Wednesday, July 19, 1961: In-flight movies

Using a specially designed projector and screen, TWA is the first airline to show regular in-flight movies. On July 19, first-class passengers aboard a Boeing 707 jet flying from New York to Los Angeles watch "By Love Possessed," starring Lana Turner, Efrem Zembalist Jr., Jason Robards and Barbara Bel Geddes.

* "Strato-Cinema for Jet Passengers" (Science and Mechanics article, November 1961): @

* Newsreel on "Come September," another early selection for in-flight showings: @

* Newsreel on "Bachelor in Paradise," with star Bob Hope aboard flight: @

* Trailer for "By Love Possessed": @

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Monday, July 17, 1961: Easy Listening music

Billboard magazine begins ranking "Easy Listening" songs -- essentially, songs from the magazine's Top 100 without a real rock 'n' roll sound; Billboard would later describe them as "not too far out in either direction." (Up until then, such songs had been listed in an "Easy Listening" category under "Programming Guide.") The chart would undergo several name changes -- Middle-Road Singles, Pop-Standard Singles -- before being called Adult Contemporary in 1979.

* "The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Songs Ever" (from billboard.com): @

* "The Top 50 Adult Contemporary Artists Ever" (from billboard.com): @

* Listen to "The Boll Weevil Song" (by Brook Benton; the first song to be ranked #1): @

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Friday, July 14, 1961: 'Way Out'

The CBS television series "Way Out" is canceled after 14 episodes. Hosted by writer Roald Dahl, the episodes (a different one each week) usually featured elements of the bizarre and the macabre.

The photo at left, of actor Barry Morse, is from "Soft Focus," the July 7 episode. Here is an excerpt from Morse's autobiography: "The episode ... featured me as successful portrait photographer Peter Pell, who has discovered an extraordinary chemical. By retouching photos with this strange mixture, he is able to alter the pictures and change the actual faces of the living people. Long suspecting his young attractive wife, Louise (played by Joan Hotchkis), of committing adultery, he sets to work on her photo. Upon realizing that she has been rapidly aging, Louise surprises her husband, who has now been at work on his own photo. His new, youthful face reveals the truth to her. In a rage, she pours the fluid on his portrait -- a pool of it covering half the picture. Pell quickly tries to salvage the picture, but fails. When he looks up half his face has been erased! ... my make-up was accomplished by Dick Smith, who later became well known in the business for his work on 'Dark Shadows' and 'The Exorcist.' "

* Watch five episodes (unfortunately, "Soft Focus" is not among them): @

* Episode guide and synopses (from roalddahlfans.com): @

* More about the show (from roalddahlfans.com): @

* Roald Dahl official website: @

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Monday, July 10, 1961: 'Axis Sally'

After 12 years in prison, Mildred Gillars (aka "Axis Sally") is released from the women's reformatory in Alderson, West Virginia. During World War II, she was a radio announcer broadcasting propaganda from Berlin on behalf of Nazi Germany, "messages designed to heighten loneliness, fatigue and the futility of fighting Germany," in the words of her 1988 New York Times obituary. (Note: Rita Zucca, broadcasting from Rome, was also known as "Axis Sally.")

* Excerpts from broadcasts: @

* Stories from Charleston, W.V., newspapers (July 10-11): @ and @

* Articles from www.historynet.com: @ and @

* "Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany" (book by Richard Lucas): @

* Segments from "Talking History" radio program (scroll down to "World War II Radio Propaganda: Real and Imaginary"): @

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July 1961: 'The Challenge of Ideas'

Produced by the Defense Department's Army Pictorial Center for showing to the U.S. military, "The Challenge of Ideas" dramatizes the Communist threat to American ideals and global aims. Actors John Wayne and Helen Hayes are among those giving short testimonials; the film itself is introduced by Edward R. Murrow, the former CBS journalist who in January 1961 became head of the U.S. Information Agency. "The Challenge of Ideas" replaces two more controversial efforts at propaganda: "Operation Abolition" and "Communism on the Map," both of which were removed from the Pentagon's list of approved educational materials.

* Watch "The Challenge of Ideas": @

* Army Pictorial Center site: @

* Watch "Operation Abolition": @

* Time magazine article about "Operation Abolition" (March 1961): @

* More about San Francisco protests (blog post from May 1960 and subject of "Operation Abolition"): @

* Short biography of George Stuart Benson and his role in creating "Communism on the Map": @

* Life magazine article that mentions "Communism on the Map" (February 1962): @

* More about Murrow's "Harvest of Shame" (blog post from November 1960): @

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Undated: Soy sauce dispenser

Kikkoman Corp.'s new soy sauce bottle, designed by Kenji Ekuan, is so instantly recognizable -- and practical -- that it becomes a design classic. Also in 1961, Kikkoman introduces its teriyaki sauce, developed specificially for American customers. Teriyaki derives from the Japanese "teri" (gloss, luster) and "yaki" (roast).

* More about the bottle (from www.kikkoman.eu): @

* More about the bottle and Kikkoman (from www.strappingline.com): @

* Kikkoman USA website: @

* More about Kenji Ekuan: @

* Soy Sauce Museum: @

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Tuesday, July 4, 1961: K-19 nuclear accident

A leak develops in the cooling system of the K-19, a Soviet nuclear submarine, while it was on exercises in the North Atlantic near southern Greenland. A meltdown is averted, but the eight crew members who carried out repairs all died within three weeks of radiation poisoning; the rest of the crew also received substantial doses of radiation.

