You can thank Officer Edgar Mallory the next time he sends you to jail.Who knew?
June 11, 1937 -
The Marx Brothers film, A Day at the Races, opened on this date. It is the 'other' film that ends with the line, 'Tomorrow is another day.'
MGM executive Irving Thalberg died within two weeks of the start of filming. Groucho Marx claimed that he lost interest in films after Thalberg's death.
June 11, 1978 -
Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John opens, on this date.
Remember - heavy petting leads to seat wetting.
June 11, 1982 -
Steven Spielberg's film, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, opened on this date.
Steven Spielberg worked simultaneously on both this film and Poltergeist in 1982 (which was directed by Tobe Hooper but produced by Spielberg), and both were made to complement each other. E.T. represented suburban dreams, and Poltergeist represented suburban nightmares.
June 11, 1993 -
Steven Spielberg's science fiction thriller, Jurassic Park, opened on this date.
Steven Spielberg directs the man who beat him to the Best Director Oscar in 1983 (Richard Attenborough, whose film Gandhi also beat Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial as Best Picture). The film goes on to break all box office weekend records until it was beaten by Titanic in 1997.
Today in History -
June 11 is an important day for American football fans and seems almost inevitably slated to someday become a national holiday. It's the birthday of Vince Lombardi (1913) and Joe Montana (1956). Mr Lombardi played at Fordham University and was a Latin and chemistry teacher in New Jersey before becoming the head coach of the Green Bay Packers at the age of 46. They had won only one of twelve games the season before he was hired; they won seven his first year. Over the course of his brief career, the Packers won five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls (Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II, in that order).
It was Coach Lombardi's background in Latin that persuaded the NFL to use Roman numerals to number the Super Bowls.
"Winning isn't everything," Coach Lombardi famously declared, "but it's awfully darn important in competitive endeavors." (He was the first NFL coach to hire a publicist and his statements were often edited for distribution to the Green Bay press corps.)
Over the course of his career, Joe Montana completed 3409 of 5391 passes and threw 273 touchdowns. In the playoffs, he completed 460 of 734 passes and threw 45 touchdowns. As a starter, he won 117 and lost 47 regular season games.
Upon his retirement, the town of Ismay, Montana, changed its name to Joe. The town of Joe, Rhode Island, attempted to change the name of its state to Montana, but was prohibited from doing so by heavily-monied special interests.
Adrienne Barbeau was also born on this day, along with Gene Wilder and Jacques Cousteau, none of whom ever won a Super Bowl.
June 11, 1881 -
A phantom vessel appears in the sky to the passengers and crew of the ship Bacchante, including Price Albert Victor and Prince George, both sons of the Prince of Wales.
This is what comes from too much rum, the lash and buggery.June 11, 1910 -
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, filmmaker, scientist and explorer was born on this date.
Among his many and varied accomplishments, he co-developed the Aqua-Lung diving apparatus. BP executives are very lucky that the Captain is no longer with us or there would be some major ass kicking going on.
June 11, 1955 -
An Austin-Healy and Mercedes-Benz collide at the Le Mans Grand Prix. The Mercedes drove into a dirt retaining wall, disintegrated, and the hood, chassis, and various auto parts sliced through the spectator crowd.
Eighty-three were killed, and 100 others were missing various "parts".
June 11, 1962 -
Frank Morris and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
The following morning the officers awoke to find dummies lying in their beds and the prisoners missing. The FBI conducted one of the largest manhunts since the Lindbergh kidnapping to no avail. Bits of the raft and life preservers were later found in the bay. Also found was a waterproof bag containing personal effects of the Anglins. Although the authorities never found any bodies, they were certain the men had drowned. They pointed out that there were no robberies or car thefts that could have been attributed to them, as well as the fact that the men were habitual criminals and yet were never arrested again.
However it was shown by MythBusters that the raft could have possibly landed at the Marin Headlands, raising possible doubt over Morris' and the Anglins' deaths. The film Escape from Alcatraz is based on the famous escape. Morris is played by Clint Eastwood.
June 11, 1963 -
Governor George Wallace stands in the schoolhouse door, blocking admission of two 'colored students' (Vivian Malone and James Hood) to the University of Alabama. This became known as the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door.
Wallace stood aside only after being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the Alabama National Guard. However, there is evidence that the entire encounter was partially or wholly coordinated with the Kennedy administration to allow Wallace to save face with Alabama voters.And so it goes.
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