Tommy Rettig with Lassie

Lassie (also known as Jeff’s Collie) was televised from Sunday, September 12,
1954, to Saturday, March 24,1973, It was one of the longest running dramatic
series on television, airing for seventeen seasons on CBS and first-run syndication
for its final two seasons. The show was sponsored by Campbell’s Soup Company
for the entire nineteen- year run. Stars Tommy Rettig and Jan Clayton left the
show in 1957. 
 
 

The original cast of Lassie included left to right, Gramps
(George Cleveland), Doc Weaver (Arthur Space), Ellen
Miller (Jan Clayton), and Jeff (Tommy Rettig), with Lassie
and Pokey.

This undated photo shows Leo The MGM Lion getting ready for his cameo
shot that would make movie history.

MGM’s Leo the lion roared for the first time. He introduced MGM’s
first talking picture, "White Shadows on the South Seas." The film
was directed W.S. Van Dyke and starred Monte Blue. It won an
Oscar in 1928-29 for Best Cinematography.

MGM Logo, 1957 to present

Elvis Presley and Steve Allen during rehearsal for the show in the Hudson Theater, New York City

Morris Frank of Nashville, Tennessee was 16 years old when he
lost his sight in a fight at school. Frustrated with his inability to get
around independently, he set out for Switzerland, spending several
weeks there, learning to work with a female German shepherd who
was originally named Kiss. Frank changed her name to Buddy, later 
feeling that it was a much more appropriate name for her. All of his
subsequent dogs were also called Buddy. 

 


Morris Frank, the first American to use a Seeing Eye dog, with
Buddy, the first Seeing Eye dog, and Dorothy Harrison Eustis,
the founder of the Seeing Eye, Morristown, 1928.

 
First Lady Pat Nixon attending the reception ceremony

 
From left: Giant Pamdas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing

Two Giant Pandas were given to the United States as gifts by the government of
China following President Richard Nixon‘s visit in 1972. In return, the U.S. sent 
China a pair of musk oxen.The Pandas arrived at the National Zoo in Washington,
D.C.at a ceremony attended by First Lady Pat Nixon. During their time at the Zoo,
the pair had five cubs, but none of them survived past a few days.

Ling-Ling died suddenly from heart failure in December 1992, at which time she was
the longest-lived giant panda in captivity outside China. Hsing-Hsing would go on to
pass her record when he was euthanized by zookeepers in November 1999 at the
age of 28 due to painful kidney failure.