1. 1968: The first manned Apollo mission launched
Photo: history
It was on this date in 1968 Apollo 7, which was the first of the Apollo missions to have astronauts on board. The mission was scheduled for 11 days for testing of the Command/Service Module or CSM. The CSM was a cone shaped module that was designed to carry three astronauts from the point of launch to lunar orbit, then return them to Earth, landing safely in the ocean. The three astronauts aboard were Donn F. Eisele, Walter M Schirra, and Walter Cunningham. Apollo 7 was also the mission on which the first live television broadcasts were sent from orbiting around the Earth.
2. 1975: “Live from New York its Saturday night”, the first SNL
SNL Original Cast
Photo: hitfix
Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Jane Curtin
Photo: people
Iconic comedian George Carlin walked on stage at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, to host the debut episode of Saturday Night Live on this date in 1975. To call this show a hit is a major understatement. It’s actually the longest running, highest rated late night television shows of all-time, which is pretty impressive. The show featured the best in the business of both musicians, actors and of course comedians. There have been more people make a name for themselves and go on to become Hollywood royalty that started as a cast member than any other show produced. Especially from the original cast members consisting of names like Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and John Belushi and even the great Bill Murray. As new generations came along we saw names like Eddie Murphy, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler and about 50 others that all got their major starts from working on SNL. With exception of the time period from 1980-1986, the show has been produced by Canadian-born Lorne Michaels, who is believed to be one of the greatest minds in sketch comedy. Each week the show would feature a different host that was usually another celebrity but also could be a politician or professional athlete. Also featured each week is a live musical guest ranging from the great Paul Simon to P. Diddy and everything in between.
3. 1975: Bill and Hillary Clinton got married
Photo: bloomberg
Photo: pinterest
It was on this date in 1975 that Hillary Rodham and William Jefferson Clinton were married in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas. The two had met while attending Yale studying law in 1972. Apparently, the two had gone on a trip to London and found themselves on the shores of Lake Ennerdale when Bill proposed the first time, but Hillary said: “No, not right now”. Now as we all know now, Bill wasn’t one to give up easy so he was persistent in asking for Hillary’s hand in marriage. According to reports the reason she finally said yes was that not long after they graduated Hillary went back to Chicago to visit family. As Bill was taking her to the airport they passed by a red brick house that had a “For Sale” sign out front and her casually mentioned that it was a cute looking house. After being gone a few weeks she returned back to Arkansas where Bill greeted her by saying “do you remember that house you liked, well I bought it so now will you marry me? Such a smooth operator, how could she resist. They had a small ceremony with 15 of their closest friends in the living room of their new home, then following they hosted a much larger reception in the backyard for a few hundred people. That must’ve been some party.