1954: A Whirlwind is Born
Taz, a Tasmanian Devil spun his way into our hearts on this day when he appeared in his first Warner Bros. cartoon short, Devil May Hare co-starring Bugs Bunny. Animator Robert McKimson created the hairy beast who has a voracious appetite and spins like a tornado.
After the first cartoon was released in theaters, the studio thought Taz might have been too violent for kids, so he was removed from future projects. That is until Jack L. Warner was getting stacks of fan mail asking for more of the beast.
Taz only appeared in four more Warner Bros. cartoons before the studio closed shop in 1964, but he remained a favorite of many.
In 1991, Taz had his own cartoon show. Taz Mania ran for four seasons on FOX. In 2023, Taz starred in the direct-to-video movie, Taz: Quest for Burger, which didn’t do justice to the well-loved character.
1910: The First Father’s Day is Celebrated
After the success of the Mother’s Day holiday created in the early 20th century (attributed to Anna Jarvis), clamoring began to be heard from those who wanted a similar holiday for fathers. The credit for this usually goes to Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington. It was first celebrated on this day in 1910 at the Spokane YMCA.
Dodd’s father was a single parent raising six children. After hearing a sermon about Jarvis’ Mother’s Day a year earlier, Dodd suggested her idea to her pastor of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church. Several other clergymen agreed, and it was decided that the third Sunday of each June would be the designated day.
Incidentally, International Men’s Day is celebrated in many countries on November 19 for men who are not fathers. (Image: Pixabay)
1865: The First Juneteenth
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, establishing that all enslaved people in the Confederate states, be set free, but it took until this day in 1865 for that to become so.
Federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, the last state to end slavery. Texas didn’t have a significant presence of Union troops so many slave owners from other states moved to Texas with their slaves so they would be spared from losing their “property.” About 250,000 slaves were freed that “Jubilee Day”, a day of celebration.
Jubilee Day became Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”). As black families moved away from Texas, they took their tradition with them.
In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday. In 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday for all states.
1956: Goodbye
After working together for 10 years, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis announced that their friendship was over after principle photography was shot for Hollywood or Bust, their 16th and last movie. (They made up 20 years later.)
1992: Hello, Again
After the success of 1989 movie, Batman, Tim Burton and Michael Keaton came together again for Batman Returns which opened on this day. It also starred Danny DeVito as The Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.
2015: All the Feels
Disney/Pixar released Inside Out which featured the voices inside a little girl’s head including Amy Poehler (Joy), Phyllis Smith (Sadness), Lewis Black (Anger), Bill Hader (Fear) and Mindy Kaling (Disgust).
1978: The Lasagna-Eating Cat
It took a number of years for cartoonist Jim Davis to find his footing in the world of newspaper comics. In 1973, he worked as an assistant on T.K. Ryan’s comic, Tumbleweeds. He also worked on his own strip, Gnorm Gnat which appeared on the pages of the Pendleton Times, the local newspaper of Pendleton, Indiana. Davis tried to syndicate the comic, but couldn’t get any takers and in 1975, Gnorm was squashed.
After the failure of his bug strip, Davis did research on what type of animals were popular in the funny pages. He noted that dogs were pretty popular but cats almost didn’t exist.
In 1976, Davis created a whole new strip for the paper called Jon which featured the first appearance of Garfield. He looked nothing like the orange-striped kitty that we know today. In 1978, the strip was re-titled as Garfield and soon, success would follow.
In 1980, Garfield went on TV appearing in the CBS special, The Fantastic Funnies where he shared screentime with Peanuts, Dennis the Menace, B.C. and others. Since he was a newbie, Garfield was only briefly mentioned. But just two years later, he starred in his first TV special. In Here Comes Garfield, the cat got his iconic voice thanks to actor Gerald Music.
In 1988, the cat starred in Garfield and Friends, his first Saturday morning cartoon series. In 2004, a computerized version of the kitty appeared in Garfield: The Movie.
Over the years, Davis received advice from fellow cartoonist, Charles Schulz who reluctantly admitted that he got a little jealous of Garfield’s popularity.
Davis is still the brains of the cat, but he plays a more behind-the-scenes role today. (Images: Wikipedia)
Movies Released
- 1981: Superman II
- 1987: Roxanne
- 1992: Batman Returns
- 2009: The Proposal
- 2009: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- 2014: Transformers: Age of Extinction
- 2015: Inside Out
TV Series Debuts
- 2011: Falling Skies
- 2019: City on a Hill
- 2020: Floor is Lava
Famous Birthdays
- 1897: Moe Howard (member of the 3 Stooges)
- 1902: Guy Lombardo (bandleader)
- 1903: Lou Gehrig (baseball player)
- 1950: Ann Wilson (singer)
- 1954: Kathleen Turner (actress)
- 1970: Brian Welch (singer)
- 1972: Poppy Montgomery (actress)
- 1972: Robin Tunney (actress)
- 1978: Zoe Saldana (actress)
- 1998: Atticus Shaffer (actor)
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