Posted March 3, 2020 by Jeffrey Totey This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for February 11

1973: National Inventors’ Day

Founded to commemorate inventors and their inventions, President Richard Nixon declared this day to be National Inventors’ Day which was fitting since it is also the birthday of Thomas Edison who received over 1,000 patents for his various inventions over the years. (Image: Pixabay)

1936: ‘The Story of Louis Pasteur’ is Released

Produced by Henry Blanke and directed by William Dieterie, the movie, The Story of Louis Pasteur about the life and times of the scientist who invented pasteurized milk (as well as other advances in microbiology) was released in theaters on this day in 1936. The Warner Bros. film starred Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise and Donald Woods. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. It won for Best Screenplay, Best Story and Paul Muni won for Best Actor. (Image: Wikipedia)

1964: The Beatles Wishing Well Song

On this day in 1964, the Beatles recorded the song, “Do You Want to Know a Secret.” Sung my George Harrison, but written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is said that Lennon was somewhat inspired by Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs movie. He said that when he was really young, his mother would sing the “Wishing Well” song from the movie including the lines that the princess says to the birds, “Do you want to know a secret? Promise not to tell? We are standing by a wishing well…” Lennon said, “I had this sort of thing in my head and I wrote it and just gave it to George to sing.”

1990: Mandela is Freed

After serving 27 years, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. He then began negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to end apartheid in South Africa. (Image: Wikimedia)

2000: Tigger Finds His Family

Disney’s The Tigger Movie is released and featured five new songs written by the Sherman Brothers who at that time hadn’t written a song for a Disney movie in over 28 years. (Image: Disney)

2020: For Life

For Life TV series premiers on ABC. It is loosely based on true story of Isaac Wright, Jr. who was wrongly imprisoned and became a lawyer while in prison. (Image: ABC)