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Ben Abruzzo

Ben Abruzzo

Benjamin L. Abruzzo (June 9, 1930 – February 11, 1985) was an American hot air balloonist and businessman. He helped place Albuquerque on the map as the balloon capital of the world. Abruzzo was born in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1952, and then entered the United States Air Force. After graduation, Abruzzo was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. He would adopt New Mexico as his home state after leaving military service in 1954. Abruzzo took an interest in hot air ballooning. He was on the crew of the Double Eagle I in 1977. After the five deaths in the early 1970s, many believed the Dougle Eagle I would become the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, Abruzzo suffered exposure and frostbite while over Iceland and was forced to abandon the attempt. The team, this time with Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, made a second attempt in the Double Eagle II in 1978. The team took off from Presque Isle, Maine on August 11 and made a successful landing in Miserey, France six days later. For their efforts, the team was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1979. Abruzzo was also on the Double Eagle V team. The Double Eagle V was the first team to cross the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon in November 1981. This flight also set a record for longest trip by a team in a balloon breaking. Unfortunately, Abruzzo died a few years later when his private plane crashed near Albuquerque. His name lives on in the new Anderson-Abruzzo International Ballooning Museum that is under construction in Albuquerque. His son, Richard, is also a noted balloonist who continues to fly today. Abruzzo, Ben Abruzzo, Ben Abruzzo, Ben Abruzzo, Ben Abruzzo, Ben

June 9

June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining.

Events

- 68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditus to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging.
- 1534 - Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the St. Lawrence River.
- 1732 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ga01.htm]
- 1772 - British vessel Gaspee is burned off of Rhode Island.
- 1790 - Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first book to be copyrighted in the United States.
- 1815 - End of the Congress of Vienna: new European political situation is set.
- 1856 - 500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.
- 1860 - Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter becomes the first dime novel to be published.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
- 1909 - 1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
- 1915 - U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over a disagreement regarding his nation's handling of the RMS Lusitania sinking.
- 1923 - Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup.
- 1930 - Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed at the Illinois Central train station during rush hour by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a 100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
- 1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen.
- 1935 - Ho-Umezu Agreement: China, under KMT administration, recognized Japanese occupations in Northeast China.
- 1944 - World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, since 1941 occupied by Finland.
- 1953 - Flint-Worcester Tornadoes: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94.
- 1954 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army.
- 1957 - First ascent of Broad Peak (12th highest mountain).
- 1959 - The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
- 1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.
- 1978 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens the priesthood to "all worthy men,"ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men.
- 1980 - Comedian Richard Pryor attempts to commit suicide by dousing himself with rum and setting it ablaze during a cocaine binge.
- 1985 - Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he was not released until 1991).
- 1986 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
- 1991 - The congress of the Italian party Proletarian Democracy decides to merge with the Communist Refoundation Party.
- 1999 - Kosovo War: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.

