March 4, 1922 -
The first vampire film Nosferatu, an illegal adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, was released in Germany on this date.
The film was loosely based on the Bram Stoker book but the characters' names were changed in an attempt to prevent legal action (which failed). The subtitles were translated into French, then when the film went to the USA into English but with Stoker's character names used.
March 4, 1950 -
One of the classic Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoons, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, was released on this date. This was another show I was not allowed to watch with my family because I laughed too loudly.
By all means, please, stop eating or drinking while watching this cartoon, you may injury yourself. Also, a State dept report has just been released, the cavalry came to the rescue but it was too late.
March 4, 1961 -
Michelangelo Antonioni's landmark of European cinema, L'Avventura, premiered in the US on this date.
The rocky Aeolian island on which the first portion of the film was made - its name is Lisca Bianca - didn't have electricity or running water and was subject to violent weather, including a tornado. At one point, the crew found themselves completely stranded on the island.
March 4, 1963 -
The Beach Boys released Surfin' U.S.A. a song with lyrics by Brian Wilson set to the music of Sweet Little Sixteen, written by Chuck Berry. Billboard ranked Surfin' U.S.A. the No. 1 song of 1963.
Many of the early Beach Boys' songs were about surfing. Dennis Wilson was the only Beach Boy who actually surfed, but surfing was a very popular at the time, especially with teenagers who bought records. For The Beach Boys, the surfing subculture gave them an opportunity to write songs about adventure and fun while exploring vocal harmonies and new production techniques. And while the majority of Americans didn't surf, the songs represented California, which was considered new and modern and a great place to be. Surfing, and California by extension, became more about a state of mind.
March 4, 1967 -
The Rolling Stones song, Ruby Tuesday, topped the charts on this date.
Brian Jones played the recorder (it sounds like a flute) on this song. He was a founding member of the group and fancied himself their leader, which along with a debilitating drug habit, starting causing problems in the band around this time. He was booted from the group in June 1969, and found dead in his swimming pool less than a month later.
March 4, 1979 -
Mary Tyler Moore's second ill-conceived venture in a variety series, The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, co-starring Dody Goodman, Michael Keaton, Joyce Van Patten, Ron Rifkin, and Doris Roberts, premiered on CBS on this date.
The show's premise was to give the audience a fictionalized view into the life of the star of a television variety show, much as The Jack Benny Show had purported to do two decades earlier on the same network. Unlike the Benny show, or Moore's sitcoms, but more like her earlier variety show the previous fall, The Mary Tyler Moore Hour would have trouble attracting a sizable audience. The series only lasted 11 episodes.
March 4, 1982 -
The David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker silliness, Police Squad, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.
Each week featured a "Special Guest Star" who is killed off in the opening credits. Lorne Greene and William Conrad are knifed and tossed out of cars; Georg Stanford Brown has a safe dropped on him; Florence Henderson is shot during a musical number; Robert Goulet is executed by a firing squad; and William Shatner avoids a burst of machine-gun-fire only to drink a glass of poisoned wine.
March 4, 1984 -
Appearing in front of 50,000 people, The Police play the final concert of their Synchronicity tour in Melbourne, Australia, on this date.
It is their last show, except for a few special events together, until 2007.
March 4, 1996 -
The Beatles song Real Love, compiled from a John Lennon demo recording, is released in the UK, on this date. Yoko Ono supplied Lennon's demo for this song and Free As A Bird and gave the remaining Beatles permission to use them.
Paul McCartney did his best John Lennon imitation to help the lead vocal because the recording of John's voice was low and spotty in some places. The lead vocal is actually a John and Paul duet.
Word of the Day
Today in History:
March 4, 1837 -
The "Windy City", "Chi-Town", "Second City," and the "City of Broad Shoulders" - Chicago became incorporated as a city on this date.
10,000 extra votes from various local cemeteries were counted that day alone.
Remember, vote early, vote often.
March 4, 1849 -
This is a US secret you probably don't know - this is the day America had no President.
James K. Polk (whose cause of death was officially listed as "diarrhea") officially stepped down as the 11th US president and President Zachary Taylor (who would die in office after eating cherries and milk at a July 4th celebration) refused to be sworn-in on a Sunday.
US Sen. David Rice Atchison (1807-1886) of Missouri then technically held office as president until Zachary Taylor took his oath the next day. However Atchison’s term as president pro tempore of the Senate had also expired, and his new term did not begin until March 5. For the rest of his life, Atchison enjoyed polishing this story, describing his "presidency" as "the honestest administration this country ever had."
March 4, 1861 -
The first official flag of the Confederate States of America, called the Stars and Bars, having seven stars, for the seven states that initially formed the Confederacy, was formally adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America, on this date.
While, the Southern states were adopting their banner, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States on this date as well.
March 4, 1884 -
...By a man's finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs -- by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable....
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson begin their work on the case in A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, on this date (or maybe it didn't. I'm not going to join the massive debate the Holmesians get involved in with the accuracy of this date.)
March 4, 1933 -
Frances Perkins began on this date as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, the first female member of a president’s cabinet, in 1933. Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her during the Great Depression to help establish Social Security and other public safety net programs that were known collectively as The New Deal.
For 12 years in that cabinet role, she built a reputation as the woman behind the New Deal. She also helped establish the first minimum wage and overtime laws for American workers, workplace safety regulations (after a tragic factory fire), and the standard 40-hour work week.
March 4, 1952 -
Ronald Reagan married his 'mommy' Nancy Davis,
in the San Fernando Valley, on this date.
March 4, 1960 -
Waaaa, Ricky I don't want to be married anymore to you, you lousy two bit skirt chasing, whoremonger.
Lucille Ball filed divorce from Desi Arnaz on this date.
March 4, 1966 -
John Lennon claimed that The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", and that "Christianity will... vanish and shrink" on this date.
I guess he was dead wrong about that.
March 4, 1974 -
The first issue of People Magazine featuring actress Mia Farrow, starring in the movie The Great Gatsby, was released on this date.
March 4, 1994 -
Comedian John Candy died on this date.
Just think - the fun John Candy and Desi Arnaz are having in the 3D House of Stewardesses. (So remember, EVERYBODY MAMBO!)
And so it goes.
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