31 August 2004
Today In history:
August 31
1852 - The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes.
1903 - The first automobile trip from San Francisco to New York City was completed. A Packard made the trip in 52 days.
1939 - Frank Sinatra recorded All or Nothing at All with the Harry James Band. The tune failed to become a hit until four years later -- after Ol’ Blue Eyes had joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
1940 - Actor Lawrence Olivier and actress Vivian Leigh were married.
1941 - The Great Gildersleeve, a spin-off of Fibber McGee and Molly, started on NBC radio.
1946 - “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound ... the caped crusader returned to radio on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Superman had been dropped from the program schedule earlier in the year, but the outrage of youngsters brought the show back to the airwaves. Wow! The amazing power of Kryptonite in the hands of kids! Bud Collyer, later of TV’s Beat the Clock, played Clark Kent aka Superman on the radio series. His identity had been well guarded for years. Most people didn’t have a clue as to the identity of Superman until a TIME magazine article about Collyer appeared in 1946.
1950 - Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit four home runs in a single game. He got homers off of Boston Braves pitchers Warren Spahn, Normie Roy, Bob Hall and Johnny Antonelli.
1955 - Nashua defeated Swaps in a match-up of the thoroughbred horses at Arlington Park in Chicago, IL.
1958 - The U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were 902 women sailors in the U.S. Navy and 2,365 male launderers in the country.
1959 - Sandy Koufax set a National League record by striking out 18 hitters. Wally Moon connected for a three-run homer as the LA Dodgers downed the San Francisco Giants, 5-2.
1964 - California officially became the most populated of the United States.
1976 - A judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of copying from the song He’s So Fine (a 1963 Chiffons hit). The judge said that the chorus to Harrison’s My Sweet Lord was identical to He’s So Fine and it eventually (appeals went on for about five years) cost the former Beatle over half a million dollars.
1981 - Tickets went on sale for the highest-priced play in Broadway history. Nicholas Nickleby, performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Plymouth Theatre in New York, included a 45-minute dinner break -- all for $100 per person.
1981 - The 30-year contract between ‘Mr. Television’, Milton Berle, and NBC-TV expired. Uncle Miltie had received $6 million for NOT being on the air since his show, The Texaco Star Theatre, went off the air in the mid-1950s. NBC held Berle to the contract to keep him from appearing on competing networks.
1987 - This day saw the largest preorder of albums in the history of CBS Records. 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson’s Bad album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed in the tracks of the Jackson album, Thriller, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (35 million copies sold). The Bad album was successful -- but sold only 13 million copies.
1990 - Ken Griffey & Ken Griffey Jr were the first father-and-son teammate combo to play on same baseball team: the Seattle Mariners. Both men hit singles in the first inning. And, that September 14 they hit back-to-back home runs in a game at the California Angels.
1997 - Diana, Britain’s Princess of Wales, was killed in an early-morning car crash in Paris, France. Also killed was her millionaire companion, Harrods department store heir, Dodi Fayed. The couple was being chased by aggressive paparazzie (photographers) on motorcycles at the time of the crash.
Birthdays:
1870 - Maria Montessori
1897 - Fredric March (Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel)
1903 - Arthur (Morton) Godfrey
1907 - William Shawn1908 - William Saroyan
1914 - Richard Basehart
1916 - Daniel Schorr
1918 - Alan Jay Lerner
1920 - G.D. Spradlin
1924 - Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker)
1928 - James Coburn1935 - Eldridge Cleaver
1935 - Frank Robinson
1937 - Warren Berlinger
1939 - Jerry Allison
1940 - Jack Thompson
1945 - Itzhak Perlman
1945 - Van Morrison1947 - Carl Garrett
1949 - Richard Gere
1952 - Rudolph Schenker
1954 - Claudell Washington
1955 - Anthony Thistlethwaite
1957 - Glenn Tilbrook
1958 - Edwin Moses
1958 - Von (Francis) Hayes
1959 - Tony DeFranco
1970 - Deborah (Ann) Gibson
1972 - Chris Tucker
1977 – Sandra Therese
(Thanks to 440.com for the info!)