Births

- 1508 - Primož Trubar, Slovenian protestant reformet (d. 1586)
- 1580 - Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (d. 1655)
- 1588 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (d. 1666)
- 1595 - King Wladislaus IV of Poland (d. 1648)
- 1640 - Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
- 1686 - Andrei Osterman, German-born Russian statesman (d. 1747)
- 1661 - Tsar Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
- 1672 - Tsar Peter I of Russia (d. 1725)
- 1686 - Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (d. 1747)
- 1768 - Samuel Slater, American industrialist (d. 1835)
- 1810 - Otto Nicolai, German composer (d. 1849)
- 1812 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
- 1843 - Bertha von Suttner, Austrian novelist and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1914)
- 1845 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (d. 1914)
- 1849 - Michael Peter Ancher, Danish painter (d. 1927)
- 1851 - Charles Joseph Bonaparte, French politician (d. 1921)
- 1865 - Albéric Magnard, French composer (d. 1914)
- 1865 - Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (d. 1931)
- 1875 - Henry Hallett Dale, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1968)
- 1882 - Bobby Kerr, Canadian sprinter (d. 1963)
- 1890 - Leslie Banks, British actor (d. 1952)
- 1891 - Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist (d. 1964)
- 1900 - Fred Waring, American bandleader (d. 1984)
- 1916 - Robert McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense and president of the World Bank
- 1916 - Les Paul, American guitarist
- 1922 - John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (d. 1941)
- 1931 - Jackie Mason, American comedian
- 1931 - Joe Santos, American actor
- 1937 - Harald Rosenthal, German biologist
- 1939 - Ileana Cotrubas, Romanian soprano
- 1939 - Dick Vitale, American sportscaster
- 1947 - Mitch Mitchell, drummer in The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- 1952 - Uzi Hitman, israeli singer
- 1956 - Patricia Cornwell, American author
- 1961 - Michael J. Fox, Canadian-born actor
- 1961 - Aaron Sorkin, American director, producer, and writer
- 1963 - Johnny Depp, American actor
- 1964 - Gloria Reuben, Canadian actress
- 1973 - Tedy Bruschi, American football player
- 1975 - Andrew Symonds, Australian cricketer
- 1977 - Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player
- 1978 - Matthew Bellamy, British singer, guitarist, pianist, composer of the band Muse (band).
- 1978 - Miroslav Klose, German footballer
- 1981 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress

Deaths

- 62 - Octavia, wife of Nero (b. 40)
- 68 - Nero, Roman Emperor (b. 37)
- 373 - Ephrem the Syrian, Christian hymnodist
- 597 - St. Columba, Christian missionary, patron saint of Ireland (b. 521)
- 630 - King Shahrbaraz of Persia
- 1361 - Philippe de Vitry, French composer (b. 1291)
- 1563 - William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (b. 1506)
- 1572 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (b. 1528)
- 1583 - Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
- 1656 - Thomas Tomkins, Welsh composer (b. 1572)
- 1716 - Banda Bahadur Sikh military commander (executed)
- 1717 - Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (b. 1648)
- 1870 - Charles Dickens, English author (b. 1812)
- 1892 - William Stairs, Canadian explorer (b. 1863)
- 1946 - Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, king of Thailand (b. 1925)
- 1952 - Adolf Busch, German composer (b. 1891)
- 1958 - Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
- 1959 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- 1961 - Camille Guérin, French scientist (b. 1872)
- 1964 - Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian-born business tycoon and politician (b. 1879)
- 1974 - Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1989 - George Wells Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- 1991 - Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903)
- 1993 - Alexis Smith, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
- 1994 - Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 2004 - Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Saint Columba (called Saint Columcille in Ireland, where he is honoured as one of the islands three patron saints).
- Roman Empire - third day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
- United States - Race Unity Day

Other appearances

- June 9th is the name of a song from the Boards Of Canada-album, Boc Maxima.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/9 BBC: On This Day] ---- June 8 - June 10 - May 9 - July 9 -- listing of all days ko:6월 9일 ms:9 Jun ja:6月9日 simple:June 9 th:9 มิถุนายน

February 11

February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 323 days remaining, 324 in leap years.

