DeForest Kelley was an American actor, author and singer who is best known known for his role as Dr McCoy in the TV series Star Trek. Prior to Star Trek he acted in movies such as Fear in the Night, Variety Girl and in several Westerns. Kelley published two books of poetry.

DeForest Kelley was born Jackson DeForest Kelley in Toccoa, Georgia, USA in 1920. He was educated locally and graduated from high school in 1938. Kelley worked at various jobs, including local theatres and as a youth sang at his father’s church. During World War II he served in the United States Army Air Forces. He was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit making propaganda and training films.

After the War, Kelley joined Paramount Pictures. He played various roles in several films. He became famous as Dr Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the television series Star Trek which ran from 1966 to 1969. He later played the same role in the successful Star Trek Movies. DeForest Kelley, died at the age of 79 at his home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California on June 11th 1999.

DeForest Kelley, American actor, author and singer who is best known known for his role as Dr McCoy in the TV series Star Trek, was born in the year 1920 On This Day.

Photo by Neil Tackaberry

Dr. Leonard McCoy

Agnes Mary Clerke was an astronomer and writer who was a native of Co Cork, Ireland. The author of several books and reviews, she played a major role in bringing astronomy and astrophysics to the public during the Victorian era. The Clerke Crater on the moon is named in her honour. The crater is located near the landing site of the Apollo 17 Lunar mission.

Agnes Mary Clerke was born in Skibbereen, Co Cork on February 10^th 1842. She was educated at home by her parents. Her father, who had taken courses in astronomy, owned a 4” telescope. From a young age Agnes regularly observed Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons using her father’s telescope.

Having studied advanced mathematics, physics and astronomy, Agnes moved to Florence, Italy. She lived there for ten years studying science and languages before moving to live in London in 1877. She published her best known book ‘A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century’. She wrote several other books and contributed articles to Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Agnes Mary Clerke, astronomer and writer who was a native of Co Cork, Ireland, died aged 64 in the year 1907 On This Day.

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet and literary critic who was a native of the United States of America. He is most famous for his short stories and poems of mystery and horror. Writings by Poe, including ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Raven’ are regarded as literary classics.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. When he was a year old his mother died and his father abandoned the family. Poe was raised by a family in Virginia, where he attended University before enlisting the American army. During his time in the army his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, was published.

In 1831 Poe left the army to become a full-time writer. He worked as a literary critic for various journals in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In 1839 he published ‘Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque’. However the publication of his poem, ‘The Raven’ in 1845 made Poe a household name. His stories and poems continue to be popular in America and around the world. He died aged 40 in Baltimore, Maryland on October 7^th 1849.

Edgar Allan Poe, writer, poet and literary critic, was born in Boston, USA in the year 1809 On This Day.

Photo by Chelsea Daniele

Volkswagen Beetle, the iconic car from Volkswagen is one of the most popular cars of all time. It was manufactured by Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. During that time more than 21 million of them were made. In 1972 the Volkswagen Beetle replaced the Ford Model T as the top selling car in the world.

Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, submitted a design for a people’s car, a ‘Volkswagen’ to the new German Reich government in 1934. He was awarded a contract to produce the car by Adolf Hitler. Production was interrupted by World War II but in 1954 one million Beetles were produced. Apart from the main production plant Wolfsburg the Beetle was also manufactured at Hanover, Emden, Ingolstadt and Osnabrück in Germany and in 14 countries around the world.

The Volkswagen Beetle ceased to be manufactured at its main factory in Wolfsburg, Germany in 1974. However the car continued to be manufactured at smaller plants in Germany and in countries around the world, including Ireland. Large manufacturing plants in Brazil and Mexico continued mainstream production of the Beetle until 2003. The last of the ‘old style’ Volkswagen Beetles rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico on July 30^th 2003.

The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany was driven out of the Volkswagen plant in Emden, Lower Saxony in northwest Germany in the year 1978 On This Day.

Photo by pyntofmyld

VW Beetle

John Hume was one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process. His dedication to peace and democracy and his hard work in the cause of Northern Ireland has wrought a complete change in the recent history of Ireland. Hume announced his retirement from politics in 2004.

John Hume was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1939. He was educated at St Columb’s College Derry before entering St Patricks College Maynooth to study for the priesthood. He later decided not to continue with his clerical studies. He remained at Maynooth where he studied French and History and was awarded a BA degree in 1958. He was awarded a Master’s degree in 1964 after which he returned to Derry where he taught in a secondary school.

Whilst working as a teacher he became a founding member of the Credit Union in Derry city. The credit union movement was expanding rapidly in Ireland at that time. At the age of 27, in 1964, Hume became the youngest ever President of the Irish League of Credit Unions. He continued his involvement with the credit union movement and on September 11th 2004 he officially opened the new headquarters of Carlow District Credit Union at Askea in Carlow town.

A founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) John Hume served as leader of that party from 1979 to 2001. He served as an MP for Foyle in the British House of Commons for 23 years as an MEP for Northern Ireland in the European Parliament for 25 years. Following the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont in Belfast, Hume served as an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for 2 years. His work as one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process led the various terror groups to eventually declare a ceasefire. This in turn gave rise to the Good Friday agreement being brokered on April 12th 1998.

John Hume, along with David Trimble, was a co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize. He was also awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Martin Luther King Award. Pope Benedict XVI made John Hume a Knight Commander of the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG) in 2012. In a public poll carried out by RTE (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) in 2010 John Hume was named ‘Ireland’s Greatest’.

John Hume KCSG was born in the city of Derry in Northern Ireland in the year 1937 On This Day.

Secretary Clinton with Nobel Peace Prize Winners David Trimble and John Hume by usembassylondon on 2012-12-07 14:40:44