Celebrating Black History Month: Tidye Pickett, first African American woman to participate in Summer Olympic Games

Tidye Pickett, born November 3, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, was the first African American woman to represent the United States at the Olympic games.  She and Louise Stokes were chosen to participate in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.  

Pickett competed in the 100-m dash and won, placing her third in the semi-finals. She qualified for the final, and placed sixth.  

Pickett and Stokes were selected to be in the 4x100 relay, but were left out of the finals.  It seems racism played a role in the omission from the games, but the ruling remains disputed. 

After the Olympics, Pickett became a school teacher and served as principal at an elementary school in East Chicago Heights, until her retirement in 1980.  She passed away in November 1986.

A brief history of Tidye Pickett

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Elizabeth Ohi, first Asian American female to practice law

Kuma Elizabeth Ohi, born February 9, 1911 in Chicago, Illinois, became the first Japanese American female to practice law in the United States in 1937.  

She was detained after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but Arthur Goldberg, the attorney for whom Ohi was working as a clerk, intervened.   She served as an ensign in the US Navy, and afterwards moved to Washington, DC.  She became an attorney at the Office of Management and Budget and the US Department of Labor.

She passed away in August 1976 in Washington, DC.
 

Harvey Korman, comedian extraordinaire, born 1927

Harvey Korman, born February 15, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, is best known for his performances on the Carol Burnett Show, in which he appeared in from 1967-1977.  He tried his luck on Broadway and comedy but failed. He moved to Hollywood and found success. He provided the voice for recurring characters on The Flintstones, and made three guest appearances on The Munsters. He starred in Blazing Saddles and History of the World Part 1. 

He was nominated for four Golden Globes and won for Best Supporting Actor-Television in 1975. He was nominated seven times for a Primetime Emmys and won four times.

Korman passed away in 2008 after complications from surgery on a non-cancerous brain tumor.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Pablo Morales, Olympic gold medalist

Pablo Morales, born December 5, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois to Cuban immigrants, won gold medals in swimming at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics.  He also set world records in the 100 m butterfly in 1984 and 1986.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Morales won a gold for the 4x100 m relay and two silver medals for the butterfly, setting the world record. Unfortunately, he did not qualify for the 1988 Olympics, and retired from the sport. 

He returned to swimming and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he won the gold in the 100 m butterfly.

Celebrating Pride Month: Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame

The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame was created in June 1991, originally as the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. It is dedicated to LGBT people, organizations, and communities in the US who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chicago.

The HoF does not have a physical facility, but maintains a website for people to visit at any time.  In 2016, its name was changed to Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. 

Some of the inductees are:

Chuck Renslow, co-founder of Gold Coast, one of the first gay leather bars in the world.

Dom Orejudos, dancer, choreographer, and artist of masculine gay male erotica

Proud Black Lesbians and Gays

Lionheart Gay Theater and Company, which hosts LGBT themed works

Greg Harris, gay politician

Larry McKeon, first gay Illinois state senator

International Mr. Leather

Many straight people and transgender people are honored each year.

Benny Hill and Alien actress Helen Horton born 1923

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the shrewish wife with the shrill, cackly voice on the Benny Hill Show was also the flat voice of Mother, the computer in Alien. Helen Horton, born November 21, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, appeared in the Poirot episode One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Superman III, and Miss Marple's At Bertram's Hotel.

Helen passed away in September 2007 in Vero Beach, Florida.

Remembering astronaut Ken Mattingly (1936-2023)

Thomas "Ken" Mattingly, an American astronaut who went into space three times, passed away October 31. He was 87.  

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he moved with his family to Hialeah, Florida and soon, airplanes became an early fascination.  He graduated from Miami Edison High School in 1954 and received a BS degrees in aeronautical engineering from Auburn  University in 1958.  He then joined the navy and in 1966 he was selected as an astronaut.

He was scheduled to be the Command Module Pilot on the Apollo 13 mission, but he was removed form the mission because he had been exposed to German measles (which he didn't catch) and was replaced by Jack Swigert.  Mattingly did play a large role in helping the crew get safely back to Earth.

He was placed onto the crew of Apollo 16, the fifth lunar landing mission with John Young and Charlie Duke.  Mattingly and Young were the only two Apollo astronauts to fly on the Space Shuttle missions.  Mattingly carried out an EVA to retrieve film and data packages from the science bay on the side of the service module.

Mattingly served as commander of Columbia (STS-4) in June 1982, the fourth and final orbital test of Columbia.

He served as commander on Discovery (STS-51-C), a Department of Defense mission, in January 1985.

He retired from the Navy in 1986 as Rear admiral.  He passed away in Arlington, Virginia.

Celebrating Black History Month: Capt. Janet Days, first black woman CO of Naval Station Norfolk today!

Today, February 3, 2022, Captain Janet Days will be sworn in as Commanding Officer of the Naval Station in Norfolk, becoming the first black woman to attain that position. She was born in Chicago and graduated from Old Dominion University in 1999 with a BS in Business. Later, she achieved her MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School and earned the Naval War College command and staff diploma. 

She has served as the Destroyer Squadron 28 material officer and staff director on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.  She has also served in Afghanistan as the Joint Staff, J7 liaison. 

Remembering Astronaut James McDivitt (1929-2022)

Astronaut James McDivitt, born June 10, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, passed away October 13, 2022 at age 93.  He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in September 1962 as a member of Astronaut Group 2.  His first mission in space was commander of Gemini IV.  It was the first time a rookie was in command of a NASA flight.  He traveled with Ed White, who conducted the first EVA for the U.S.

