Saturday, December 26, 2009
TRIVIA BITS … BOXING DAYDecember 26th is known as Boxing Day. No one is really sure when the day was first called Boxing Day. In most countries it is a day to recover from Christmas Day celebrations, although in countries like America, France and Argentina, people go straight back to work. There are, however, customs associated with the day. Perhaps the name evolved from the custom during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries where English apprentices could beg tips form their masters and their masters customers around Christmas time. The money was placed in a small, sealed earthenware box that could only be opened by breaking it. This was done on December 26th. Money was also collected in Alms Boxes in Churches over Christmas. On Christmas Day, they were opened and on Boxing Day their contents were given to the needy. This was the day also when tradesmen such as chimney sweeps might expect a tip for their work throughout the year. Boxing Day was particularly popular on the Australian Goldfields where they often were more festive than a tent Christmas shared by men without families. In time in the Outback, Boxing day became an annual opportunity for men to see friends that had not been seen since they had been away shearing, droving or fencing.
Posted by Graham at 12/26/2009 01:30:00 AM
REMINISCING … 77 SUNSET STRIP
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes. The show was the subject of an ownership battle between Roy Huggins and Warner Brothers, which was the proximate cause of Huggins' departure from the studio. It was actually based on novels and short stories written by Huggins prior to his arrival at Warner, but, as a matter of legal record, derived from a brief Caribbean theatrical release of its pilot, Girl on the Run. The show ran from 1958 to 1964 and won the 1960 Golden Globe Award for best TV series.Enjoy the theme ... catchy and very 50's!
TODAY IS ... 26 DECEMBER
BIRTHDAYS: 1995 - Zach Mills an American teen actor who has appeared in several film and television productions. These include a brief appearance in the television series "Scrubs" and guest starring roles in such shows as "Malcolm In The Middle", "Eleventh Hour", "Numb3rs", 'Ghost Whisperer" and "October Road". His first significant supporting role in a film was as Adrien Brody's son in the 2006 film, Hollywoodland. In 2007 he had the leading role in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, in which he acted alongside Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman. In 2008 he appeared in a leading role in the film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, and a supporting role as a news vendor in the Clint Eastwood directed, Changeling. 1971 - Jared Leto played Jordan on TV's My So-Called Life (1994-95, starring Claire Danes), and carved out a second career as the frontman for rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. Leto began working in television in the early 1990s. The critical success of the short-lived series My So-Called Life helped push him into the spotlight, and he seemed to make a career of playing small roles in talked-about movies: The Thin Red Line (1998, with Jim Caviezel); Fight Club (1999, with Brad Pitt); Girl, Interrupted (1999, with Winona Ryder); American Psycho (2000, starring Christian Bale); Panic Room (2002, starring Jodie Foster); Alexander (2004, with Colin Farrell; and Lord of War (2005, with Nicolas Cage). 1961 - John Lynch an actor from Northern Ireland and has appeared in numerous films related to Northern Ireland's problems, such as Cal, In the Name of the Father, The Railway Station Man, Nothing Personal and Some Mother's Son, as well as the Irish-themed film Evelyn, with Pierce Brosnan, Aidan Quinn and Julianna Margulies. He starred as Gyneth Paltrow's boyfriend in Sliding Doors, and as a supporting actor in Derek Jarman's Edward II. 1961 - Tahnee Welch - actress: Falcon Crest, Cocoon series, I Shot Andy Warhol, The Criminal Mind 1939 – Fred Schepisi an award-winning Australian film director and screenwriter. His credits include: Last Orders, Roxanne, Plenty, and Six Degrees of Separation. He began his career in advertising and directed both commercials and documentaries before helming his first feature film, The Devil's Playground, in 1976.Schepisi won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction and the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay for both The Devil's Playground and Evil Angels (released in the US as A Cry in the Dark). 1930 - Donald Moffat - actor: Trapped in Paradise, Clear and Present Danger, Tales of the City, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Bourne Identity, The Best of Times, The Right Stuff, The Long Days of Summer, Winter Kills, Mary White, Showdown, Rachel, Rachel 1914 - Richard Widmark - actor: Judgment at Nuremberg, Murder on the Orient Express, The Halls of Montezuma, How the West was Won, The Alamo, Against All Odds, True Colors OTHER EVENTS: 2008 - Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt star in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which started screening in Australia, Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences. 2007 - Amy Winehouse's second album ‘Back to Black’ was named as the biggest-selling album of the year. Released at the end of 2006 the album had now sold more than 1.5m copies in the UK, achieving five platinum sales awards, Winehouse was also nominated for six Grammys including song of the year. 2006 – The Queen starring Helen Mirren and James Cromwell starts screening in Australia. After the death of Princess Diana, HM Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted. 2005 – The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell starts screening in Australia. Four kids travel through a wardrobe to the land of Narnia and learn of their destiny to free it with the guidance of a mystical lion. 2004 - One of the worst natural disasters in recorded history hits Southeast Asia when the strongest earthquake in 40 years hits the entire Indian Ocean region. The massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake, epicentered just off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generates enormous tsunami waves that crash into the coastal areas of 14 nations including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. 