February 13th, 1929: Excitement builds as the state announces that the plans to build a road to the summit of Haleakala are nearly complete. The Honolulu Advertiser writes that “No scenic road in the world could unroll before the traveler a more gorgeous panorama.” Obviously, the writer had never taken the Road  to Hana. Haleakala Highway (Crater Road) to the 10,032-foot summit was finished in 1936.

HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — February 13th

• 1601: John Lancaster leads the first East India Company voyage from London 
• 1635: The oldest U.S. public institution, Boston Latin School, is founded 
• 1678: Tycho Brahe first sketches the “Tychonic system” of the solar system 
• 1689: The British Parliament adopts their Bill of Rights 
• 1741: The first magazine is published in America  (The American Magazine) 
• 1891: The body of Jack the Ripper’s 10th victim of is found (Frances “Carrotty Nell” Coles) 
• 1945: U.S. fire-bombing of Dresden
• 1960: France explodes its first atomic bomb (in the Algerian desert) 
• 1981: The longest sentence is published by the NY Times - 1286 words 
• 2000: One day after his death, Charles Schulz’s final “Peanuts” strip appears in Sunday newspapers 

BORN ON THIS DAY — February 13th

• 1892: Grant Wood,  painter 
• 1910: William B Shockley,  Nobel physicist  
• 1918: Patty Berg, golfer 
• 1919: “Tennessee” Ernie Ford,  country singer/actor 
• 1919: Eddie Robinson, “winning-est” college football coach (Grambling)
• 1923: Chuck Yeagar,  test pilot (1st man to break the sound barrier)
• 1938: Oliver Reed,  actor 
• 1942: Carol Lynley, actress 
• 1944: Jerry Springer, talk show host
• 1944: Peter Tork, singer/actor (Monkees) 
• 1944: Stockard Channing, actress
• 1946: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German director/actor
• 1947: Tony Butler, rock bassist (Big Country) 
• 1950: Peter Gabriel, rocker (Genesis) 
• 1956: Peter Hook, rock bassist (New Order) 
• 1959: Ali Campbell, rocker (UB40) 
• 1960: Michael Craig, rock bassist (Culture Club) 
• 1961: Les Warner, rocker (Cult)