Today in History

Anne Rice, the best-selling American author of Interview with the Vampire and other occult novels, was born on this day in 1941. Rice was born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien to Irish Catholic parents Howard and Katherine Allen O'Brien. She hated her name and changed it to Anne when she started Catholic school. She grew up in what was described as the Irish Channel, an Irish … [Read more...] about October 4, 1941

The Soviet Union blocked Ireland's application for the UN on this day in 1946. The Soviets claimed that because Ireland was neutral, they did not personally help establish the organization. However, other member nations doubt the Soviet Union's motives for blocking Ireland's application, believing instead that the Soviet Union's real reasons for blocking the application is … [Read more...] about July 30, 1946

"Ireland's Golden Tenor" Frank Patterson was born in Co. Tipperary on this day in 1938. Patterson started singing as a young boy with his local church choir. He moved to Dublin in 1961 to enroll at the National Academy of Theater and studied acting and received vocal training. While studying in Paris, he caught the attention of Philips Recording Company after a radio broadcast. … [Read more...] about October 5, 1938

On this day, George Carlin, one of America's best stand-up comedians, was born to an Irish father, Patrick Carlin and Irish American mother, Mary Bearey. He was raised on West 121st Street in Upper Manhattan. In a career spanning fifty years, Carlin pushed the envelope in terms of performance. His "Seven Dirty Sins" routine was central to a U.S. Supreme Court case on the … [Read more...] about May 12, 1937

Thomas Keneally, the Irish Australian author of Schindler's Ark which would later become Schindler's List, was born on this day in 1935 in Sydney, Australia. Keneally originally entered St. Patrick's Seminary in the hopes of becoming a priest but left before he was ordained. He published Schindler's Ark in 1982, which won him the Booker Prize and the notice of Steven Spielberg. … [Read more...] about October 7, 1935