Events

- 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
- 731 - Gregory II ends his reign as Pope.
- 824 - Paschal I ends his reign as Pope.
- 1411 : Peace of Toruń 1411 signed in Toruń, Poland
- 1531 - Henry VIII of England recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
- 1752 - Pennsylvania Hospital, 1st hospital in the United States, opens.
- 1790 - Religious Society of Friends petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.
- 1794 - First session of United States Senate open to the public.
- 1808 - Anthracite coal first burned as fuel, experimentally.
- 1809 - Robert Fulton patents the steamboat
- 1810 - Napoléon marries Marie-Louise of Austria.
- 1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry gerrymanders for the first time.
- 1814 - Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union
- 1826 - University College London is founded under the name University of London.
- 1837 - American Physiological Society organizes in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1840 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera La Fille du Régiment receives its first performance in Paris.
- 1843 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi receives its first performance in Milan.
- 1855 - Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam.
- 1858 - The Blessed Virgin Mary reputedly appears to Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes.
- 1861 - American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
- 1873 - King Amadeus I of Spain abdicates.
- 1889 - Meiji constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet of Japan convenes in 1890
- 1895 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled on 10 January,1982 .
- 1902 - Police assault universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels.
- 1903 - Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna.
- 1905 - Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer nos.
- 1908 - Australia regain the Ashes with a 308 run cricket victory over England.
- 1916 - Emma Goldman arrested for lecturing on birth control.
- 1919 - Friedrich Ebert (SPD), elected President of Germany.
- 1928 - 1928 Winter Olympic Games open in St. Moritz, Switzerland
- 1929 - Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
- 1937 - A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers Union.
- 1938 - BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R. (The play which coined the term "robot").
- 1941 - First Gold record presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".
- 1943 - General Dwight Eisenhower selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
- 1945 - Yalta Conference ends.
- 1948 - John Costello succeeds Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach of Ireland.
- 1953 - President Dwight Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
- 1953 - The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
- 1961 - Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
- 1963 - The Beatles tape 10 tracks for their first album, including "Please, Please Me".
- 1964 - At the Washington, DC Coliseum, The Beatles have their 1st live appearance in the United States.
- 1964 - Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
- 1964 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.
- 1968 - Israeli-Jordanian border clashes.
- 1968 - Madison Square Garden III closes and Madison Square Garden IV opens in New York City
- 1971 - US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
- 1973 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
- 1978 - Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.
- 1979 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seizes power in Iran.
- 1981 - 100,000 gallons (380 m³) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers
- 1983 - President Ronald Reagan declares Thomas Edison's birthday National Inventor's Day
- 1986 - Rights activist Anatoly Sharansky, released by the USSR, leaves the country.
- 1987 - Philippines constitution goes into effect.
- 1990 - James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win heavyweight boxing crown.
- 1990 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
- 1991 - UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
- 1999 - Pluto, a planet with an irregular orbit, changes from the eighth to ninth planet furthest from the sun. It had been the eighth furthest since 1979.
- 2006 - The UK's ITV plans to start broadcasting its new children's channel.

