Monthly Archives: March 2013

‘Survival’ episode airs on ‘Combat!’ 50 years ago this hour (1963)


Video: 'COMBAT! s.1 ep.23: "Survival" (1963)' (Mar. 12, 1963)

(Tuesday, March 12, 1963, 7:30 p.m. EST) — Lt. Hanley and the squad escape capture during an artillery barrage, but Sgt. Saunders is unknowingly left behind in the fiery chaos on tonight’s episode of the ABC-TV war drama series Combat!.

In 1997, the episode was ranked #74 on TV Guide‘s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.

Two LAPD officers taken to onion field in Bakersfield, one killed 50 years ago this hour (1963)


Video: 'The onion field (1979). Crime scene'

(Wednesday, March 9, 1963, after 10 p.m. local time) — Two Los Angeles police officers, Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger, were disarmed and abducted by ex-convicts Gregory Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith during a traffic stop today in Hollywood. The officers were taken to an onion field near Bakersfield, California, where Campbell was shot to death while Hettinger managed to escape. Powell and Smith were sent to prison; the case was detailed in the book “The Onion Field” by Joseph Wambaugh.

Seals & Crofts appear on ‘Midnight Special’ 40 years ago this hour (1973)


Video: 'Midnight Special-Seals & Croft "Summer Breeze"'

(Saturday, March 10, 1973, 1:00 a.m. EST) — Seals & Crofts are among the performers on tonight’s episode of the late-night musical variety NBC series The Midnight Special hosted by Paul Williams.

’42nd Street’ premieres in New York City 80 years ago tonight (1933)


Video: '42nd Street Trailer (1933)'

(Thursday, March 9, 1933)42nd Street, a musical film about a producer who puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star, premiered today in New York City.

Directed by Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley, the film starred Warner Baxter, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers.

Congress called into special session by FDR 80 years ago today (1933)


Video: 'HD Stock Footage Franklin D. Roosevelt - Bank Holiday - Repeals Prohibition (Mar. 9, 1933, at 1:13)

(Thursday, March 9, 1933; during the Great Depression) — Congress, called into special session by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, today began its “hundred days” of enacting New Deal legislation.

Nixon plays piano on ‘The Jack Paar Program’ 50 years ago this hour (1963)


Video: 'Richard Nixon plays his Piano Concerto #1'

(Friday, March 8, 1963, 10 p.m. EST) — Former Vice President Richard Nixon appeared on tonight’s edition of The Jack Paar Program, performing one of his musical compositions on the piano.

Pat Loud asks husband Bill for a divorce on ‘An American Family’ 40 years ago this hour (1973)


Video: 'An American Family: Divorce'

(Thursday, March 8, 1973, 9:00 p.m. EST) — The first family of reality TV learned the hard lesson of transferring their lives from real to reel when Mrs. Loud asked for a divorce on tonight’s episode of An American Family.

TV Guide and TV Land ranked this episode #71 out the “100 Most Memorable TV Moments of All Time” in 2004.

Soviet Union ‘evil empire,’ says Reagan 30 years ago today (1983)


Video: 'President Ronald Reagan - "Evil Empire" Speech'

(Tuesday, March 8, 1983) — In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention today in Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.”

Pan Am Building opens in Midtown Manhattan 50 years ago today (1963)


Video: 'Pan Am Building'

(Thursday, March 7, 1963) — The Pan Am Building, a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue at East 45th Street above Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, first opened today as headquarters of Pan American World Airways.