October 11: First steam-ferry begins service in NYC, American woman performs space walk

October 12, 11:24 PMPortland History ExaminerNatalie Leavitt

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Maine Fast Fact: In 1597 Simon Ferdinando, a Portuguese navigator, landed on the Maine coast looking for treasure.

Births:

• 1821: George Williams, English founder of the YMCA
• 1844: Henry Heinz, German-American businessman, founder of H.J. Heinz Company, manufacturer of ketchup
• 1872: Harlan Fiske Stone, 12th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
• 1884: Eleanor Roosevelt, First lady of the United States, humanitarian, diplomat, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
• 1946: Gary Mallaber, American musician, drummer and singer for The Steve Miller Band
• 1961: Steve Young, American Hall of Fame football player
• 1962: Joan Cusack, American actress
• 1966: Luke Perry, American actor, known for his role as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210
• 1968: Jane Krakowski, American actress, known for her roles as Elaine Vassal on the television series Ally McBeal and Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock
• 1976: Emily Deschanel, American actress, known for her role on the television series Bones
• 1985: Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress

Deaths:

• 1809: Meriwether Lewis, American explorer
• 1965: Dorothea Lange, American documentary photographer and photojournalist, known for her Depression-era photographs
• 1998: Richard Denning, American actor

History:

• 1811: The Juliana, the first steam-powered ferry invented by John Stevens, begins services between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.
• 1865: A march of hundreds of black men and women takes place in Jamaica, known as the Morant Bay Rebellion led by Paul Bogle.
• 1890: The historic organization Daughters of the American Revolution is founded in Washington, D.C.
• 1906: San Francisco public schools order that Japanese students be taught in racially segregated schools, starting a diplomatic relations crisis between the U.S and Japan.
• 1910: Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane when he flies for four minutes in a plane built by the Wright Brothers.
• 1968: Apollo 7 is launched by NASA, the first successful manned Apollo mission with astronauts Donn F. Eisele, Wally Schirra and Walter Cunningham.
• 1975: Saturday Night Live premiers on NBC with George Carlin as the host.
• 1984: Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
• 1986: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland to discuss arms control and human rights.
• 1991: Law professor Anita Hill appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee and accuses Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her.
• 2000: The 100th Space Shuttle mission is flown.
• 2002: The Senate joins the House in giving authority to President Bush to use military force in Iraq; President Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2007: Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its record high at 14,198.10 points.

October 11 is National Coming Out Day in the United States. It is a civil-awareness day for coming out and discussions about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues, observed each year by LGBT communities and their supporters.