228,000 people are killed or missing, and 1.7 million are left homeless. The tsunami caused more casualties than any other in recorded history and was recorded nearly world-wide on tide gauges in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. 2003 – Bruce Springsteen is named the year’s top concert draw. His Rising tour with the E Street Band grossed $115.9 million. Celine Dion also made $80.5m from 145 shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 2002 - The first cloned human baby was born. The announcement was made the December 27 by Clonaid. 1999 – Australian director Scott Hicks directed Snow Falling on Cedars starring Ethan Hawke and Youki Kudoh starts screening in Australia. A Japanese-American fisherman may have killed his neighbor Carl at sea. In the 1950's, race figures in the trial. So does reporter Ishmael 1998 - The Spice Girls scored their 8th UK No.1 single with 'Goodbye',(the first single without Geri Halliwell) It gave the group the Christmas No.1 for the third year in a row equaling the record set by The Beatles from 1963, 64 and 65. 1998 – Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones. 1996 – Australian director Baz Luhrman cast Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in his adaptation of Romeo and Juliet which commences screening in Australia. Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue. 1990 - U.S. Census Bureau officials reported that the U.S. population stood at 249,632,692 people. 1990 - Garry Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov to retain the world chess championship. This was Karpov’s second attempt at regaining the championship from Kasparov. He had lost the title to Kasparov in 1985 and had tried to get it back in 1987. Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire and Burt Young star in Rocky V which commences screening in Australia. Reluctantly retired from boxing and back from riches to rags, Rocky takes on a new protege who betrays him; As the champ's son must adjust to his family's new life after bankruptcy. 1986 - TV’s longest-running drama was seen for the last time. Search for Tomorrow ended its 35-year run on television. The program, seen on CBS, included show veterans, Wayne Rogers, Jill Clayburgh, Morgan Fairchild and Don Knotts. 1983 – Superman III starring Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor and Margot Kidder starts screening in Australia. Synthetic kryptonite laced with tobacco tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel. 1982 - The Man of the Year in TIME magazine was a non-human for the first time. A computer received the honors as 1982’s “greatest influence for good or evil.” 1974 – The Man With The Golden Gun starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland commences screening in Australia. Bond is led to believe that he is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin and must hunt him down to stop him. 1974 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Angie Baby,” Helen Reddy. The song is Reddy’s third and final No. 1 song. 1973 - Two Skylab 3 astronauts walk in space for a record 7 hours. 1970 - George Harrison started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'My Sweet Lord', making him the first Beatle to score a No.1 US hit. The song was originally intended for Billy Preston. 1967 - The Monkees begin recording "Valleri" 1963 - Capitol Records rushed to release its first single by the Fab Four, otherwise known as The Beatles. I Want to Hold Your Hand, backed with I Saw Her Standing There, reached #1 on February 1, 1964. 1960 - Mary Wells hits 'Billboard' R&B chart with 'Bye Bye Baby' - her first single 1958 - Musical parodist Stan Freberg, whose acerbic anti-commercialist "Green Chri$tma$" was a hit the previous winter, presents the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California with a check for one million dollars, his take from the song. 1958 – Josh Logan directed South Pacific starring Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi and John Kerr starts screening in Australia. On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission. 1956 - Fats Domino's "Blue Monday" enters the pop chart, eventually to peak at #9. Mickey and Sylvia makes their pop chart debut with "Love is Strange," which peaks at #13. 1952 – Doris Day and Gordon MacRae star in On Moonlight Bay starts screening in Australia. The Winfield family moves into a new house in a small town in Indiana. Tomboy Marjorie Winfield begins a romance with William Sherman who lives across the street. 1951 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Cry,” Johnnie Ray. 1947 - Disney's Pluto short Pluto's Blue Note, directed by Charles Nichols, is released. Pluto loves to sing ... but no one wants to listen! Tennessee Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie" was first performed publicly, at the Civic Theatre in Chicago, IL. Don’t Fence Me In,” Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters. 1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States. 1941 - Disney's Goofy cartoon The Art of Self Defense, directed by Jack Kinney, is released. The first short in which Goofy is shown to have multiple duplicates, he defends himself through a history of the "manly arts." 1941 - Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. 1939 - W.C. Handy of Memphis, TN one of the legendary blues composers of all time, recorded the classic St. Louis Blues. W.C. and his band recorded in New York for Varsity Records. Handy was one of the first to use the flat third and seventh notes in his compositions, known in the music world as ‘blue’ notes. On another note, the music awards for blues artists’ are called the W.C. Handy National Blues Awards. 1931 - George Gershwin’s musical, Of Thee I Sing, opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The show became the first American musical to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. 1927 - Universal Pictures releases the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film Rickety Gin to theaters. 1908 - Jack Johhnson became the first black heavyweight boxing champion when he knocked out Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. 1865 - The coffee percolator was patented by James H. Mason.
