The comedy show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, hosted by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, premiered on NBC television on this date.
One of the trademarks of the series was the fast cutting that happened in between videotaped segments. Blackouts, one-liners and sketches were edited together in such a way that the show had a very rapid, almost frenzied, pace. This was done before computer controlled editing machines were invented, so much of the show was edited by hand.
January 22, 1972 -
The Jack Webb midseason replacement series, Emergency!, starring Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe premiered on NBC TV on this date.
The series originated when producer Robert A. Cinader was in the Los Angeles area researching for a new medical drama series that took place in an emergency hospital. There, he learned of the fledgling paramedic program being tested in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Upon learning the full details of the program and the nature of their dispatches, Cinader immediately concluded the adventures of such a team of special firefighters would be excellent material for a television series.
January 22, 1977 -
Wings' triple live album Wings Over America, recorded during the American leg of the band's 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour, hits #1 on the Billboard Charts, in the US, on this date.
Wings over America provided the total Paul McCartney experience. It showcased the full range of his musical skills as a singer/songwriter.
January 22, 1989 -
Metallica's first music video, for their single, One, makes its debut on this date. The video incorporates footage from the 1971 anti-war film Johnny Got His Gun.
Metallica performed this song at the Grammy awards in 1989. This was the first year a Grammy was awarded for Hard Rock/Metal Performance, and the award went went to ... Jethro Tull.
January 22, 2003 -
The hysterical funny and groundbreaking comedy show Chappelle's Show, starring Dave Chappelle premiered on Comedy Central on this date.
Dave Chappelle was inspired to create the show after watching a documentary about Hugh M. Hefner that featured clips of Playboy After Dark. Chappelle was inspired by the laid-back atmosphere of Hefner's show.
January 22, 2010 -
To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen - Conan O'Brien
Coco hosted his last episode of The Tonight Show on this date.
Word of the Day
Today in History -
Today is the birthday of Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow, better known as Ivan the Great.
The Golden Horde reminded him that it was time for their annual tribute. Ivan ignored them.
The Golden Horde sent him polite reminders in the mail, but he ignored these also.
They sent reminders on brightly colored stationery embossed with the words PAYMENT PAST DUE, but Ivan, alas, remained indifferent.
Finally the Golden Horde marched against Ivan and he marched his own troops out to meet them. The two armies met, faced off, and simultaneously retreated.
This was a victory for Ivan, in that neither he nor his descendants ever paid tribute to the Golden Horde again. But it was also a defeat for Ivan, who was therefore denied the rank of tsar.
January 22, 1521 -
The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V commenced the imperial Diet of Worms, on this date, to address the issues Martin Luther brought up in his 95 Theses.
While worms in general are quite unpleasant to consume, most people were afraid to contradict the Emperor, so many people in Europe became Protestant.
January 22, 1788 -
One of the greatest of the English Romanticist poets, Lord Byron, (George Gordon,) the sixth Baron of Byron, was born in London, on this date. No one ever called him George after he became Byron, not even his mother.
He was born into a life of wealth and privilege which never suited him, and in the likeness of some of the best artists in history, spent himself into debt traveling around the world having affairs and writing about them. It must has sucked to be him.
It was on this date in 1807 that U.S. President Thomas Jefferson exposed a plot by his former vice-president and unconvicted murderer, Aaron Burr, to establish an empire in the southwestern part of the continent. Burr was eventually acquitted as a result of Chief Justice Marshall's tree-falling-in-forest ruling that treason wasn't treason unless someone was there to see it along with someone else who saw the same thing. The vice-presidency was never the same.
From that date forward, retiring vice-presidents have been compelled to either retire into the political obsolescence of private life, where we can safely ignore them, or into the presidency, where we can keep an eye on them (or possibly in Mike Pence's case, continuously avoiding being seen with the former President towards the end.)
January 22, 1901 -
After 63 years, England stopped sales of the Queen Victoria postage stamps series and began the King Edward VII series on this date.
Alexandrina Victoria (Hanover, if she needed a last name) the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India of the British Raj, finally gave up the ghost much to the relief of her 59 year old son Edward, permitting him to finally get a real job. Edward VII was proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901. As his mother lay dying a member of the Royal Household wondered if she would be happy in Heaven. "I don't know" said the prince, "she will have to walk behind the angels and she won't like that."
January 22, 1905 -
Thousands of demonstrating Russian workers were fired on by Imperial army troops in St. Petersburg on what became known as "Red Sunday" or "Bloody Sunday" on this date.
96 people were killed, and over 300 were wounded. This incident marks the beginning of the so-called 1905 Revolution.
January 22, 1918 -
Manitoba, Canada film censor board decides to ban comedies, on the grounds that they make audiences too frivolous.
Canada does not fully recover their true frivolousness until the broadcasting of SCTV in the early 80s.
January 22, 1970 -
A Pan Am Boeing 747-100 named Victor Clipper (N736PA) makes its first commercial passenger trip from John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport, on this date. The flight had carried 332 passengers and 18 crew.
The 747 airplane held the record for most passenger numbers for almost 40 years after. It went on to become one of the most commonly used models of aircraft for both commercial and passenger use. Although most passengers enjoyed the flight, one had mentioned that this plane is too big for commercial travel.
(Unfortunately, seven years later on March 27, 1977, the Clipper Victor was involved in the worst aircraft accident in history, with a total of 583 fatalities. A KLM 747 at full take off speed, while trying to get airborne crashed into Pan Am's Clipper Victor in Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands.)
January 22, 1973 -
The Supreme Court in a 7-2 ruling handed down its Roe vs. Wade decision on this date, which legalized abortion, using a trimester approach. The court ruled that a woman's right to privacy encompasses her decision to terminate a pregnancy.
Norma McCorvey, the anonymous Jane Roe, revealed her identity in 1989. She ended up having her third baby that was the initial focus of the issue. In a historic and far-reaching decision, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly a half century, no longer existed.
January 22, 1984 -
The future began today. The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, was introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous 1984 television commercial.
Now that Steve Jobs is gone; we can stop saying 'Hooray for Big Brother!!!'
January 22, 1987 -
If you know, you know why
Otherwise, nothing to see here
January 22, 1997 -
Lottie Williams became the first—and, so far, only— human ever reported to be hit by human-made space debris (also known as “space junk”) on this date. Williams was jogging in a park near her Oklahoma home very early in the morning, and she saw a brilliant fireball-type meteor. She felt a “gentle tap” on her shoulder and looked down; on the ground was a piece of blackened metal.
And so it goes
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