The annual ceremony honoring achievements in the film industry, The Academy
Awards, was held for the first time on May 16, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt
Hotel. It was a private dinner with an attendance of about 270 people.

The ceremony lasted only 15 minutes with fifteen statuettes (Oscars) awarded to
artists, directors and other personalities of the movie industry for achievements
during the 1927 to 1928 period. The post awards party was held at the Mayfair
Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for the night was $5.

Emil Jannings received the first Oscar, Best Actor in a Leading
Role for the movies “The Last Command” and The Way of All
Flesh” (1929).

Douglas Fairbanks, the Academy’s first president, and
Janet Gaynor, winner of the Best Actress award.

John Wayne accepts the Best Director Oscar on behalf of an absent John
Ford during the 25th Academy Awards in 1953. It was the first time the
ceremony was televised.

Sandy Kozel

Karen Carpenter in 1953 

Richard and Karen Carpenter during their ’70s heyday

Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983)

Singer Karen Carpenter was one-half of The Carpenters, a duo formed
along with her brother Richard in the 1970s. They are best known for the
song "We’ve Only Just Begun”. Her early death led to increased visibility
and awareness of eating disorders.

 
Karen Carpenter was also an exceptional drummer

The WSM transmitter building

The FM transmitter that operated at 44.7 Mhz.

On March 1, 1941 W47NV (WSM-FM) began operations in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the first modern commercial FM radio station. It was in operation for
about ten years, until The National Life and Accident Insurance Company (NL&AI), owners of WSM, realized that few area households had FM receivers and that
its commercial potential was lacking, unlike the company’s television station, WSM-
TV (now WSMV). shut down the FM operations in 1951 and returned the license
to the FCC. The station went back on the air in the late 1950s after an upsurge
in high fidelity equipment.  

A 1950’s Zenith Bakelite AM/FM radio

Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – MIA on December 15, 1944) 

The Swing bandleader, composer, and arranger went Missing in Action 
while on plane flight when performing for U.S. troops in France during
World War II.

Miller was a passenger in plane similar to the above UC-64 Norseman

Army Captain  Miller