Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Thomas Gomez, first and only Hispanic actor nominated for Best Supporting Actor

Thomas Gomez, born July 10, 1905 in New York City, was the first actor of Hispanic descent (and to date, the only Hispanic actor) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  His first film appearance was in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror in 1942.  In 1947, he appeared as Pancho in Ride the Pink Horse with Robert Montgomery. His performance was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar, becoming the first Hispanic actor to receive this nomination.

He appeared in The Conqueror with John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, and William Conrad.  Gomez continued to act in movies and television, including an episode of Bewitched, appearing with Agnes Moorehead and Robert Montgomery's daughter, Elizabeth.

Elara, moon of Jupiter, discovered 1905

Elara, the 8th largest moon of Jupiter, was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine January 5, 1905.  He made his discovery at the Lick Observatory at the University of California on Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose.

Up until 1975, Elara was known as Jupiter VII when it was given the name Elara.  In Greek mythology, Elara is a lover of Zeus (Jupiter in Roman mythology).  Zeus hid her from his jealous wife Hera by putting her deep into the Earth, where she gave birth to the giant Tityos.

NASA lists Elara on their website as having a diameter of 43 km, but a 2015 article in the Astrophysical Journal lists its diameter as around 80 km.  Don't know when that will be resolved.  Elara orbits Jupiter every 258 days.

The New Horizons spacecraft captured several images of Elara as it passed on its way to Pluto. 

Celebrating Asian America Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Anna May Wong, first Chinese American film star

Anna May Wong, born January 3, 1905 as Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles California, is the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood and the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition.  She began acting early and her first role (uncredited) was Dinty in 1920.  She starred in The Toll of the Sea, a silent movie and one of the first to be filmed in color.  

In the late 1920s, she traveled to Europe, becoming frustrated by the stereotypical roles she reluctantly played. In 1935, she was refused for the leading role in the movie adaption of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth.  She was also refused the role of the Asian blackmailer in W. Somerset Maugham's The Letter, in both the Bette Davis version and the television role in 1956.

She is the first Asian American to appear on US Currency.

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 1960. Wong passed away in February 1961 from a heart attack.

Celebrating Black History Month: Boley, Oklahoma, early predominantly black pioneer town 1905

Boley, incorporated in 1905 in what is now Oklahoma, is a predominantly black pioneer town in Okfuskee County, west of Oklahoma City. When it was established, people with Native American ancestry were also among its citizens. That area of Indian Territory was settled by Creek Freedmen, who ancestors had been held as slaves of the Creek at the time of the Indian Removal in the 1830s. The US government negotiated treaties that required tribes to emancipate their slaves and give them tribal membership. 

The Fort Smith & Western Railroad approved a station stop at an ideal location for a township, where the land was used for agricultural purposes.  Boley, Creek Nation, Indian Territory was incorporated in 1905, named for a railroad official J.B. Boley.

In the early 20th century, Boley was one of the wealthiest black towns in the nation, including two banks, three cotton gins, an electric company, and two colleges: Creek-Seminole College and Methodist Episcopal College.  By 1911, its population was over 4000. 

After WWI, the railroad went bankrupt, and since Boley was dependent upon it, the town went bankrupt in 1939 during the Great Depression. 

Today, its population is around 1100 people and is still one of the state's few remaining historic African-American towns.  Pumpsie Green, born in Boley, Oklahoma, was the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox. 

Takashi Shimura, Godzilla actor, born 1905

One of Japan's finest actors and a descendant of the samurai class, Takashi Shimura was born March 12, 1905.  He found success playing samurai characters and starred in the classic Seven Samurai.  But later that year, he appeared in Godzilla as Dr.  Kyohei Yamane-hakase, which made him famous outside of Japan.  He reprised the role in the sequel Godzilla Raids Again.  His final Godzilla appearance came in 1964 in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.

He passed away in February 1982.