This Day In History January 28

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28th day of 2011 - 337 remaining
Friday, January 28, 2011
BEAT THE BAND DAY

It was on this night in 1940 that Beat the Band made its debut on NBC radio. The band was that of Ted Weems and his 14-piece orchestra, who were joined by Elmo ‘The Whistling Troubadour’ Tanner, Harry Soskind and Country Washington; announcers Marvin Miller and Fort Pearson; emcee, Thomas Garrison Morfit (aka Garry Moore) and Hildegarde; and several noted singers, Marvel Maxwell and Marilyn Thorne. One other star of the show was a barber from Pittsburgh, PA (nearby Canonsburg, actually), who would record many hits for RCA Victor from 1943 right through the dawn of the 1970s. His name was Perry Como.

Beat the Band was a funky show where listeners’ questions were selected in the hopes of stumping the band. If a listener’s question was chosen, he or she received $10.

The questions were posed as riddles: What song title tells you what Cinderella might have said if she awoke one morning and found that her foot had grown too large for her glass slipper? If the band played the correct musical answer, Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?, the listener lost.

When Raleigh cigarettes sponsored Beat the Band, the listener who beat the band won $50 and two cartons of cigarettes ... Raleighs, of course. When the sponsor changed to General Mill’s Kix cereal, if the listener beat the band, he/she won twenty bucks and a case of Kix cereal. Crunch. Crunch.

Events January 28

1808 - Messenger, America’s first trotting horse, was buried on this day. Admit it. There is no way you could have made it through the day without this knowledge...

1878 - The first telephone switchboard was installed -- in New Haven, Connecticut. The phone company that owned the switchboard had 21 subscribers. “Is this the party to whom I am speaking? One moment pa-leeeeeeze.”

1878 - The Yale News was published for the very first time. It was the first daily collegiate newspaper in the United States.

1901 - The American Baseball League was organized -- in Philadelphia, PA. The Philadelphia Athletics, under the leadership of Connie Mack, were original members of the league. Mack managed the team for fifty years.

1902 - The Carnegie Institution was established in Washington DC. It began with a gift of $10 million, compliments of Andrew Carnegie.

1904 - Enrico Caruso signed his first contract with Victor Records. He had debuted at the Metropolitan Opera just two months before.

1921 - The National Football League franchise in Decatur, Illinois was transferred this day to Chicago. The team took the name, Chicago Staleys for the 1921 season. The following year, it was decided that since the team was playing in the stadium of the Chicago Cubs, it should be named the Chicago Bears, or as they say in the Windy City, “Da Bears.”

1934 - As a result of a compliment paid on this day, by Walter Winchell, in his newspaper column; a local disc jockey began receiving several offers from talent scouts and producers. The DJ became known as the Redhead, adored by thousands in Washington, DC and, later, by millions across the country on CBS radio and TV. His trademark (strumming a ukulele and delivering down-home patter) endeared him to fans for many years. We remember the broadcasting legend, Arthur Godfrey. “I wanna go back to my little grass shack...”

1934 - Robert Royce’s famous invention was used for the first time in Woodstock, Vermont. Previously, snow skiers had no way to get to the top of the mountain conveniently. Remember the ski tow rope the next time you schuss the slopes and have to make it back to the top.

1942 - “Sighted sub , Sank Same” was the message sent by enlisted pilot Donald Francis Mason on this day. Mason believed that he had sunk a German U-boat off Argentia, Newfoundland.

1945 - A convoy of allied trucks from India crossed the Burmese-Chinese border, opening the famous Burma Road.

1956 - Elvis Presley made his first appearance on national television. No, he didn’t appear on some teenage dance show; but rather, The Dorsey Brothers Show, starring Tommy and Jimmy. Elvis sang Blue Suede Shoes and Heartbreak Hotel. He was backed by the instruments of the Dorsey band, believe it or not.

