Today in History: Wednesday, August 11, 2019

Television
The television debut of Mr. Clean occurred in 1958. He was initially portrayed in the live-action versions by character actor House Peters Jr. Within the first six months of the introduction, Mr. Clean became the best-selling household cleaner on the market…”The Renegades,” the drama about a street gang turned into a secret undercover police unit, debuted as a TV movie on ABC in 1982. It starred Patrick Swayze. It later returned as a midseason series in March 1983 but only lasted six episodes…Daytime talk show “The View,” developed and hosted by Barbara Walters with co-hosts Meredith Vieira, Joy Behar, Star Jones and Debbie Matenopoulos premiered on ABC in 1997. To-date, “The View” has had 22 permanent co-hosts, with the number of contracted permanent co-hosts ranging between four and eight women per season…Three animated series from Nickelodeon debuted in 1991: “Rugrats,” “Doug” and “The Ren and Stimpy Show.” The trio was part of the Nicktoons block of programming. “The Rugrats,” which ran for 13 seasons, spawned three feature films: “The Rugrats Movie,” “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie” and “Rugrats Go Wild”

Movies
“The Life of Emile Zola” starring Paul Muni premiered in New York in 1937. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture…The Beatles movie “Help” opened in New York City in 1965…“American Graffiti,“ directed by George Lucas, opened in cinemas across the United States in 1973. It starred Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins and Wolfman Jack…Science fiction film “The Abyss“, written and directed by James Cameron opened in 1989. It starred Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

Music:
Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. in 1984… Elvis Presley released single “Don’t Be Cruel” in 1956…Lady Antebellum album “Need You Now” was released in 2009. It was named the Billboard Album of the Year in 2010.

News:
America’s largest shopping mall, the Mall of America, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota in 1992.
 
Sports:
In 1929, Babe Ruth became the first professional baseball player to hit 500 homers (off Willis Hudlin of the Cleveland Indians)…John Daly won the PGA Championship tournament in 1991. Daly was known for his non-country club appearance and rough-and-tumble lifestyle…The longest Major League Baseball work stoppage began in 1994. It led to the cancellation of that year’s World Series. The sport’s owners and players ended the strike by having reached an agreement in mid-April 1995

Celebrity Birthdays
TV personality Arlene Dahl (“What’s My Line?”) is 96; singer Eric Carmen is 72; entrepreneur Steve Wozniak is 71; wrestler and reality star Hulk Hogan is 68; “How To Get Away With Murder” star Viola Davis is 56; “Fear Factor” host Joe Rogan is 54; actress Anna Gunn (“Breaking Bad”) is 53; actress Sophie Okonedo (“Hotel Rwanda”) is also 53; “Boy Meets World” star Will Friedle is 45; “Survivor All-Stars” winner Amber Brkich-Mariano is 43; actress Merrit Wever (“Nurse Jackie”, “The Walking Dead”) is 41; actor Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) is 38.

Did You Know?
“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is the only real life celebrity to guest star as himself in the three original Nicktoons animated series.