Partying like it was 1581

For those of you not following that new fangled Gregorian Calendar (and still keep stock with the Julian Calendar), it's January 1st. Happy New Year

Please feel free to call in sick tomorrow and explain to them that it's New Years Day in your religion.


January 14, 1952 -
On a cold East Coast morning at 7 a.m., NBC-TV opened the the first Today show broadcast with a shot of Dave Garroway looking outside through the 'Window on the World' in New York City. The broadcast also featured Jack Lescoulie as co-host.



The show would be a radical departure from the TV industry's accepted programming; a news, features, special events program that would run in the early morning. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The Rise and Shine Revue.


January 14, 1967 -
Sonny and Cher, one of the big musical duos of the mid '60s released on of their biggest hits, The Beat Goes On, on this date.



In 1968, Chrysler Corporation paid a large sum of money to use parts of the song in an ad campaign for the Plymouth line.


January 14, 1972 -
Sanford and Son, featuring comedian Redd Foxx (whose last name was really Sanford) and Demond Wilson, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



A running gag throughout the series was that whenever Lamont threatened to move out or whenever things did not go Fred's way, Fred would clutch his chest and fake having a heart attack, shouting out variations of "Hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you honey!". Ironically, this running gag would years later be blamed for Redd Foxx's death (from a real heart attack) in 1991, during filming of the series The Royal Family, where no one took his legitimate complaints of chest pains seriously until it was too late to save his life.


January 14, 1981 -
This was the date television died.

The FCC freed stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish, and removed any obligation to allocate time for news or public affairs programming.


January 14, 1993 -
Talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving his late-night show after 11 years on NBC to sign a $16 million deal with CBS.

Coincidentally, seven years later, on January 14, 2000, he had quintuple bypass surgery.


January 14, 1990 -
The Simpsons episode Bart the Genius premiered on Fox television . This episode was considered the first official episode of the Simpsons, and FOX advertised it as such. The Christmas episode was considered as a special.



This is the first episode with the full intro. The first time we see Maggie scanned, she is worth $847.63.


Today in History:
January 14, 1858 -
Emperor Napoleon III (having the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France) and Empress Eugenie escape unhurt after an Italian assassin threw a bomb at their carriage as they travel to the Paris Opera to see Rossini's William Tell, on this date. Felice Orsini and his accomplices threw three bombs at the imperial carriage.

The first bomb landed among the horsemen in front of the carriage. The second bomb wounded the animals and smashed the carriage glass. The third bomb landed under the carriage and seriously wounded a policeman who was hurrying to protect the occupants. Eight people were killed and 142 wounded, though the emperor and empress were unhurt. Napoleon, ever the politician, realized that he and Eugenie had to proceed to the performance and appear in their box.

They really wanted to see the opera.


January 14, 1900 -
Speaking of opera, Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premiered in Rome on this date.




January 14, 1956 -
Little Richard released Tutti Frutti on this date, (to fully take advantage of the healing powers of Little Richard, much like Elvis - you must remove your pants and dance around the house in your underwear and socks.)



This song introduced Little Richard's famous "Whooooo," and also a big "Aaaaaaahhh" scream which he sings just before the tenor sax solo performed by Lee Allen. Richard's scream had a practical purpose: to let Allen know when to start playing. They were recording on just three tracks, so overdubbing the horns wasn't a practical option.



And yet Pat Boone's cover of the song rose higher in the charts on it's initial release. Many listeners at the time only knew the song through Boone, so Little Richard's promotional materials often labeled him "Original 'Tutti Frutti' Man."

Stupid record buying public.


January 14, 1957 -
... Bogart never took himself too seriously - his work most seriously. He regarded the somewhat gaudy figure of Bogart, the star, with an amused cynicism; Bogart, the actor, he held in deep respect. In each of the fountains at Versailles there is a pike which keeps all the carp active; otherwise they would grow overfat and die. Bogie took rare delight in performing a similar duty in the fountains of Hollywood. Yet his victims seldom bore him any malice, and when they did, not for long. His shafts were fashioned only to stick into the outer layer of complacency, and not to penetrate through to the regions of the spirit where real injuries are done - John Huston



Humphrey Bogart, the Greatest Male Star of All Time, model for the Gerber baby and founding member of the Hollywood Rat Pack (a phrase coined by Lauren Bacall) finally decided to let the world catch up with his three drink lead and succumbs to cancer of the esophagus.


January 14, 1980 -
The Blues Brothers movie with Dan Akroyd & John Belushi opened on this date.



Graffiti on the bridge the Blues Brothers hide their car under during the show reads, "John *heart* Deborah." This is a reference to director John Landis and his wife, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman.



And so it goes