This Day in Pop Culture for February 9

1909: Carmen Miranda is Born

While you may not know Carmen Miranda by name, you’ve no doubt seen photos or at least tributes to the Brazilian singer and dancer known for wearing very tall hats stuffed with fruit. Carmen was born on this day in 1909. Before her performing career, she sold ties at age 14. She recorded here first single, “Samba Não vá Simbora” in 1929 and appeared on film for the first time in 1932. Her first appearance in an American film was in Down Argentine Way (1940), but her native country became skeptical of her claiming that she gave into American commercialism. She appeared in numerous films including That Night in Rio with Don Ameche (1941), Copacabana with Groucho Marx (1947) and Scared Stiff with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin (1953). Many assume that Carmen appeared in Disney’s The Three Caballeros dancing with Donald Duck, but that was her sister Aurora. It was also Carmen’s image that inspired the Chiquita Banana logo in 1943. (Image: Wikimedia)

2006: Oswald is Given Back to Disney

In 1929, Walt Disney created the first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon for Universal. It turned out to be raw deal with Disney losing the rights to the character that he created. However, many years later on this day in 2006, he was restored to the Disney Company. Here’s how: CEO Bob Iger began a conversation with NBCUniversal hoping to work out a trade. Iger traded sportscaster Al Michaels (from ABC and ESPN) for the rights to the Oswald character and 27 shorts that Disney personally worked on.