Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table For Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Born 1938 - Hoyt Axton (singer, musician, songwriter: Greenback Dollar, The Pusher, Joy to the World, Never Been to Spain [Axton’s mother, Mae Boren Axton, wrote Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel]; actor: The Rousters, Gremlins, Disorganized Crime, The Civil War, Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long, King Cobra; died Oct 26, 1999)





Today In History~

March 25
1902 - Irving W. Colburn patented the sheet glass drawing machine.

1911 - A turning point in labor laws -- especially concerning health and safety -- occurred as a result of a tragic fire in a New York City garment factory. Fire broke out at about 4:30p.m. at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company trapping young, immigrant workers behind locked doors. Many jumped to their deaths or were burned beyond recognition. The 18-minute fire left 146 dead; but they did not die in vain as new laws were passed to protect children and others from slave-type labor conditions. The owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company were indicted for manslaughter.

1913 - The Palace Theatre opened its doors in New York City. Ed Wynn was first on the vaudeville bill. Some 20 years later, Wynn would be named as radio’s top entertainer. He later became popular on television, as well.

1931 - Hal Kemp and his orchestra recorded "Whistles", with Skinnay Ennis, for Brunswick Records. Both Kemp and Ennis sang in the Dorsey Brothers Concert Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Eugene Ormandy (later, conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra). The pair were part of the orchestra vocal quartet that also featured Nye Mayhew and Saxey Dowell in 1928.

1934 - Horton Smith won the first Masters golf tournament under the magnolia trees of Augusta National in Georgia.

1936 - The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Montreal Maroons in the longest hockey game to date. The game went on and on and on for 2 hours, 56 minutes.

1937 - Babe Ruth was reported to have received $25,000 a year for the Quaker Oats Company to use his name in ads for Quaker Oatmeal.

1941 - The first paprika mill was incorporated in Dollon, SC. Now you know where those little paprikas that spice up your potato salad come from...

1943 - Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore premiered on network radio. The pair replaced the popular "Abbott and Costello" following Lou Costello’s heart attack. Durante and Moore stayed on the air for four years. Moore would later make a beat to television with "The Garry Moore Show" and "To Tell the Truth" both on CBS. Durante would also become a TV star on ABC with "The Jimmy Durante Show" in addition to nightclub appearances, movies and records.

1954 - Radio Corporation of America (RCA) began commercial production of TV sets that were equipped to receive programs in living color. To buy one of those huge sets, television buyers spent $1,000 -- and more.

1961 - Elvis Presley performed his first post-Army appearance, a benefit for planning and building the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The concert raised well over $64,000 and raised public awareness of the need for the memorial.

1954 - Our wayback machine takes us to the RKO Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, as we remember the 26th Annual Academy Awards. Actor/singer/dancer Donald O’Connor and actor Fredric March (in New York) kept the audience informed on who won what. "From Here to Eternity" (Buddy Adler, producer) was the big flick of the year, picking up the Oscar for Best Director for Fred Zinnemann, Best Supporting Actor for Frank Sinatra and Best Supporting Actress for Donna Reed, in addition to Best Writing/Screenplay (Daniel Taradash); Best Cinematography/Black-and-White (Burnett Guffey); Best Sound/ Recording (John P. Livadary, Columbia SSD); and Best Film Editing (William A. Lyon). The Best Actor award for the films of 1953 went to William Holden for "Stalag 17" while the Best Actress award went to Audrey Hepburn for "Roman Holiday". "Secret Love" from "Calamity Jane" was the Best Music/Song of the Year (Sammy Fain, music, Paul Francis Webster, lyrics). An interesting note: The Best Writing/ Story and Screenplay went to the 1953 version of "Titanic" (Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, Richard L. Breen). Other memorable movies that year (some Oscar winners, some not): "The Robe", "Shane", "Mogambo", "The Moon is Blue" and "Hondo".

1971 - Tom Jones went gold with his single, "She’s a Lady". When Tom gingerly placed the gold disk on his stereo and played it, he was shocked to hear himself singing “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...” for more than four minutes and when he tried to stop it, he couldn’t. Amazing!

1972 - The group, America, rode to the top of the pop music charts with their LP, "America", and the single (included on the LP), "A Horse with No Name". "A Horse With No Name" would be the group’s only gold record and one of two number one songs (the other was "Sister Golden Hair", 6/14/75). America placed 11 tunes on the pop music charts between 1972 and 1983. George Martin, the producer of The Beatles, was behind five America tunes, including "Tin Man", "Lonely People", "Sister Golden Hair", "Daisy Jane" and "Today’s the Day". Dan Peek, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell were the original lineup of the trio that won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1972.

1972 - Bobby Hull joined Gordie Howe to become only the second National Hockey League player to score 600 career goals. Hull played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Howe spent his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings.

1985 - Oscar time again? Yes, and for the 57th time ... and at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, no less. Host for the big show was actor/director Jack Lemmon (no stranger to Oscar, himself). The Best Picture of 1985 was "Amadeus", produced by Saul Zaentz. The flick, about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also won Oscars for Best Director for Milos Forman and Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham. The film also won top honors for Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Peter Shaffer); Best Costume Design (Theodor Pistek); Best Sound (Mark Berger, Thomas Scott II, Todd Boekelheide, Christopher Newman); and Best Makeup (Paul LeBlanc, Dick Smith). Sally Field was pronounced Best Actress for "Places in the Heart", Best Supporting Actor was Haing S. Ngor for "The Killing Fields", and the Best Supporting Actress Oscar was given to Peggy Ashcroft for "A Passage to India". Stevie Wonder’s "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from "The Woman in Red" took the honors for Best Movie/Song. And the Academy gave an honorary Oscar to Jimmy Stewart in recognition of more than 70 films in his 50-year career. Stewart earned one Oscar for Best Actor in "Philadelphia Story" (1940), and nominations for Best Actor in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "Harvey", "It’s a Wonderful Life" and "Anatomy of a Murder".

1991 - Hollywood’s best got all dolled up and headed over to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to watch Billy Crystal host the 63rd Academy Awards show. Billy sported an Armani tuxedo as did actors Jeff Goldblum, Tom Hanks, Dennis Hopper, Steve Martin and Denzel Washington. Also clad in Armani ... gowns ... were Oscar nominees Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts and Jessica Tandy, prompting "Women’s Wear Daily" to refer to the occasion as the “Armani Awards”. Best Picture of the year (1990) was "Dances with Wolves" (Jim Wilson, Kevin Costner, producers). Costner also won for his Best Direction of "Dances with Wolves". The Best Actor Oscar went to Jeremy Irons for "Reversal of Fortune". Best Actress was Kathy Bates for "Misery". The prize for Best Supporting Actor was claimed by Joe Pesci for "GoodFellas" and Best Supporting Actress was Whoopi Goldberg for "Ghost". The Best Music/Song was presented to Stephen Sondheim for "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from "Dick Tracy".


Music For The Day~





Quote For The Day~
George Eliot





Chuckle For The Day~





Picture For The Day~






The Wailing Wall-Jerusalem, Israel



Have a great day, Ranters!

And they come around faster and faster and faster andfasterandfaster ... Just like Christmas.

Coincidence? I think . . . .

Thanks for that. Joe...Great singer, beautiful song...

Now it's time to lock up for the night. Have a good one.