Happy birthday, Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang!

Zhai Zhigang, born October 10, 1966 in China, is the first Chinese astronaut to perform a spacewalk.  He launched aboard Shenzhou 7 in September 2008 when he performed his EVA lasting 22 minutes.  

Happy birthday, Iceman actor Shawn Ashmore!

Shawn Ashmore, born October 7, 1979 in British Columbia, Canada, is probably best known for his portrayal of Bobby Drake/Iceman in four of the X-Men movies: X-Men, X2, X-Men: Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Shawn won an MTV Movie Award for his performance in X2.  

He is one minute younger than his twin brother Aaron who is also an actor.  

Happy birthday, Mr. Fantastic actor Ioan Gruffudd!

Gorgeous Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, born October 6, 1973 in Cardiff, Wales, is known for his work as Horatio Hornblower and Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four.  I don't remember him in Titanic, but I do remember him as a jerk in San Andreas.  

Still, he's one of my favorites.

Happy birthday, Dark Shadows actress Nancy Barrett!

Nancy Barrett, born October 5, 1943 in Shreveport, Louisiana, is best known for her work on the cult television series Dark Shadows.  She was married to fellow Dark Shadows actor David Ford, who played Sam Evans.  She was also a bridesmaid for fellow Dark Shadows actress Alexandra Moltke, who played Victoria Winters.  

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: David Barkley Cantu, WWI hero and Medal of Honor recipient

David Barkley Cantu, born March 31, 1899 in Laredo, Texas, enlisted in the Texas National Guard in 1917, and entered the US Army in April of that year.  He enlisted under his father's name of Barkley for fear of discrimination.  At the time, Hispanics were segregated to serve in non-combat units, but Congress passed an act to allow Hispanics to fight in May 1917.  

He was assigned to the 155th Infantry in August 1918 and sent to France in WWI.  Later he was assigned to Company A, 356th Infantry, 89th Division.  Just before the Armistice, he volunteered to swim across the Meuse River, behind German lines in France to gather information about the enemy.  He and a sergeant managed to get the information, but Barkley drowned as he swam back across the river.  

He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his bravery.

Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., first black astronaut, born 1935

Major Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., born October 2, 1935 in Chicago Illinois, was the first black man chosen to be an astronaut.  He completed flight training at Malden Air Force Base in Missouri and became a pilot at 21 years old.

He earned a PhD in physical chemistry from Ohio State University in 1965.  In June 1967, he completed the US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the same month selected by the USAF as an astronaut in the Manned Orbital Laboratory.  

Unfortunately, he was killed in December 1967 during a plane crash at Edwards AFB, while he was instructing a trainee pilot.  

"Peanuts" first comic strip appearance 1950

The first Peanuts comic strip appeared in seven newspapers October 2, 1950.  Creator Charles Schulz had some moderate success previously with a one-panel drawings called Li'l Folks.  It was dropped in January 1950, so Schulz approached United Feature Syndicate.  They were more interested in the four-panel version he had developed since Li'l Folks had ended.  

The first Sunday page appearance of Peanuts came on January 6, 1952.  Eventually it became one of the most popular comic strips of all time.  The strip has been made into 5 feature films and 45 television specials.