 and again in October 2009 to Target stores.

On This Date In 2008 “This Christmas, Aretha”, the 2008 Christmas album by Aretha Franklin, was released. Initially a Borders exclusive, it was reissued in 2009 on DMI Records. It is her first ever Christmas album in her 52-year career of releasing albums. Having failed to launch her own Detroit-based label, Aretha Records, she chose to release this album on DMI Records. It peaked at #102 on the Billboard album chart and has reportedly sold close to 100,000 copies to date.

On This Date In 2008 A Florida grand jury indicted Casey Anthony, mother of missing toddler Caylee Anthony, on first degree murder charges. She was also charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and providing false information to law enforcement. http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6032237&page=1

On This Date In 2008 “Perpetual Flame”, a studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and his group Rising Force, was released on October 13, 2008 in Europe and on October 14, 2008 in the U.S.A. and Canada. It was his first album since 2005’s Unleash the Fury and the first with ex-Judas Priest and Iced Earth singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. The album was also produced by Malmsteen himself, who also served as engineer, and was mixed by Roy Z (of Bruce Dickinson and Halford fame).

On This Date In 2009 The first previously unknown work by Leonardo Da Vinci to be discovered in a hundred years, a 13-by-10-inch chalk, ink and pencil drawing being called “La Bella Principessa”, was identified via fingerprint evidence. http://sfist.com/2009/10/15/new_da_vinci_artwork_discovered.php

On This Date In 2010 Benoît B. Mandelbrot (November 20, 1924 – October 14, 2010), French American mathematician, best known as the father of fractal geometry, died of pancreatic cancer. He coined the term fractal and described the Mandelbrot set.

Hat tip to any included contributing sources, along with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page , http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history , http://timelines.com/

Happy Birthday Roger Moore (1927), Farah Pahlavi (1938), Ralph Lauren (1939), Cliff Richard (1940), Lance Rentzel (1943), Justin Hayward (1946), Craig Venter (1946), Greg Evigan (1953), Arleen Sorkin (1956), Chris Bangle (1956), Thomas Dolby (1958), Lori Petty (1963), Jim Rome (1964), Joe Girardi (1964), Steve Coogan (1965), Jon Seda (1970), Frank Wycheck (1971), Natalie Maines (1974), Usher (1978), LaRon Landry (1984), Skyler Shaye (1986), and Max Thieriot (1988).

RIP William Penn (1644 – 1718), Ciprian Porumbescu (1853 – 1883), Lillian Gish (1893 – 1993), Benita Hume (1906 – 1967), John Wooden (1910 – 2010), Robert Webber (1924 – 1989), Carrie Nye (1936 – 2006), Rick Aviles (1952 – 1995), and David Strickland (1969 – 1999).

Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others. Helen Keller

God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons we could not learn in any other way. The way we learn those lessons is not to deny the feelings but to find the meanings underlying them. Stanley Lindquist

Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. Thomas Paine

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty. Zig Ziglar

A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. George William Curtis

Technology codes our minds, changes our OS. Apple products have done this extensively. The video shows how magazines are now useless and impossible to understand, for digital natives. It shows real life clip of a 1-year old, growing among touch screens and print. And how the latter becomes irrelevant. Medium is message. Humble tribute to Steve Jobs, by the most important person: a baby.

DARK ENERGY in Full HD 1080p. Cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole, has been turned on its head by a stunning discovery that the universe is flying apart in all directions at an ever-increasing rate.
Is the universe bursting at the seams? Or is nature somehow fooling us?
The astronomers whose data revealed this accelerating universe have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
And yet, since 1998, when the discovery was first announced, scientists have struggled to come to grips with a mysterious presence that now appears to control the future of the cosmos: dark energy. …

The four-member crew of STS-135 presents highlights of its mission to the International Space Station to agency employees at its Washington, D.C. headquarters on Oct. 13. Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim were the last astronauts to fly aboard a space shuttle.

Charice Louder Music Video Premier! 7:30 am October 14, 2011 (Friday; Japan time). http://t.co/r2tUirZ9
CHARICE Louder Official Music Video Preview http://t.co/PGUJFDQ
CHARICE Getting Ready for Louder Music Video Shoot http://t.co/CjZlJHH
CHARICE Louder Music Video Director - Tim Cruz "Loves You" http://t.co/ANsAgiZ
CHARICE Infinity Album Song/Single/Duration/Track list/Writers/Composers/Lyrics/details http://t.co/G9NZEyh
CHARICE at NFL Jacksonville Jaguars vs Tennessee Titans Game's 9 11 Tribute in Florida http://t.co/wVS1RfX

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Kahlil Gibrran