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April 15, 1923 –Dr. Lee De Forest demonstrates his Phonofilm sound-on-film process to the first paying movie audience at an invitation-only event at the Rialto Theater in New York City. (I’ve seen the date listed as March 12 as well.) Dr. De Forest received in 1959 an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion PictureContinue reading “One of the first sound film previews”

April 15, 1990 –Fox TV premiered the Wayans Bros. comedy series In Living Color on this date. For the first few episodes, an exotic-looking logo was used for the opening credits. The band Living Colour claimed the show stole the logo from them. They threatened to sue. As a result, the logo was changed toContinue reading “In Living Color debuted”

Today is International Moment of Laughter Day. Unlike many of the ‘holidays‘ that litter the internet, we know who created this one. The unofficial holiday, created by motivational speaker Izzy Gesell, encourages people to forget the stresses of daily life and give into the healing and relaxing power of laughter. Don’t let him fool you,Continue reading “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

April 14, 2017 –Harry Styles’s debut single Sign of the Times, knocked Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You 13-week run off the top of the UK charts, on this date. The former One Direction star achieved his first No.1 as a solo artist with this release – the first from his self-titled debut album. (Harry isContinue reading “Sign of the Times topped the charts”

April 14, 1945 – Tex Avery retooled his Warner Brothers cartoon, Dangerous Dan McFoo, and remade it for MGM as The Shooting of Dan McGoo. It was released on this date. This is probably the better version, but what do I know.

April 14, 1969 –During the live broadcast of the 41st annual Academy Awards Ceremony, (the first Oscar ceremony to be televised worldwide,) it was announced that Katherine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tied for the Best Actress Oscar on this date. Both Streisand and Hepburn received 3,030 votes each; it was the first exact tie inContinue reading “Every vote counts”

April 14, 1969 –The bizarre 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee TV special starred The Pre-fab four. The Monkees appeared on NBC TV on this date. This special is notable as the Monkees‘ final performance as a quartet until 1986. Peter Tork left the group at the end of the special’s production.

April 13, 1973 –The Wailers, led by Bob Marley, release their fifth studio album, Catch a Fire on this date. The first album on their new label, Island Records, it makes Marley and the Wailers international recording stars and brings reggae music to the forefront.

April 13, 1984 –Jonathan Demme’s look at the homefront during WW II, Swing Shift, starring, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward and Ed Harris, opened in the US on this date. The film reportedly went through a major bout of re-shoots and editing; some say this was due to the tensions between GoldieContinue reading “Swing Shift premiered”

April 13, 1967 –A very silly film, loosely based on the first James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, Casino Royale, opened in London on this date. It was directed by John Huston, Ken Hughes, Robert Parrish, Joe McGrath , and Val Guest. The film starred Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Woody Allen, Joanna Pettet,Continue reading “Casino Royale (the first one) premiered”