On This Day

[bunkerfan]

24th September


In 1853 Cornelius Vanderbilt circumnavigates the world aboard his private yacht North Star.




Born on this day in 1946 - American guitarist and producer Jerry Donahue from UK folk group, Fairport Convention, (1969 UK No.21 single 'Si Tu Dois Partir'). And has also been a member of Fotheringay.




In 1964 "The Munsters" premieres on TV.




In 2003 The Dave Matthews Band played at Central Park in New York City, in front of almost 100,000, the band's largest audience to date. The Central Park Concert was later released as an album.

[bunkerfan]

25th September


In 1875 Billy the Kid escapes jail in Silver City, New Mexico, by climbing out of a chimney and becomes a fugitive.




In 1959 Hammer horror film "The Mummy" starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is first released in the UK.




In 1965 Beatle cartoon show begins in US.




In 1981 Rolling Stones begin their 6th US tour (JFK Stadium, Philadelphia)

[bunkerfan]

26th September


In 1887 Emile Berliner patents the Gramophone.




In 1946 1st edition of The Adventures of Tintin published by Hergé in Le journal de Tintin, continues until June 1993.




In 1969 The Beatles released Abbey Road in the UK. The final studio recordings from the group featured two George Harrison songs ’Something’ (Harrison's first A-side single), and 'Here Comes The Sun'.




In 2003 English singer, songwriter Robert Palmer died of a heart attack aged 54 in Paris France. He was a member of Vinegar Joe and Power Station (with Duran Duran members Andy Taylor and John Taylor with drummer and former Chic member Tony Thompson). As a solo artist had the 1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To Love' and the 1988 hit 'Simply Irresistible'.

[bunkerfan]

27th September


In 1892 Book matches are patented by Diamond Match Company.




In 1942 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra give their final performance at Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey; Miller disbanded the group as he joined the US Army.




In 1964 The Beach Boys made their TV debut on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' on US TV where they performed their first US No.1 single 'I Get Around' and 'Wendy'.




In 1986 The Beatles track Twist and Shout re-entered the US singles chart over twenty-five years after it first appeared after the song was featured in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

[bunkerfan]

28th September


In 1928 Juan de la Cierva makes 1st helicopter flight over English Channel.




Born on this day in 1950 - Paul Burgess, drums, Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, The Icicle Works and 10cc [1975 UK No.1 & US No.2 single 'I'm Not In Love', plus 10 other UK Top 30 hits including two No.1's)




In 1968 The Beatles started a nine week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hey Jude’. The Paul McCartney song written about John Lennon's son Julian gave the group their 16th US No.1 and the biggest selling single of 1968. In 1996, Julian paid £25,000 for the recording notes to the song at an auction.




In 1985 Kate Bush scored her second UK No.1 album with 'Hounds Of Love'. The singers second No.1 album featured the tracks 'Running Up That Hill', 'Cloudbusting', 'Hounds of Love' and 'The Big Sky'.

[bunkerfan]

29th September


In1916 American oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller becomes the world's first billionaire.




In 1948 "Hamlet," directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, opens at Park Avenue Cinema (Best Picture 1949)




In 1969 "Sale Of Century" debuts on NBC-TV.





In 1979 The Police had their first UK No.1 single with 'Message In A Bottle' the group's third Top 20 hit. The song was released as the first single from Reggatta de Blanc and also topped the charts in Ireland and reached No.5 in Australia. Despite its popularity in the UK, the single only reached No.74 in the United States.

[bunkerfan]

30th September


In 1929 First manned rocket plane flight, by automaker Fritz von Opel.




In 1955 American actor and cultural icon James Dean is killed in a car crash aged 24.




In 1967 The UK's first National pop radio station, BBC Radio 1 was launched in the UK to take over from the very successful pirate radio stations, which had been forced off-air by the Government. Former pirate DJ Tony Blackburn, from Radio Caroline, was the first presenter on air, with The Move's Flowers In The Rain the first record to be played.




In 1995 Simply Red scored their first UK No.1 single when 'Fairground' started a four-week run at the top of the charts. It was their 15th UK Top 40 hit.

[bunkerfan]

1st October


In 1926 Oil field accident costs aviator Wiley Post his left eye, uses the settlement money to buy his 1st aircraft.




In 1942 Little Golden Books (children's books) begins publishing.




In 1965 Bob Dylan appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He introduced his new touring band on this tour, made up of guitarist Robbie Robertson, organist Garth Hudson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manual and drummer Levon Helm. They will become known simply as The Band.




