September 5, 1972
Munich massacre.
The Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the Munich massacre. On September 5 a group of eight Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September organization broke into the Olympic Village and took nine Israeli athletes, coaches and officials hostage in their apartments. Two of the hostages who resisted were killed in the first moments of the break-in; the subsequent standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for almost 18 hours.Late in the evening of September 5, the terrorists and
their hostages were transferred by helicopter to the military airport of Fürstenfeldbruck, ostensibly to board a plane bound for an
undetermined Arab country. The German authorities planned to ambush them there,
but under-estimated the number of terrorists and were thus undermanned. During
a botched rescue attempt, all of the Israeli hostages were killed. Four of them
were shot, then incinerated when a Palestinian detonated a grenade inside the
helicopter in which the hostages were sitting. The five remaining hostages were
then machine-gunned by another terrorist.
All but three of the Palestinians were killed as well.
Although arrested and imprisoned pending trial, the three PLO survivors were
released by the West German government on October 29, 1972 in exchange for a
hijacked Lufthansa jet. Two of those three were supposedly hunted down
and assassinated later by the Mossad. Jamal Al-Gashey, who is believed to be the sole survivor, and is
still living today in hiding in an unspecified African country with his wife
and two children. The Olympic events were suspended several hours after the
initial attack, but once the incident was concluded Avery Brundage, the International Olympic Committee president, declared that "the Games must go
on". A memorial ceremony was then held in the Olympic stadium, and the
competitions resumed after a stoppage of 24 hours. The attack prompted
heightened security at subsequent Olympics beginning with the 1976
Winter Olympics.
The massacre led the German federal government to
re-examine its anti-terrorism policies, which at the time were dominated by a
pacifist approach adopted post-World War II. This led to the creation of the
elite counter-terrorist unit GSG 9, similar to the British SAS. It also led Israel to
launch an aggressive counterterrorism campaign known as Operation
Wrath of God, in which those
suspected of involvement were systematically tracked down and assassinated. The
events of the Munich massacre were chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary,
One
Day in September. An account of
the aftermath is dramatized in Steven Spielberg's 2005 film Munich.
September 6, 1947
Jane Therese Curtin actor, comedian and ignorant slut was born.
First coming
to prominence as an original cast member on Saturday Night
Live in 1975, she would go on to
win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s
sitcom Kate & Allie. Curtin later starred in the hit series 3rd Rock from
the Sun. She recreated her SNL character for the
film The Coneheads
September 6, 1997
Some 2.5 billion TV
viewers watch Princess Diana’s funeral.
Diana Spencer was born on July 1, 1961, in Norfolk, England. On July 29, 1981, at the age of 20, “Shy Di” as the voracious British media dubbed her--married Prince Charles at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, in a ceremony that was watched by hundreds of millions of TV viewers around the world. On June 21, 1982, Diana gave birth to Prince William. A second son, Prince Harry, was born September 15, 1984. Charles and Diana separated in 1992, amidst allegations of infidelities on both sides, and the couple was officially divorced on August 28, 1996. After her divorce, Diana continued the humanitarian work she’d begun as a member of the royal family, campaigning to raise awareness of the deadly AIDS epidemic and to ban the use of landmines, or explosive devices planted on or in the ground that often cause death or injury to civilians.
In the early morning hours of August 31, 1997, the driver of Diana’s car lost control of the vehicle while trying to elude paparazzi and crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Diana’s companion, Dodi al-Fayed, was also killed in the crash, as was the driver, Henri Paul, who was later determined to be speeding and under the influence of alcohol.
England
experienced an unprecedented outpouring of public grief over Diana’s death. On
September 6, 1997, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London
to watch the former princess’s coffin being transported to Westminster Abbey,
where politicians, celebrities and royalty gathered for her funeral. Elton John
performed a re-worked version of his song “Candle in the Wind,” which he and
Bernie Taupin had originally written about Marilyn Monroe. Diana’s brother,
Lord Spencer, spoke at the funeral and blamed the media for his sister’s death,
calling her the “most hunted person of the modern age.” Diana was buried at
Althorp, her family’s estate in Northamptonshire, England.
September 7, 1927
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) best known for inventing the first completely electronic television.
In particular, he was the first to make a working electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), and the first to demonstrate an all-electronic television system to the public. Largely self-educated, Farnsworth grew up on farms in Utah and Idaho. As a boy he took an interest in electricity and electrons, and it's said he came up with the idea of electronically scanning images for transmission while he was in high school.On September 7, 1927, Farnsworth's Image dissector
camera tube transmitted its first image, a simple straight line, at his
laboratory at 202 Green Street in San Francisco. The source of the image
was a glass slide, backlit by an arc lamp. This was due to the lack of light
sensitivity of the tube design, a problem Farnsworth never managed to resolve
independently. On September 1, 1928, Farnsworth had
developed the system sufficiently to hold a demonstration for the press—2 years
after John Logie Baird had demonstrated his mechanical Television system
in London. His backers had demanded to know when they would see dollars from
the invention. The first image shown to them was a dollar sign. In 1929, the
system was further improved by elimination of a motor-generator; the
television system now had no mechanical moving parts. That year, Farnsworth
transmitted the first live human images using his television system, including
a three and a half-inch image of his wife, Pem—with her eyes closed because of
the blinding light required.
Farnsworth spent the next decade arguing over patent rights in legal battles
with David
Sarnoff and engineer Vladimir Zworykin of RCA. In 1934 the U.S. Patent
Office sided with Farnsworth, and in 1939 he sold his various patents to RCA.
Although Farnsworth was awarded more than a hundred patents related to
television, he did not become famous as "the inventor of television."
