This Day in Pop Culture for April 15

1983: What a Feeling

On this day, the romantic dance movie, Flashdance opened in theaters. Critics like Roger Ebert hated it. He placed it on his “most hated” list of films. Rotten Tomatoes said that it was “all style and very little substance”. The screenplay was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award. And that movie, which was made with $7 million, went on to make over $201 million becoming the third-highest grossing movie of the year.

With a story and screenplay written by Tom Hedley, Flashdance was directed by Adrian Lyne. Jennifer Beals, Demi Moore and Leslie Wing were all in the running to play 18-year-old Alex (who had a penchant for wearing oversized sweatshirts with large neck holes and leg warmers). Beal’s character was a ballerina who dreamed of becoming a professional dancer. However, most of the actual dancing was performed by Marine Jahan, a body doubles. In fact, one breakdancing scene featured a sequence performed by a male known as “Crazy Legs.

The movie featured a number of hit songs including “Maniac” by Michael Sembello and Irene Cara’s main theme song, “Flashdance…What a Feeling” won an Oscar for Best Song. The soundtrack sold 700,000 copies within the first two weeks.

After seeing Flashdance, Charles Schulz created the musical TV special, It’s Flashbeagle Charlie Brown as a parody. Some people were unimpressed that Schulz chose to create a children’s special based on a movie that was rated R. (Images: Wikipedia)

2013: Boston Marathon Targeted for Terrorists

The 117th Boston Marathon was more eventful than previous racess due to the fact that on this day in 2013, two bombs went off near the finish line. Three people were killed and more than 260 people were wounded.

Four days later, a large manhunt for the bombers and a city shutdown was held. Police were able to capture 19-year-old Dzhohkar Tsarnaev, but his older brother and fellow suspect, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died following a shootout with police earlier that morning. Although, no one knows for sure, Investigators believe that the Tsarnaevs were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs but were not connected to any terrorist organizations.

Dzhohkar was found guilty on all 30 counts and a further verdict recommended that he be put to death. (Image: Wikimedia)

1892: Lights On

The General Electric Company is formed.

1923: Big Shot

Insulin becomes available for people with diabetes.

(McDonald’s)

1955: Lovin’ It

McDonald’s restaurant dates its founding.

1947: First African American to Play in the MLB

Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line on this day in 1947 when he played 1st base for the Dodgers. He was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. That same year, Robinson was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award. He later became an All-Star from 1949-1954 and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949.

In 1997, the MLB retired Robinson’s uniform number of 42 across all major league teams. In 2007, April 15 was dubbed the first Jackie Robinson Day where every player on every team wore the number 42 in his honor, a tradition that continues today.