1979: ‘Hart to Hart’ Debuts
According to assistant Max, when Mr. H and Mrs. H first met, it was murder. Robert Wagner played Jonathan Hart, a self-made millionaire and CEO of global conglomerate, Hart Industries. Stefanie Powers played his wife, Jennifer Hart, a freelance journalist. The pair had the perfect marriage where the couple rarely fought, if ever. And their hobby (besides lovemaking) was to solve murders.
The power couple were able to do this with the help of Max (Lionel Stander) and their dog Freeway (who got his name because they had rescued him from the freeway). After Wagner was cast as Mr. Hart, ABC wanted his real-life wife, Natalie Wood, to play Mrs. Hart but Wagner disagreed. Instead, Robert suggested Powers. About 10 Years after the show stopped airing on ABC, eight Hart to Hart movies were made from 1993 to 1996. The first five aired on NBC and the final three appeared on The Family Channel of all places.
1835: The Great Moon Hoax
It was on this day that a series of six articles describing the discovery of life on the moon began in the New York Sun newspaper. The newspaper, which started up just two years earlier, was known as a “penny press” paper that was cheaper and its journalism was a little…off. The whole thing of course was a hoax, but sales of the paper shot up anyway as readers did not understand the joke.
The stories were written by “Dr. Andrew Grant” who claimed that the Edinburgh Journal (which no longer existed at this time) reported that evidence of fantastic animals such as unicorns, two-legged beavers and winged humanoids had been found. Committees of Yale University scientists traveled to New York to read these articles but were sent home.
On September 16, 1835, the paper finally admitted that the whole thing was a satire, and sales of the paper did not suffer. (Image: Wikimedia)
Movies Released
- Bring it On (2000)
- Don’t Breathe (2016)
- Leap! (2017)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
TV Series Debuts
- My so-Called Life (1994)
- The Steve Harvey Show (1996)
Famous Birthdays
- 1913: Walt Kelly (animator)
- 1916: Van Johnson (actor)
- 1921: Monty Hall (game show host)
- 1930: Sean Connery (actor)
- 1931: Regis Philbin (TV show host)
- 1933: Tom Skerritt (actor)
- 1946: Rollie Fingers (baseball player)
- 1949: Gene Simmons (singer)
- 1958: Tim Burton (film director)
- 1961: Billy Ray Cyrus (singer)
- 1964: Blair Underwood (actor)
- 1968: Rachael Ray (celebrity chef)
- 1976: Alexander Skarsgard (actor)
- 1978: Kel Mitchell (actor)
Leave a comment