Friday, December 25, 2009
TRIVIA BITS … SAYING MERRY CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLDAfrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden Arabic: Milad Majid Argentine: Feliz Navidad Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On! Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina Brazilian: Feliz Natal Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou! Chile: Feliz Navidad Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth Corsian: Pace e salute Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi Croatian: Sretan Bozic Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok Danish: Glædelig Jul Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast English: Merry Christmas Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo! Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon Estonian: Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar! Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad Finnish: Hyvaa joulua Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar French: Joyeux Noel Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier! Galician: Bo Nada Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! German: Fröhliche Weihnachten Greek: Kala Christouyenna! Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri'cho o Rish D'Shato Brichto Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara! Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova Hindi: Shub Naya Baras (good New Year not Merry Christmas) Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket Icelandic: Gledileg Jol Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay. Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha Lao: souksan van Christmas Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum! Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu! Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar Luxembourgish: Schèine Chreschtdaag an e gudde Rutsch Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa Maori: Meri Kirihimete Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh (good New Year not Merry Christmas) Navajo: Merry Keshmish Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado Papiamento: Bon Pasco Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr! Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo Philippines: Maligayang Pasko! Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie Portuguese:Feliz Natal Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn! Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele or Craciun fericit Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom Sami: Buorrit Juovllat Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh Serbian: Hristos se rodi. Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto Spanish: Feliz Navidad Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon Tamil: (Tamizh) Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal (good New Year not Merry Christmas) Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech! Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym or Z RIZDVOM HRYSTOVYM Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (good New Year not Merry Christmas) Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh Welsh: Nadolig Llawen Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!
REMINISCING … THE NATIVITYIn 1955, The Little Lamb : A Christmas Story was released. Jeremy Camp has given a new treatment to a very old story. Enjoy and a Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
TODAY IS ... 25 DECEMBER
BIRTHDAYS: 1985 - Perdita Weeks - a British actress. She portrays Mary Boleyn (King Henry VIII's sister-in-law) in the Showtime drama The Tudors (2007). In 2008 she appeared as Lydia Bennet in the ITV series Lost In Austen. She played a murdering teen in the Death and Dreams episode of Midsomer Murders in 2003. 1973 - Ewen Macintosh - an English actor, best known for the role of Keith the accountant in The Office (for which he is credited as Ewan Macintosh). He has also appeared in Little Britain, Lead Balloon and the Channel 4 series California Dreaming. 1971 – Dido – Singer whose Dido's first LP No Angel was released in 1999. The album blended her lonesome voice with a lush mix of guitars and electronics, drawing comparisons to Sinead O'Connor and Sarah McLachlan. The single "Here With Me" was chosen as the theme song for the aliens-among-us TV show Roswell and Dido got another boost when her song "Thank You" was sampled by rapper Eminem on his 2000 song "Stan." 1958 - Alannah Myles, Canadian singer, 1990 US No.1 and UK No.2 single 'Black Velvet.' 1954 - Annie Lennox - a Scottish musician and recording artist who began her recording career as a member of the British pop band The Tourists, and subsequently formed the synth pop duo Eurythmics with former bandmate David A. Stewart. The duo gained international prominence over the course of the 1980s with singles such as "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and "Here Comes the Rain Again". 1949 - Sissy Spacek - an American actress and singer whose screen debut was in the 1972 film Prime Cut co-starring Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman. In the 1970s, she began starring in critically-acclaimed films directed by Terrence Malick, Brian de Palma and Robert Altman. Her performance as the blood-spattered title character in de Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie made her famous. She is one of the very few actresses ever nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in a horror film (Carrie). 