Births

- 1377 - King Ladislas of Naples (d. 1414)
- 1380 - Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (d. 1459)
- 1466 - Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (d. 1503)
- 1535 - Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)
- 1568 - Honoré d'Urfé, French writer (d. 1625)
- 1649 - William Carstares, Scottish minister (d. 1715)
- 1657 - Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (d. 1757)
- 1755 - Albert Christoph Dies, German composer (d. 1822)
- 1764 - Marie-Joseph de Chenier, French poet (d. 1811)
- 1774 - Hans Jarta, Swedish political activist (d. 1847)
- 1776 - Joannis Capodistrias, Greek governor of Troezen (d. 1836)
- 1800 - William Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer (d. 1877)
- 1802 - Lydia Child, American novelist and abolitionist (d. 1880)
- 1812 - Alexander Hamilton Stephens, American Confederate Vice President (d. 1883)
- 1813 - Otto Ludwig, German writer and critic (d. 1865)
- 1819 - Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American composer (d. 1890)
- 1821 - Auguste-Édouard Mariette, French Egyptologist (d. 1881)
- 1830 - Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf, musician (d. 1913)
- 1833 - Melville Weston Fuller, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1910)
- 1839 - Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist and chemist (d. 1903)
- 1847 - Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor and businessman (d. 1931)
- 1860 - Rachilde, French author (d. 1953)
- 1869 - Helene Kroller-Muller, Dutch museum founder and patron of the arts (d. 1939)
- 1869 - Else Lasker-Schüler, German writer (d. 1945)
- 1873 - Feodor Chaliapin, Russian singer (d. 1938)
- 1874 - Fritz Bennicke Hart, English-born composer (d. 1949)
- 1874 - Elsa Beskow, Swedish author (d. 1953)
- 1887 - John van Melle, South African writer (d. 1953)
- 1891 - J.W. Hearne English cricketer (d. 1965)
- 1894 - Alfonso Leng, Chilean composer (d. 1974)
- 1898 - Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born physicist and peace activist (d. 1964)
- 1900 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (d. 2002)
- 1902 - Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect and designer (d. 1971)
- 1903 - Hans Redlich, Austrian composer (d. 1968)
- 1904 - Sir Keith Holyoake, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1983)
- 1908 - Vivian Ernest Fuchs, English geologist and explorer (d. 1999)
- 1909 - Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
- 1909 - Joseph Mankiewicz, American director (d. 1993)
- 1912 - Roy Fuller, English writer (d. 1991)
- 1914 - Matt Dennis, American singer
- 1915 - Patrick Leigh Fermor, English author
- 1917 - Sidney Sheldon, American author
- 1919 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born actress (d. 1995)
- 1919 - Eddie Robinson, American football coach
- 1920 - King Farouk I of Egypt (d. 1965)
- 1920 - Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
- 1920 - Daniel "Chappie" James Jr., American general
- 1920 - Paul Peter Piech, American artist (d. 1996)
- 1921 - Lloyd Bentsen, American politician
- 1925 - Peter Berger, British admiral
- 1925 - Kim Stanley, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1926 - Paul Bocuse, French chef
- 1926 - Alexander Gibson, British conductor
- 1926 - Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor
- 1931 - Larry Merchant, author and boxing commentator
- 1932 - Jerome Lowenthal, American pianist
- 1934 - Mel Carnahan, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1934 - Tina Louise, American actress
- 1934 - Mary Quant, English fashion designer
- 1934 - John Surtees, British race car driver
- 1935 - Bent Lorentzen, Danish composer
- 1936 - Burt Reynolds, American actor
- 1937 - Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer
- 1938 - Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer
- 1938 - Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and dictator
- 1939 - Gerry Goffin, American lyricist
- 1939 - Jane Yolen, American author
- 1941 - Sergio Mendes, Brazilian musician and songwriter
- 1953 - Philip Anglim, American actor
- 1953 - Jeb Bush, American politician
- 1956 - Catherine Hickland, American actress
- 1956 - Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist
- 1961 - Mary Docter, American speed skater
- 1961 - Carey Lowell, American actress
- 1962 - Sheryl Crow, American musician
- 1963 - Diane Franklin, American actress
- 1964 - Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and professional wrestler
- 1967 - Hank Gathers, American basketball player (d. 1990)
- 1969 - Jennifer Aniston, American actress
- 1973 - Varg Vikernes, Norwegian musician (Burzum)
- 1974 - D'Angelo, American singer
- 1976 - Brice Beckham, American actor
- 1977 - Mike Shinoda, American singer (Linkin Park)
- 1979 - Brandy Norwood, American singer
- 1980 - Natasha Bobo, American actress
- 1980 - Matthew Lawrence, American actor
- 1981 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- 1987 - Bowman Dickson, American singer (Boyz II Men)

