On This Day: Wednesday October 11, 2006

This is the 284th day of the year, with 81 days remaining in 2006.

Fact of the Day: abacus

An abacus is an ancient calculating device dating back to at least 1100 BC. Originally an abacus was a drawing board covered with dust or sand that could be written on to do mathematical equations. A modern abacus typically consists of a rectangular frame with thin parallel rods strung with beads. The beads can be readily manipulated to perform common arithmetical operations. The abacus is still used today in some parts of the world and a good practitioner can compete against many modern mechanical calculating machines.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Mary Soledad, Saints Andronicus, Tarachus, and Probus, St. Agilbert, St. Alexander Sauli, St. Nectarius of Constantinople, St. Bruno the Great of Cologne, St. Gummarus or Gomaire, and St. Canice or Kenneth.
Indiana: General Pulaski Memorial Day. (Revolutionary War hero died in 1779 from wounds received at a siege in Savannah.)

Events

1521 - Pope Leo X conferred the title of "Defender of the Faith" on England's Henry VIII for his support of Catholic principles. Henry VIII denounced Martin Luther's teachings.
1689 - Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, assumed control.
1727 - George II of England was crowned.
1776 - The first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought during the American Revolution.
1811 - The first steam-powered ferryboat, Juliana, was put into operation between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.
1862 - The Confederate Congress in Richmond passed a draft law allowing anyone owning 20 or more slaves to be exempt from military service.
1887 - A patent was granted to Dorr Eugene Felt for the first adding machine.
1890 - The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, D.C.
1899 - The South African Boer War began between the British Empire and Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, who are settlers from the Netherlands.
1923 - The first political telecast, sponsored by the Democratic National Committee, aired from New York.
1939 - Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, arguing the scientific feasibility of atomic weapons and urging the rapid development of a U.S. atomic program.
1945 - Negotiations between Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and Communist leader Mao Tse-tung broke down.
1950 - Federal Communications Commission authorized the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) to began commercial color television broadcasts.
1958 - The lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched, but it failed to go far enough and fell back to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere.
1962 - Pope John XXIII convened the first session of the Roman Catholic Church's 21st Ecumenical Council.
1968 - Apollo Seven, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.
1975 - "Saturday Night Live" made its TV debut, with comedian George Carlin as host.
1976 - Mao Zedong's widow, Jiang Qing, and three others were arrested and charged with plotting a coup as the Gang of Four.
1984 - On space shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathy Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.
1998 - Pope John Paul II canonized the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in Auschwitz gas chambers.
2002 - Former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in the Middle East in the 1970s.

Births

1821 - Sir George Williams, British, founder of the YMCA.
1884 - Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady wife of 32nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. delegate to the United Nations.
1884 - Henry Heinz, American ketchup and pickle entrepreneur.
1906 - Charles Revson, American entrepreneur, founder of Revlon cosmetics.
1918 - Jerome Robbins (Rabinowitz), American Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning director, and choreographer.
1925 - Elmore Leonard, American author.
1985 - Sephiroth!!!!! Happy Birthday, Sev!

Deaths

1809 - Meriwether Lewis, American explorer who with William Clark led the first overland expedition to the Pacific Northwest.
1961 - Chico Marx, American comedian and member of the Marx Brothers comedy team.

Happy Birthday, Sev!