1948 - Barbara Mandrell - an American country music singer. She is best-known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows (1980-82) that helped her become one of country music's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s. She was the first performer and is currently the only female in country music history to win the Country Music Association's "Entertainer of the Year" award twice, and she has also won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" twice. 1946 - Jimmy Buffett a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a movie producer best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" (No. 234 on RIAA's list of "Songs of the Century"), and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads". His band is called the Coral Reefer Band. 1932 - Richard Penniman known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame web site entry on Richard states that: "More than any other performer - save, perhaps, Elvis Presley, Little Richard blew the lid off the Fifties, laying the foundation for rock and roll with his explosive music and charismatic persona. On record, he made spine-tingling rock and roll. His frantically charged piano playing and raspy, shouted vocals on such classics as "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" defined the dynamic sound of rock and roll." OTHER EVENTS: 2005 – Shayne Ward, the winner of U.K. talent show X Factor, tops the British charts with his debut single “That’s My Goal.” 2003 - Beagle 2 is scheduled to land on Mars, but nothing is heard from the lander. 1995 - Mariah Carey was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Daydream'. 1994 – Dangerous Game starring Madonna and Harvey Keitel starts screening in Australia. A New York film director, working on his latest movie in Los Angeles, begins to reflect the actions in his movie and real life, especially when he begins an affair with the lead actress. 1993 - Mariah Carey had the #1 single in the U.S., Hero, from the #1 album in the U.S., Music Box. The single topped the charts for four weeks. The album was up there for eight weeks. 1990 – The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web. 1982 - David Bowie and Bing Crosby's "Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth," an unlikely duet broadcast five years earlier on a TV special, becomes an even more unlikely hit, reaching #1 in the UK. 1976 - The Eagles started a eight-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Hotel California.' 1976 - American MOR singer Johnny Mathis was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'When A Child Is Born', the singers only UK No.1 and the Christmas hit of 1976. 1971 - "Brand New Key" by Melanie topped the charts and stayed there for 3 weeks. 1965 - The Dave Clark Five hit Number One on the U.S. pop chart with "Over and Over." Despite eight eight Top Ten records in their career, this is their only Number One. 1964 - Goldfinger opened in Hollywood U.S.A., three days after its premiere in New York City. Goldfinger was the third James Bond film, as well as the third to star Sean Connery as MI6 agent 007. 1958 - Hugely influential DJ Alan Freed puts on his first "Christmas Rock & Roll Spectacular" at Loews State Theatre in Manhattan, featuring, among others, Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Bo Diddley, Eddie Cochran, The Moonglows, The Everly Brothers, Frankie Avalon and Johnnie Ray. 1957 – Queen Elizabeth make her first Televised Christmas message. 1953 - Disney releases the Goofy film How to Sleep to theaters. 1953 - Disney releases the Donald Duck film Canvas Back Duck to theaters. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Pete also appear. 1952 - Queen Elizabeth makes first Christmas speech - Millions of British and Commonwealth listeners have been listening to Queen Elizabeth's first Christmas broadcast of her reign. In a tradition that began in 1932, the Queen made her address on BBC radio from the study at Sandringham House at 1507 GMT 1952 – Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor and Cyd Charisse star in Singing in the Rain which commenced screening in Australia. A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound. 1950 - Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by Edward I in 1296, stolen from Westminster Abbey & smuggled back to Scotland 1949 - Dick Tracy got married on Christmas Day. The comic strip hero married Tess Trueheart. The couple later became parents of a daughter. The little girl’s name was Bonnie Braids. 1940 – Gene Kelly and Van Johnson were in the cast of Pal Joey which opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and ran for 374 performances. It was the only Broadway musical in which Gene Kelly played a major role. The 1957 screen version starred Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. 1939 - The Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, was read by Lionel Barrymore on The Campbell Playhouse on CBS radio. The reading of the tale became an annual radio event for years to come. 1927 - The Roxy Theatre in New York City premieres the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film Empty Socks.