WHAT HAPPENED!!??!!… On This Day In History – May 25
1895 – Oscar Wilde sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for gross indecency
1927 – Henry Ford announces that he is ending production of the Model T Ford
1932 – Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in ‘Mickey’s Revue’ by Walt Disney
1935 – Legendary American athlete Jesse Owens equals or breaks 4 world records in 45 minutes at a Big Ten meet at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan; remembered as “the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport”
1937 – 1st airmail letter to circle globe returns to NY
1953 – 1st non-commercial educational television station-Houston, Texas. 68 years later, the state sits as 11th on the list of least educated states
1964 – At the 16th Emmy Awards, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore win for their roles on “The Dick Van Dyke Show”
1969 – “Midnight Cowboy” directed by John Schlesinger and starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman is released
1974 – Jim Morrison’s widow, Pam, dies of a drug overdose
1977 – ABC-TV airs the last “The Brady Bunch Hour”. A bizarre spin off of the original half hour sit-com featuring the mixed Brady family. The sporadically produced 9 entry run saw the Brady Bunch hosting an hour long variety show performing skits and songs, a creative output that was only ever hinted at during the series. Yes, there was an episode where the Brady kids recorded a song. However, that was a one time event most likely in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of the show. Although, we never really found out who the first spouses were so, you never know where that talent would have come from.
1977 – The film that introduced audiences to a galaxy far, far away and set imaginations on fire around the world in the process “Star Wars” was released into theatres. Originally titled just Star Wars in 1977, the movie was sort of retitled as “Episode IV: A New Hope” in the opening crawl of subsequent releases. The studio was hedging their bets as writer, director George Lucas had envisioned an epic saga when he first conceived the story. The studio was… a little hesitant, to say the least. Considering that the original cut of the film was an over bloated, meandering mess, they had good reason to be wary. Even George’s close friends including film makers Brian DePalma. Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg were bracing for an epic failure having been privy to early screenings. Luckily, George’s wife at the time, Marcia Lucas and two other editors took charge of the situation. The editing team actually won an Academy Award for editing as a result of their sheering of the film. They trimmed out several redundant scenes and unnecessary story lines and characters including an early incarnation of intergalactic gangster Jabba The Hutt, who would have to wait until 1983 to make his onscreen debut with the release of Return of the Jedi. They also tightened up the pacing of the film and added in the now iconic readout display that depicted the Death Star moving into firing position as Luke and the other Rebel pilots were sprinting toward the exhaust port at the end of the trench run.
1979 – Sci-fi classic “Alien” starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton and directed by Ridley Scott is released into theatres. The film would go on to set the standard for the Sci-fi/Horror genre.
1983 – The final entry in the original Star Wars trilogy “Return of the Jedi” (Star Wars Episode VI) first released into theatres. The film was directed by Richard Marquand and produced by George Lucas and was the final word in the Star Wars saga for quite some time. Interest in the film series would go on to wain in the ensuing years. Two cartoon series “Droids” and “Ewoks” were produced and saw moderate success on television as well as two Ewok-centric made for TV movies. But it wasn’t until a book trilogy written by author Timothy Zahn was released between 1991 and 1993 that the force roared back to life. The success of the books prompted George Lucas to kick plans for a prequel trilogy into gear. He first remastered the original three films with added scenes and released those into theatres. Then used the profits from that to finance Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and released it in May of 1999. Which re-lit the flame of fandom and set us on the path to where we are today.
1983 – Dio release their Holy Diver album. History Released on May 25, 1983, it has been hailed by critics as Dio’s best work
2017 – “Wonder Woman” directed by Patty Jenkins, starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine premieres in Los Angeles – 1st superhero film directed by a woman
And the Top 10 Singles chart on this day in 1978 looked like this…
1 – WITH A LITTLE LUCK – Wings
2 – TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE – Johnny Mathis / Deniece Williams
3 – YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
4 – SHADOW DANCING – Andy Gibb
5 – THE CLOSER I GET TO YOU – Roberta Flack with Donny Hathaway
6 – FEELS SO GOOD – Chuck Mangione
7 – IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU – Yvonne Elliman
8 – IMAGINARY LOVER – The Atlanta Rhythm Section
9 – COUNT ON ME – Jefferson Starship
10 – ON BROADWAY – George Benson
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