Deaths

- 641 - Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium
- 731 - Pope Gregory II
- 821 - Saint Benedict of Aniane
- 824 - Pope Paschal I
- 1141 - Hugo of St. Victor, German philosopher and theologian
- 1160 - Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Japanese general (b. 1123)
- 1503 - Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (b. 1466)
- 1626 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1650 - René Descartes, French philosopher (b. 1596)
- 1685 - David Teniers III, Flemish painter (b. 1638)
- 1713 - Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor of Indai (b. 1664)
- 1755 - Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist (b. 1675)
- 1762 - Johann Tobias Krebs, German composer (b. 1690)
- 1763 - William Shenstone, English poet (b. 1714)
- 1797 - Antoine Dauvergne, French composer (b. 1713)
- 1829 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (b. 1795)
- 1862 - Elizabeth Siddal, British poet and artist (b. 1829)
- 1868 - Léon Foucault, French astronomer (b. 1819)
- 1879 - Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)
- 1917 - Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (b. 1872)
- 1931 - Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (b. 1854)
- 1939 - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (b. 1874)
- 1940 - John Buchan, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1875)
- 1945 - Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter (b. 1891)
- 1948 - Sergei Eisenstein, Latvian film director (b. 1898)
- 1959 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1922)
- 1960 - Ernst von Dohnanyi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)
- 1963 - Sylvia Plath, American writer (b. 1932)
- 1968 - Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1888)
- 1972 - Jan Wils, Dutch architect (b. 1891)
- 1973 - Hans D Jensen, German physicist, Nobel Prize physicist (b. 1907)
- 1976 - Lee J Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
- 1976 - Alexander Lippisch, German scientist (b. 1894)
- 1977 - Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
- 1978 - James B Conant, American chemist and university president (b. 1893)
- 1978 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1982 - Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
- 1982 - Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (b. 1905)
- 1985 - Ben Abruzzo, American businessman and balloonist (b. 1930)
- 1985 - Henry Hathaway, American actor and director (b. 1898)
- 1985 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American composer (b. 1901)
- 1986 - Frank Herbert, American author (b. 1920)
- 1989 - George O'Hanlon, American actor and director (b. 1912)
- 1993 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1922)
- 1994 - Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)
- 1994 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (b. 1930)
- 1994 - William Conrad, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1996 - Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)
- 1996 - Cyril Poole, English cricketer (b. 1921)
- 1996 - Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (b. 1930)
- 1997 - Barry Evans, English actor (b. 1943)
- 1997 - Don Porter, American actor (b. 1912)
- 2000 - Roger Vadim, French director (b. 1928)
- 2002 - Frank Crosetti, baseball player (b. 1910)
- 2002 - Barry Foster, British actor (b. 1968)
- 2005 - Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes
- World Day of the Sick
- National Foundation Day in Japan (See Holidays of Japan.)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/11 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050211.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 10 - February 12 - January 11 - March 11 -- listing of all days ko:2월 11일 ms:11 Februari ja:2月11日 simple:February 11 th:11 กุมภาพันธ์

1985

:This article is about the year. For the song by Bowling for Soup, see 1985 (song). For the album by Rufio, see MCMLXXXV. 1985 (MCMLXXXV) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-February

- January 1 - The first British mobile phone call is made (by Ernie Wise to Vodafone).
- January 3 - Finnish government announces that a Soviet cruise missile has fallen into Inarinjärvi lake in Finnish Lapland
- January 17 - British Telecom announces it is going to phase out its famous red telephone boxes.
- January 20 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan is sworn in for a second term in office.
- January 23 - A debate in the British House of Lords is televised for the first time.
- February 1 - AM stereo broadcasting starts in Australia.
- February 5 - Australia cancels its involvement in U.S.-led MX missile tests.
- February 7 - "New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New York City.
- February 11 - Pakistani bowler Wasim Akram takes ten wickets in his second Test cricket match, but New Zealand still wins.
- February 14 - CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon.
- February 19 - William Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave hospital.
- February 26 - US federal grand jury indicts 15 members of New York Mafia for racketeering

March

- March 2 - Government of John Cain reelected in Victoria for second consecutive term.
- March 4 - The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
- March 11 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.
- March 11 - Mohammed Al Fayed buys the London-based department store company, Harrods.
- March 11 - The Prague Appeal by Jiří Dienstbier, Czech dissident.
- March 14 - Five lionesses at the Singapore Zoo are put on birth control because the lion population had increased from two to 16.
- March 15 - José Sarney takes oath as acting president of Brazil, because the president-elect Tancredo Neves becomes severely ill.
- March 15 - The first .com domain name, symbolics.com, is registered by the Symbolics corporation. However, in this early stage of the rollout of domain names, .edu domains, for educational institutions, still predominate over the commercial .com ones.
- March 16 - Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He would later be released on December 4, 1991.
- March 17 - Serial killer Richard Ramirez (the "Night Stalker") commits his first two murders in Los Angeles, California.
- March 20 - Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod dog sled race.
- March 31 - Wrestlemania I occurs at Madison Square Garden, New York. The Main Event features Hulk Hogan and Mr. T with Jimmy Snuka vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff with Bob Orton, Jr.