1957 - The Brooklyn Dodgers (‘da Bums’) announced this day that circus clown Emmett Kelly had been hired to entertain fans at baseball games. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles the following year. Today, the only clowns in baseball are many of the highly paid ones out on the field.

1958 - One of the most respected players in baseball, Roy Campanella, was seriously injured in an auto accident in New York. ‘Campy’ would never return to play again; but would still be a part of the Dodgers organization for many years. The talented Dodger catcher’s career with the Dodgers lasted from 1948 to 1957.

1973 - CBS-TV presented the first program of Barnaby Jones (a Quinn Martin Production). Lee Meriwether (Miss America 1955) played the detective’s lovely daughter-in-law assistant. Buddy Ebsen played the detective, Jones. Ebsen, who started in show biz back in the 1920s, was also selected to play the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but had bowed out. And he shot the first film used in the animation tests for a Walt Disney character named Mortimer Mouse (aka Mickey Mouse). Ebsen is best known, however, for playing Jed Clampett on another CBS-TV series, The Beverly Hillbillies. “Weee doggies!”

1973 - A cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.

1978 - “De plane, de plane.” The weekly, hour-long Aaron Spelling production of Fantasy Island began on ABC-TV.

1985 - 45 of the world’s top recording artists were invited to an all-night recording session at the A&M studios in Los Angeles. As each of the artists walked through the studio door, they were greeted by a hand-lettered sign -- put there by Lionel Richie. It simply said, “Check your ego at the door.” The session started at 10 p.m. with producer Quincy Jones conducting. At 8 o’clock the following morning, the project, USA for Africa, spearheaded by promoter, Ken Kragen, was recorded and mixed. The resulting song, We Are the World, featuring Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Sting, Harry Belafonte, Diana Ross, Paul Simon and many others became the top song in the U.S. on April 13, 1985.

1986 - 73 seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral, the U.S. space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing seven astronauts. After a flawless liftoff, the Challenger, traveling at a speed of 2900 feet per second, soared nine miles into space when suddenly the ship’s liquid hydrogen tank exploded. Millions watched the tragedy unfold on TV. This catastrophe took the lives of Commanders Francis ‘****’ Scobee and Michael J. Smith, Dr. Judith A. Resnik, Dr. Ronald E. McNair, Lt. Colonel Ellison S. Onizuka, Gregory B. Jarvis and school teacher Christa McAuliffe.

1987 - ABC-TV moved reporter, Charles Gibson, into the coanchor chair next to Joan Lunden for the start of another era of Good Morning America. Eleven-year host, David Hartman, retired as original host of the popular show, known also as ‘GMA’.

1987 - Roger Mudd left NBC news after seven stormy years. Previously, Mudd had been an icon at CBS news. When it was announced that Dan Rather would replace Walter Cronkite as anchor of The CBS Evening News, Mudd felt that he had been passed over. He went on to find yet another network home at PBS, where he contributed to The MacNeil Lehrer News Hour.

1990 - Super Bowl XXIV (at New Orleans): San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10. The 49ers had won all three trips they had made to the Super Bowl. The Broncos had lost all three times they had been there. At the end of this game the 49ers were still winners and the Broncos were still losers. MVP: 49ers’ QB Joe Montana. Tickets: $125.00.

1994 - Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg declared a mistrial in the case of Lyle Menendez, just two weeks after a mistrial had been declared in the case of Lyle’s brother Erik. Both uries deadlocked over whether the brothers were guilty of murder in the shooting deaths of their wealthy parents. (They were later retried, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

1995 - TLC’s Creep hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The smash held down the top spot for four weeks : “So I creep yeah; Just keep it on the down low; Said nobody is supposed 2 know; So I creep yeah; ’Cause he doesn’t know; What I do and no attention; Goes to show oh so I creep.”

1996 - Super Bowl XXX (at Tempe): Dallas Cowboys 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 17. Most Valuable Player of the game: Dallas cornerback Larry Brown. Who’s Larry Brown, you ask? He’s the one who intercepted the two Neil O’Donnell passes that (1) stopped two Pittsburgh drives and (2) set up two Dallas touchdowns. Tickets: $200.00-$350.00.

