REALLY BIG SHOWS

August 15 in history:

Some big events in show business on this date…

“The Wizard of Oz” had its Hollywood premiere on August 15th, 1939, at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Ed Sullivan introduced the Beatles at their Shea Stadium concert in New York on this date in 1965.  More than 50,000 fans attended, with tickets priced from $4.50 to $5.65.

The advance ticket price was $6 a day for the Woodstock Music Festival in New York state, which drew much more than 50,000 music fans. Woodstock began on August 15th, 1969, and lasted until the early morning of August 18th.

The Stevie Wonder hit “My Cherie Amour” was a top-ten song on the Billboard charts the week of the Woodstock festival.  The record was featured in the 2012 movie “Silver Linings Playbook,” for which Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar for best actress.  Lawrence, also known for playing Katniss in the movie version of the novel “The Hunger Games,” was born on this date in 1990.

On the same night in 2013 that Jennifer Lawrence won her Oscar, Ben Affleck accepted the Best Picture award as a producer of the film “Argo,” which he also directed and starred in. Affleck, born August 15th, 1972, previously won an Oscar for writing “Good Will Hunting” with Matt Damon.

SPORTS IN NEW YORK

April 17th in history:

April 17th was a big day in Mickey Mantle’s baseball career.  Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees on April 17th, 1951, at Yankee Stadium, and even scored a run against the Red Sox.  Two years later, on April 17th, 1953, Mantle swatted a 565-foot home run for the Yankees in a game against the Senators at Washington.

Two reasons why April 17th, 1964, was a notable day in New York: at the World’s Fair, Ford introduced the Mustang, and in Flushing Meadows, Shea Stadium opened. It was the home field of the New York Mets for 45 years, and of the New York Jets football team for 20 years.

Norman “Boomer” Esiason was a quarterback for the Jets, the Bengals, and other teams before becoming a sports broadcaster. He was born in the state of New York on this date in 1961.