March 10, 1876, the first discernible speech was transmitted
over a telephone system when inventor Alexander Graham
Bell summoned his assistant in another room by saying,
“Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.” Bell had received a
comprehensive telephone patent just three days before.
Ray Milland (Alfred Reginald Jones)
(3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986)
Ray Milland was a Welsh-American actor and film director
who is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic
writer in Billy Wilder‘s The Lost Weekend (1945), which
won him Best Actor at Cannes, a Golden Globe Award,
and ultimately an Academy Award.
Milland died of lung cancer at the Torrance Memorial
Medical Center in Torrance, California, on 10 March
1986. He was 79 years old. In line with his instructions,
no funeral was held.
His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered
into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Redondo Beach, California.
![The Lost Weekend (1945) [607 x 900] : r/MoviePosterPorn](https://i.redd.it/l7uxnk394az51.jpg)
On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went on display at the
American Toy Fair in New York City.
Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was
the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult
features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler, who
co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband (below) in 1945.
Elliott and Ruth Handler
Mattel’s headquarters and factory near LAX in 1956.
Burns started smoking cigars when he was 14.
On March 9, 1996, the legendary cigar-chomping performer
George Burns dies at his home in Beverly Hills, California,
just weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday.
George Burns is one of the few entertainers whose career
successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television.
Zenith Console Floor Radio
Model 11S474, 1940s.
Burns and Allen’s radio show was inducted into the National Radio
Hall of Fame in 1994.
Burns is also a member of the Television Hall of Fame, where he
and Gracie Allen were inducted in 1988.
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show premiered on
CBS on October 12, 1950 and ran through 1958.
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