April

- April 1 - Villanova University's "perfect upset" of Georgetown University and Patrick Ewing for the NCAA Basketball Championship.
- April 1 - Sports Illustrated magazine publishes an article about the non-existent baseball prodigy Sidd Finch.
- April 15 - South Africa ends its ban on interracial marriages.
- April 21 - Tancredo Neves, president-elect of Brazil, dies after 38 days of illness that prevented him to take oath.
- April 23 - Coca-Cola company changed its recipe/formula and packaging to New Coke (not successfully)
- April 24 - Secular Organizations for Sobriety formed.
- April 26 - High Court judge Justice Lionel Murphy is committed to stand trial on charges of trying to pevert the course of justice.
- April 28 - Australian Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) splits.

May-June

Nuclear Disarmament Party
- May 8 - New Coke is released on the 99th anniversary of Coca-Cola. It will later become a major flop with consumers.
- May 11 - The FBI brings charges against suspected heads of the five Mafia families in New York City
- May 11 - Fire breaks in Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England - 56 dead
- May 13 - Philadelphia's mayor orders police to storm the radical group's MOVE headquarters to end a stand-off. The police drop an explosive device into the headquarters killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 61 city residents in the resulting fire and leaving 250 people homeless.
- May 15 - Unabomber bomb injures John Hauser at UC Berkeley
- May 17- United Airlines Pilots go on strike for 29 days.
- May 20 - Propaganda: Radio Marti begins broadcasting to Cuba.
- May 23 - Thomas Patrick Cavanagh is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to sell stealth bomber secrets to the Soviet Union.
- May 25 - Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge which kills approximately 10,000 people.
- May 29 - In the Heysel Stadium disaster at the European Cup final in Brussels, 39 football (soccer) fans die and hundreds are injured.
- May 31 - The US-Canadian Outbreak: 41 tornadoes hit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario. By its end, 76 perish.
- June 6 - The body of Josef Mengele is located and exhumed in Brazil.
- June 9 - Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he is not released until 1991).
- June 10 - Claus von Bulow is acquitted on charges of trying to kill his wife.
- June 13 - In Auburn, Washington, police defuses an Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing
- June 14 - TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah.
- June 23 - Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, blows up 31,000 feet (9,500 m) above the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard.

July

- July 4 - 13-year-old Ruth Lawrence achieves a first in Mathematics at Oxford University, by becoming the youngest British person ever to earn a first-class degree and the youngest known graduate of Oxford University.
- July 10 - The Greenpeace vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents.
- July 10 - After a storm of controversy surrounding a change in its cola's formula (see New Coke), Coca-Cola re-introduces the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic".
- July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
- July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle.
- July 20 - The main ship wreck site of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha (which sank in 1622) is found 40 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida by treasure hunters who soon begin to raise $400 million in coins and silver.

August-September

- August 2 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes in Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.
- August 6 - In Hiroshima, tens of thousands mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
- August 7 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
- August 12 - Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747SR-46 plane en route from Tokyo to Osaka, crashed northwest of Tokyo, killing 520 of the 524 people on board.
- August 22 - 55 people killed at in the Manchester air disaster at Manchester International Airport when a British Airtours Boeing 737 burst into flames after the pilot aborts the takeoff.
- August 31 - Richard Ramirez arrested for the "Night Stalker" murders.
- September 1 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
- September 5 - John Howard replaces Andrew Peacock as Australian Federal Opposition Leader.
- September 6 - Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9 crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31.
- September 15 - U.S. hostage Benjamin Weir released in Lebanon.
- September 19 - 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. More than 9,000 people are killed, a further 30,000 injured, and 95,000 lose their homes.