Now it is generally agreed that the development of television involved many
individuals, but it is also the consensus that Farnsworth deserves the lion's
share of the credit.
September 8, 1922
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar was born.
The comic actor and writer known best as the star of the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. Caesar began his television career when he made an appearance on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater. In early 1949, Sid and Max met with Pat Weaver, vice president of television at NBC (and father of Sigourney Weaver), which led to Caesar's appearance in his first series The Admiral Broadway Revue with Imogene Coca. The Friday show, simultaneously broadcast on NBC and the DuMont network (in order for the show to be carried on the only TV station then operating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- DuMont's WDTV- the sponsor had to agree to a simulcast) was an immediate success, but its sponsor, Admiral, an appliance company, could not keep up with the demand for its new television sets, so the show was cancelled after 26 weeks on account of its runaway success. According to Sid, an Admiral executive later told him the company had the choice of building a new factory, or continuing their sponsorship of the Revue for another season.
On February 23, 1950, Caesar appeared in the first episode of Your Show of Shows,
a Saturday night 90-minute variety program produced by Max
Liebman. The show launched Caesar into instant stardom and was a mix
of scripted and improvised comedy, movie, and television satires, Caesar's
inimitable double-talk monologues, top musical guests, and large production
numbers. The impressive guest list included: Jackie Cooper, Robert Preston,
Rex Harrison, Eddie Albert, Michael Redgrave, Basil Rathbone, Charlton Heston, Geraldine Page, Douglas Fairbanks
Jr., Pearl Bailey, Fred Allen, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne and many other big stars of the
time. It was also responsible for bringing together one of the best comedy
teams in television history: Sid, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, and Imogene Coca. Many prominent writers,
denizens of the famed Writer's Room, also got their start creating the
show's madcap sketches, including Lucille
Kallen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Michael Stewart, Mel Tolkin, and Larry Gelbart. Sid Caesar won his first Emmy
in 1952. In 1951 and 1952, he was voted the United States' Best Comedian by
Motion Picture Daily's TV poll. The show ended after 160 episodes on June 5,
1954. Just a few months later, Sid
Caesar returned with Caesar's Hour,
a one-hour sketch/variety show with Morris, Reiner, a young Bea Arthur, and much of the seasoned crew. Nanette Fabray replaced Imogene Coca who left to star in her own
short-lived series. Ultimate creative and technical control was now totally in
Caesar's hands. The show moved to the larger Century Theater, which allowed
longer, more sophisticated productions and the weekly budget doubled to
$125,000. The premier on September 27, 1954 featured Gina Lollobrigida.
Contemporary movies, foreign movies, theater, television shows and even
opera all became targets of satire by the writing team, whose frenetic and
competitive spirit produced some of the best comedy in television history.
Often the publicity generated by the sketches boosted the box office of the
original productions. Some notable sketches included: From Here to Obscurity
(From Here to
Eternity), Aggravation Boulevard (Sunset Boulevard),
Hat Basterson (Bat Masterson),
and No West For the Wicked (Stagecoach).
Even silent movies were parodied, which showed off the impressive pantomime
skills of the entire ensemble. They also performed some recurring sketches.
"The Hickenloopers" were television's first bickering couple,
predating The Honeymooners.
As "The Professor", Caesar was the daffy expert who bluffed his way
through his interviews with earnest roving reporter Carl Reiner. In its various incarnations,
"The Professor" could be Gut von Fraidykat (mountain-climbing
expert), Ludwig von Spacebrain (space expert), or Ludwig von Henpecked
(marriage expert). Later, "The Professor" evolved into Mel Brooks'
famous "The Two Thousand Year Old Man". The most prominent recurring
sketch on the show was "The Commuters", featuring Caesar, Reiner and
Morris involved with everyday working and suburban life situations.
Caesar's Hour was followed by Sid Caesar Invites You, briefly reuniting Caesar and
Coca in 1958, and in 1963 with several As
Caesar Sees It specials, which evolved into the 1963-'64 Sid
Caesar Show, which alternated with Edie Adams in Here's
Edie. Caesar also teamed up with Edie Adams in the Broadway show
Little Me, a successful Neil Simon play, with choreography by Bob Fosse and music by Cy Coleman in which Sid played eight parts
with 32 costume changes. Caesar and Edie Adams played a husband and wife drawn
into a mad race to find buried money in the mega-movie-comedy It's a
Mad Mad Mad Mad World.
September 8 1997
The television show "Ally McBeal" debuted on
Fox.
September 11, 1942
Comedian Tom Dreesen is born.
Dreesen grew up in Harvey, Illinois, south of Chicago. His family was one of the few white families in a largely African American community. While working as an insurance salesman in 1968, he met Tim Reid through a local Jaycee chapter, and the two teamed up to form the first biracial stand-up comedy duo in the United States. Though their material is now considered cutting-edge for its time, the pair struggled to make a living together, and split up in the mid-1970s. However, each found individual success: while Reid landed a role on WKRP in Cincinnati, Dreesen became a regular on The Tonight Show and toured with Frank Sinatra as the crooner's opening act. In 1989, Dreesen released a comedy album through Flying Fish Records called That White Boy's Crazy. The album was recorded in front of an all-black audience in Harvey, Illinois.Dreesen continues to perform today. He is also involved in philanthropic
endeavors and hosts an annual celebrity golf tournament called the Tom Dreesen
Celebrity Classic. In 2008, Dreesen, Reid, and former Chicago Sun-Times sportswriter Ron
Rapoport completed the book Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in
Black and White.
September 11, 1967
The Carol Burnett Show premiered
on CBS.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Carol Burnett Show number 17 on their list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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