1852 - The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes.
1903 - The first automobile trip from San Francisco to New York City was completed. A Packard made the trip in 52 days.
1939 - Frank Sinatra recorded All or Nothing at All with the Harry James Band. The tune failed to become a hit until four years later -- after Ol’ Blue Eyes had joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
1940 - Actor Lawrence Olivier and actress Vivian Leigh were married.
1941 - The Great Gildersleeve, a spin-off of Fibber McGee and Molly, started on NBC radio.
1946 - “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound ... the caped crusader returned to radio on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Superman had been dropped from the program schedule earlier in the year, but the outrage of youngsters brought the show back to the airwaves. Wow! The amazing power of Kryptonite in the hands of kids! Bud Collyer, later of TV’s Beat the Clock, played Clark Kent aka Superman on the radio series. His identity had been well guarded for years. Most people didn’t have a clue as to the identity of Superman until a TIME magazine article about Collyer appeared in 1946.
1950 - Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit four home runs in a single game. He got homers off of Boston Braves pitchers Warren Spahn, Normie Roy, Bob Hall and Johnny Antonelli.
1955 - Nashua defeated Swaps in a match-up of the thoroughbred horses at Arlington Park in Chicago, IL.
1958 - The U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were 902 women sailors in the U.S. Navy and 2,365 male launderers in the country.
1959 - Sandy Koufax set a National League record by striking out 18 hitters. Wally Moon connected for a three-run homer as the LA Dodgers downed the San Francisco Giants, 5-2.
1964 - California officially became the most populated of the United States.
1976 - A judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of copying from the song He’s So Fine (a 1963 Chiffons hit). The judge said that the chorus to Harrison’s My Sweet Lord was identical to He’s So Fine and it eventually (appeals went on for about five years) cost the former Beatle over half a million dollars.
1981 - Tickets went on sale for the highest-priced play in Broadway history. Nicholas Nickleby, performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Plymouth Theatre in New York, included a 45-minute dinner break -- all for $100 per person.
1981 - The 30-year contract between ‘Mr. Television’, Milton Berle, and NBC-TV expired. Uncle Miltie had received $6 million for NOT being on the air since his show, The Texaco Star Theatre, went off the air in the mid-1950s. NBC held Berle to the contract to keep him from appearing on competing networks.
1987 - This day saw the largest preorder of albums in the history of CBS Records. 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson’s Bad album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed in the tracks of the Jackson album, Thriller, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (35 million copies sold). The Bad album was successful -- but sold only 13 million copies.
1990 - Ken Griffey & Ken Griffey Jr were the first father-and-son teammate combo to play on same baseball team: the Seattle Mariners. Both men hit singles in the first inning. And, that September 14 they hit back-to-back home runs in a game at the California Angels.
1997 - Diana, Britain’s Princess of Wales, was killed in an early-morning car crash in Paris, France. Also killed was her millionaire companion, Harrods department store heir, Dodi Fayed. The couple was being chased by aggressive paparazzie (photographers) on motorcycles at the time of the crash.
Birthdays:
1870 - Maria Montessori
1897 - Fredric March (Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel)
1903 - Arthur (Morton) Godfrey
1907 - William Shawn1908 - William Saroyan
1914 - Richard Basehart
1916 - Daniel Schorr
1918 - Alan Jay Lerner
1920 - G.D. Spradlin
1924 - Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker)
1928 - James Coburn1935 - Eldridge Cleaver
1935 - Frank Robinson
1937 - Warren Berlinger
1939 - Jerry Allison
1940 - Jack Thompson
1945 - Itzhak Perlman
1945 - Van Morrison1947 - Carl Garrett
1949 - Richard Gere
1952 - Rudolph Schenker
1954 - Claudell Washington
1955 - Anthony Thistlethwaite
1957 - Glenn Tilbrook
1958 - Edwin Moses
1958 - Von (Francis) Hayes
1959 - Tony DeFranco
1970 - Deborah (Ann) Gibson
1972 - Chris Tucker
1977 – Sandra Therese
(Thanks to 440.com for the info!)
