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This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for June 21

The first long-playing record, the worst basketball movie ever made and the people who were afraid of Virginia Woolf.

June 21, 2020

2–3 minutes

1948: The First Long-Planning Record Spins

On this day in 1948, Columbia Records introduced the Long Playing “microgroove” LP record format which rotated at 33⅓ revolutions per minute. The album? A re-issue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra which had been released two years earlier as a four 78 RPM record set. Although the standard size of the LP became 12 inches, the first came out at a size of 10 inches. The majority of the first LPs were of classical music given their longer pieces of music. The success of Columbia Records prompted Capitol Records to release their own LPs in 1949 and RCA Victor in 1950.

1966: We’re Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Adapted from Edward Albee’s novel of the same name, the movie, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? premiered on this day in 1966. Mike Nichols directed the Warner Bros. film which starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis.

The film was one of only two movies nominated for every eligible Academy Award categories (the other film was Cimarron). Although terribly depressing, the talent involved cannot be denied. The drama won five Oscars including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. (Image: Warner Bros.)

2002: Worst Basketball Movie Ever

While movies like Some Like It Hot (1959), Tootsie (1982) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) featured leading men dressed up like women were hits, cross-dressing storylines do not always mean a box office success. On this day, one of the worst came to theaters.

In Juwanna Mann, a suspended and washed-up basketball player (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.) takes on the persona of a female player and joins a professional women’s basketball team.

The tagline for the film was, “The only way he can stay pro, is to play (like) a girl.” Co-starring Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Pollak, Kim Wayans, Lil’ Kim and Jenifer Lewis, the movie bombed in theaters and tanked with reviews. It got a generous 10% “rotten” score from Rotten Tomatoes. (Image: Warner Bros.)