Diahann Carroll (Carol Diahann Johnson)
(July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019)

Carroll was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. She said the diagnosis
"stunned" her because there was no family history of breast cancer and
she had always had a healthy lifestyle. She underwent nine weeks of
radiation therapy, and was clear since. She died today in Los Angeles.

Her 1968 debut in Julia (NBC) the first series on American television to
star a black woman in a nonstereotypical role, was a milestone both in
her career and the medium. In the 1980s she played the role of a mixed-
race diva in the primetime soap opera Dynasty.

Julia, original release from September 17, 1968 – March 23, 1971

Last year Americans ate over 4.5 billion tacos! That’s 490,000 miles of tacos,
which could take you to the moon and back or, if you prefer, could, at 775-
million pounds, equal the weight of two Empire State Buildings. The word
taco is the Mexican equivalent of the English word sandwich.

Trivia: Thought Taco Trucks were new ?
One of the first taco trucks is thought to have started in New York when in
1966 two New York housewives operated an early version of the taco truck. Although the truck (below) did not have a full kitchen, it was available for
catering.
​

The Soviet Union inaugurates the “Space Age” with its launch of Sputnik,
the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the
Russian word for “satellite,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from
the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik had a diameter
of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour
and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an
apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point)
of 143 miles. Visible with binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by
amateur radio operators. Those in the United States with access to such
equipment tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft
passed over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik’s orbit deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere.