Today in history...

[momofsixangels]

Events
1880 - The first electric street lights ever installed by a municipality were turned on in beautiful Wabash, IN.

1889 - The Eiffel Tower opened in Gay Paree. A beautiful sight, no? Well, not so to writers, Guy deMaupassant and Alexandre Dumas who condemned the Eiffel Tower as a “horrid nightmare.” No pleasing some people, we guess... The Eiffel Tower was named after its designer, architect, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel who built the structure for the Paris Exhibition of 1889.

1918 - Daylight saving time went into effect throughout the United States for the first time. Folks would spring ahead an hour allowing for longer early evenings. The time change left enough light for many activities, especially in farming areas. Planting and such could best be done with the sun up an extra hour. And, of course, folks would fall back an hour to standard time in the fall.

1937 - Phil Harris recorded one of his best-known songs in Los Angeles, CA. "That’s What I Like About the South" was recorded on a 78 r.p.m. disk. Harris would move to TV stardom and continue as a popular vocalist during the 1950s with such hit songs as "The Thing". We wonder if he ever got rid of that “boom-ba-boom”...

1943 - The show, "Away We Go", was renamed. Never heard of it? We think you may have. The show opened at the St. James Theatre in New York City and, thanks to the talents of stars like Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts and Howard DeSilva, it became an instant hit. The show ran for 2,248 performances -- until 1948. The musical, which has grossed millions of dollars on stage and as a blockbuster movie was initially produced for the sum of $75,000. It is still legendary among musical productions -- especially after it was retitled "Oklahoma!" Now you know ... the rest of the story!

1945 - Tennessee Williams’ play, "The Glass Menagerie", arrived on Broadway in New York City to become what critics and the public called the best play of the year.

1953 - "Cavalcade of America" was heard for the final time on network radio. It had been the longest-running show of its kind. "Cavalcade of America" presented dramatized events in American history for 18 years.

1968 - Tony Jacklin became the first Englishman to win a modern-day U.S. golf tournament when he won the Greater Jacksonville Open.

1970 - A bankruptcy referee granted the owner of the Seattle Pilots permission to sell the major-league baseball franchise to investors in Milwaukee, WI. The Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers because the Milwaukee Braves had decided to move to Atlanta. Seattle then landed another American League franchise, the Mariners, sometime later -- producing a league champion in 1995. Incidentally, does a bankruptcy referee wear a striped shirt and use a whistle?

1972 - Swimmer Mark Spitz was presented the Amateur Athletic Union’s coveted Sullivan Award as the outstanding amateur athlete of 1971. Spitz went on to Olympic heroics a few months later, winning seven gold medals.

1973 - Ken Norton defeated Muhammad Ali in a 12-round split decision. Ali had his jaw broken during the fight.

1981 - "Ordinary People" (Ronald L. Schwary, producer) won four Academy Awards at the 53rd Oscar ceremonies. Johnny Carson hosted the show from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Oscars were presented to a lot of ordinary people, like "Tess" and "Melvin and Howard". However, it was the Best Picture, "Ordinary People", that also won for Best Director (Robert Redford), Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton) and Best Writing (screenplay based on material from another medium: Alvin Sargent). Best Actor that year was Robert De Niro for "Raging Bull" and the Best Actress was Sissy Spacek for "Coal Miner’s Daughter". The Best Supporting Actress prize went to Mary Steenburgen for "Melvin and Howard" and Best Music/Song Oscars were awarded to Michael Gore (music) and Dean Pitchford (lyrics) for "Fame" from, uh, "Fame".

1985 - A reunion of stars lit up Beverly Hills, California, as ABC-TV celebrated the 200th episode of "The Love Boat". The network also honored the 1,000th guest star: Lana Turner. She was joined by Mary Martin, who was the 700th guest star to set sail on the show. Ginger Rogers was the 300th, Robert Guillaume #500 and we could go on but we won’t. "The Love Boat" had as a crew: Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod), Dr. Adam Bricker (Bernie Kopell), Yeoman-Purser Burl ‘Gopher’ Smith (Fred Grandy, who went on to become a U.S. Congressman), Bartender Isaac Washington (Ted Lange) and Photographer Ashley Covington Evans (Ted McGinley). Singer Jack Jones provided the vocal to the opening theme song and Ernie Anderson was the distinctive voice for the millions of network promos before each show.

 

[peacefulkids]

 Thank you for posting this.  I love history tid bits.  That made my day.