1. 1959: Barbie is introduced to america at New York toy fair
Ruth Handler with 40th Anniversary Barbie in 1999
PHOTO: DenverPost
PHOTO: DeliaTaylor
Ruth Handler is the considered the creator of the global Icon Barbie Dolls that were released on this day in 1959 at a Toy Fair in New York City. Handler was the co-founder of the Mattel Toy company and when she saw a doll named Lilli in Europe that has grown popular with children she decided she had to have it. Interestingly the Lilli doll had adult female features that were originally marketed as a gag gift to be sold to men in cigarette shops before being sold to kids. Handler made changes to the doll and named her Barbie, after her daughter Barbara, and immediately a star was born. At 11 inches tall and long flowing blonde hair she was a hit for pretty much every little girl in the world. While Barbie has brought joy to so many and back in those days made such an impact on gender roles in America with Barbie’s many different Job titles Doctors and Lawyers, she also has had her fair share of controversy. Barbie has an incredibly slender frame and enormous boobs to the point that its been reported that if she was a full grown woman her measurements would be 36-18-38, which sounds like some sort of alien looking woman, and that portrays a terrible message to young girls giving them false representation as to what society is going to expect from women. Still to this day Barbies are flying off the shelves, Mattel claims that over 1 billion have been sold and that 3 Barbies are sold every second. That’t mind boggling when you stop and think about it.
2. 1964: First Ford Mustang rolls off assembly line
PHOTO: BestReviewCars
On this Day in 1964 the very first Ford Mustang rolled off the assembly line and the pony car was born. Coming in a Wimbledon white convertible with a blue top and a 260 cubic inch motor the first Mustang was a work of art. Although many have tried to locate that exact car they have been unsuccessful. Lee Iacocca, vice president and general manager of Ford Division, was the brainchild behind the Mustang and the way him and his team marketed the Mustang was nothing short of brilliant. The Mustang went on sale April 17th and the day before Ford ran simultaneous ads on all three major networks CBS, ABC and NBC at 9:30pm. On the day of the sale people flocked to Ford Dealerships all over the country and at the end of the day 22,000 Mustangs had been sold.
3. 1997: Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls Notorious BIG is shot and killed in L.A.
PHOTO: GlobalGrind
Last Known Picture of Biggie. He was shot moments later.
PHOTO: Feelnumb
Wallace was out in LA in 1997 to promote the new album he was getting ready to release on March 25th called Life After Death and to film the video for his new hit single “Hypnotize”. On March 7th he was at the Soul Train Awards presenting an award to Toni Braxton and he was booed by some people in the audience. Later that night he attended an after party that had everyone from P.Diddy and Faith Evans to members from the Bloods and Crip street gangs. The next night as Biggie and his entourage pile into the Chevy Suburban they stopped at a red light at the corner of Wilshire Blvd & South Fairfax Ave. Apparently at that time a dark colored Impala SS pulled up along side the SUV, he was wearing a Blue Suit and a bow tie and he pulled out a 9mm Pistol and fired 4 shots at the SUV then took off. Wallace’s friends immediately took him to the hospital but as of 1:15am he was pronounced dead. According to the autopsy if had only been shot 3 times he may have lived. It was the fourth bullet that hit in him the hip and went through his major organs and stopped in his shoulder that actually killed him. There was and still is major controversy regarding Biggies death, especially since it was just six months after Tupac Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas. Here we are almost 20 years later and still neither case has been solved. It was no secret that there was a feud going on between West Coast and East Coast rappers at the time but there hasn’t been any connection as of yet.