177th day of 2009 - 188 remaining
Friday, June 26, 2009
TOP OF THE WORLD DAY
Early into the 1970s, the folks in Toronto, Canada were having problems with their TV and radio reception. Interference from the many skyscrapers being built in the city were causing TV shows to be superimposed on top of each other. To remedy the situation, the Canadian National Railway Company was commissioned to build an antenna that would tower over every building ever built. The antenna design turned into a tourist attraction design by John Andrews Architects and Webb Zerafa Menkes Housden Architects; and after 40 months, the completed CN Tower opened ... on this day in 1976.
63 million dollars and 1,537 people were needed to complete the tallest free standing structure and building in the world (until 2007). The CN (Canadian National) Tower, including the 335 foot (102 meters), steel, broadcasting antenna, is 1,815 feet, 5 inches tall (553.33 meters). At 1,465 feet, you’ll be standing on an incredibly high public observation deck, the Space Deck. You can take one of six elevators to the Sky Pod level at a speed of 15 miles per hour. After your 58-second-long trip, you can take another elevator inside the tower to the Space Deck. Or, you could climb the 1769 steps up the tower. You’ll have the distinction of dining in the world’s highest and largest revolving restaurant, aptly named "360", the home of the world’s highest wine cellar. Wine cellars are usually under the building, this one’s on top of the world!
Sixteen Toronto TV and FM radio stations broadcast their signals from the antenna ... and all over Southern Ontario, Canada, TV viewers and radio listeners can see and hear clearly, all because of the CN Tower ... Toronto’s favorite tourist attraction.
Events
June 26
1284 - The Pied Piper exacted his revenge upon the German town of Hamelin this day. The townspeople had promised to pay the piper a large fee if he could rid their town the nasty rats running all over the place. He had played his trusty pipe and the rats had followed him out of town and into the River Weser. But once the rodents were eliminated, the local folks decided not to pay after all. The piper was not pleased and repaid the townspeople by playing his pipe for the children of Hamelin, just like he had done for the rats. And just like the rats, the children followed him out of town. The Pied Piper of Hamelin led the kiddies into a hole in a hillside. They were never seen again.
1819 - The bicycle was patented by W.K. Clarkson, Jr. of New York City.
1897 - Thomas Lynch and John Heydler were umpires in a baseball doubleheader in Washington, D.C. “Yeah, so?” you ask. Well, smarties, each of these umpires went on to become a president of the National League. So there.
1933 - The Kraft Music Hall debuted. It turned out to be one of radio’s longest-running hits. The first program presented Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. Singer Al Jolson became the host of the show shortly thereafter. Several years later, crooner Bing Crosby was named the host. The Kraft Music Hall continued on NBC radio until 1949 and then on TV for many more years; the first year as Milton Berle Starring in the Kraft Music Hall, then Kraft Music Hall Presents: The Dave King Show followed by Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall for four seasons. From 1967 on, The Kraft Music Hall featured a different host. Bring on the Velveeta and the Philadelphia brand cream cheese!
1945 - Fifty nations came together in San Francisco for the signing of the United Nations Charter.
1949 - Entertainer Fred Allen closed out his amazing radio career. Allen was making the transition to TV. His final radio guest was his old pal, Jack Benny. Allen’s caustic wit didn’t play well on TV and he found himself out of the medium in short order. Benny went on to become a television legend.
1959 - CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow interviewed his 500th -- and final -- guest on Person to Person: actress Lee Remick. Just hours before this final broadcast, Murrow had presented his last news broadcast on the CBS radio network. CBS-TV had reportedly made $20 million from Murrow’s Person to Person series.
1964 - A Hard Day’s Night was released by United Artists Records. The album featured all original material by The Beatles and became the top album in the country by July 25, 1964.
1965 - Mr. Tambourine Man, by The Byrds, reached the number one spot on the pop music charts. The song was considered by many to be the first folk-rock hit. The tune was written by Bob Dylan, as were two other hits for the group: All I Really Want to Do and My Back Pages. The group of James Roger McGinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and Mike Clarke charted seven hits. The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
1979 - Muhammad Ali announced that he was retiring as world heavyweight boxing champion. The 37-year-old fighter said, “Everything gets old, and you can’t go on like years ago.” The “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” act was no more.
1985 - You’ve heard of players, managers and owners being ejected from baseball games, right? But have you ever heard of an organist being given the heave-ho? It happened at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Florida (the home of the Philadelphia Phillies during spring training; a Class A League team uses the stadium the rest of the season). Wilbur Snapp played Three Blind Mice following a call by umpire Keith O’Connor. The umpire was not amused and saw to it that Mr. Snapp was sent to the showers.
1985 - Big River, later to be a Tony Award-winning cast album, became the first cast soundtrack LP to be recorded in Nashville, TN. The celebrated album was released on MCA Records and tapes.
1987 - “Just the facts, ma’am. Thank you.” Dragnet, starring Dan Aykroyd in the Jack Webb role of Sgt. Joe Friday; and Tom Hanks in the Harry Morgan role of detective Stribeck, opened around the U.S. The movie became the first Hollywood film to feature a "condom-conscious" bedroom scene ... just right for the social mores of the 1980s. Dragnet was a smash theatrical hit, as it had been on radio and TV in the 1940s and 1950s. “This is the city...”
1990 - The Arizona Republic reported it was 122 degrees in Phoenix, hot enough to cancel some flights at the airport.
1998 - Doctor Dolittle opened in the U.S. Eddie Murphy stars as Dr. John Dolittle, who can converse with, and heal, animals. Audiences loved it: $29.01 million the opening weekend.
