What Happened Whensday: July 16, 2008

Here is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing feature of this blog for years to come. When I first decided to do this, I had thought about giving a history of what happened on each date for the coming week. After looking at just a couple of the next few dates, I realized that there would be just too much information for each dates' events. Instead I've decided to just focus on the date at hand. If I do this for a few years, eventually we will have looked at each date on the calender. With that being said, here is a look back at the major events that have happened on this date in history.

July 16:

622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar.

1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first mission in California. The mission later evolves into the city of San Diego.

1790 - U.S. President George Washington signs the Residence Bill, establishing a site along the Potomac River as the District of Columbia to be the permanent seat of United States government.

1808 - Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, two of the few white men who had actually seen the mysterious territory of the Far West, help form the Missouri Fur Company to exploit the region's abundant fur-bearing animals.

1862 - American Civil War: David G. Farragut becomes the first United States Navy rear admiral.

1935 - The first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City.

1941 - Sports: New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio gets a hit in his 56th consecutive game.

1942 - Holocaust: Rafle du Vel'd'Hiv: The Vichy France government orders French police officers to round up 13,000-20,000 Jews and imprison them in the Winter Velodrome. In 1995, president Jacques Chirac officially recognizes the French police's responsibility.

1945 - Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

1950 - Sports: Uruguay win the 1950 FIFA World Cup, beating hosts Brazil 2-1 in what is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in sporting history.

1951 - J. D. Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye was published.

1955 - Original Disneyland park opens in Anaheim, California
1955 - Sports: Stirling Moss won his first Grand Prix race, the British Grand Prix in Aintree, driving a Mercedes Benz W196.

1957 - United States Marine Major John Glenn flies a F8U Crusader supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record.

1958 - Sports: Shorty Rollins got his only NASCAR Cup Series victory at State Line Speedway in Busti, NY.

1966 - The song "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James & the Shondells topped the charts and stayed there for 2 weeks.
1966 - Sports: Bobby Allison got his 2nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Islip Speedway in Islip, NY.

1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 11 is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida and will become the first manned space mission to land on the moon.

1972 - Sports: Bobby Allison got his 35th career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Trenton Speedway in Trenton, NJ.

1973 - Watergate Scandal: Former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield informs the United States Senate that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially-incriminating conversations.

1977 - Teenage singer Shaun Cassidy's recording of "Da Do Ron Ron" hits No. 1 and stayed there for one week.
1977 - Sports: Darrell Waltrip got his 6th career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, TN.

1979 - Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.

1983 - Sports: Dale Earnhardt got his 8th career Nascar Cup Series victory at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, TN.

1995 - Sports: Dale Jarrett got his 4th career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, PA.

2005 - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K.Rowling released, selling over 9 million copies in the 24 hours after release.

2006 - Sports: Kyle Busch got his 3rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, NH.

2007 - An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and aftershock of 6.6 occur off the Niigata coast, Japan, killing 8 people with at least 800 injured and damaging a nuclear power plant. See 2007 Chuetsu offshore earthquake.

Notable Birthdays:
1821 - Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader (d. 1910)
1888 - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, American baseball player (d. 1951)
1958 - Michael Flatley, Irish-born American dancer
1963 - Phoebe Cates, American actress
1964 - Phil Hellmuth, American poker player
1965 - Claude Lemieux, aka Satan to Detroiters, former NHL star
1967 - Will Ferrell, American comedian
1968 - Barry Sanders, Hall of Fame and Heisman Trophy winning American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions

Notable Deaths
1882 - Mary Todd Lincoln, former First Lady of the United States, died (b. 1818)
1999 - John F. Kennedy Jr. (son of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States), his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette are killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The Piper Saratoga aircraft was piloted by Kennedy.
2001 - Terry Gordy, one of pro-wrestling's Fabulous Freebirds, died (b. 1961)
2006 - Bob Orton, Sr., American professional wrestler; father of wrestling legend, Bob Orton, Jr.; grandfather of 2x World Champion wrestler, Randy Orton (b. 1929)

Well, that's it for this date in history. As the weeks role on and I find more reference sources I hope to add more events in sport, music, and film/television. I hope you enjoyed this look back and if you have any thoughts on any of the events remembered above, let me know in the comments section. Thanks.