Glee: The Original High School Musical

The FOX comedy-drama-musical series, Glee, was like no other. It was often controversial, but boy could they sing. The show is also known for its many awards and soundtrack albums.

2009: A Glee Club Like No Other

The cast of "Glee" — The cast of *Glee (FOX)*

Musical TV shows are few and far between and for every Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist there’s a Cop Rock. Glee is a success story of sorts. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, Glee debuted on this day.

The plot of Glee centers on New Directions, the glee club at William McKinley High School. While practicing for upcoming choir competitions, the students deal with a variety of issues each week including race, sexuality, relationships and occasionally homework. Glee’s was often controversial, and the show’s tone was uneven due to its various over-the-top storylines.

The large cast of Glee included club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), Will’s wife, Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), the mean cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays). The students consisted of pregnant cheerleader Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), gay student Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), wheelchair-user Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), self-important Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), quarterback Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), vocal diva Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), delinquent Noah Puckerman (Mark Salling) and shy girl Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz).

The musical TV show ran on FOX for six seasons from 2009-2015. During its first season alone, the show was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, six Satellite Awards and 57 other awards! During the show’s 121 episodes, over 729 music performances were presented. Not only that, but 16 Glee soundtracks were produced.

2018: The Royal Wedding

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. It is estimated that 1.9 billion people tuned in for it.

1958: ‘South Pacific’ Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the movie, South Pacific became the #1 album, and it stayed in that spot for 31 weeks.

1991: An Indy 500 First

Willy T. Ribbs became the first African American driver to make it to the Indianapolis 500.

2007: Smart Introduces the Microcar

On this day in 2007, the company Smart launched a cross-country road show to promote the smart car making it to 50 cities across the U.S. Under normal driving conditions, the car was designed to achieve 40 plus miles per gallon. The stunt proved itself worthy because by September, the company reported that they had received more than 30,000 registrations from potential buyers. The first Smart cars went on sale in January of 2008 with prices from $12,000 to $21,000.