On this day in 1938, Orson Welles’ "The War of the Worlds" aired on CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.
Welles takes questions from reporters at a press conference the day after the broadcast, on October 31, 1938. He told them that no one connected with the broadcast had any idea it would cause panic.
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985)
(AP) – A record label representative says Tony Joe White, the country bluesman and hit songwriter behind such successes as "Polk Salad Annie" and "Rainy Night in Georgia," has died.
A statement released Thursday from the record label Yep Roc Music Group said White’s family confirmed the rocker died Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee. Some reports said he died of a heart attack.
On this day in 1968, two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, were suspended by the U.S. Olympic Committee for giving a "black power" salute (above) during a ceremony in Mexico City.
The three scientists shared the Nobel Prize on this day in 1962 for DNA discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.”
The Drifters was a group centered around lead singer Benjamin Nelson and originally called the Five Crowns. With that group taking on the new name "the Drifters," and with Nelson changing his name to Ben E. King, a new era of success for the group began.They scored immediate hits with "There Goes My Baby" (1959) and "This Magic Moment" (1960) followed by the song that topped the Billboard pop charts on this day in 1960, "Save The Last Dance For Me."
On this day in 1947, over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California, pilot Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane and became the first person to break the sound barrier.
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager turned 95 in February.
The Battle of Hastings occurred in England on this day in 1066. The Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II of England.
Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours.
On this day in 1977, singer Bing Crosby died of a heart attack.
singer and actor Bing Crosby was the first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary’s opposite Ingrid Bergman the following year.
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Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr.(May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977)