1997 - Civil court jurors began deliberations to decide if O.J. Simpson should be held liable for the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. (The jury found Simpson liable, and ordered him to pay $33.5 million.)

1999 - Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan honored a personal request for mercy from Pope John Paul II. Carnahan commuted the death sentence of triple murderer Darrel Mease to life without parole.

1999 - Ford Motor Co. announced the acquisition of the passenger car division of Volvo AB for $6.47 billion.

2000 - Movies debuting in U.S. theatres: The Big Tease, starring Craig Ferguson, Frances Fisher, Mary Mccormack, David Rasche and Chris Langham; Eye of the Beholder with Ewan Mcgregor, Ashley Judd, Jason Priestley, Genevieve Bujold, K.D. Lang and Patrick Bergin; and Isn’t She Great, starring Bette Midler, Nathan Lane, Stockard Channing, David Hyde Pierce, Amanda Peet and John Cleese.

2001 - Super Bowl XXXV (at Tampa Bay): Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7. “We feel we’re the best defense to ever play the game,” boasted Ravens’ defensive tackle Tony Siragusa. Arguably, the 2000 Ravens’ defense ranks up there with the 1960’s Fearsome Foursome of the Los Angeles Rams, Miami’s 1972-1973 No-Name Defense, the 1974-1979 Pittsburgh Steelers’ Steel Curtain, Dallas’ Doomsday defense of the 1970s, the 1973-1976 Purple People Eaters in Minnesota and the 1985-1986 Chicago Bears. MVP: Ravens’ linebacker Ray Lewis, who led a defense that intercepted four of NY quarterback Kerry Collins’ passes, allowed only a punt-return touchdown (by the Giants’ Ron Dixon) and held New York to 152 yards of offense. Tickets: $325.00 to $400.

2002 - Verizon launched its ‘third generation’ wireless telephone network. ‘3G’ allowed subscribers access to the Internet and other online services from their wireless telephones.

2003 - John Philip Thompson died at 77 years of age. He was the son of Southland Corp. co-founder Joseph C. Thompson Sr. and was responsible for expanding the family business into the nationwide 7-Eleven chain. The convenience-store chain started under the name of Tote’m and was renamed in 1946.

2004 - The U.N. was shut down and more than a million children had the day off from school on the heels of a storm that dumped as much as 14 inches of snow in the Northeast United States.

2004 - Lloyd ‘Pete’ Bucher, former U.S. Navy commander who helped his USS Pueblo crew survive brutal captivity in North Korea, died in Poway, CA. He was 76 years old.

2005 - These films opened in the U.S.: Alone in the Dark, starring Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, John Fallon and Catherine Lough Haggquist; and Hide and Seek, with Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, Dylan Baker, Robert John Burke, Alicia Harding, Amy Irving, Melissa Leo and James McCaffrey.

2005 - Riggs Bank agreed to pay a $16 million fine after pleading guilty to hiding transfers of millions of dollars in accounts controlled by Chilean despot Augusto Pinochet and top officials of Equatorial Guinea.

2006 - The roof of a trade-exhibition hall in southern Poland collapsed with several hundred people inside, trapping many beneath the wreckage. 62 people were killed and 160 injured when the Katowice Trade Hall roof caved in.

2007 - Sinn Fein members overwhelmingly voted to begin cooperating with the Northern Ireland police, formally abandoning their decades-old hostility to legal law and order in the British territory.

2007 - The comedy Little Miss Sunshine won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Forest Whitaker won for his portrayal of Uganda’s brutal dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland and Helen Mirren won for her performance as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen.

2008 - The San Francisco Chronicle reported that California was spending $38 million a year on security for Governor Schwarzenegger and other top state officials.

2009 - Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died in Florida at 56 years of age. A heart attack was the suspected cause of death. Powell played on dozens of hits and hit albums, such as Sweet Home Alabama and Street Survivors. He survived the Oct 20, 1977 plane crash that killed three band members.

