Events On This Day In History July 12 1862 - The Medal of Honor was authorized on this day by the U.S. Congress. 1912 - The first foreign-made film to premiere in America, Queen Elizabeth, was shown. The French film starred Sarah Bernhardt and Lon Tellegen. 1931 - A major-league baseball record for doubles was set as the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs combined for a total of 23 twin-sackers in St. Louis. 1946 - The Adventures of Sam Spade was heard on ABC radio for the first time. Howard Duff starred as the San Francisco detective in the summer replacement series. Sam Spade first appeared in the 1930 Dashiel Hammett novel The Maltese Falcon and in the 1931 original film version of The Maltese Falcon, starring Ricardo Cortez. Humprey Bogart played Sam in the 1941 movie. 1949 - Football quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, a student at the University of Oregon, decided against another year of college and signed a professional NFL contract to play with the Los Angeles Rams. 1957 - Prince Karim left Harvard University in Cambridge, MA to become the leader of 20 million Ismaili Moslems. He became the Aga Khan for the religious sect. Prince Karim was 20 years old at the time of his calling. 1958 - Yakety Yak, by The Coasters, became the number one song in the U.S.A., according to Billboard magazine. It was the first stereo record to reach the top of the chart. 1960 - The first Etch-A-Sketch went on sale. Over 50 million units were sold during the next 25 years. It was the favorite toy of many moms because it was self-contained and so-o-o quiet. 1979 - This was Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. Two Chicago radio DJs came up with the idea of having people bring unwanted disco records to the stadium. The spurned records would be burned between doubleheader games with the White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. Lead by the chant, “Disco Sucks!”, most of the records weren’t burned, but sailed through the stands during the game -- nearly inciting a riot. Some fans started their own fires and mini-riots. There was so much commotion that the ballplayers couldn’t even finish the last game of the doubleheader; the White Sox forfeited. 1982 - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial broke all box-office records by surpassing the $100-million mark of ticket sales in the first 31 days of its opening. 1982 - The last of the distinctive-looking Checker taxicabs rolled off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, MI. The company had produced those cabs since 1922. 1984 - Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies earned his 100th strikeout of the season and led the Phils to a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Carlton tied a record set by Walter Jonson by getting 100 or more strikeouts in 18 straight seasons. Carlton became baseball’s all-time strikeout leader with 3,813. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies, and briefly, for the Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins before retiring and becoming a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. 1994 - The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge album was released. Their Voodoo Lounge Tour started in Toronto, July 19, 1994 and ended in Rotterdam on August 30, 1995 -- and holds the all-time North America tour ticket-sale record of $121.2 million.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:40:13 +0000
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