Browsing: Music

A Brief History On May 3, 1952, the Kentucky Derby, probably the most famous and prestigious horse racing event in the United States, was first broadcast on television.  Today, we take a look at when significant events first made their television debut.  As always, feel free to nominate an event or events you believe belong on this list. Digging Deeper First Sporting Event, 1936 For this particular historic first, it is fitting that the Olympics takes the honors of being first.  In this case, we refer to the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany.  Since there were no privately…

A Brief History On January 25, 1881, 2 of the great names in the annals of inventions teamed up to form the Oriental Telephone Company.  Harnessing the invention of Alexander Graham Bell for commercial purposes, Bell teamed with Thomas Edison, the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company and the Oriental Telephone Company of New York to form the new enterprise to sell telephones and related equipment in the Mediterranean and Near East areas as well as India and the Far East.  Bell became the first to patent the telephone in 1876, providing the first method of long-distance voice transmission.  Prior to his invention,…

A Brief History On January 18, 2021, the United States celebrates the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon in the Civil Rights Movement and an African American man of historic importance.  In honor of Reverend King, we take a look at some notable African American “firsts” in American History, although some of the entries may cause the reader to wonder at the dates involved.  Was the United States really that far behind in racial equality at such late dates?  Judge for yourself.  (See our many other articles concerning African American accomplishments.)  Please do not fret if you…

A Brief History On December 28, 1999, Western actor/action hero Clayton Moore died.  If you are not familiar with this star of the small and large screen, he played The Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1957 on television and starred in 2 related big screen movies about the same character.  Even if you never saw the Clayton Moore versions of the Lone Ranger,  you are probably familiar with “The William Tell Overture” by Rossini, the theme music played for Moore’s Lone Ranger character.  In the Covid-19 plagued year of 2020, we have lost another host of notable people, both to…

A Brief History On December 25, 2020, people around the world celebrate the Christian holiday of Christmas, honoring the birth of Jesus Christ.  During this Christmas season, we are likely to hear many Christmas carols and holiday songs, but none of them are arguably as touching and universal as “O Holy Night,” also known as “Cantique de Noël” in the original French.  We take this opportunity to reflect on the song that, in our opinion, is the greatest Christmas carol. Digging Deeper While the famous carol is of course, Christian, the backgrounds of the men involved in creating the song…