Updated October 22, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 23, 1983, a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon killed 220 U.S. Marines, 18 sailors and 3 Army soldiers; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.
On Oct. 23, 1869, John William Heisman, the coach who revolutionized the game of college football, was born. Following his death on Oct. 3, 1936, his obituary appeared in The Times.
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On This Date
By The Associated Press
1707 The Parliament of Great Britain, created by the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, held its first meeting. 1925 Comedian and talk show host Johnny Carson was born in Corning, Iowa. 1942 Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt during World War II. 1956 An anti-Stalinist revolt began in Hungary. 1973 President Richard M. Nixon agreed to turn White House tape recordings requested by the Watergate special prosecutor over to Judge John J. Sirica. 1987 The U.S. Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork, 58-42. 1993 Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter became the second player to end a World Series with a home run in an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6. 1998 Dr. Barnett Slepian, a doctor who performed abortions, was killed at his home in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., when a sniper fired through his kitchen window. 1998 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a land-for-peace agreement at the White House, following nine days of talks at Wye River, Md. 2001 Apple Computer Inc. introduced the iPod portable digital music player. 2002 Gunmen seized a crowded Moscow theater, taking hundreds hostage and threatening to kill them unless the Russian army pulled out of Chechnya. 2003 Madame Chiang Kai-shek, widow of the Chinese nationalist leader, died in New York at age 105. 2006 Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the company’s collapse. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Ryan Reynolds turns 36 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Soccer player Pele turns 72 years old today.
AP Photo/Andre Penner
1931 Jim Bunning, Baseball Hall of Famer, former U.S. senator, R-Ky., turns 81 1936 Philip Kaufman, Director (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers”), turns 76 1946 Mel Martinez, Former U.S. senator, R-Fla., turns 66 1954 Ang Lee, Director, turns 58 1956 Dwight Yoakam, Country singer, turns 56 1959 Weird Al Yankovic, Musical parodist, turns 53 1962 Doug Flutie, Football player, turns 50 1965 Al Leiter, Baseball player, sportscaster, turns 47 1969 Chris Weitz, Director, turns 43 1976 Cat Deeley, TV host (“So You Think You Can Dance”), turns 36 1978 John Lackey, Baseball player, turns 34 1986 Jessica Stroup, Actress (“90210”), turns 26 Historic Birthdays
John William Heisman 10/23/1869 – 10/3/1936 American collegiate football coach.Go to obituary »
14 Peter II 10/23/1715 – 1/29/1730
Emperor of Russia (1727-30)57 Pierre Larousse 10/23/1817 – 1/3/1875
French encyclopaedist78 Adlai Ewing Stevenson 10/23/1835 – 6/14/1914
American lawyer and U.S. vice president (1893-7)77 Frederick Lanchester 10/23/1868 – 3/8/1946
English engineer101 William Coolidge 10/23/1873 – 2/3/1975
American inventor and engineer77 Felix Bloch 10/23/1905 – 9/10/1983
Swiss-born American physicist70 Frank Rizzo 10/23/1920 – 7/16/1991
American politician; mayor of Philadelphia (1972-80)
Month: October 2012
On This Day: October 22
Updated October 21, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.
On Oct. 22, 1920, Dr. Timothy Francis Leary, the American psychologist and writer who advocated the use psychedelic drugs, was born. Following his death on May 31, 1996, his obituary appeared in The Times.
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On This Date
By The Associated Press
1746 Princeton University received its charter. 1797 French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet. 1844 Actress Sarah Bernhardt was born in Paris. 1934 Bank robber Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio. 1954 West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 1968 Apollo 7, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard, returned to Earth. 1979 The U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment. 1981 The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August. 2002 A bus driver was shot to death in Aspen Hill, Md., in the 13th and final attack by the Washington-area sniper. 2007 China’s Communist Party gave President Hu Jintao a second five-year term. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
New York Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki turns 39 years old today.
AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek
Actor Jeff Goldblum turns 60 years old today.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
1917 Joan Fontaine, Actress, turns 95 1919 Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize-winning author, turns 93 1938 Derek Jacobi, Actor, turns 74 1938 Christopher Lloyd, Actor (“Taxi,” “Back to the Future” movies), turns 74 1939 Tony Roberts, Actor, turns 73 1942 Annette Funicello, Actress, turns 70 1943 Catherine Deneuve, Actress, turns 69 1947 Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, turns 65 1967 Carlos Mencia, Comedian, turns 45 1968 Shelby Lynne, Country singer, turns 44 1968 Shaggy, Reggae rapper, turns 44 1969 Spike Jonze, Director, turns 43 1972 Saffron Burrows, Actress (“Boston Legal”), turns 40 1975 Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Actor (“Modern Family”), turns 37 1985 Zac Hanson, Rock musician (Hanson), turns 27 Historic Birthdays
Dr. Timothy Francis Leary 10/22/1920 – 5/31/1996 American psychologist and advocate of psychedelic drugs.Go to obituary »
74 Franz Liszt 10/22/1811 – 7/31/1886
Hungarian pianist and composer78 Collis Porter Huntington 10/22/1821 – 8/13/1900
American railroad magnate32 John Reed 10/22/1887 – 10/19/1920
American radical journalist85 George Wells Beadle 10/22/1903 – 6/9/1989
American geneticist60 Constance Bennett. 10/22/1904 – 7/24/1965
American actress44 Karl (Guthe) Jansky 10/22/1905 – 2/14/1950
American engineer59 Jimmie Foxx 10/22/1907 – 7/21/1967
American professional baseball player
Shirin Farhad Ki to Nikal Padi, 2012
Although not exceptional by any means, the entertainment factor of this film is a decent one. Chronic bachelorhood as personified by Boman Irani’s Farhad seems to find its match in Farah Khan’s Shirin. There’s some starting trouble, a few peremptory hit-and-misses, and eventually the stars align to make way for the inevitable, i.e., for another one, as they say, to bite the dust.
Besides the laugh factory that is set up on auto, what’s truly interesting is getting an insight into the Parsi community. If you didn’t know too much, this is quite the primer, and if you do know a little bit, you’ll get all the references to the stereotypes that are reinforced throughout– everything from popular foods to customs.
Mr. Irani is certainly in his element, and Ms. Khan, I am told is the suave dance choreographer/director who is debuting in a lead role in this movie. She can certainly hold her own, and is well-deserving of having her character’s name share the limelight with her co-star in the title and credits.
All in all, good for a laid-back Friday night.
On This Day: October 21
Updated October 20, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.
On Oct. 21, 1917, Dizzy Gillespie, the American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader, was born. Following his death on Jan. 6, 1993, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1797 The U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, was launched in Boston Harbor. 1805 A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French and Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson was killed in the battle. 1917 American soldiers first saw action in World War I on the front lines in France. 1967 Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington, D.C. 1971 President Richard M. Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court. 1975 Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit a ball that struck the left field foul pole in Boston’s Fenway Park for a home run, giving the Red Sox a 7-6 victory in 12 innings over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 6 of the World Series. 1988 Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, were indicted in New York on charges of fraud and racketeering. 2002 A car packed with explosives blew up next to a bus in northern Israel during rush hour; 14 people were killed in addition to two suicide attackers. 2003 Invoking a hastily-passed law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted into Terry Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman at the center of a bitter right-to-die battle. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turns 63 years old today.
AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill
TV personality Kim Kardashian turns 32 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1924 Joyce Randolph, Actress (“The Honeymooners”), turns 88 1928 Whitey Ford, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 84 1940 Manfred Mann, Rock musician, turns 72 1941 Steve Cropper, Rock musician (Booker T. & the MG’s), turns 71 1942 Elvin Bishop, Singer, turns 70 1942 Judy Sheindlin, TV personality (“Judge Judy”), turns 70 1955 Catherine Hardwicke, Director (“Twilight”), turns 57 1956 Carrie Fisher, Actress, author, turns 56 1959 Ken Watanabe, Actor, turns 53 1960 Melora Walters, Actress (“Big Love”), turns 52 1976 Jeremy Miller, Actor (“Growing Pains”), turns 36 1978 Michael McMillian, Actor (“True Blood”), turns 34 1981 Willis McGahee, Football player, turns 31 Historic Birthdays
Dizzy Gillespie 10/21/1917 – 1/6/1993 American jazz musician.Go to obituary »
61 Samuel Taylor Coleridge 10/21/1772 – 7/25/1834
English poet? Samuel F. Smith 10/21/1808 – 11/16/1895
Boston-born Baptist minister and hymn writer (“America” (My Country ‘Tis of Thee”))64 Georg von Dollmann 10/21/1830 – 3/31/1895
German architect63 Alfred Bernhard Nobel 10/21/1833 – 12/10/1896
Swedish chemist58 Giuseppe Giacosa 10/21/1847 – 9/1/1906
Italian dramatist85 Jay Norwood Darling 10/21/1876 – 2/12/1962
American political cartoonist80 Ted Shawn 10/21/1891 – 1/9/1972
American dancer62 Edna Purviance 10/21/1895 – 1/13/1958
American silent film-era actress84 Sir George Solti 10/21/1912 – 9/5/1997
Hungarian conductor
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East Meets West: Breakfast Says It Best!
My Mother, the Winner: Still Winning Prizes for 'Best International Outfit'
Gold ribbon winner for the ‘best international outfit’ at a function last evening. I love you, Mom. You are so beautiful both inside and out!