2000 - Principal photography for Star Wars: Episode II started in Australia, where shooting would last for two months before moving on to Italy, Tunisia and Spain. George Lucas directs Hayden Christiansen who plays the young Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker). Natalie Portman is Padmé Amidala and Ewan McGregor plays Obi-Wan Kenobi. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Mace Windu, Christopher Lee plays Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus and Jimmy Smits is Bail Organa.
2002 - The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court in San Francisco ruled that the “under God” phrase (inserted by Congress in 1954) in the Pledge of Allegiance is an endorsement of religion and violates the U.S. Constitution.
Birthdays
June 26
1819 - Abner Doubleday
baseball: founded the game in 1839; died Jan 26, 1893
1891 - Sidney (Coe) Howard
playwright: screen play: Gone with the Wind; died Aug 23, 1939
1892 - Pearl S. Buck
Nobel Prize-winning author: The Good Earth [1938]; died Mar 6, 1973
1900 - Hack (Lewis Robert) Wilson
Baseball Hall of Famer: NY Giants [World Series: 1924], Chicago Cubs [World Series: 1929/record: rbi in a season: 190 in 1930], Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies; died Nov 23, 1948
1904 - Peter Lorre (László Löwenstein)
actor: The Maltese Falcon, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Casablanca, The Raven; died Mar 23, 1964
1909 - Col. Tom Parker
carnival barker, show business promoter: manager of Elvis Presley; died Jan 21, 1997
1909 - Colonel Tom Parker (Andreas van Kuijk)
carnival barker, show business promoter: manager of Elvis Presley; died Jan 21, 1997
1910 - Roy Plunkett
scientist: discovered polytetrafluoroethylene, better known as Teflon [Apr 6, 1938]; died May 12, 1994
1914 - Babe (Mildred) Didrikson Zaharias
“The outstanding female athlete of the first half-century.” [AP 1950]; International Women’s Sports Hall of Famer, Olympic Hall of Famer, World Golf Hall of Famer, LPGA Hall of Famer, National Track and Field Hall of Famer; died Sep 27, 1956
1914 - Richard Maltby
bandleader: Theme from The Man with the Golden Arm, St. Louis Mambo; died Aug 19, 1991
1915 - Charlotte Zolotow
author: Peter and the Pigeons, The Moon was the Best
1916 - Alex Dreier
‘Man on the Go’: radio reporter, newscaster: United Press, BBC, NBC, ABC; actor: The Boston Strangler, What’s It All About, World?, Murdock’s Gang, Invisible Strangler, It Takes a Thief, Mannix; died Mar 12, 2000
1922 - Eleanor Parker
actress: The Sound of Music, Of Human Bondage, Caged, The Man with the Golden Arm, Dead on the Money
1934 - Dave Grusin
composer: film scores: On Golden Pond, Heaven Can Wait, Tootsie
1936 - Hal Greer
Basketball Hall of Famer: Philadelphia 76ers
1940 - Billy Davis Jr.
singer: group: The 5th Dimension: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, Up Up and Away; w/Marilyn McCoo: You Don’t Have to be a Star, Your Love
1943 - Bill (William Henry) Robinson
baseball: Atlanta Braves, NY Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates [World Series: 1979]
1943 - Georgie Fame (Clive Powell)
singer: The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde
1950 - Dave (Rodriguez) Rosello
baseball: Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians
1951 - Pamela Bellwood
actress: Airport ’77, Dynasty, Double Standard, Cellar Dweller, Deadman’s Curve, Choices of the Heart
1952 - Steve (Stephen Shaddon) Bowling
baseball: Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays
1952 - Danny Gruen
hockey: NHL: Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Rockies
1955 - Mick Jones
musician: guitar, singer: groups: Big Audio Dynamite, The Clash: 1977, Capitol Radio, Career Opportunities, I’m So Bored with the USA, Police and Thieves, Complete Control, Remote Control, [White Man] In Hammersmith Palais, English Civil War, Stay Free, I Fought the Law, Brand New Cadillac, Death or Glory, Jimmy Jazz, Rock the Casbah
1956 - Chris Isaak
actor: Little Buddha, Silence of the Lambs, Married to the Mob, Twin Peaks; singer, songwriter: Wicked Game, Blue Hotel, LP: Silvertone
1961 - Terri Nunn
singer: group: Berlin: Take My Breath Away
1970 - Chris O’Donnell
actor: The Three Musketeers, Dead Poets Society, Scent of a Woman, Fried Green Tomatoes, Circle of Friends, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, The Bachelor, Vertical Limit
1970 - Sean Hayes
Emmy Award-winning actor: Will & Grace [2000]
1970 - Matthew Letscher
actor: The Mask of Zorro
1974 - Derek Jeter
baseball: NY Yankees
1980 - Jason Schwartzman
actor: Rushmore, Slackers; musician: group: Phantom Planet
Chart Toppers
June 26
1945Sentimental Journey - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Dream - The Pied Pipers
Laura - The Woody Herman Orchestra
At Mail Call Today - Gene Autry
1953Song from Moulin Rouge - The Percy Faith Orchestra
April in Portugal - The Les Baxter Orchestra
Ruby - Richard Hayman
Take These Chains from My Heart - Hank Williams
1961Quarter to Three - U.S. Bonds
Raindrops - Dee Clark
Tossin’ and Turnin’ - Bobby Lewis
Hello Walls - Faron Young
1969Get Back - The Beatles
Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet - Henry Mancini
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Running Bear - Sonny James
1977Got to Give It Up (Pt. I) - Marvin Gaye
Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky") - Bill Conti
Undercover Angel - Alan O’Day
Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) - Waylon Jennings
1985Heaven - Bryan Adams
Sussudio - Phil Collins
Raspberry Beret - Prince & The Revolution
Little Things - The Oak Ridge Boys
Happy Birthday Billy Davis, Jr.
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