* Summary from National Geographic: @

* Excerpt from "Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines that Fought the Cold War" (book): @

* Pravda article: @

* "The Russian Northern Fleet: Nuclear submarine accidents": @

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Sunday, July 2, 1961: Ernest Hemingway dies

Author Ernest Hemingway, 61, kills himself with a shotgun blast to the head. His direct writing style, as well as his adventurous persona, made him one of the most famous authors of the 20th century.

* Short biography (from nobelprize.org): @

* The Hemingway Society: @

* The Ernest Hemingway Collection (at JFK presidential library): @

* timelesshemingway.com: @

* Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum (Key West, Fla): @

* Holdings at University of Delaware Library: @

* "Hemingway on War and Its Aftermath" (from the National Archives' Prologue magazine): @

* "The Old Man and the Sea" (September 1, 1952, Life magazine): @

* Selected audio: @

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Undated: Howard Finster

A rural Baptist preacher, Howard Finster begins creating sculptures and structures for what he called the Plant Farm Museum (later to be known as Paradise Gardens) on his property in Pennville, Ga. Over his lifetime he would create thousands of religious-themed works and be acclaimed as a true visionary.

* Official website: @

* finstersparadisegardens.org: @

* "This Southern Life" video: @

* Finster entry from New Georgia Encyclopedia: @

* Finster entry from Encyclopedia of Alabama: @

* Entry from American Studies at the University of Virginia: @

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Undated: Ford Gyron

The two-wheeled concept car, built by the Ford Motor Co., makes the rounds of auto shows in 1961 (Detroit, New York), though as a nonrunning prototype; it was never meant to see the open road.

From a March 31 story by UPI: "It would have a gyroscope for stability and might be powered by fuel cells instead of a regular engine. ... The car will hold two people in contoured seats which support not only the head and back but the upper part of the legs as well. It has no steering wheel. Instead it uses a dial with separate rings for automatic speed and steering control. The car could be steered from either seat because the dial is located in a console between the seats and the car has dual accelerator and brake pads. A 10-button panel, also located in the console, supposedly would control a built-in computer to help a motorist of the future 'program' a trip on a non-stop expressway."

* Summary, photos: @

* Entry from "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Automobiles": @

* More information (from Tucker Automobile Club of America bulletin board): @

* "When Dream Cars Collide With Real-World Demands" (New York Times, 2007): @

* Photo and video of Gyron toy car (made in Japan, battery-powered, remote-controlled): @ and @

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Undated: Roy Lichtenstein

In the summer of 1961, artist Roy Lichtenstein completes "Look Mickey," among his earliest contributions to the "Pop Art" movement. Lichtenstein often took inspiration from comic books, but in this case the image came from a Little Golden Book called "Donald Duck -- Lost and Found."

* National Gallery of Art pamphlet for youngsters (includes origins of "Look Mickey"): @

* "Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein" (websites comparing source materials to resulting works): @ and @

* More about the artist (from theartstory.org): @

* More about Pop Art: @ and @

* Roy Lichtenstein Foundation: @

* www.image-duplicator.com (search engine for Lichtenstein's works): @

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Sunday, June 25, 1961: Los Angeles International Airport

A dedication ceremony is held for the Los Angeles Jet Age Terminal Construction Project, an expansion of the airport. Among the new structures, the most notable was the futuristic-looking Theme Building (left), which housed a restaurant and observation deck. (People often mistook it for the control tower.) It remains a classic example of "Googie" architecture.

* More about Theme Building: @ and @

* More about Walt Disney Imagineers' work in 1990s on Theme Building: @

* 2010 New York Times article on Theme Building restoration: @

* "Los Angeles International Airport" (book): @

* Encounter Restaurant website: @

* Flight Path Learning Center and Museum: @

* Googie Architecture Online: @

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Friday, June 23, 1961: Antarctic Treaty

"Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only" -- so begins Article 1 of the Antarctic Treaty, which goes into effect after ratification by the 12 countries that were active in Antarctic science during the International Geophysical Year in 1957-58. (The treaty was originally signed on December 1, 1959). It goes on to say, "Freedom of scientific investigation ... shall continue" and "Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited."

* Complete text: @

* Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty: @

* Special Antarctica issue, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, December 1970: @

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Wednesday, June 21, 1961: Desalination plant

A seawater desalination plant in Freeport, Texas, becomes operational with President Kennedy "activating" it via remote control from the White House. The plant is capable of producing a million gallons of fresh water a day, to be used by Freeport residents and Dow Chemical. (Cartoon at left is by Art Bimrose of The Oregonian newspaper in Portland.)

* Kennedy's remarks: @

* "A Press Relations Report" (U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Saline Water, October 1961): @

* "History, Function, and Program of the Office of Saline Water" (director's report, July 1963): @

* Popular Science article (March 1961): @

* Life magazine article (June 30, 1961): @

* Time magazine article (Sept. 12, 1961): @

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Undated: 'The Prom: It's a Pleasure!'

Made by The Jam Handy Organization (and sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company), "The Prom: It's a Pleasure!" was an educational film about the prom night experience. Says amazon.com's editorial review: "From the phone call asking Junior Miss for the date, to the drop-off at the end of the night, this film details prom etiquette for the curious and uncouth teenager." (Note: the narrator and star of the film is America's Junior Miss, Mary Frances Luecke, who as Mary Frann would star as Bob Newhart's wife in the 1980s television comedy "Newhart.")

* Watch movie (from www.archive.org): @

* "Doing It for the Kids: Rebels and Prom Queens in the Cold War Classroom Film" (from Colloquy journal, Monash University, Australia): @

* "The American Dream in Postwar Classroom Films" (from DePaul University's School for New Learning): @

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