November

- November 6 - In Colombia, leftist guerrillas of the M-19 movement seize control of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá. By the next day, 115 people are dead, including 11 Supreme Court justices.
- November 15 - In separate events, mail bombs kill two people in Salt Lake City, Utah; a third bomb explodes the next day, injuring Mark Hoffman. The ensuing police investigation leads to the arrest of Hoffman for these murders, as well as forgery.
- November 16 - When 1,800 staff of Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa go on strike for better pay, they are dismissed and troops called in to help run the hospital.
- November 18 - First Calvin and Hobbes comic strip printed in a handful of newspapers; the strip is not carried in the hometown newspaper of its creator, Bill Watterson.
- November 19 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
- November 19 - Pennzoil wins a $10.53 billion verdict from Texaco in the largest civil verdict in U.S. history (Texaco established a signed contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty).
- November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
- November 21 - United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard is arrested for spying (he was caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison).
- November 23 - Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo when the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner but 60 people die in the raid).
- November 25 - Man wearing a chicken suit walks into the Australian House of Representatives and sits on the government front bench. He is later removed
- November 26 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs over rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.
- November 28 - Gerard Hoarau, exile political leader from the Seychelles, assassinated in London

December

- Ford Taurus released. It would become one of Ford's biggest successes ever.
- December 12 - Arrow Air Flight 1285 DC-8 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.
- December 16 - In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Sparks Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family.
- December 23 - Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov returns to Moscow after 7 years of internal exile
- December 27 - Rome and Vienna Airport Attacks - Groups of Abu Nidal members open fire in the airports of Rome and Vienna - 18 dead, 120 injured
- December 27 - American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
- December 31 - Last issue of The Columbus Citizen-Journal is distributed.

Environmental and weather change

- Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species is first found in Houston, Texas
- November 13 - The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts in Colombia, killing an estimated 23,000 people.
- Ethiopian famine continues - Live Aid attempts to raise funds for famine relief.

Unknown date

- Victoria celebrates its 150th anniversary.
- Capital gains tax introduced to Australia.
- Buckyballs discovered by Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley.
- GNU Manifesto first written by Richard Stallman.
- Western Sahara is admitted to the Organization of African Unity; Morocco, which claims Western Sahara, leaves in protest.
- Solarquest, space age real estate game, first published by Golden.
- Free Software Foundation founded.
- Norma Phillips Thornworth elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Births

- February 5 - Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
- February 9 - Rachel Melvin, American actress
- February 10 - Anette Sagen, Norwegian ski jumper
- February 18 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
- February 19 - Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
- February 28 - FeFe Dobson, Canadian singer
- March 2 - Robert Iler, American actor
- March 13 - Emile Hirsch, American actor
- March 15 - Antti Autti, Finnish snowboarder
- March 24 - Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and model
- March 26 - Keira Knightley, English actress
- May 2 - Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
- June 26 - Urgyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader
- June 27 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
- June 28 - Phillip Bardsley, English footballer
- June 30 - Michael Phelps, American swimmer
- July 2 - Ashley Tisdale, American actress
- July 24 - Teagan Presley, American actress
- July 25 - James Lafferty, American actor and athlete
- September 14 - Aya Ueto, Japanese actress
- October 11 - Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress
- October 22 - Zachary Hanson, American musician
- October 24 - Wayne Rooney, English footballer
- October 25 - Ciara, American singer
- November 8 - Jack Osbourne, English actor
- November 30 - Kaley Cuoco, American actress
- November 18 - Rex Goudie, Canadian singer
- December 3 - Amanda Seyfried, American actress
- December 5 - Frankie Muniz, American actor
- December 10 - Raven Symone, American actress
- December 23 - Harry Judd, English drummer

