ON THIS DAY in the year 12 A.D., Roman Emperor Gaius Caligula–nephew and adopted son of Tiberius–was born. The 1980 film, CALIGULA, written by Gore Vidal and starring Malcolm McDowell, told the story of the Emperor’s rise and fall.
Reel History
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ON THIS DAY in 1963, the Moscow-Washington “hotline” or “red telephone” between Russia’s Kremlin and the White House, went into operation. In 1964, the Sidney Lumet film FAIL-SAFE featured the hotline in scenes with Henry Fonda as the President.
ON THIS DAY in 1930, the last 36 remaining inhabitants of St. Kilda, Scotland, were evacuated to the mainland at their own request. Director Michael Powell’s 1937 film, THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, shot on the Shetland Island of Foula, was inspired by the the St. Kilda story.
ON THIS DAY in 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The rally called for civil and economic rights for African Americans, and featured Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. The 1963 short film, THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, documented this historic event.
ON THIS DAY in 1172, Henry (“the Young King”), 17-year-old son of King Henry II, married Margaret of France and was crowned King of England. In 1964, he was portrayed by Riggs O’Hara in the film BECKET, directed by Peter Glenville, and starring Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton.
ON THIS DAY in 1429, Joan of Arc, patron saint of France, marched triumphantly into Paris during the Hundred Years War. In 1957, Otto Preminger’s film, SAINT JOAN, starring Jean Seberg and adapted from a George Bernard Shaw play, told the story of this and other events in her life.
ON THIS DAY in 1758, King Frederick the Great’s Prussian army defeated Russian troops at the Battle of Zorndorf during the Seven Years War. Segments of Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 film, BARRY LYNDON, with Ryan O’Neal, were set against this conflict.
ON THIS DAY in 1944, General Patton’s Third Army joined French forces to begin the Liberation of Paris. The 1965 film, IS PARIS BURNING?—with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Orson Welles, and a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal—documented this event.
ON THIS DAY in 79 A.D. (the feast day of Vulcan, Roman god of fire), Italy’s Mount Vesuvius began erupting, eventually leading to the destruction of the city of Pompeii. In 1959, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, starring Steve Reeves, and written by Sergio Leone, documented the events.
ON THIS DAY in 1952, the notorious penal colony of French Guiana (Devil’s Island)-in operation since 1852-was permanently closed. The 1973 film, PAPILLON, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, was based on the book of the same name, written by a Devil’s Island prisoner’s memoir.
ON THIS DAY in 1942, the Battle of the Tenaru, between U.S. Marines and the Japanese army, took place on Guadalcanal Island. The confrontation was featured in episode 1 of the 2010 Steven Spielberg mini-series, THE PACIFIC.
ON THIS DAY in 1940, Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded after being struck with an axe by a Soviet government assassin. The 1972 Joseph Losey film, THE ASSASSINATION OF TROTSKY, with Richard Burton, depicted this event.
ON THIS DAY in 1612, three women from Lancashire, England–“the Samlesbury witches”–were accused of practicing witchcraft in one of the most famous witch trials in English history. In 1957, this trial was depicted in the French-German film THE CRUCIBLE, with Simone Signoret and Yves Montand.
ON THIS DAY in 1958, Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita was published in the United States. Stanley Kubrick’s film LOLITA premiered in 1962, with James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers and Sue Lyon as Lolita.
ON THIS DAY in 1786, American frontiersman and soldier Davy Crockett was born. His exploits were dramatized in the 1955 Disney film, DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER, starring Fess Parker.
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