Headlines & Tidbits from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s
World News & the American Experience:
1935 – The China Clipper (flying boat) took off from Alameda, California, carrying 100,000 pieces of mail on its first trans-Pacific airmail flight.
1963 – President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22 in Dallas, Texas.
1964 – The Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened, connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn. At the time, it was the world’s longest suspension bridge.
1974 – The Privacy Act of 1974, amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, was passed by Congress, following the abuse of privacy during the Richard Nixon presidency.
1977 – Scheduled service of the Concorde to fly from Paris and London to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport began.
Movies & TV:
1928 – Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie,” the first cartoon with synchronized sound, debuted at the Colony Theatre in New York. The cartoon introduced Mickey Mouse to the world. (Originally named Mortimer.)
1947 – “Meet The Press” aired on NBC-TV for the first time. It has become one of the longest-running shows on network television.
1975 – “Dr. Zhivago” appeared on TV for the first time.
1980 – The largest TV audience ever, 82 million viewers, watched Dallas to see “Who Shot J.R?”
Music & Radio:
1934 – “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” was first heard on Eddie Cantor’s show.
1944 – “The Roy Rogers Show” was first heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
1955 – Tennessee Ford had the #1 song with “Sixteen Tons.” It stayed at #1 for 8 weeks.
1955 – “Cry Cry Cry” was Johnny Cash’s first song on the charts.
1955 – RCA paid around $25,000 to producer Sam Phillips for the rights to Elvis Presley’s music.
1959 – Alan Freed, the DJ who coined the term “Rock and Roll” was fired for accepting bribes in the payola scandal.
1962 – The 4 Seasons with Frankie Valli go to the top of the charts with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”
1967 – Lulu’s “To Sir with Love” stayed at the top of the “Billboard Top 100” chart for 5 weeks.
1967 – BBC unofficially banned “I Am the Walrus” by Beatles.
1971 – The “Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes stayed at #1 for 2 weeks.
1974 – John Lennon’s “Whatever Gets You Through the Night,” was his only solo #1 song.
1981 – “Physical” by Olivia Newton John raced to the #1 chart position and stayed there for 10 weeks.
Arts & Entertainment:
1928 – The first issue of Time magazine was published with Japanese Emperor Hirohito on the cover.
1930 – The musical “Smiles” with Bob Hope and Fred Astaire premiered in New York City.
1932 – The most famous vaudeville theatre in America, The Palace in New York City, closed its doors. It opened as a movie theatre later on with live performances shown before the film.
1932 – Wallace Beery and Fredric March tied for the Best Actor Academy Award.
1959 – “Sound of Music” opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater in New York City for 1443 performances.
1966 – “Cabaret” opened on Broadway. 1,165 performances followed.
1966 – “Don’t Drink the Water”, Woody Allen’s first play, opened on Broadway.
Celebrity Headlines:
1939 – Al Capone was released from jail after serving his sentence. He died a few years later from complications of third-stage neurosyphilis.
1960 – Clark Gable died of a heart attack at 59.
1984 – Michael Jackson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sports:
1956 – Don Newcombe won National League MVP and first-ever Cy Young Award.
1958 – Mel Ott, NY Giant baseball star (1926-1947), died at 49.
1970 – Joe Frazier knocked out Bob Foster in 2 for heavyweight boxing title.
1986 – Mike Tyson KOs Trevor Berbick in 2 for heavyweight WBC boxing title.
Technology & Inventions:
1931 – American Telephone and Telegraph Company introduced the first commercial teletype service.
1947 – The world’s largest one-piece mirror at 200 inches arrived at Mt Palomar to be part of the Hale Telescope, the world’s largest telescope at the time.
1963 – The first touch-tone telephone was introduced. The Western Electric Model featured 10 push buttons that replaced the rotary. The first commercial service was available in Pennsylvania for an extra charge.
1965 – Kellogg’s Pop Tarts pastries were created.
Famous Birthdays:
1932 – Richard Dawson, actor
1933 – Larry King
1936 – Hank Ballard, singer (Chubby Checker)
1936 – Dick Cavett, TV show host
1938 – Ted Turner
1939 – Dick Smothers, comedian
1942 – Calvin Klein
1942 – Martin Scorsese, director
1942 – Linda Evans, actress
1943 – Billie Jean King
1944 – Danny DeVito, actor
1944 – Lorne Michaels, comedy writer, producer
1953 – John McFee, rock guitarist (Doobie Brothers, Clover)
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