Guest Author - Judith Hodges

Today in History- July 12th

Happy Birthday!
1730 Josiah Wedgwood, pottery
1817 Henry David Thoreau, writer (On Walden Pond)
1849 Sir William Osler, physician/author (Principles and Practice of Medicine)
1854 George Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera and the flexible roll of film
1865 George Washington Carver, botanist (worked with peanuts, sweet potatoes, pecans)
1895 Oscar Hammerstein II, songwriter with Richard Rogers (Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, Sound of Music)
1908 Milton Berle, comedian/actor (The Milton Berle Show)
1909 Curly Joe DeRita, comedian (The Three Stooges)
1917 Andrew Wyeth, artist (Master Bedroom)
1920 Beah Richards, actress (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night)
1937 Bill Cosby, actor (The Cosby Show, Fat Albert, Jell-O)
1943 Christine McVie, band member of Fleetwood Mac (Songbird)
1944 Denise Nicholas, actress (Ghost Dad, In the Heat of the Night)
1948 Richard Simmons, weight loss guide
1948 Jay Thomas, actor (Murphy Brown, Mr. Holland’s Opus)
1951 Cheryl Ladd, actress (The Grace Kelly Story, Charlie’s Angels)
1951 Jamey Sheridan, actor (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
1952 Liz Mitchell, singer (Boney M)
1956 Mel Harris, actress (thirtysomething, Sharon’s Secret)
1957 Scott Speicher, US Navy pilot shot down in Iraqi in 1991 and never found.
1971 Kristi Yamaguchi, figure skater

Deaths:
1979 Minnie Riperton, singer (Lovin' You) (Now I will be singing that song all day)

Events:
1862 Abraham Lincoln signs into law the U.S. Army Medal of Honor.
1962 The Rolling Stones performed for an audience for the first time.

History Lesson:
Did you know...

Henry David Thoreau's name was David Henry Thoreau until he changed it.

Minnie Riperton is the mom of the very funny Maya Rudolph who is a regular on Saturday Night Live.