Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American literature and
contains one of the most famous opening lines in fiction: “Call me Ishmael.” Initially, though, the book about Captain Ahab and his quest to catch a giant
white whale was a flop.

Its author, Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819. As a young
man, he spent time in the merchant marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling
ship in the South Seas. In 1846, he published his first novel, Typee, a
romantic adventure based on his experiences in Polynesia. The book was
a success and a sequel, Omoo, was published in 1847. Three more novels
followed, with mixed critical and commercial results. 

Herman Melville (Melvill) (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)

Jailhouse Rock premiered on October 17, 1957 in Memphis, Tennessee
and was released nationwide on November 8, 1957. It peaked at number
3 on the Variety box office chart, and reached number 14 in the year’s
box office totals, grossing $4 million.

Saturday Night Live (SNL), a topical comedy sketch show featuring Chevy
Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane
Curtin and Laraine Newman, makes its debut on NBC; it will go on to
become the longest-running, highest-rated show on late-night television.

The 90-minute program, which from its inception has been broadcast live
from Studio 8H in the GE Building at Rockefeller Center, includes a
different guest host and musical act each week. The opening sketch of
each show ends with one actor saying, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday
Night!”

For the first time, Henry Ford’s entire Highland Park, Michigan automobile
factory is run on a continuously moving assembly line when the chassis–
the automobile’s frame–is assembled using the revolutionary industrial
technique. A motor and rope pulled the chassis past workers and parts
on the factory floor, cutting the man-hours required to complete one
“Model T” from 12-1/2 hours to six. Within a year, further assembly line improvements reduced the time required to 93 man-minutes.

The staggering increase in productivity effected by Ford’s use of the
moving assembly line allowed him to drastically reduce the cost of
the Model T, thereby accomplishing his dream of making the car
affordable to ordinary consumers.

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1927,  "The Jazz Singer" opened in New York starring Al
Jolson. The film was based on the short story "The Day of Atonement"
by Sampson Raphaelson. It is the first feature-length motion picture
with not only a synchronized recorded music score but also lip-
synchronous singing and speech in several isolated sequences