Deaths

- January 4 - Sir Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
- March 10 - Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet politician (b. 1911)
- March 12 - Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899)
- March 28 - Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
- April 11 - Enver Hoxha, Albanian dictator (b. 1908)
- May 5 - Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
- May 8 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
- May 9 - Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)
- May 10 - Chester Gould, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
- May 12 - Jean Dubuffet, French artist (b. 1901)
- May 16 - Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
- May 17 - Abe Burrows, American songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)
- June 11 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)
- June 15 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (b. 1927)
- July 2 - David Purley, British race car driver (b. 1945)
- July 9 - Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
- July 16 - Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- July 19 - Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer (b. 1938)
- August 6 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (b. 1923)
- August 12 - Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
- August 25 - Samantha Smith, American schoolgirl activist (b. 1972)
- August 31 - Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- September 6 - Isabel Cox-Meighen, First Lady of Canada (b. 1882)
- September 6 - Little Brother Montgomery, American musician
- September 7 - Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1917)
- September 8 - John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1887)
- September 9 - Paul Flory, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- September 11 - William Alwyn, English composer (b. 1905)
- September 19 - Italo Calvino, Italian writer (b. 1923)
- October 2 - Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
- October 6 - Nelson Riddle, American bandleader (b. 1921)
- October 10 - Yul Brynner, American actor (b. 1915)
- October 11 - Orson Welles, American film director (b. 1915)
- October 12 - Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (b. 1910)
- October 22 - Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (b. 1905)
- October 31 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (b. 1913)
- November 5 - Spencer W. Kimball, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1895)
- November 24 - Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (b. 1911)
- December 7 - Robert Graves, English writer (b. 1895)
- December 23 - Ferhat Abbas, Algerian nationalist (b. 1899)
- December 24 - Robert Lincoln Beckwith, last direct descendant of President Abraham Lincoln (b. 1904)
- December 27 - Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
- December 31 - Ricky Nelson, American singer and actor (b. 1940)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Klaus von Klitzing
- Chemistry - Herbert A. Hauptman, Jerome Karle
- Literature - Claude Simon
- Peace - International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
- Economics - Franco Modigliani

Templeton Prize

- Sir Alister Hardy

Right Livelihood Award

- Theo van Boven, Cary Fowler / Pat Mooney / Rural Advancement Fund International, Lokayan / Rajni Kothari and Duna Kör Category:1985 als:1985 ko:1985년 ja:1985年 simple:1985 th:พ.ศ. 2528

University of Illinois

The University of Illinois is the set of three public universities in Illinois. These schools are taxpayer-subsidized institutions of higher learning. B. Joseph White is the current president of the university.

Chicago

B. Joseph White The largest university in the Chicago area, UIC has 25,000 students, 15 colleges, including the nation’s largest medical school, and annual research expenditures exceeding $290 million. Playing a critical role in Illinois healthcare, UIC operates the state’s major public medical center and serves as the principal educator of Illinois’ physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and other healthcare professionals. The modern UIC was formed in 1982 by the consolidation of two U. of I. campuses: the Medical Center campus, which dates back to the nineteenth century; and the comprehensive Chicago Circle campus, which in 1965 replaced the two-year undergraduate Navy Pier campus designated to educate returning veterans. This consolidation and expansion is why "UIC" is the preferred shortened name today. UIC’s student body is recognized as one of the nation’s most diverse, and they reflect the global character of Chicago.

Urbana-Champaign

Navy Pier The Urbana-Champaign campus is the largest of the three. It holds 18 schools, including a law school and an aviation school. It also houses the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, NCSA. This was where, amongst others, Marc Andreessen (later of Netscape fame) helped forge the Mosaic web browser, the first HTML browser capable of rendering images. In addition, in 1987, NCSA created NCSA telnet, a program which permitted users access to the supercomputer's resources remotely. UIUC is also famous for its contributions in Electrical Engineering, and the birth place of world's first light-emitting diode (LED). It is highly ranked in law, library and information science, architecture, engineering, electrical and computer engineering, computer science, physical sciences, advertising, psychology, labor and industrial relations, educational psychology, agriculture, accounting, speech communication, and music. The school's marching band, named the Marching Illini, also enjoys a superb reputation. The symbol of the University's athletic teams is a Native American figure, Chief Illiniwek, which has sparked significant controversy.

Springfield

Another campus is University of Illinois at Springfield, formerly Sangamon State University from 1969 till June 30, 1995. It is the smallest of the three, and is located in Springfield, Illinois, the state capital of Illinois.

Notable alumni

Noteworthy alumni are listed on the individual wiki pages for each of the campuses.

Alumni Association

The University of Illinois