The Grapes Of Wrath

Darryl Hickman (right) with Mickey Rooney in 1941’s ‘Men of Boys Town.’  

Darryl Gerard Hickman (July 28, 1931 – May 22, 2024)

Darryl Hickman, who started his career in Hollywood as a child
star before going on to appear in more than 40 movies, has died
at the age of 92. His family confirmed that Hickman died on
Wednesday. In one of his biggest roles he played Winfield, the
youngest member of the Joad family in John Ford’s film adaption
of The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) when he was just eight-years-old.

Hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy
Award-winner Gary Sinise, both steadfast champions of
Veterans’ causes and active service members, the National
Memorial Day concert will air on PBS and stream nationwide
on the PBS website at www.pbs.org/national-memorial-
day-concert and YouTube on Sunday, May 26, 2024 at
8:00 p.m. E.T.

The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise debuted
on May 25, 1992, three days after Johnny Carson‘s retirement
as host of the program. The program originated from NBC
Studios in Burbank, California, and was broadcast Monday
through Friday at 11:35 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time
zones (10:35 p.m. Central/Mountain time). Unlike Carson or
his predecessor Jack Paar, Leno only once used a guest
host, preferring to host the series in person.

Billy Crystal (left) was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leno’s first opening monologue featured a joke about Vice President Dan Quayle and the controversy over Murphy Brown
becoming a single mom.

On May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opened with an
intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster
Star Wars movies hit theaters.

The incredible success of Star Wars–it received seven Oscars,
and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close
to $800 million worldwide–began with an extensive, coordinated marketing push by Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox,
months before the movie’s release date.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas

Bismarck firing at HMS Prince of Wales.

On May 24, 1941, Germany’s largest and most modern of Germany’s 
battleships battleship, the Bismarck, sank the pride of the British
fleet, HMS Hood.

Less than 10 minutes after the British opened fire, a shell from 
Bismarck struck Hood near her aft ammunition magazines.

Soon afterwards, Hood exploded and sank within three minutes,
with the loss of all but three of her crew. Prince of Wales
continued to exchange fire with Bismarck but suffered serious malfunctions in her main armament.