This Week In History: June 22 – June 28

Headlines & Tidbits from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s

American Experience:

1931 – Wiley Post & Harold Catty took off for flight around world, aiming for a world record

1934 – Federal Savings & Loan Association created

1938 – Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was passed. This law originally set a minimum wage of $0.25 per hour and also set standards regarding overtime pay and child labor.

1944 – FDR signs “GI Bill of Rights” (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act) providing college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It also provided many different types of loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses.

1949 – 1st 12 women graduate from Harvard Medical School

1967 – Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay) sentenced to 5 years in prison after being convicted of violating the Selective Service Act. He was denied a license to fight anywhere in the United States. He was released on appeal, and returned to boxing in 1970.

1972 – Hurricane Agnes is costliest natural disaster in American history

Movies & TV:

1933 – Don McNeill’s Pepper Pot (Breakfast Club) begins 35 year run on NBC

1949 – “Hopalong Cassidy” becomes 1st network western (NBC)

1951 – 1st color TV broadcast-CBS’ Arthur Godfrey from NYC to 4 cities

1951 – “Amos ‘n’ Andy” premieres on CBS TV

1955 – Walt Disney’s “Lady & the Tramp” released

1956 – “Jimmy Durante Show,” last airs on NBC-TV

1957 – “I Love Lucy,” last airs on CBS-TV

1960 – “Pat Boone Show,” last airs on ABC-TV

1970 – “Catch 22″ opens in movie theaters

1980 – “David Letterman Show,” debuts on NBC-TV daytime, lasts 3 months

Music & Radio:

1938 – “A Tisket A Tasket” by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb hits #1

1940 – “Quiz Kids?” premieres on radio

1963 – “Little” Stevie Wonder (13) releases “Fingertips”

1966 – Beatles’ “Paperback Writer,” single goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks

1971 – “American Pie” by Don McLean received its first airplay this week

1977 – Elvis Presley sings in Indianapolis. It was the last performance of his career.

1978 – The Sweet had their final chart successes this week when “Love is Like Oxygen” made the top 10 all over the world.

1979 – Little Richard quits rock & roll for religious pursuit

Hollywood Headlines:

1969 – Judy Garland, actress (Wizard of Oz, Easter Parade), dies at 47

1975 – Cher divorces Sonny Bono

1987 – Fred Astaire, actor/dancer (Royal Wedding, Let’s Dance), dies at 88

1987 – Jackie Gleason, comedian (Honeymooners), dies of colon cancer at 71

1989 – Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson marry for 2nd time

The Arts:

1959 – “West Side Story” closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 734 performances

1965 – John Lennon’s second book, A Spaniard in the Works, was published

1983 – “Evita” closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 1568 performances

Sports:

1972 – Bernice Gera becomes 1st female umpire in pro baseball

1973 – Marlene Raymond (15), limbos under a flaming bar at 6 1/8″

1975 – Golfer Lee Trevino is struck by lightning at Western Open (Ill)

1979 – Muhammad Ali retires as boxing champ

Technology & Inventions:

1963 – 1st demonstration of home video recorder, at BBC Studios, London

Automobile News:

1955 – 1st automobile seat belt legislation enacted (Illinois)

1985 – Route 66 (Chicago to Santa Monica), is decertified