In 1988 Bon Jovi scored their first UK No.1 album with 'New Jersey', their fourth release. The follow-up to Slippery When Wet produced five Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album. 'Bad Medicine' and 'I'll Be There for You' both hit No.1 on Billboard Hot 100.

[bunkerfan]

2nd October


In 1909 First Rugby Union match is played at the English RFU owned Twickenham ground; Harlequins beat Richmond, 14-10.




In 1955 "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" premieres on CBS television in the US.




In 1977 Austrian Ferrari driver Niki Lauda finishes 4th in the US Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen to clinch his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship; Englishman James Hunt wins the race.




In 1982 Musical Youth were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pass The Dutchie'. The group were made up of Birmingham school boys, aged 11-16. The song was a cover of The Mighty Diamonds song called 'Pass The Kutchie', a slang term for a cannabis smoking pipe, but the word was changed to avoid the song being banned for it's drug reference.

[bunkerfan]

3rd October


In 1918 Brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn open Selwyn Theater at 229 W 42nd St, Times Square, NYC: now known as American Airlines Theatre.




In 1942 Triple Crown winner Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf wins the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park to become the first thoroughbred to amass more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings.




In 1971 American tennis star Billie Jean King becomes first female athlete to win $100,000 in prize money in a single year; wins the $4,000 Virginia Slams Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona.




In 1999 Tom Jones went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Reload', making the singer the oldest artist to score a UK No.1 album with new material. The album featured the collaboration with Mousse T, 'Sexbomb', which reached No.3 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later used in an episode of The Simpsons.

[bunkerfan]

4th October


In Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould debuts.




In 1949 United Nations' permanent NYC headquarters is dedicated.




In 1965 Pope Paul VI becomes 1st Catholic Pope to leave Italy since 1809, and 1st to visit Western Hemisphere, spending 14 hours in NYC to address the UN, meet with US President Lyndon Johnson, visit the World's Fair and St. Patrick's Cathedral, and celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium.




In 1980 Queen started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Another One Bites The Dust.' Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album The Game (1980). The song spent 15 weeks in the Billboard top 10 (the longest-running top ten song of 1980) and is credited as Queen's best-selling single, with sales of over 7 million copies.

[bunkerfan]

5th October


In 1936 The Jarrow March sets off for London.




In 1947 Harry Truman makes the 1st Presidential address televised from the White House.




In 1973 "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" 7th studio album by Elton John is released.




In 1996 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' by American group Deep Blue Something was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. The song is a reference to the classic 1960 Audrey Hepburn film of the same name.

[bunkerfan]

6th October


In 1927 "The Jazz Singer", directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson and May McAvoy, released, 1st film with a soundtrack (Honorary Academy Award 1928)




In 1945 Tavern owner "Billy Goat" Sianis buys seat for his goat for Game 4 of Baseball World Series, is escorted out and casts goat curse on Chicago Cubs.




In 1967 Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco) hippies throw a funeral for "Hippie" to mark end of "the summer of love".




In 1972 During sessions at RCA Studios, New York City, David Bowie recorded 'The Jean Genie', which became the lead single from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. The track spent 13 weeks in the UK charts, peaking at No.2, making it Bowie's biggest hit to date. The line "He's so simple minded, he can't drive his module" would later give the Scottish band Simple Minds their name.

[bunkerfan]

7th October


In 1816 1st double decked steamboat, Washington, arrives in New Orleans.




In 1959 Far side of Moon seen for the 1st time, courtesy of USSR's Luna 3 space probe.




In 1968 Motion Picture Association of America adopts film rating system.




In 1979 Jethro Tull were in Montreal.

[bunkerfan]

8th October


In 1818 Jack Broughton designed padded gloves first used in a competitive boxing match between 2 unnamed English boxers at Aix-la-Chapelle in France.




In 1945 Microwave oven patented by US inventor Percy Spencer.




In 1971 Apple Records releases John Lennon's second solo studio album, "Imagine" in UK; it tops the charts in US, UK, Australia, and 3 other countries.




In 1988 On their 12th single release, U2 scored their first UK No.1 with 'Desire.' The track which was also a US No.3 hit was taken from their album 'Rattle And Hum.'

[bunkerfan]

9th October


In 1929 Part of the lost Piri Reis World Map is rediscovered in the Topkapi Palace Library in Istanbul. Compiled by Ottoman general Piri Reis in 1513, it is the earliest known map of the voyages of Christopher Columbus.




