1996: World Party Day
Yep, it’s a real thing. The first World Party Day (or P-Day if you prefer) is said to have taken place on this day in 1996 and was inspired by Vanna Bonta’s novel, Flight. If you skip to the end, you see that the story finishes with a countdown to a huge celebration where all of humanity is united. Apparently, fans of the book took the message of “party is the opposite of war” to heart and created their own worldwide party. While some may look at this as just another reason to party, the thought behind the message is that it is better to create a positive action and celebrate life rather than promoting peace passively. (Image: Pixabay)
1953: TV Guide Debuts
The early stages of the creation of what was to become TV Guide magazine started as far back as 1948 when Lee Wagner, the circulation director of MacFadden Publications printed the New York City area listings of TV shows for the local magazine The TeleVision Guide. Gloria Swanson was the first celebrity to appear on its cover. From there, other versions of the magazine were created until on this day, the first national edition known as TV Guide was published with a circulation of 1,560,000 copies that were distributed in ten U.S. cities. For this, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball’s baby, Desi Arnaz, Jr. was featured. Years later, the magazine created 140 local editions. However, that all changed in 2005 when the digest-sized magazine grew to a full-size magazine that featured more stories but less program listings and local editions were no longer available. Today, the magazine is printed bi-weekly with a circulation of 1,814,908.
1996: The “Unabomber” is Arrested
The title of “Unabomber” was a mashup of the words, “university,” “airline” and “bomber” and went to John Kaczynski, a former professor-turned terrorist accused of 16 mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 others over a 18-year period. Initially, federal investigators thought that the attacker was targeting just universities and airlines, but later it became clear that Kaczynski had issues with “America’s industrial and technological society” as he himself reported in his 35,000-word thesis titled, “Unabomber’s Manifesto.” The famous drawing of the suspect was drawn in 1987 and shown on TV and newspapers, but it wasn’t until this day in 1996 that the Unibomber was finally arrested. In January of 1998, Kaczynski pleaded guilty on all counts and is currently serving four life sentences plus 30 years.
1981: The Osborne 1
Not to be confused with singer Ozzy Osbourne, the first successful portable computer known as The Osborne 1 was unveiled on this day at the West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco in California.
2010: Apple’s First iPad
Steve Jobs and Apple released the first ever iPad tablet computer. “What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes,” said Jobs.
1973: The First Mobile Phone Call
It was on this day in 1973 when Martin Cooper, a Motorola employee, made the first mobile phone call from downtown Manhattan in New York to the Bell Labs’ headquarters in New Jersey.
Birthdays
- 1922: Doris Day (actress)
- 1924: Marlon Brado (actor)
- 1934: Jane Goodall (primatologist)
- 1942: Marsha Mason (actress)
- 1944: Tony Orlando (singer)
- 1953: Sandra Boynton (author)
- 1958: Alec Balwin (actor)
- 1959: David Hyde Pierce (actor)
- 1961: Eddie Murphy (comedian)
- 1967: Cat Cora (chef)
- 1972: Jennie Garth (actress)
- 1982: Cobie Smulders (actress)
- 1986: Amanda Bynes (actress)
- 1998: Paris Jackson (model)
Writer of Pop Culture 
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