2009 - The European Union promised billions in aid to the world’s poorest nations to entice them to sign a new global climate change agreement.

2010 - Movies opening in the U.S.: The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn, Donald Sutherland and Jeff Chase; The Rite, with Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds and Toby James; From Prada to Nada, starring Camilla Belle, Alexa Vega, Tina French, Luis Rosales and Pablo Martínez de Velasco; and Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grand Master with Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Simon Yam, Zhou Qing Quan and Sammo Hung Kam-Bo.

Birthdays January 28

1841 - Sir Henry Morton Stanley
explorer: leader of African expedition to find the missing missionary, David Livingstone: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” said Mr. Stanley; died May 10, 1904

1855 - William Burroughs
inventor of adding machines and practical calculators; died Sep 14, 1898

1887 - Artur Rubinstein
American pianist: played solo for the Berlin Symphony at the age of 12; died Dec 20, 1982

1903 - Samuel Lerner
songwriter, composer: I’m Popeye the Sailor Man, Is It True What They Say About Dixie?, Oh Susanna Dust Off that Old Pianna, The Pump Song, I Promise You, Judy, Gangway, Lord and Lady Whoozis, The Rhyming Song, Y’Had It Comin’ to You, In a Fanciful Mood, But Me No Buts, Intrigue, You Never Lose What You Never Had; died Dec 13, 1989

1906 - Robert Alton
choreographer: The Girl Rush, There’s No Business Like Show Business, White Christmas, The Harvey Girls, Call Me Madam; died June 12, 1957

1907 - Charles Morton
actor: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Westbound, Shotgun, Plainsman and the Lady, Outlaws of Santa Fe, Arms and the Man; died Oct 26, 1966

1908 - Matthew ‘Pat’ Kennedy
Basketball Hall of Famer: Milwaukee Bucks, LA Lakers; career: 7 NBA championships, held records for most minutes [57,446], points [38,387], field goals made [15,837] and field goals attempted [28,307]; pro basketball referee; died June 16, 1977

1910 - Arnold Moss
actor: Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus, The Caper of the Golden Bulls, Gambit, The Fool Killer, The 27th Day, Casanova’s Big Night; died Dec 15, 1989

1912 - Jackson Pollock
abstract expressionist artist: Male and Female, The She-Wolf, The Tea Cup, Painting, Easter and the Totem, Ocean Greyness, Full Fathom Five; killed in car crash Aug 11, 1956

1927 - Ronnie Scott (Schatt)
jazz musician: tenor sax, bandleader; jazz club owner in London; died Dec 23, 1996

1927 - Jim Bryan
auto racer: Indianapolis 500 winner [1958]

1929 - Acker Bilk
clarinetist, composer: Stranger on the Shore

1934 - Bill (William De Kova) White
baseball: NY Giants, SF Giants, SL Cardinals [all-star: 1959-1961, 1963, 1964/World Series: 1964], Philadelphia Phillies first baseman; broadcaster: NY Yankees

1935 - Nicholas Pryor
actor: Hoffa, Pacific Heights, Risky Business, The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh, The Happy Hooker, Force Five, The Bronx Zoo, Beverly Hills 90210

1936 - Alan Alda (Alphonso D’Abruzzo)
Emmy Award-winning actor: M*A*S*H [1974, 1977, 1979, 1982], The West Wing [2006]; Paper Lion, The Four Seasons, Same Time Next Year, California Suite

1936 - Bill Phillips
country singer: Put It Off till Tomorrow, Georgia Town Blues [w/Mel Tillis]

1943 - John Beck
actor: Suspect Device, A Climate for Killing, Time Machine, Rollerball, Sleeper, Paperback Hero, Three in the Attic, Nichols, Flamingo Road, Dallas

1943 - Paul Henderson
hockey: NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs [scored winning goal in Canada/Soviet Union Summit Series: 1972], Atlanta Flames

