This Day in Pop Culture: April 8

In a “shocking” turn of events, two famous females went missing on this day in pop culture history. Only one of them came back. In other pop culture news that took place on this day, actor Clint Eastwood became the mayor of Carmel, California and Hank Aaron broke a record.

1990: Debut of ‘Twin Peaks’

Photo of Laura Palmer from "Twin Peaks" — Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer in *Twin Peaks (TVDB)*

One of strangest TV series to ever hit the airwaves was Twin Peaks which debuted on ABC on this day in 1990. Initially, many critics predicted that Mark Frost and David Lynch show wouldn’t catch on. It didn’t help that the first season was relegated to just a handful of shows. While the story of Twin Peaks centered around the murder investigation of highschooler Laura Palmer, the show was more about the people who lived in the fictional town in Washington State.

The show was particularly popular with folks who lived in the Pacific Northwest since many scenes were filmed in the city of Snoqualmie and the Salish Lodge & Spa. The Snoqualmie Falls were shown during the opening credits as well.

The shortened first season grew a huge following before its hiatus. Ratings were still high when the show returned for the second season. However, after the killer was revealed halfway through the second season, audience members turned away.

Every episode was a unique mixture of comedy, drama and fantasy which appealed to fans at first, but as the show went on, the storylines got weirder and was canceled. Still, the show had a cult following and a “demand” for more birthed the movie, Fire Walk with Me, a prequel to the show. The movie was a big disappointment to many of the remaining fans. Many years later, Showtime aired a revival of Twin Peaks in 2017 that featured many of the original characters (albeit in much smaller roles) but also a few more storylines and locations outside of the Northwest.

1986: Eastwood

Actor Clint Eastwood temporarily changed occupations when he became the elected mayor of Carmel, California on this day.

1918: Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin stood on Douglas Fairbanks’ shoulders during a Liberty bonds rally in the streets of New York’s City’s financial district.

1974: Aaron

Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run on this day in Atlanta at the Fulton County Stadium. It surpassed Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record.

1983: Put Her Back David!

David Copperfield and the Statue of Liberty — David Copperfield and Lady Liberty *(Wikimedia Commons)*

On this day, 20 tourists visiting New York City were treated to front row seats to watch the Statue of Liberty disappear. You can blame illusionist David Copperfield for the spectacle. At the time he explained that he wanted people to imagine what it would be like if there were no liberty or freedom in the world today.

It is estimated that 50 million Americans turned into CBS to watch the TV special, The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears. Copperfield was very popular during that time, and it seemed that he was always making something disappear.

Actress Michele Lee, who was on assignment to interview the live audience before and after the stunt, applauded saying, “Incredible. Just Incredible.” And after a few minutes of missing Lady Liberty, Copperfield brought her back as if nothing had happened. That’s because, nothing did.

The tourists were seated in a special enclosed area with access to a viewing area between two large pillars. Three assistants were on hand who had their photos taken before, during and after the stunt had taken place to prove that the stunt was real. The curtain was raised and Copperfield said a few magical words with loud music soaring. When the curtain was dropped, the statue was gone!

Since it was terribly difficult to actually move the statue, Copperfield did the next best thing. The platform where the viewers were seated rotated during the time that the loud music rumbled through the loudspeakers. And when it was time for the statue to come back, they rotated back in place. They had no idea that they were the ones that moved.