Ahoy! Back in the Day
The History file for August 15. Warning, perusing might make you feel old.
– In 1877, Thomas Edison wrote a letter to the president of the Telegraph Company and said that when answering the telephone, “Hello” would be more appropriate than Alexander Graham Bell’s suggestion of “Ahoy”.
– In 1939, “The Wizard of Oz” premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
– In 1965, The Beatles played to a packed Shea Stadium, which was filled with 56,000 people and was, at that time, the largest single crowd to attend a rock ‘n roll show.
The Beatles’ set was a standard 35 minutes long . . . but it didn’t matter because the music was drowned out by the screams of randy pubescent teeny-boppers.
– In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened for three groovy days at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York. Over 400,000 people peacefully attended. Performers included Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Sly & the Family Stone, The Who, the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Mountain, CANNED HEAT, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, Jefferson Airplane. There were two births. Festival bummers included rampant drug use, heavy rains, not enough food and sanitation, three deaths and four miscarriages.
– In 1979, “Apocalypse Now”, was released . . . starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. Robert Duvall delivered the movie’s most famous line. Here’s his “I love the smell of napalm in the morning!” scene.
– In 1979, Led Zeppelin released their eighth and final album “In Through the Out Door”. – In 1995, Vince Neil’s four-year-old daughter, Skylar, died of multiple organ failure. He created the Skylar Neil Foundation in her honor and sponsored an annual golf tournament to raise money for cancer.
– In 1997, one year after “Kazaam”, Shaquille O’Neal returned to the big screen with the release of “Steel” . . . and the two people who saw it couldn’t understand a word.
– In 1999, 23-year-old Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship, becoming the youngest player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros in 1980.
– In 2000, David Bowie’s beautiful Somalian supermodel of a wife, Iman, gave birth to their beautiful interracial daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones. (Bowie’s real name was David Robert Jones.)
