This Day…

1960 – Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh’s musical “Wildcat” with Lucille Ball premieres in New York City

1961 – “Let It Ride” closes at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC after 68 performances

1941 – Imperial Japanese Navy with 353 planes attack the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people

1848 – US President James K. Polk triggers gold rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California

1933 – Jack Kirkland’s play “Tobacco Road” premieres in NYC, became the longest-running play of its time

1903 – “The Great Train Robbery” the 1st Western film, released starring Justus D. Barnes and G. M. Anderson

1864 – Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado militia kills about 150 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians including Cheyenne chief One-Eye

1942 – “Casablanca” directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman premieres at Hollywood Theater, NYC (Academy Awards Best Picture 1943)

1950 – Frank Loesser‘s musical “Guys & Dolls”, starring Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, and Sam Levene, opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 1200 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards

1920 – Silent film “The Last of the Mohicans” released, adapted from James Fenimore Cooper‘s novel, starring Wallace Beery, Barbara Bedford