2004: ‘The Passion of the Christ’ Debuts in Theaters

On this day in 2004, Mel Gibson’s controversial film, The Passion of the Christ premiered across the country. Jim Caviezel played Jesus during the last 12 hours of his life here on earth. The film’s story was taken from the four gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) as well as some devotional writings by Anne Catherine. To make the story more authentic, Gibson had the film’s dialogue set entirely in Aramaic and Latin with subtitles shown on the screen. It was rated “R” for extreme violence that some felt was unnecessary. However, it became the highest grossing R-rated film in the US and the highest grossing non-English language film of all time.

1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets record “That’ll Be the Day”

1938: Walt Disney releases the animated short, Boat Builders

1950: NBC Premieres Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca

Movies Released

• A Madea Homecoming (2022)
• Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
• In the Name of the Father (1993)
• Man of the House (2005)
• Modern Times (1936)
• The Passion of the Christ (2004)
• We Were Soldiers (2002)

TV Series Debuts

• One Bad Choice (2015)
• The Enemy Within (2019)
• Vikings: Valhalla (2022)

Famous Birthdays

• 1901: Zeppo Marx (comedian)
• 1913: Jim Backus (actor)
• 1943: George Harrison (singer)

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