July 9, 1955 -
Bill Haley & His Comets' single Rock Around the Clock became the first rock and roll recording to hit the top of Billboard’s Pop charts on this date, staying at No.1 for eight weeks. It became one of the biggest selling singles of all time.
In 1956, Bill Haley and the Comets starred as themselves in a low-budget movie called Rock Around The Clock, where they performed nine songs. The film was far from scandalous, but was targeted to teenagers and caused a stir among theater owners who feared bad behavior. Possibly spurred on by these reports, there were incidents of dancing in aisles and other breaches in etiquette that helped fuel the perception among many adults that rock music would lead to mayhem in America's youth.
July 9, 1966 -
The Beatles song Paperback Writer, topped the charts on this date.
The B-side to this single was John Lennon's Rain. Paul and John would always compete for the A-side of The Beatles singles.
July 9, 1968 -
The folk-rock band The Seekers' official farewell concert, The BBC Farewell Spectacular, premiered on this date, drawing 10 million viewers.
The special was shot in color but for some reason the BBC wiped their color copies of the concert and now only black and white recordings exist.
July 9, 1982 -
Buena Vista Pictures releases the sci-fi film Tron, directed by Steven Lisberger and starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes, in the U.S. on this date.
Many Disney animators refused to work on this movie because they feared that computers would put them out of business. In fact, 22 years later Disney closed its hand-drawn animation studio in favor of CGI animation. Hand-drawn animation was ultimately resumed at Disney at the behest of new creative director John Lasseter, also head of Pixar- ironically a computer animation company.
July 9, 1983 -
The Police song Every Breath You Take topped the charts on this date.
This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. It is about an obsessive stalker, but it sounds like a love song. Some people even used it as their wedding song.
July 9, 1995 -
The Grateful Dead, who had been performing for 30 years, gave their last performance on this day, when they performed at Soldier Field in Chicago. During their 30 years, they performed more than 2,300 live concerts.
The lead guitarist and backbone of the band, Jerry Garcia, died one month after the final show.
July 9, 1999 -
Universal Pictures finally shined a light on the world of pastriality when American Pie, starring Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Eugene Levy, and Shannon Elizabeth was released in the US on this date.
Eugene Levy was told he could improvise much of the dialogue for his character, including the part when flipping through the pornographic magazines with Jim, forcing a noticeably muffled laugh from Jason Biggs with the "giant orgy" line.
July 9, 2001 -
The mockumentary The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and starring Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman premiered on BBC Two, on this date.
The series started as a small, home-made video by Stephen Merchant when he was trying to get a job at the BBC. He came up with the idea for making a documentary style format as it would be easier for him to film. He and his colleague Ricky Gervais came up with the series idea and used a local university to film it. Upon seeing the short video the BBC requested that they make a series out of it. Many of the jokes from this original film are recycled during the proper series for example, David Brent's opening speech about making employees' dreams come true.
July 9, 2010 -
The world was introduced to the Minions, when Universal Pictures released Despicable Me, voiced by Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Will Arnett, and Julie Andrews, on this date.
Originally, the minions were supposed to be more like henchmen (human-like), but the studio didn't have the money for that, so they redesigned them to be short.
Today's moment of Zen.
Today in History:
July 9, 1776 -
New York finally got around to ratifying the Declaration of Independence on this date, making it the 13th colony to do so. The document was read aloud to Gen. George Washington's troops stationed in New York City.
Later that night, American troops destroyed a bronze-lead statue of Great Britain's King George III that stood at the foot of Broadway on the Bowling Green. Most of the statue pieces were sent to Connecticut where munitions makers turned them into 42,000 bullets.
On the Fourth of July in 1850, President Zachary Taylor snacked on cherries and milk while attending a ceremony at the Washington Monument. It was a hot day, and the heat made him sick.
His last words were, "I regret nothing, but I am sorry to leave my friends."
I firmly believe he actually regretted eating the cherries-and-milk that caused his fatal indigestion, but I'm not going to quibble with a man's dying words. He was succeeded by Millard Fillmore, possibly one of the worse president. Although Fillmore did oversee the instillation of indoor plumbing in the White House, which made extreme indigestion a tad more comfortable there.
July 9, 1918 -
Two passenger trains crossing the Dutchman's Curve in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, collided at speeds of 50 to 60 miles per hour killing 101 people and leaving 171 injured, on this date.
The great wreck of 1918 is still considered the worst rail disaster in US history.
July 9, 1926 -
Mathilde Krim, geneticist, founder of the AIDS foundation, was born on this date.
Just want to remind folks that one of America's most famous women doctors was in the Israeli military.
July 9, 1933 -
We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well. And seeing with the brain is often called imagination. And we are familiar with the landscapes of our own imagination, our inscapes. We've lived with them all our lives. But there are also hallucinations as well, and hallucinations are completely different. They don't seem to be of our creation. They don't seem to be under our control. They seem to come from the outside, and to mimic perception.
Oliver Sacks, neurologist, was born on this date.
July 9, 1945 -
... dirty money always brings sorrow and sadness and misery and disgrace. Said by a man who never took a bribe.
During a newspaper strike, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia read the daily comic strips aloud on WNYC radio on this date.
July 9, 1956 -
America's favorite actor, Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born on this date.
Let's hope someday Tom finds himself and succeeds in a career.
July 9, 1958 -
A tsunami wave struck Lituya Bay in southeast Alaska on this date. The tsunami wave was 1,719 feet high - taller than the Empire State Building (1,470 feet tall). It was caused by an earthquake and descriptions by witnesses as moving at 600 miles per hour. It was later determined that this was the largest wave to ever strike land in history.
The wave destroyed 6-foot trees and stripped the shore down to bedrock. It killed two people when it sank their boat, while two other boats rode it out with all passengers surviving.
July 9, 1960 -
Seven-year-old Roger Woodward, who was wearing a life jacket, survived a 162-foot plunge over Niagara Falls after a boating accident, on this date. He became the first person to go over the Falls by accident and live.
Woodward, who later developed a love of boating, became a certified diver, even joined the Navy, suffered only a slight concussion, scrapes and bruises. His first word when rescued in Ontario by the tour boat at the bottom was reportedly, “Gosh”.
July 9, 1962 -
Pop-art pioneer Andy Warhol's 'Campbell's Soup Cans' exhibition opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles on this date.
The main exhibit consisted of 32 paintings of cans of every variety of Campbell's Soup. Great bar bet - The red and white label on a Campbell's Soup can comes from the colors of the Cornell University football team.
July 9, 1964 -
My number one thing to work on is not being reactive - but appropriateness doesn't come easily to me sometimes.
Courtney Michelle Love, rock musician and actress, was born on this date.
July 9, 1982 -
Michael Fagan, dressed in jeans and a dirty t-shirt, and bleeding from a fresh cut on his hand, walks into the private bedroom of Queen Elizabeth II while she was asleep and her personal guard out walking her dogs. Fagan had scaled the wall surrounding Buckingham Palace and gained entry without triggering any alarms. The two carried on a 12-minute conversation, while the intruder holds a jagged broken ashtray, before somebody finally apprehended him.
Who knew that the Queen could carry on a 12 minute conversation with one of her subjects?
July 9, 2005 -
Danny Way, a daredevil skateboarder, rolled down a large ramp and jumped across the Great Wall of China on this date.
He was the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid.
And so it goes.
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