Birthdays: Jean Pierre Blanchard the balloonist-1753, George
M. Cohan, Stephen Foster, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Calvin Coolidge, Rube Goldberg,
Louis Armstrong*, Edward Walker the inventor of the Lava Lamp, Mayer Lansky,
Tokyo Rose, Louis B. Mayer, George Murphy, Emerson Boozer, Neil Simon, Mitch
Miller, Eve Marie Saint is 93, Gina Lollobrigida is 90, George Steinbrenner,
Ann Landers, Ron Kovic, Geraldo Rivera, Victoria Abril, Pam Shriver, Rene
Laloux, Gloria Stuart, Malia Obama
1855- Walt Whitman published his quarto of poems The Leaves
of Grass. Many people were shocked at its frank description of sexual desire.
Whitman’s mother said: ”Walt is a good boy, but strange.”
1862- Oxford mathematics professor Charles Dodgson rowed ten
year old Alice Liddell and her sister up the Thames in a small punt. The little
girls begged him for a story, so Dodgson made up fantastic tales of March
Hares, Mad Hatters and the Queen of Hearts.
Dodgson later wrote them down and published them in 1865 as Alice
in Wonderland. He used the penname Lewis Carroll, which was a joke on the
fact that Renaissance scholars adopted big stuffy Latin names like Ludovicus
Carolus Magnus.
1883- Buffalo Bill staged his first Wild West Show in North
Platte Nebraska. Bill and his partners took the show all over the US and played
for the crowned heads of Europe until 1916.
1905- Los Angeles developer Abbott Kinney had broke with his
partners over the Santa Monica Pleasure Pier. He moved down the coast to some
marshy wetlands and built a new community with canals, lagoons and gondolas.
The town of VENICE California was dedicated this day. In 1925, the City of LA
got rid of most of the canals and gondolas. Venice went on to be a seaside
mecca for Beatniks, Hippies and weightlifters like young Arnold Schwarzenegger.
1911- The first rollercoaster on the Pacific Coast opened on
Santa Monica Pier.
1914- First day of filming on D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of
an Nation.”
1926- Hungarian film director Mikhaly Kertesz arrived in
Hollywood. He changed his name to the more manageable Michael Curtiz and
directed great classic films like Captain Blood and Casablanca. His brother
Andre Kertesz lived in New York and became a famous photographer. Another
brother named Istvan Kertesz settled in Paris and became an equally famous
photographer.
1947- THE WILD ONES- 400 motorcyclists converge on a small
California town called Hollister to party hard. The local police arrest 49 and
call for State reinforcements. The national media sensationalized the wild
bikers terrorizing a small town, calling them "Hell's Angels" three
years before the first chapter was formed. Truth be told many residents remember
the incident fondly and said it livened things up. The
Marlon Brando film 'The Wild One" was based on the Hollister incident.
1954- Dr Sam Shepard returned to his suburban Cleveland home
to find his wife beaten to death and a man fleeing the scene. Dr. Shepard
himself was convicted of his wife’s murder in a controversial trial. People
still argue today whether he was guilty or not.
In 1998 Dr. Shepards son got DNA evidence to prove there was
another man at the scene the night of the murder, and in 2000 the court threw
out his wrongful imprisonment suit. The TV show and film The Fugitive was based
on Dr. Shepard.
1956- MIT’s TX-1 Whirlwind computer added an adapted typewriter
keyboard to enter data. The first computer keyboard.
1969-“ Give Peace a Chance.” released by John Lennon and the
Plastic Ono Band.
1976- What’s Love Got to Do With It? Singer Tina Turner left Ike Turner.
1976- The first true Punk Band, The Ramones, arrived in
England for a tour. They greatly inspired future bands like the Clash and the
Sex Pistols. When playing at the Palladium the Sex Pistols said they couldn’t
get tickets to get in so the Ramones pulled them in through the men’s room
window. Hey, Ho, Lets Go!
1982- Ozzie Ozbourne married Sharon Ozbourne.
1990- 2 Live Crew released the song Banned in the USA.
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