Animation fun facts for Oct. 6, 2014

Birthdays: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Jenny Lind the Swedish Nightingale, George Westinghouse, Janet Gaynor, Carol Lombard, Karol Szymanowski, Thor Heyderthal, wrestler Bruno Sammartino, Britt Eckland, Le Corbusier, Elizabeth Shue is 51, Sean William Scott, Jeremy Sisto is 40 , Ioan Guffrudd is 41

1880- First classes at University of Southern California or USC.

1889- Paris' naughty nightclub the Moulin Rouge opened.

1921- In London the society known as PPEN established, for Poets, Playwrights, Editors and Novelists.

1927-"THE JAZZ SINGER" with Al Jolson debuts. Okay, Somebody made a sound picture in 1924 and also something called "Footlights of New York" from 1926 but hey, you know what?-  who cares!  THIS was the movie that made "Talkies" a reality. The success of this film turned Warner Bros from a minor film company into a major Hollywood studio. 26 year old Walt Disney was in the audience that night, and it made him realize he needed to put sound in his cartoons.

1959- “Pillow Talk”premiered, the first romantic comedy pairing Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Stanley Shapiro won a best screenplay Oscar for it. The film typified the wink-wink attitude about sex before the 1960’s Sexual Revolution and defined Doris Day’s reputation as the wholesome, girl-next-door archetype.

1966- California became the first state to officially declare LSD illegal.  Hippies in San Francisco celebrate by rallying in Golden Gate Park in the thousands, and all taking a tab together.

1991- Elizabeth Taylor got married for the 8^th time, now to construction engineer Larry Fornetsky, at Michael Jackson’s house. They divorced shortly after.

1991- University of Oklahoma Professor Anita Hill testified at the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She alleged that when she was his aide she was subject to constant sexual harassment. Judge Thomas declared her testimony a "symbolic lynching". Thomas' conservative backers countered with a furious media campaign. Despite her credentials as a PhD scholar from a Christian University, they portrayed Prof Hill as a paranoid slut. Those involved in the smear campaign admitted it was all fabricated. Clarence Thomas was confirmed, but the controversy made Sexual Harassment a national issue.