**Events - January 21 1789 - The Power of Sympathy, by William Hill Brown, was published (anonymously) in Boston, MA. The book has been called the first American novel. 1812 - The famous Y-bridge in Zanesville, OH was approved for construction. Good thing. The traffic tie-ups were a mess waiting for those ferry boats in the morning and afternoon trying to cross the Muskingum River. 1865 - For the first time, an oil well was drilled by torpedoes. The well was near Titusville, PA. Now, just wait a dang minute. There isn’t an ocean anywhere near Titusville, PA. How’d they get those submarines in there, anyway? 1908 - Smoking by women became illegal. The Sullivan Ordinance was enacted in New York City, but, from pictures we’ve seen, some women continued to smoke even though it was against the law. 1922 - The first slalom event in skiing was held -- in Murren, Switzerland. 1927 - The first opera to be broadcast over a national radio network was presented in Chicago, IL. Listeners heard selections from Faust. 1932 - Annunzio Paolo Mantovani gave a memorable concert at Queen’s Hall in England to ‘glowing notices’. This was the beginning of the musician’s successful recording career that provided beautiful music to radio stations for nearly five decades. Better known as just Mantovani, his music still entertains us with hits like, Red Sails in the Sunset, Serenade in the Night, Song from Moulin Rouge and Charmaine. 1942 - Nostalgia buffs will want to grab the greatest hits CD of Count Basie (on Verve) and crank up One O’Clock Jump. Just one of the many signature tunes by Bill Basie; the tune was originally recorded on Okeh Records this day. 1946 - The Fat Man debuted on ABC radio. J. Scott Smart, who played the portly detective, weighed in at 270 pounds in real life. 1951 - A new women’s golf record was established by Mildred (Babe Didrikson) Zaharias as she won the Tampa Women’s Open. Her medal-play score was a record 288 for 72 holes. Medals and records were commonplace to Babe. She won two gold and one silver medal in the 1932 Olympics for the javelin throw, the 80-meter hurdles and the high jump, respectively. She was equally adept at basketball, baseball, billiards and golf; a member of the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, LPGA Hall of Fame (Babe was a founding member of the LPGA), National Track and Field Hall of Fame, Olympic Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame. We now refer to her as the Famous Babe Didrikson Zaharias. 1954 - The Nautilus, the first atomic-powered submarine, was launched in Groton, CT. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christened the vessel with a bottle of champagne. We wonder if the Nautilus was ever used as an oil well-drilling submarine. 1954 - The gas turbine automobile was introduced in New York City. This baby packed a lot of punch, with a 370 horsepower, ‘whirlfire’ turbopower jet to power it. Racing gloves and helmet sold separately. Remember, your mileage may vary. 1957 - Singer Patsy Cline appeared on Arthur Godfrey’s nighttime TV show. She warbled the classic, Walking After Midnight, which quickly launched her career. 1959 - The Kingston Trio (Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and Dave Guard) received a gold record for Tom Dooley. The single could be considered an early folk-form of rap music, considering its less than wholesome message about a guy named Tom Dooley who was going to be hanged - “Poor boy, you’re bound to, die.” The Kingston Trio recorded many hits, including: Greenback Dollar, M.T.A., Reverend Mr. Black, Tijuana Jail, and the war protest song, Where Have All the Flowers Gone?. 1964 - Carl Rowan succeeded Edward R. Murrow as head of the United States Information Agency (USIA), which managed the worldwide Voice of America. Murrow had held the office for three years. Rowan came from a news background from NBC, as Murrow did over at CBS. 1966 - George Harrison of the Beatles married Pattie Anne Boyd in Surrey, England. The two met on the set of the movie, A Hard Day’s Night. 1970 - ABC-TV presented The Johnny Cash Show in prime time. Previously, the show had been a summer replacement. The regular season series was a big boost for country music. Johnny wore black in the all-color show, however. 1970 - The first Boeing 747, the largest jet airliner in the world, landed at London Heathrow Airport at the end of its maiden transatlantic flight. 1976 - The French Concorde SST aircraft, with its droopy nose and sound-barrier smashing speed, began regular commercial service for Air France and British Airways. Fasten your seat belts, please and hold on tight. 1978 - The soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever reached #1 on the album charts -- a position it held for the next six months. We wear our black shirt and white suit with a pair of John Travolta’s disco boots and, oh yes, a gold chain, too, as we write this! Boogie on, disco children! 1979 - Super Bowl XIII (at Miami): Pittsburgh Steelers 35, Dallas Cowboys 31. MVP: Steelers’ QB Terry Bradshaw -- he passed for 318 yards and 4 TDs (two to John Stallworth, one to Rocky Bleier and one to Lynn Swann, plus a hand off to Franco Harris for a 22-yard run up the middle for TD number five). Tickets: $30.00. 1984 - Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jackie Wilson died. On Sep 29, 1975, while performing at the Latin Casino near Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Wilson had suffered a massive heart attack that left him in a coma. He remained hospitalized until his death this day, at the age of forty-nine. Wilson’s first hit was Reet Petite, written by a then-unknown Berry Gordy, who would later create the Motown Records empire. Jackie Wilson’s biggest hit was his 1960 double-sided smash Doggin’ Around b/w Night. 1985 - Actor, Patrick Duffy, announced plans to leave the CBS show Dallas at the end of the TV season. He asked that the character of Bobby Ewing not be replaced by another actor. Good thing. Bobby showed up in the new season, miraculously rising from the dead; taking a shower; after being in a tremendous car crash the previous season. And Duffy returned to continue in the role of Bobby Ewing through the final episode in 1991. 1986 - Former major-league player Randy Bass signed to become the highest-paid baseball player in Japanese history. Bass signed a deal for three years at $3.25 million. He played for the Hanshin Tigers. 1987 - Thirty years after its release, Jackie Wilson’s single, Reet Petite (written by Motown founder Berry Gordy), ended a month at the top of England’s music charts. Three years earlier, on this same date, Jackie Wilson died after being in a coma (following a heart attack) for eight and a half years. 1990 - Tennis bad boy John McEnroe was disqualified and expelled for throwing a temper tantrum while leading in his Australian Open match against Mike Pernfors. McEnroe holds the distinction of being the first player to be expelled from the Australian Open. 1996 - In skating news: Rudy Galindo was the upset winner of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California. He earned two perfect marks along the way to the crown. And Michelle Kwan, 15, captured her first national women’s title, hitting seven triple jumps for her fifth straight first-place finish of the season. 1997 - Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager of 22 years, died of a stroke in Las Vegas (age 87). Parker wasn’t a real colonel and his real name wasn’t Tom Parker. According to James L. Dickerson in his book Colonel Tom Parker, his colonelcy was bestowed upon him in 1948 by the governor of Louisiana and was purely of the honorary variety, though immediately upon receiving it Parker told an underling, “From now on, see to it that everyone addresses me as the Colonel.” His name may (or may not) have been Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk, and he may (or may not) have been born in the Netherlands in 1909, from which he may (or may not) have immigrated to the United States as a teenager. Parker became Presley’s manager in 1955 when Elvis was on the verge of becoming a rock ’n’ roll star. He had firm control over Elvis’ career, taking between 25 and 50 per cent of the singer’s earnings. 1999 - Play It to the Bone debuted in U.S. theatres (“No one hits as hard as your best friend.”), starring Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas, Lolita Davidovich and Tom Sizemore. 2000 - It was opening day for Down to You in the U.S. The flick is a comedy with Freddie Prinze Jr., Julia Stiles, Selma Blair and Shawn Hatosy.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 15:12:49 +0000
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