Before digital screens and a huge catalog of movies for passengers
to choose from, in-flight entertainment looked rather different too.

1925

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1962, Johnny Carson took over from Jack
Paar as host of the late-night talk program The Tonight
Show. Carson went on to host The Tonight Show
Starring Johnny Carson for three decade.

JOHNNY CARSON AS CARNAC THE MAGNIFICENT (1978)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Neka, the oldest member of the
Oregon Zoo’s African lion pride, had a seizure and 
died Friday night at age 16.

Zoo officials stated that wild female lions rarely live
past 16  years old.

Neka with one of her cubs.

On September 30, 1822, Joseph Marion Hernández (1788-1857) 
became the first Hispanic to be elected to the United States
Congress.

Born a Spanish citizen, Hernández would die in Cuba, but in
between he became the first Hispanic American to serve at
the highest levels of any of three branches of the American
federal government.

At 5:45 PM on September 30, 1955, 24-year-old actor James
Dean was killed in Cholame, California, when the Porsche
he is driving hits a Ford Tudor sedan at an intersection.

Only one of Dean’s movies, “East of Eden,” had been released
at the time of his death (“Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant”
opened shortly afterward), but he was already on his way to superstardom—and the crash made him a legend.

James Dean loved racing cars, and in fact he and his brand-
new, $7000 Porsche Spyder convertible were on their way
to a race in Salinas, 90 miles south of San Francisco.