Feb 11th in NYC History
Posted: Feb 11, 2013 | 1:09 PM
by Jared Goldstein
1847: Thomas Edison born in Ohio. He had more than 1,000 patents including the light bulb and the gramophone. He had some of his businesses based in NYC, backed by NYC finance, and he premiered several of his inventions here including outdoor and indoor electric lighting.
We see some of these sites on the Seaport tour, SoHo tour, and Broadway tour.
1934: Actress Tina Louise, famous for Gilligan's Island, born in NYC.
My mother went to college with her and they were friendly. When the three of us encountered each other in the 1990s Tina denied knowing my mother. Their ages match up, but maybe Louise had more work done and didn't want to be paired with her; maybe she didn't remember, since famous people meet many people in many places; maybe she didn't like my mother; maybe she thought my mother might have been able to share something embarrassing about her. Obscure people have vivid memories of celebrities they once knew, many of which are inconsequential.
1963: Author and poet Sylvia Plath killed herself in London. The Bell Jar chronicles the start of her career in New York City's magazine world.
1993: A hijacked Luftansa jet landed at Kennedy Airport, where the gunman surrendered without harming anyone.
2008: The US Defense Department charged the September 11th Attacks' mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with murder and war crimes.
We explore the history of 9/11 and Ground Zero on my World Trade Center tour, also known as 9/11 tour and Ground Zero tour.