In 1949 English ballerina Margot Fonteyn debuts in America with her performance in Tchaikovsky's "The Sleeping Beauty" at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.




In 1965 The Beatles started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the Paul McCartney ballad 'Yesterday' giving the group their tenth US No.1. The track was not released as a single in the UK until 1976.




In 1987 "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" documentary film directed by Taylor Hackford of 1986 concerts celebrating rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry is released.

[bunkerfan]

10th October


In 1903 The Women's Social and Political Union is formed by Emmeline Pankhurst to fight for women's rights in Britain.





In 1956 "Giant", directed by George Stevens, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean in his last role, premieres in NYC.




In 1964 XVIII Summer Olympic Games open at the National Stadium in Tokyo.




In 1992 R.E.M. scored their second UK No.1 album with 'Automatic For The People', featuring the singles 'Drive', 'Everybody Hurts', 'Man On The Moon' and 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight.'

[bunkerfan]

11th October


In 1939 FDR and advisor Alexander Sachs meet to discuss Albert Einstein's letter warning of the possibilities of an atomic bomb.




In 1945 First man-made object to escape the atmosphere (WAC Corporal) is fired from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, reaching 235,000 feet.




In 1981 Then unknown musician Prince Rogers Nelson opens for The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum.




In 2012 The Rolling Stones new single, 'Doom And Gloom', was released, the first new studio recordings since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Doom And Gloom was the lead single from the band’s most recent greatest hits collection, GRRR!

[bunkerfan]

12th October


In 1928 1st use of iron lung (Boston's Children Hospital)




In 1950 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show debuts on CBS television, airs until 1958.




In 1972 Paramount Pictures and Motown Productions release film "Lady Sings the Blues", very loosely based on singer Billie Holiday's autobiography, starring Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams.




In 1979 Fleetwood Mac released their twelfth album Tusk, an experimental set of songs that cost the band over $1 million to record. The double album peaked at No.4 in the US and achieved sales in excess of two million copies, spawning two Top Ten singles, 'Sara' and the title track. It reached No.1 in the UK and achieved Platinum status.

[bunkerfan]

13th October


In 1914 American inventor Garrett Morgan patents his safety hood device, which would later be refined into the gas mask.




Born this day in 1950 - Simon Nicol, guitar, Fairport Convention, (1969 UK No.21 single 'Si Tu Dois Partir').




In 1973 "Badlands" directed by Terrence Malick and starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek premieres at the New York Film Festival.




In 2011 American band Maroon 5 were on the top 10 of the UK singles chart with 'Moves Like Jagger', featuring Christina Aguilera. Its lyrics referred to a male's ability to impress a female with his dance moves, which he compared to those of Mick Jagger. The video featured old video footage of Jagger and his iconic dance moves. Moves Like Jagger was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards.

[bunkerfan]

14th October


In 1916 Sophomore tackle and guard Paul Robeson is excluded from the Rutgers football team when Washington and Lee University refused to play against a black person.




Born on this day in 1940 - Cliff Richard, (Harry Webb). Britain's most successful solo artist, his first hit was in 1958 the UK No.2 single 'Move It', then 1959 UK No.1 single 'Living Doll' and 1979 UK No.1 single 'We Don't talk Anymore', plus over 100 UK Top 40 hits). He once worked as a clerk at Fergusons TV factory.




In 1969 The United Kingdom introduces the 50p (fifty-pence) coin, replacing the ten-shilling note, in anticipation of currency decimalisation in 1971.




In 1971 Music publishing firm, Arco Industries filed a $500,000 dollar lawsuit against Creedence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty, claiming that Fogerty's song Travelin' Band "contained substantial material copied from Little Richard's Good Golly, Miss Molly". The suit was eventually dropped.

[bunkerfan]

15th October


In 1895 Henry Perky patents a machine he developed with William Ford for the preparation of cereals for food, otherwise known as shredded wheat.




In 1955 Buddy Holley opens for Bill Haley & His Comets in Lubbock, Texas, and impresses Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, leading to a recording contract with a misspelling that creates "Buddy Holly".




In 1971 World's first arcade video game Computer Space developed by Syzygy first demonstrated at the MOA Show in the US.




In 2000 U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Beautiful Day', the group's fourth UK No.1 single and taken from their album 'All That You Can't Leave Behind'.

[bunkerfan]

16th October


In 1923 John Harwood patents self-winding watch (Switzerland)




In 1943 Chicago Mayor Ed Kelly opens city's new subway system.




