This Day in Pop Culture: March 24

Elvis Presley is well known one of the earliest rock stars, but he took a two-year detour in 1958. Today we celebrate other pop culture rockstars in animation, TV and one famous gospel music writer that you may not even know about.

1945: Happy Birthday to One Cool Cat

There seems to be some disagreement on just when this Warner Bros. cartoon cat first appeared in Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes animated shorts. Some say the feline appeared in 1939’s Naughty but Mice where the cat doesn’t say a word. However, most agree that his first splash on the big screen was in the short Life with Feathers. It was released on this day in 1945. Here though, he is referred to as “Thomas” and didn’t get a new name until he appeared in the 1948 Porky Pig cartoon, Scaredy Cat. (By the way, “Sylvester” is a play off the term “Felis silvestris,” the scientific name for a “wild cat species.”

Sylvester wasn’t paired with Tweety Bird until 1947’s Tweetie Pie but soon, this pair became a dynamic duo and with Granny, a terrific trio. In addition to chasing the canary, this cool cat has hunted down (unsuccessfully) the Mexican mouse Speedy Gonzales and baby kangaroo Hippety Hopper (whom Sylvester frequently mistakes for a giant mouse).

Sylester is not without his scandals. Somewhere down the line he became a father to the kitten “Junior”. No one knows who the mother is!

Sylvester has appeared in over 100 animated short films. In 1995, Sylvester, Tweety and Granny appeared in the original TV series, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. This dynamic duo has also appeared (briefly) in the 2014 Roadrunner cartoon short, Flash in the Pain and other original shows for Cartoon Network. (Image: TVDB)

1958: Elvis: Doing His Time in the Army

On this day in 1958, hip-swinging Elvis Presley was inducted into the United States Army and since publicity makes the world go round, Elvis’ manager was on hand with a photographer to capture this historic day. Always the professional, the 23-year-old showed no nervousness or sadness unlike his mother, Gladys, who was visibly upset. While away on his two-year stint with the army, Elvis’ mother passed away and Elvis met the future Mrs. Presley, Priscilla Beaulieu, who at the time was just 14 years old.

1980: When ABC Chose News Over Jokes

(ABC)

As an attempt to compete with NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, ABC went in a totally different direction with a news show called The Iran Crisis – America Held Hostage. The 20-minute show was hosted by Frank Reynolds but was soon taken over by Ted Koppel. On this day in 1980, the show’s name was changed to the catchier title, Nightline.

After 444 days of the crisis, Nightline began to include other stories with a mix of investigative journalism and interviews. The segments were longer than what were seen during the evening news.

On November 22, 2005, Koppel retired from Nightline after 25 years as anchor of the program and left ABC News after 42 years with the network. Today, the show is hosted by a variety of hosts.

1820: The Queen of Gospel Song Writers

Long before Amy Grant or Lauren Daigle there was another female Christian rockstar on the scene: Franny Crosby. Born on this day in 1820, she was responsible for writing the bulk of many of the hymns you have sang in church. We’re talking over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs!

Over 100 million copies of her songs have been printed including “Blessed Assurance,” “Praise Him, Praise Him” and “To God Be the Glory.” What makes this even more incredible is the fact that she was blind shortly after her birth.

It has been said that publishers were hesitant to publish so many songs under one name, so Crosby went by about 200 different pseudonyms during her lifetime. Crosby was a bit of an overachiever. In addition to her gospel music work, she wrote many secular songs, patriotic songs, five cantatas, 1,000 poems and two autobiographies.