Today in History: Friday, June 28, 2024

Television and Radio:
The “Quiz Kids” was heard on NBC radio for the first time in 1940. It aired as a summer replacement show for “Alec Templeton Time” and continued on radio for the next 13 years…“Amos ‘N’ Andy,” starring Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams and based on the radio show of the same name, debuted on CBS in 1951. Ongoing protests by civil rights groups such as the NAACP for fostering racial stereotypes resulted the show being canceled just two seasons into its run…In 1973, NBC introduced the summer variety series, “The Helen Reddy Show.” It was the temporary replacement for “The Flip Wilson Show.”…Two series based on theatrical films launched: family drama “Soul Food” on Showtime in 2000 and vampire action thriller “Blade” on Spike in 2006; the former ran for five seasons, the latter just 13 episodes…”Hey Paula“, the docuseries about the day-to-day life of pop singer-choreographer and then-“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul, debuted on Bravo in 2007. It only ran for seven episodes within a span of one month…Action comedy-drama “Burn Notice” launched on USA Network in 2007. It starred Jeffrey Donovan as a fired CIA operative-turned-private eye. Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless also starred. The series ran for 111 episodes across seven seasons, and was among the wave of successful one-hour detective comedies produced for USA Network in the 2000’s decade alongside “Monk“, “Psych“, “In Plain Sight” and “White Collar“…”Hung” starring Thomas Jane, Jane Adams and Anne Heche premiered on HBO in 2009. The comedy about a struggling high school sports coach who becomes a male gigolo ran for 30 episodes across three abbreviated seasons.

News:
In 1969, a series of violent confrontations between police and gay rights activists began outside the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. The riots helped launch an international gay rights movement…Six-year-old Elián González returned to Cuba from the U.S. with his father in 2000. The child had been the center of an international custody dispute…The bald eagle was removed from the U.S. list of endangered and threatened species in 2007.

Sports:
In 1997, Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear after three rounds of their WBA heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Legendary director Mel Brooks is 98; comedian John Byner is 86; actor Bruce Davison (“X-Men”) is 78; Oscar winner Kathy Bates is 76; actress Alice Krige is 70; actress Jessica Hecht (“Friends,” ″The Single Guy”) is 59; actress Mary Stuart Masterson is 58; actor John Cusack (“Say Anything”) is also 58; actor Gil Bellows (“Ally McBeal”) is 57; “The Neighborhood” star Tichina Arnold is 55; former child star Danielle Brisebois (“Archie Bunker’s Place”) is also 55; actor Steve Burton (“The Young and the Restless”) is 54; “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Kellie Pickler is 38.

Did You Know?:
“Amos ‘N’ Andy” was one of the first television series to be filmed with a multi-camera setup before “I Love Lucy” used the technique. After the show was canceled with 65 episodes, CBS wanted to syndicate the reruns but needed more shows. And that led to an additional 13 episodes produced for first-run syndication.