In 1968 Americans Tommie Smith (gold 19.83 WR) and John Carlos (bronze) famously give the Black Power salute on the 200m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics to protest racism and injustice against African Americans.




In 1988 "Smile Jamaica" concert for Hurricane Gilbert victims held in London.

[bunkerfan]

17th October


In 1933 Albert Einstein arrives in US as a refugee from Nazi Germany.




In 1939 "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, is released.




In 1962 The Beatles make their live television debut, appearing on Manchester's local "People And Places" program, performing ‘Some Other Guy’ and their new single ‘Love Me Do’.




In 1992 Tasmin Archers debut single 'Sleeping Satellite' was at No.1 in the UK, the English singer, songwriters only No.1. Archer wrote the song in the late 1980s about the moon landings in 1969, but it was only when Archer got a record deal that the song saw the light of day.

[bunkerfan]

18th October


In 1919 Belvin Maynard wins the first transcontinental air race in round trip of nine days, four hours, 25 minutes and 12 seconds, race costs nine lives with 54 crashes or forced landings.




In 1954 Texas Instruments Inc. announces the first transistor radio.




In 1967 The Bee Gees were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Massachusetts', the group's first of five UK No.1's.




In 2005 Madonna admitted that she wrote a grovelling letter to Abba asking if she could sample their music on her latest single ‘Hung Up.’ The singer had to seek permission to sample ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ and became only the second act that Abba has allowed to sample their work. The Fugees used part of ‘The Name Of The Game’ on their 1996 track ‘Rumble In The Jungle.’

[bunkerfan]

19th October


In 1901 Alberto Santos-Dumont proves airships are maneuverable by circling the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, winning the Deutsch Prize and 100,000 francs.




In 1959 William Gibson's "Miracle Worker" premieres in NYC




In 1967 Mariner 5 makes fly-by of Venus.




In 1968 On their farewell tour Cream appeared at The Forum in Los Angeles, California, where live recordings were made which were included on the 'Goodbye Cream' album which was released the following year.

[bunkerfan]

20th October


In 1917 US suffragette Alice Paul begins a seven-month jail sentence for peacefully picketing in support of the Women's Suffrage (right to vote) Amendment at the White House in Washington, D.C.




In 1935 Communist forces end their Long March at Yan'an, in Shaanxi, China, bringing Mao Zedong to prominence.




In 1964 Ann Packer of Great Britain runs a world record 2:01.1 to win the women's 800m gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.




In 1976 The Led Zeppelin film 'The Song Remains The Same', premiered in New York City. The charity night raised $25,000 for the save the children fund.

[bunkerfan]

21st October


In 1918 Margaret Owen sets a world typing speed record of 170 wpm for 1 minute.




In 1948 Facsimile high-speed radio transmission demonstrated (Washington, D.C.)




In 1964 Society Hill Towers, a complex of three 31-story skyscrapers designed by I. M. Pei and Associates, inaugurated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.




In 2006 Evanescence were at No.1 on the US album chart with their second album 'The Open Door.' It became the 700th No.1 album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956.

[bunkerfan]

22nd October


In 1924 Toastmasters International is founded.




In 1958 World’s first animated feature film in colour "The Tale of the White Serpent" released, produced by Toei Doga Company in Japan.




In 1978 Pope John Paul II is inaugurated as Pope.




In 1988 Phil Collins started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with his version of 'Groovy Kind Of Love', his 6th US No.1. The song was also a hit for The Mindbenders, the group that backed Wayne Fontana in 1965.

[bunkerfan]

23rd October


In 1919 Orchestra Hall, designed by C. Howard Crane opens in Detroit, Michigan; home of the Detroit Symphony, 1919-39 and 1989 to present, also known as The Paradise Theater, featuring top jazz performers and films, 1941-51.




In 1952 Charlie Chaplin's "Limelight", starring himself and Claire Bloom, with an appearance by Buster Keaton, premieres in New York City; Not released in Los Angeles until 1972, winning Chaplin his only competitive Academy Award for original score.




In 1964 Dutch 10th dan judoka Anton Geesink wins Open gold medal in the first ever Olympic judo competition in Tokyo; prevents clean sweep of the gold medals by Japan.




In 1966 The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded their first single 'Hey Joe', at De Lane Lea studios in London. The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band the The Leaves; the band then re-recorded the track and released it in 1966 as a follow-up single which became a hit.