ON THIS DAY in 1908, Pu Yi (age two years, 10 months) became Emperor of China. This event was dramatized in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 film, THE LAST EMPEROR.
Reel History
All posts tagged Reel History
ON THIS DAY in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. This incident was featured in the 2002 documentary, MIGHTY TIMES: THE LEGACY OF ROSA PARKS.
ON THIS DAY in 1874, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Winston Churchill was born. Churchill’s early days were dramatized in Richard Attenborough’s 1972 film, YOUNG WINSTON.
ON THIS DAY in 1832, novelist Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Her most famous novel, LITTLE WOMEN, was adapted for the screen in 1933 by director George Cukor, and starred Katharine Hepburn.
ON THIS DAY in 1582, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway purchased their marriage license while at Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare’s marriage to Hathaway was depicted in the 2005 BBC drama, A WASTE OF SHAME.
ON THIS DAY in 1978, San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated. The 2008 Gus Van Sant film, MILK, starring Sean Penn, documented this event.
ON THIS DAY in 1939, singer and actress Tina Turner was born. Turner was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the 1993 biographical film, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?.
ON THIS DAY in 1947, the “Hollywood Ten” were cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted by movie studios after refusing to answer the House Un-American Activities Commission’s questions. The 1976 Martin Ritt film, THE FRONT, starring Woody Allen and Zero Mostel, dramatized the subsequent events surrounding the blacklist.
ON THIS DAY in 1971, D. B. Cooper parachuted over Washington state from a hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines jet with $200,000 in ransom money. In 1981, THE PURSUIT OF D.B. COOPER, starring Robert Duvall and Treat Williams, dramatized this event.
ON THIS DAY in 1963, the BBC television series Doctor Who premiered. In 1965, Peter Cushing starred in a feature-length movie adaptation of the show, titled DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEKS.
ON THIS DAY in 1935, the Pan American Airways four-engine, flying boat China Clipper, made its inaugural flight from San Francisco to Manila. The 1936 film, CHINA CLIPPER, starring Pat O’Brien and Humphrey Bogart, dramatized this event.
ON THIS DAY in 1877, Thomas Alva Edison announced that he had invented the phonograph. This event was dramatized in the 1940 biographical film, EDISON, THE MAN, starring Spencer Tracy.
ON THIS DAY in 1925, Senator and 1968 Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. Kennedy was portrayed by Barry Pepper in the 2011 TV miniseries, THE KENNEDYS.
ON THIS DAY in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as part of the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This event is dramatized in the 1982 TV miniseries, THE BLUE AND THE GRAY, starring Gregory Peck as Lincoln.
ON THIS DAY in 1865, Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, his first successful short story, was published in the New York Saturday Press. This event was depicted in the 1944 film, THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN, starring Fredric March.
Home Projectionist 