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
John Adams Jr. (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826)
On September 27, 1779, the Continental Congress appoints John Adams to
travel to France as minister plenipotentiary in charge of negotiating treaties
of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.
Adams had traveled to Paris in 1778 to negotiate an alliance with France,
but had been unceremoniously dismissed when Congress chose Benjamin
Franklin as sole commissioner. Soon after returning to Massachusetts in
mid-1779, Adams was elected as a delegate to the state convention to draw
up a new constitution; he was involved in these duties when he learned of
his new diplomatic commission.
TIM MAGUIRE
William Oliver Stone is 73 years old today.
1991
JFK was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including
Best Picture, Best Director for Stone and Best Supporting
Actor for Jones and won two for Best Cinematography and
Best Film Editing. It was the most successful of three films
Stone made about American presidents, followed by Nixon
(1995) with Anthony Hopkins in the title role and W. (2008)
with Josh Brolin as George W. Bush.
Painting of Francis Scott Key standing on boat, with
right arm stretched out toward the United States flag
flying over Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland.
Francis Scott Key penned a poem which is later set to music
and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-
Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defense
of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the
Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the
War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S.
flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected
in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”:
“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843)
Francis S. Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet
from Frederick, Maryland. It has been speculated that the U.S. motto
"In God We Trust" was adapted from a line in the fourth stanza of
the "Star-Spangled Banner".
President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation in the first
live, coast-to-coast television broadcast. (AP)
On September 4, 1951, President Harry S. Truman’s opening speech before a conference in San Francisco was broadcast across the nation, marking the
first time a TV program was broadcast from coast to coast. The speech
focused on Truman’s acceptance of a treaty that officially ended America’s
post-World War II occupation of Japan.
According to the CBS television network, the broadcast, via then-state-of-the-
art microwave technology, was picked up by 87 stations in 47 cities.
U.S. President Truman addresses the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco.
