Friday, May 31, 2024

TOm Sito's Animation ALmanac for May 31, 2024


Birthdays: King Manuel I of Portugal 1495, Walt Whitman, Fred Allen, Don Ameche, Prince Ranier, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Ranier Werner Fassbinder, Brooke Shields, Joe Namath, Richie Valens, John Kemeny- the co-creator of the computer language BASIC, Tom Berenger, Denholm Elliot, Peter Yarrow, Lea Thompson, John Bonzo Bonham of Led Zepplin, Colin Farrell is 48, Clint Eastwood is 94


1669 -Samuel Pepys was forced to discontinue the diary he had kept from 1660 due to failing eyesight.


1837 - Joseph Grimaldi, England’s greatest clown (king of pantomime), died at 57. On stage since the age of 3 at Sadler-Wells, he never appeared in a circus ring. Instead, his act was stage pantomime. In tribute to him, English circus clowns are known as a “Joey’.


1859- The famous clock in the Elizabeth Tower of Parliament called after its bell, Big Ben, began running, and its chimes sounded out across London for the first time. The bell was named Big Ben after a champion prizefighter who was popular at the time.


1873- SCHLEIMANN FOUND TROY. Archaeologist Heinrich Schleimann unearthed the horde of gold known as Priam's Treasure in a mound near Hysarlik Turkey. This site was the Troy of Homer, proving the Trojan War was not a myth but a real historical event. There were actually 9 Troys on the site- from a Bronze Age village to a Late Roman Empire city. The Troy of the Trojan War was Troy number 4. It showed signs of destruction by fire.


1879- New York’s Madison Square Garden opened. Designed by Stanford White to resemble a Venetian Palazzo. The modern sports complex was opened in the 1960s.


1928- The song “Old Man River “sung by Paul Robeson came out as a single.


1929- Steamboat Willie was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon, but Mickey didn’t speak much. He just whistled, yelped and laughed. In the cartoon released this day “the Carnival Kid” Mickey spoke his first words “Hot Dogs!” The voice was musician Carl Stalling. Later Walt Disney decided to voice the mouse himself.


1935- Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Pictures merged to become Twentieth Century Fox. In 2017 Walt Disney Company purchased 20th Cent Fox and in the Summer of 2020 phased out the brand.


1958 - Dick Dale invented "surf music" with "Let's Go Trippin".


1969- John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded "Give Peace a Chance." at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal. It became the theme song of the Anti-Vietnam War movement. Because of this song and Lennon’s support of the Hippie protesters the Nixon White House kept a file on him. Lennon spent most of 1972-73 under a constant threat of 60-day deportation from the US. 


1984- Martial arts movie star Steven Segal married soap opera star Adrienne LaRussa. But what Adrienne didn’t know was he already had a wife named Miyako Fujetani and two kids waiting for him in Japan. A few months after this he fell for another actress named Kelly LeBrock.


1985- John Sculley was a former exec from Pepsi brought in by Apple Computer founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to help run the company. This day his solution to help the company run better was to fire Steve Jobs. Wozniak retired and Sculley eventually moved on. Before his death, Steve Jobs came back to Apple and make it the world’s most profitable company, as well as run Pixar, and be on the board of the Walt Disney Company.


1989- "Skinhead Day at the Magic Kingdom" Disneyland refused to admit a rally of skinheads, Nazis and Klansmen. 


1990- Television sitcom Seinfeld premiered based on a TV special about the standup comedian called the Seinfeld Chronicles. No Soup for You!


1995- A young Mexican-American Tejana singer named Selena was gaining a growing crossover appeal in pop music and there seemed no limit. This day her career was cut short when she was shot and killed by the Yolanda Saldivia, the president of The Selena Fan club.


2000- The first Survivor show premiered, shepherding in the era in America of TV Reality shows.



2004- Peppa Pig created by Astley Baker-Davies debuted on British TV.


2008- The spaceshuttle Discovery brings a Buzz Lightyear toy up to the International Space Station.





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