This Day…

1907 – Harry Houdini escapes from chains underwater in 57 seconds, at Aquatic Park in San Francisco, California.

1932 – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark, NJ, took about 19 hours.

1911 – “Mona Lisa” stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Perugia; recovered in 1913

1932 – Actress Bette Davis (24) weds musician Harmon Nelson (25)

1939 – “The Wizard of Oz”, American musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor, premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, starring Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch)

1930 – Animated character Betty Boop debuts in Max Fleischer’s cartoon “Dizzy Dishes”.

1950 – Florence Chadwick swims English Channel (13:23)

1924 – “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip by Harold Gray is 1st published in the New York Daily News

1892 – Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden‘s father and stepmother are murdered with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts; Borden is later arrested, tried and acquitted.

On August 1, 1911 the first rodeo was held at the race track grounds, however it was advertised as a Wild West Show. Since it ran for a whole week, “Red” Cornett called it “Big Week” and Frank Griffen wanted to call it “The California Rodeo.”