Today in History -
October 4, 1822-
Rutherford Hayes was born on this date , in Delaware, Ohio. That's not especially interesting in itself. Presidents, after all, must be born somewhere - and President Hayes was not the only one to have chosen Ohio. But consider: Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, and Chester Arthur was born on October 5, 1830, in Fairfield, Vermont. That's three presidential birthdays in a four-day period, a glut of presidential timber not to be found anywhere else on the calendar.
Hayes came into office by one electoral vote, accomplished nothing, and did not run for a second term.
Arthur came into office as James Garfield's vice-president and was promoted eight months later, upon Garfield's assassination. He accomplished nothing, and wasn't even nominated for a second term (although he does look a lot like Captain Kangaroo.)
Through no fault of his own, Carter was elected president in 1976 (and must therefore bear his share of responsibility for my own difficult misspent youth). He sought but was denied a second term.
Significance? Zero.
October 4, 1957 -
Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, was launched on this date, beginning the "space race." The satellite, built by Valentin Glushko, weighed 184 pounds and was launched by a converted Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Sputnik orbited the earth every 96 minutes at a maximum height of 584 miles. In 1958, it reentered the earth's atmosphere and burned up
October 4, 1969 -
A despondent Diane Linkletter jumps out the kitchen window of her tenth-story apartment in West Hollywood, California. Even before an autopsy can be performed, television personality Art Linkletter blames his daughter's death on a bad LSD trip. Even though the toxicology report disputes Art's assertion, the LSD story persists. If you have never seen the "Diane Linkletter Story" starring Divine, you haven't lived.
October 4, 1970 -
Janis Joplin accidentally overdoses on an unusually-pure dose of heroin at the Landmark Motor Hotel in Los Angeles.
October 4, 1976 -
Earl Butz, President Ford's Secretary of Agriculture, is forced to resign after newspapers print a comment he made regarding race relations (and I will paraphrase for those with weak constitutions) : "I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight female reproductive organ; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to go to the bathroom."
October 4, 1978 -
Tammy Wynette is kidnapped at gunpoint in a Nashville shopping center. The masked gunman drives the country music star 80 miles away, releasing her only after inflicting a savage beating. The assailant is never caught.
October 4, 1986 -
Network news anchorman Dan Rather is mugged in New York City. The attacker, one William Tager, shouts the question "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" during the beating. While the "frequency" refers to the wavelength of the transmissions that CBS was beaming into Tager's head, history is still unclear on exactly who "Kenneth" is or why R.E.M. would record a song about it. It is rumored that the attack occurred because of Rather's uncanny resemblance to underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger.
October 4, 1989 -
Secretariat, 1973 triple crown winner and one of the greatest athletes of all time, is euthanized in Paris, Kentucky. He was 19. Not surprisingly, horse appeared on the menu of several Parisian Bistros that night.
And so it goes.
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