1943 - **** Taylor
musician: bass, guitar: group: The Pretty Things: Don’t Bring Me Down

1944 - Fred Hoaglin
football: Clevland Browns, Baltimore Colts; Jacksonville Jaguars TE coach

1944 - Susan Howard (Jeri Lynn Mooney)
actress: Sidewinder One, The Power Within, Dallas, Star Trek; NRA activist

1944 - Brian Keenan
musician: drums: groups: Manfred Mann; The Chambers Brothers: Time Has Come Today

1945 - Karen Lynn Gorney
actress: Saturday Night Fever, All My Children, Searching for Bobby D, Cradle Will Rock, Men in Black, The Hard Way, David and Lisa

1945 - Marthe Keller
actress: Young Catherine, The Nightmare Years, The Amateur, Black Sunday, Marathon Man, And Now My Love

1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov
Bolshoi ballet dancer: defected to U.S.; actor: The Turning Point, That’s Dancing, Dancers

1949 - Jack Egers
hockey: NHL: NY Rangers, SL Blues, Washington Capitals

1950 - Barbi Benton
Playboy cover girl, significant other of Hugh Hefner; actress: For the Love of It, Deathstalker

1951 - William Nelson Jr. aka Billy Bass
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician: guitar: group: Parliament-Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove, Atomic Dog, Flashlight, Maggot Brain, Cosmic Slop

1957 - Nick Price
golf: champ: PGA Championship [1992, 1994], British Open [1994]; 18 PGA Tour victories, 23 international victories

1959 - DAVE Sharp
musician: guitar: group: The Alarm: 68 Guns, Where were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?, The Bells of Rhymney

1962 - Michael Cage
basketball: SD State Univ; LA Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, NJ Nets

1962 - Sam Phillips
singer: Baby I Can’t Please You, Circle of Fire, Animals on Wheels, I Need Love, When I Fall, Raised on Promises

1964 - Dwight Stone
football: Middle Tennessee State Univ; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, NY Jets

1969 - Kathryn Morris
actress: Mindhunters, Paycheck, Minority Report, Artificial Intelligence: AI, The Contender, Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For

1977 - Daunte Culpepper
football [quarterback]: Univ of Central Florida; NFL: Minnesota Vikings

1977 - Joey Fatone Jr.
singer: group: ’N Sync: I Want You Back, Tearin’ Up My Heart, Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You, I Drive Myself Crazy, Music Of My Heart

1980 - Nick Carter
singer: group: Backstreet Boys: I’ll Never Break Your Heart, Shape of My Heart, I Want It That Way; actor: Edward Scissorhands, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

1981 - Doug Waechter
baseball [pitcher]: Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals

1981 - Elijah Wood
actor: The Lord of the Rings series, Flipper, North, Radio Flyer, Forever Young, Avalon, Back to the Future, Forever Your Girl video

Chart Toppers January 28

1949A Little Bird Told Me - Evelyn Knight
Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore
I Love You So Much It Hurts - Jimmy Wakely

1958At the Hop - Danny & The Juniors
Don’t/I Beg of You - Elvis Presley
Stood Up/Waitin’ in School - Ricky Nelson
The Story of My Life - Marty Robbins

1967I’m a Believer - The Monkees
Tell It Like It Is - Aaron Neville
Georgy Girl - The Seekers
There Goes My Everything - Jack Greene

1976Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) - Diana Ross
Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players
Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer
Convoy - C.W. McCall

1985Like a Virgin - Madonna
I Want to Know What Love Is - Foreigner
Easy Lover - Philip Bailey with Phil Collins
(There’s A) Fire in the Night - Alabama

1994All for Love - Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting
Breathe Again - Toni Braxton
Said I Loved You...But I Lied - Michael Bolton
Live Until I Die - Clay Walker

2003Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
I’m With You - Avril Lavigne
Landslide - Dixie Chicks
19 Somethin’ - Mark Wills

Happy Birthday Nick Carter of The Backstreet Boys
 
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