Today in History: Monday, August 12, 2024

Television
“The Ken Berry “Wow” Show,” one of the many mindless short-lived variety series that populated the summer landscape, concluded in 1972. The ABC series showcased young talent like Steve Martin, Teri Garr and Cheryl Stoppelmoor — whom audiences would later get to know as Cheryl Ladd…Limited variety series “The Keane Brothers Show” featuring the two pre-teen male musicians premiered on CBS in 1977. It served as a summer replacement for “Wonder Woman.“ The show lasted just four weeks…Positioned as a competitor to “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee,“ “Fox After Breakfast” opened on Fox in daytime in 1996. Hosted by Tom Bergeron and Laurie Hibberd, it originally aired under the title “Breakfast Time” on the FX cable network from 1994-96. One of its field correspondents, dubbed as “Road Warriors,” was Phil Keoghan, who five years later began hosting CBS reality competition “The Amazing Race.” The morning program concluded in 1997.

Movies
“Cujo,” the horror flick based on the Stephen King novel about a demonic canine, premiered in theaters in 1983…Two films opened in 1988: “The Last Temptation of Christ,” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Andre Gregory, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie; and “Young Guns“, the western about Billy the Kid starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips and Dermot Mulroney.

Music:
Heavy metal band Metallica released their 5th album “Metallica,“ which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 chart…Shakira recorded her first live album in New York City, titled “MTV Unplugged” in 1999…Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Three Times a Lady” by The Commodores in 1978; “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx in 1989; “Incomplete” by Sisqo in 2000.

News:
Clarence Birdseye was granted a patent for method for quick freezing food in 1930…In 1981, IBM released the first Personal Computer.
 
Sports:
American swimmer Katie Ledecky set the world record in the women’s 800-meter freestyle of 8 minutes-4.79 seconds at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. Ledecky became the most decorated American female athlete ever at a single Olympic Games with four gold medals and one silver medal.

Celebrity Birthdays
Actor George Hamilton is 85; New York Rangers sportscaster Sam Rosen is 77; Dire Straits lead singer Mark Knopfler is 75; actor Jim Beaver (“Deadwood”) is 74; jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is 70; actor Bruce Greenwood (“The Resident”) is 68; rapper Anthony Ray aka Sir Mix A Lot is 61; actor Peter Krause (“9-1-1”) is 59; actor Brent Sexton (“Deadwood”) is 57; American tennis legend Pete Sampras is 53; actress Yvette Nicole Brown (“Community,” “The Odd Couple”) and actor Michael Ian Black (“Ed”) are also 53; actor Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”) is 49; former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress is 47; actress Maggie Lawson (“Psych”) is 44; British heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury is 36; fashion model Cara Delevingne is 32.

Did You Know?
Ken Berry, of course, is remembered for his roles on three sitcoms: “F Troop” on ABC from 1965 to 1967, “Mayberry R.F.D.” on CBS from 1968 to 1971, and “Mama’s Family,“ first on NBC from 1983 to 1984 and in first-run syndication from 1986 to 1990. Berry also headlined a backdoor pilot on “The Brady Bunch” in 1974 called “Kelly’s Kids,“ but it never made it to series.