McDivitt's second flight was on Apollo 9 as commander in March 3, 1969, with David Scott and Russell Schweickart for 10 days.

He left the Astronaut Corps after Apollo 9, and was assigned backup commander of Apollo 12, and made mission commander of Apollo 15.  He retired in June 1972.

He was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Air Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.  

Happy birthday, MST3K actor and writer, Mike Nelson!

Michael J. Nelson, born October 11, 1964 in St. Charles, Illinois, has been nominated for two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program, that program being Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of my favorite shows of all time.

According to imdb.com, he was working as a waiter at T.G.I. Fridays  and doing stand-up comedy when he was offered a job typing for MST3K.  He was allowed to make comments on the movies they were watching, and they were so impressed with his wit, they made him a staff writer.  Later, he became the head writer.  

Joel Hodgson picked him as his replacement when he left the show.   One reason cited was because he looked great standing next to bots Crow, Tom Servo, and Gypsy.

Happy birthday, Billy Batson!

Actor Michael Gray, born September 2, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, is best known for his role as Billy Batson on the Saturday morning show Shazam!.  I never missed an episode.

Lately, he's been seen regularly on the Comic-Con circuit, talking about his experiences on the show.  Still looks good, too! 

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.  

Celebrating Black History Month: Oscar Micheaux, first African-American feature filmmaker

Oscar Micheaux, born January 2, 1884 in Metropolis, Illinois, was an African-American independent film director and producer of more than 44 movies.  He has been described as the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century.  

He became a homesteader in South Dakota and began writing as a second source of income, and submitted his articles to the press.  The Chicago Defender published one of his earliest articles.  

His 1918 novel, The Homesteader got the attention of George Johnson, the manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, the first movie company owned and controlled by black filmmakers.  Conflicts between Micheaux and Johnson resulted in the Lincoln company not producing the film.

Micheaux founded the Micheaux Film & Book Company in Chicago and its first project was the Homesteader.  Micheaux's movies featured genuine black life, dealing with race relationships, and challenges for blacks trying to achieve success.  He opposed racial injustice received by African-Americans.  He did not shy away from topics such as lynching, rape mob violence, and white supremacy.  He would counter the depiction of African-Americans in white movies.

Micheaux passed away in March 1951 in North Carolina and is buried in Great Bend, Kansas.

His film Body and Soul was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.  He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987. 

Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto, born 1906

Clyde Tombaugh, born February 4, 1906 in Streator, Illinois, is the man who discovered Pluto, then the ninth planet in the solar system.  Based on the observations of Percival Lowell, Tombaugh finally discovered Pluto in 1930.  He discovered many asteroids and minor planets.  Asteroid 1604 Tombaugh, which was discovered in 1931, is named after him.

He passed away in January 1997 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Happy 99th birthday, Betty White!

Phenomenal actress Betty White, born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois, celebrates her 99th birthday today!  She started her acting career in 1945 in a short film Time to Kill.  Since then she's gone on to have a stellar career in television, with roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Hot in Cleveland. 

She has won 5 Primetime Emmys, a Daytime Emmy and even a Grammy Award. 

She does not show signs of slowing down.

Happy birthday, Raquel Welch!

Raquel Welch, born September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, burst onto the scene in a skimpy, furry bikini in the movie One Million Years B.C. in 1966.  She became an international sex symbol and every boy's adolescent fantasy. 

I enjoyed her in The Three Musketeers, her role in which won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. I also loved The Four Musketeers, except that her character got killed off.

Happy birthday, Gemini and Apollo astronaut James McDivitt!

James McDivitt, born June 10, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, participated in both Gemini and Apollo programs.   He joined the US Air Force in 1951 and retired as brigadier general in 1972.

His first trip into space was as commander of Gemini IV in June 1965.  Fellow astronaut Edward White conducted the first EVA by an American during the mission.

His second and final mission was aboard Apollo 9 as commander in March 1969.  It was the first flight of the full Apollo spacecraft, with the command and service module (CSM) and the Lunar Module (LM).  The mission lasted ten days.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John Grunsfeld!

John Grunsfeld, born October 10, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois, is a veteran of five space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-67) as mission specialist in March 1995.  The mission carried an experiment sponsored by the Australian Space Office.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-81) as mission specialist in January 1997 to the space station Mir.  During the mission, Grunsfeld made a call to the NPR show Car Talk, which was hosted by two fellow graduates of MIT.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999. It was a servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Grunsfeld conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Steven Smith.

His fourth mission was aboard Columbia (STS-109) as mission specialist in March 2002.  It was another (the fourth) servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Grunsfeld conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Richard Linnehan.

His fifth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-125) as mission specialist in May 2009.  It was the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Grunsfeld conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Andrew Feustel.

His total EVA time is 58 hours, 30 minutes.  His time in space is 58 days, 15 hours, 3 minutes.

Styx musicians Chuck and John Panozzo born 1948

Fraternal twins, Chuck and John Panozzo, born September 20, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois, are best known as being founding members of the awesome band Styx.  Chuck and John were born 90 minutes apart.  John played drums until his death in July 1996.

Chuck has continued to perform with Styx.  He came out as gay in 2001 and has written a book The Grand Illusion: Love, Lies, and My Life With Styx.

Space Shuttle astronaut Charles Veach born 1944

Charles Veach, born September 18, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights. 

His first trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-39) as mission specialist in April-May 1991.  It was also the first unclassified Department of Defense payload.

His second mission was aboard Columbia (STS-52) as mission specialist in October-November 1992. Some of Gene Roddenberry's ashes were carried aboard Columbia for the mission.

Veach passed away from cancer in October 1995.