Birthdays: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Jenny Lind, George Westinghouse, Janet Gaynor, Carol Lombard, Karol Szymanowski, Thor Heyderthal, wrestler Bruno Sammartino, Britt Eklund, Le Corbusier, Elizabeth Shue is 60, Sean William Scott, Jeremy Sisto is 49, Ioan Guffrudd is 50
1600- THE BIRTH OF OPERA. This day as part of the celebrations of the marriage of French King Henry IV to Marie de Medici, composers Rinconcini and Caecini premiered a new kind of musical drama where soloists sang without the heavy polyphony of madrigals but more directly in imitation of ancient dramas. It was “Eurydice” and it was the first true opera. Many composers including Claudio Monteverdi took up the form.
1802- The Heiligenstadt Testament- Composer Ludwig van Beethoven left behind a note found among his papers after his death in 1827. Dated this day it was addressed to his brother Karl and another unspecified relative. It was more of a spiritual Last Will than anything else. In the note Beethoven poured out of his heart confessing his faults and his fears of going deaf. It is an amazing insight into the great man’s soul.
1847- Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre first published.
1860 First telegraph linking L.A. and San Francisco.
1863- The first Turkish Bath House is opened in Brooklyn.
1880- First classes at University of Southern California or USC.
1889- Paris' naughty nightclub the Moulin Rouge opened.
1911- The first transpacific telephone conversation, between Tokyo and San Francisco.
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. Within a year of this opening, only a handful of movie theaters were still showing silent movies. 26 year old Walt Disney was in the audience at that opening day, and it made him realize he needed to put sound in his next cartoon about that mouse.
The Warner Bros were not at the opening because they were mourning their brother Sam, who had worked himself into an early grave to finish the picture.
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 celebrated by rallying in Golden Gate Park in the thousands, and all taking a tab together.
1971- William Freidkin’s gritty cop movie the FRENCH CONNECTION premiered. The film won best picture, director and actor Oscars, made a major star out of Gene Hackman. One unforeseen result was the movie stimulated interest in pursuing the investigation of the real French-Corsican Mafia heroin trafficking in the US. That mob was soon broken up. The two real life detectives the film was based on- Eddie Egan and Sonny Corso, both retired from the NYPD and pursued careers in show biz.
1991- Elizabeth Taylor got married for the 8th and last time, now to construction engineer Larry Fornetsky, at Michael Jackson’s house. They divorced shortly after.
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