Animation Fun Facts for Sept 4, 2017

Birthdays: Marcus Whitman the missionary who led US settlement of Oregon, Howard Morris, Darius Mihlaud, Anton Bruckner, Chateaubriand, Craig Claiborne, Dick York, Richard Wright, Mary Renault, Mitzi Gaynor, Computer AI pioneer John McCarthy, Damon Wayans is 57, Paul Harvey, Beyonce’ Knowles is 36

1781- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOS ANGELES. Royal Governor of New Spain Felipe de Neve and Franciscan monk Fra Junipero Serra with twelve soldiers, some free black families and Indians, about 44 in all, dedicated a new town, one days ride from of San Gabriel. The 63 year old Serra had been stung by a scorpion but ignored it, so he hobbled around dragging his swollen leg. Fra Serra named the town after St. Francis of Assisi's first church in Italy- St. Mary of the Angels. Ciudad de la Iglesia de Nuestra Señora, Reina de Los Angeles sobra la Porziuncola de Asís.

1888-George Eastman patents the roll film camera. The word "Kodak" is supposedly the sound the shutter made. Another story on the origin of the word was that George wanted a word pronounced the same in all known dialects. So after some research (Rochester lore has it that he did all of this himself) he concluded that only k and x qualified as sounds uttered the same way in all languages. Thus Eastman Kodak.

1893- Writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter sent a letter to a sick child: " I don't know what to write you, so I shall tell you the story of four little rabbits. Their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter." The Peter Cottontail stories born.

1918- Young substitute letter carrier Walt Disney narrowly escaped a bomb explosion in the post office of the Chicago Federal Building. The bomb was first thought to have been planted by radical unionists or German saboteurs, but it turned out to be from a local gangster. It killed four and injured 75. Walt later said, “I missed it by three minutes. “

1934- Young filmmaker Leni Reifenstahl was contracted by the German Propaganda Ministry to film the 1934 Nazis Party Congress to be held in Nuremburg. While they were expecting a routine documentary, Reifenstahl instead created the film The Triumph of the Will, who’s darkly hypnotic images made film history.

1936- The musical Swing Time opened. Considered by critics one of the best pairings of the dance team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

1940- The Columbia Broadcast Service or CBS network started up their first television station.

1982- the single “Valley Girl” by Frank Zappas daughter Moon Unit Zappa became a hit.

1985- Australian press baron Rupert Murdoch became a U.S. citizen so he could build the Fox television and movie networks. US regulations forbade foreign ownership of broadcasting stations so Rupert didn’t fuss about what country he was a citizen of.

1993- Herb Villechaise, the little person who began the show Fantasy Island with the announcement: ”Da PLANE! Da PLANE!’ committed suicide with a shotgun.

2002- Kelly Clarkson won the first American Idol contest.