Today in History: Saturday, October 14, 2023

Television
Coverage of the Apollo 7 team in 1968 marked the first live television broadcast from a manned, orbiting American spacecraft. The craft launched three days earlier and there were six broadcasts during the 11-day Apollo 7 mission…The cast from 1964-67 sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” reunited for the first time in part one of television movie “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” in 1978. Judith Baldwin played Ginger after Tina Louise refused to return to the role that she felt had “devastated” her career…Martial arts Western drama “Kung Fu” debuted on ABC in 1972. The series, which starred David Carradine, ran for three seasons. It was rebooted with Carradine in first-run syndication as “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues” from 1993 to 1997, and is in season three in the current reboot on The CW.…TV movie “The Miracle Worker,“ starring Patty Duke and Melissa Gilbert, aired on NBC in 1979. Sequel “Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues” with Blythe Danner and Mare Winningham was broadcast in 1984…Late-night sketch comedy series “MAD TV” launched on Fox in 1995. Positioned directly opposite “Saturday Night Live”, the Quincy Jones-produced show had a successful run of 14 seasons and first introduced Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key and Alex Borstein. There was a brief revival on The CW in prime time in 2016.

Movies:
Two films opened in the U.S. in 1994. The first was “Pulp Fiction“, the neo-noir classic (winner of Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) that catapulted the careers of writer-director Quentin Tarantino as well as its stars Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman and Ving Rhames. It provided a comeback to mainstream fare for John Travolta, and also featured Bruce Willis, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz, and Tim Roth. The second was family football comedy “Little Giants” starring Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill, which opened in theaters in 1994!

Music:
The Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up Little Susie” reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1957…The Beatles’ “White Album” was completed in 1968.

Theater:
George and Ira Gershin’s musical “Girl Crazy” starring Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman premiered in New York City in 1930…“How to Succeed in Business” opened at 46th St in New York City for 1415 performances in 1961.

News:
The comic strip “Marmaduke” created by Brad Anderson was first published in 1954…The Cuban Missile Crisis began in 1962 when an American spy plane had detected Soviet-made missions stationed in Cuba, just 90 miles from the coast of Florida…Martin Luther King Jr. was announced as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. At 35 years old at the time, he became the youngest ever to win that prestigious honor…The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel for his efforts to ensure the Holocaust was remembered in 1986… in 1987, an 18-month old Jessica McClure fell down an abandoned well in Midland, Tex.

Sports:
The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series in 1908. It would be the Cubs’ last World Series victory of the 20th century…NHL’s greatest scorer Wayne Gretzky scored his 1st NHL goal in 1979…Up 3-0 over the Florida Marlins with five outs to go in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in 2003, the Chicago Cubs were about to reach their first World Series since 1945. But then, a fan named Steve Bartman infamously reached out over the field of play to attempt to catch a pop fly ball meant to be caught by Cubs outfielder Moises Alou but he had dropped it. In the aftermath of that moment was an 8-run eighth inning by the Marlins leading to their Game 6 victory with Florida also winning the game (and the series) on the following night, extending the Cubs’ Curse of the Billy Goat. Bartman has not made any public appearances since that fateful night, but he was the recipient of a World Series ring given to him by the Cubs organization in 2017.

Books:
Arthur Conan Doyle published “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” collection of 12 stories originally published serially in “The Strand Magazine” in 1892.

Inventions:
George Eastman patented paper-strip photographic film in 1884.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Singer Cliff Richard is 83; Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward is 77; actor Greg Evigan (“My Two Dads”) is 70; actress Arleen Sorkin (“Days of Our Lives”) is 68: singer Thomas Dolby is 65; actress Lori Petty (“A League of Their Own”) is 60; actor Steve Coogan (“Tropic Thunder”) is 58: singer Karyn White is also 58: actor Jon Seda (“Chicago P.D.”) is 53; The Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines is 49; R&B singer Usher is 45; Wrestler Stacy Keibler is 44; “Fire Country” star Max Thieriot is 35.

Did You Know?
Cassandra Peterson also auditioned for the part of Ginger in “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” but opted instead to become horror-host “Elvira Mistress of the Dark” on KHJ-TV…In addition to its 1993-97 reboot in first-run syndication (and upcoming new version on The CW in 2021), “Kung Fu” returns in TV movie form twice: “King Fu: The Movie” in 1986 and “Kung Fu: The Next Generation” (with Brandon Lee) in 1987. The latter was also a pilot for a proposed new series that never moved forward.