‘My Fair Lady’ closes on Broadway after record 2,717 performances 50 years ago today (1962)


Video: 'My Fair Lady "Wouldn't It Be Lovely" on The Ed Sullivan Show' (Mar. 19, 1961)

(Saturday, September 29, 1962) — The musical My Fair Lady closed on Broadway (at The Broadway Theatre) today after 2,717 performances, a record at the time.

Starr tapes an appearance for ‘Parkinson in Australia’ 30 years ago today (1982)


'Honey Don't'

(Tuesday, September 28, 1982) — Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr taped an appearance today for Parkinson in Australia in North Ryde, Australia. Ringo played drums on Honey Don’t with Glenn Shorrock on vocals for airing on October 8.

Rory Storm of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes commits suicide 40 years ago today (1972)


Video: 'Rory Storm & the Hurricanes'

(Thursday, September 28, 1972) — Singer Rory Storm, 34, of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, which featured drummer Ringo Starr before he quit to join The Beatles in August 1962, killed himself today in an apparent suicide pact with his mother. He reportedly couldn’t accept that his band didn’t enjoy the same success as other bands from the Liverpool scene.

Kissinger’s talks spur Vietnam peace rumor 40 years ago tonight (1972)


Video: Sept. 27, 1972 (0:09)

(Wednesday, September 27, 1972, during the Vietnam War) — U.S. National Security Advisor Henry A. Kissinger arrived in Washington from Paris tonight amid rumors, which were strongly denied by the White House, that there had been a breakthrough in Vietnam peace negotiations.

Glenn Miller Orchestra played for the last time 70 years ago today (1942)


Video: Glenn Miller's farewell before joining the US Army

(Sunday, September 27, 1942, during World War II) — Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the very last time today at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, prior to Glenn’s entry into the Army Air Corps.

Anne Frank lashes out at van Pels in diary 70 years ago today (1942)


Video: 'Anne Frank Remembered (3/8)' (Sept. 27, 1942 at 13:10)

(Sunday, September 27, 1942, part of The Holocaust during World War II) — On her 84th day in hiding in a secret apartment behind her father’s business in German-occupied Amsterdam, Anne Frank, a 13-year-old Jewish girl, angrily wrote in her diary about how the van Pels (the parents of another family in hiding with the Franks) treat her as one of their own children.

‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ debuts on CBS-TV 50 years ago this hour (1962)


Video: 'The Clampetts Strike Oil' (Sept. 26, 1962)

(Wednesday, September 26, 1962, 9:00 p.m. EDT)The Beverly Hillbillies, a television sitcom series about a poor backwoods family transplanted to Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land, debuted tonight on CBS-TV. It starred Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, Max Baer, Jr., Raymond Bailey and Nancy Kulp.

Russian resistance remains defiant at Stalingrad 70 years ago today (1942)


Video: Sept. 26, 1942 (at 9:35)

(Saturday, September 26, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, part of the Eastern Front of World War II) — Wilhelm Hoffman, a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, wrote today:

“Our regiment is involved in constant heavy fighting. After the elevator was taken the Russians continued to defend themselves just as stubbornly. You don’t see them at all, they have established themselves in houses and cellars and are firing on all sides, including from our rear – barbarians, they use gangster methods . . . Stalingrad is hell . . .”

‘The Longest Day’ premieres in France 50 years ago today (1962)


Video: 'The Longest Day' trailer

(Tuesday, September 25, 1962)The Longest Day, a war film about D-Day, the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II, had its world premiere today in France (it would open in the U.S. on Oct. 4).

Directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes), and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited), the film stars John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Curd Jürgens, Richard Burton, Donald Houston, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Irina Demick, Gert Fröbe, Edmond O’Brien and Kenneth More.