Friday the 13th, the sweetest day of the year!

[msmoon]

On This Day: Friday October 13, 2006

This is the 286th day of the year, with 79 days remaining in 2006.

Fact of the Day: Wheaties

Wheaties were invented by accident in 1921 by a Minneapolis health clinician. The Washburn Crosby Company (predecessor of General Mills) perfected the process of making the wheat flakes and the cereal was originally named Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. An employee contest to name the cereal was won by Jane Bausman, the wife of a company executive, and the name was shortened to Wheaties. In 1933, Knox Reeves, an advertising agent, came up with the advertising slogan, Wheaties - The Breakfast of Champions. Lou Gehrig became the first professional athlete to appear on the Wheaties box in 1934. Aviator Elinor Smith was the first female on the box in 1934; Babe Didrikson became the first female athlete to appear on the box in 1935. Michael Jordan has appeared on the Wheaties box more than any other athlete - 18 times.

Holidays

• Feast day of Saints Januarius and Martial, St. Gerald of Aurillac, St. Edward the Confessor, St. Coloman, St. Comgan, St. Faustus of Cordova, and St. Maurice of Carnoët.
• Hong Kong: Birthday of Confucius.
• Portugal: Pilgrimage to Fatima.

Events

• 1307 - Members of the Knights of Templar are arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of King Philip the Fair of France.
• 1670 - Virginia passed a law that blacks arriving in the colonies as Christians cannot be used as slaves.
• 1775 - The Continental Congress authorized the first American naval force. Later in the year, Esek Hopkins is appointed the first commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy.
• 1792 - The Executive Mansion (later White House) cornerstone block was laid by President George Washington; it was designed by Irish-American architect James Hoban. John Adams was the first President to occupy it.
• 1812 - During the War of 1812, British and Indian forces under Sir Isaac Brock defeated Americans under General Stephen Van Rensselaer at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, effectively ending further United States invasion of Canada.
• 1843 - The Jewish organization B'nai B'rith (meaning "Sons of the Covenant") was founded in New York City by Henry Jones and 11 others.
• 1860 - The first aerial photo was taken in the U.S., from a hot air balloon over Boston.
• 1903 - The Boston Americans defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball's first World Series.
• 1904 - Sigmund Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" was published.
• 1923 - Ankara replaced Istanbul as the capital of Turkey.
• 1943 - Italy declared war on Germany, its former Axis partner.
• 1962 - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," by Edward Albee, opened on Broadway.
• 1970 - Angela Yvonne Davis, a former philosophy professor at the University of California, black militant, and self-proclaimed Communist, was arrested for supplying weapons used in a courtroom shootout in California.
• 1998 - National Basketball Association canceled the first two weeks of its regular season because of a lockout.

Births

• 1754 - "Molly Pitcher" (Mary Hays (Ludwig) McCauley), heroine of the American Revolution.
• 1784 - Ferdinand VII, king of Spain.
• 1821 - Rudolf Virchow, German political leader, scientist, teacher, author.
• 1909 - Herblock (Herbert Lawrence Block), American editorial cartoonist.
• 1921 - Yves Montand, French singer and actor.
• 1925 - Lenny Bruce, American controversial comedian.
• 1925 - Lady Margaret Thatcher (Roberts), first female Prime Minister of Great Britain.
• 1987 - amai_tenshi, The Angel of Sweetness, also known as Chibi!!! Whooo! Happy Birthday, 'Mouto-san!!!!
  

Deaths

• 54 - Roman emperor Claudius I, some say after being poisoned by his wife, Agrippina.
• 1974 - American television host Ed Sullivan.
• 2002 - Stephen E. Ambrose, American biographer and historian.