December 1 in Pop Culture History |
| December 1st is… Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day Day With(out) Art Day Eat a Red Apple Day National Pie Day Rosa Parks Day Shelter Pets Day World AIDS Day |
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800 – Charlemagne judged the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican and decided in the Pope’s favor. 1783 – The first manned voyage of a lighter-than-air hydrogen balloon left Paris carrying Professor Jacques Alexander Cesar Charles and Marie-Noel Robert to almost 500 feet and landed 28 miles away after about 2 hours in the air. 1841 – The first steamboat engine built in America for a screw-propelled vessel, designed by John Ericsson and built by Captain Sylvester Doolittle, installed on the ship Vandalia, was launched. 1885 – Invented by Charles Alderton, Dr. Pepper was first served at the W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. 1913 – The Ford Motor Company introduced the continuously moving assembly line, producing a complete automobile every two-and-a-half minutes. It was the first true “mass production” system. 1913 – The first U.S. drive-in automobile service ‘filling station’ opened at the traffic intersection of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 1952 – The New York Daily News reported that Christine Jorgensen was the first case of sexual reassignment surgery. 1955 – Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. 1958 – #1 Hit December 1, 1958 – December 21, 1958: The Teddy Bears – To Know Him Is to Love Him 1958 – A fire at Our Lady of Angels School elementary school in Chicago killed 90 children. 1968 – Promises, Promises (Broadway Musical) Opened on December 1, 1968 and closed on January 1, 1972 1973 – #1 Hit December 1, 1973 – December 14, 1973: The Carpenters – Top of the World 1974 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231 crashed northwest of John F. Kennedy International Airport; also TWA Flight 514, another Boeing 727, crashed northwest of Dulles International Airport, killing all 92 people on board. 1989 – Christmas Vacation was released in theaters. 1990 – #1 Hit December 1, 1990 – December 7, 1990: Whitney Houston – I’m Your Baby Tonight 1990 – The Chunnel between England and France was connected and celebrated when and Englishmen and Frenchmen broke their their respective sides. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the French president, François Mitterrand, in a ceremony held in Calais on May 6, 1994. 1991 – Britney Spears appeared on Star Search. 1992- The Young and The Restless aired the 5,000th episode. In honor of the event, The Price Is Right (also CBS) even featured Y&R themed showcases. 1994 – The Game Show Network, the 24-hour channel dedicated to game shows, made its debut 1994 – Home & Garden Television (HGTV) made its debut. 1996 – 25 Days Of Christmas began airing on The Family Channel. 1997 – 8 planets in our Solar System lined up from West to East beginning with Pluto, followed by Mercury, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn, along with a crescent moon, in a rare alignment visible from Earth that lasted until December 8. 2007 – #1 Hit December 1, 2007 – January 4, 2008: Alicia Keys – No One 2012 – #1 Hit December 1, 2012 – December 21, 2012: Rihanna – Diamonds |