Today’s Important Historical Events

1913 Ford Motor Company institutes world’s 1st moving assembly line for the Model T Ford

1934 Leningrad mayor Sergey Kirov is assassinated, Joseph Stalin uses it as an excuse to begin his Great Purge of 1934-38

1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus and give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama

1988 Benazir Bhutto named Prime Minister of Pakistan, the 1st female leader of a Muslim country

Today’s Historical Events

772 Pope Adrian I [Hadrian I] elected

800 Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.

1167 Northern Italian towns form Lombardi League

1420 Henry V of England enters Paris

1566 Spanish King Philip II names Fernando Alvarez, duke of Alva

1626 Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical governor of Jerusalem, driven out

1640 Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule following a revolution by Portuguese nobility; the Portuguese Restoration War begins and lasts until 1668 with recognition by Spain of the country’s independence

1641 Massachusetts becomes the first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1903 “The Great Train Robbery” the 1st Western film, released starring Justus D. Barnes and G. M. Anderson

1919 AA Milne’s comedy play “Mr Pim Passes By” premieres in Manchester

1949 WBNG TV channel 12 in Binghamton, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting

1949 WKTV TV channel 2 in Utica, NY (NBC) begins broadcasting

1953 Hugh Hefner publishes 1st edition of Playboy magazine, featuring Marilyn Monroe as the magazine’s 1st centerfold

1953 WAIM (now WAXA) TV channel 40 in Anderson, SC (IND) 1st broadcast

1953 WCSH TV channel 6 in Portland, ME (NBC) begins broadcasting

1956 Musical comedy film “The Girl Can’t Help It” starring Jayne Mansfield with cameos by rock ‘n’ roll stars Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent premieres

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1822 Franz Liszt, aged 11, debuts as a pianist in Vienna

1924 George and Ira Gershwin‘s musical “Lady Be Good” premieres in NYC

1944 Béla Bartòk’s Concerto for orchestra, premieres in Symphony Hall, Boston, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky

1951 Benjamin Britten‘s opera “Billy Budd” premieres in London

1956 Leonard Bernstein‘s musical “Candide” opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 73 performances

1958 “Flower Drum Song” opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 602 performances

1960 British rocker Paul McCartney and drummer Pete Best arrested and then deported from Hamburg, Germany accused of attempted arson

1967 Track Records releases the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 2nd studio album “Axis: Bold as Love” in the UK, just seven months after their debut release

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1653 An athlete from Croydon is reported to have run 20 miles from St Albans to London in less than 90 minutes

1912 Boston Braves MLB franchise owner James Gaffney buys the Allston Golf Club on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston with a plan to construct a ball park there; ground breaking for Braves Field starts on March 20, 1915

1923 Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Queen’s University retains title with 54-0 win over Regina Rugby Club; biggest Grey Cup victory margin ever

1924 The Boston Bruins beat fellow expansion Montreal Maroons, 2-1 at Boston Arena; first NHL game to be played in the United States

1928 CFL Grey Cup, AAA Grounds, Hamilton: Hamilton Tigers win 3rd Cup with 30-0 shutout of Regina Roughriders

1928 National League President John Heydler first to propose a baseball rule change calling for a 10th man, or ‘designated hitter’, to bat in place of the pitcher; ironically, the NL vote in favour of proposal, but the American League turn it down

1930 NHL drops 20 minute slashing-about-the-head penalty

1934 Toronto Maple Leafs beat St. Louis Eagles, 4-3 to set an NHL record for the most wins to start the season with 8; Leafs do it again 59 years later; won 10 in a row to start 1993-94 season