Good News in History, December 5

144 years ago today, Clyde Cessna was born. Founding the Cessna Aircraft Company in the 1920s, the company was one of the highest-volume and most diverse producers of general aviation aircraft in the world during the 20th century. Cessna’s interest in aviation began in 1910 after witnessing an aerial exhibition in his home state of Kansas. He moved to New York state to pursue a career in aviation, and built his first airplane at age 32. READ more about his innovations… (1879)

In 1911, he was determined to fly his primitive aeroplane called the “Silverwing” exclaiming after the 12th failed flight attempt that he would “fly this thing, then burn it and have nothing more to do with aeroplanes”. But his perseverance paid off and he became the first man to build and fly a plane in the American heartland.

By 1917 he had himself a factory where he could build his advanced aeroplanes. He also set up a flight school where he could teach 5 pilots per year. On September 7, 1927, Cessna founded what would become the Cessna Aircraft Company, and his initial offerings the AW and CW-6 models became internationally valued.

Dying at a relatively young age, he was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1978 and the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 1983. Cessna produced its 100,000th single-engine airplane in 1975. The company survived the Great Recession, and in 2014 merged with Textron Aviation.

MORE Good News on this Date:

• 122 years ago today, the pioneering animator, writer, voice actor, and film producer Walt Disney was born in Chicago (1901)
• Prohibition, which made alcohol illegal in the United States, was overturned (1933)
• The National Council of Negro Women was formed by Mary McLeod Bethune in New York City (1935)
• New York became first US city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in the housing market, thanks to the Fair Housing Practices Law (1957)
• The Rolling Stones released their Beggar’s Banquet LP (1968)
• 37 years ago today, International Volunteer Day was declared by the United Nations to be December 5th (1986)
• The first civil partnership was registered in the UK under the new Civil Partnership Act (2005)

91 years ago today, Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as “Little Richard” was born. Sometimes called “The Architect of Rock and Roll,” his uptempo style of music helped cement the foundations of several kinds of electrified genres such as R&B, rock and roll, and funk.  

Young Richard Penninmen was inspired to pursue music through his admiration of gospel singers, a community that would eventually lead to his first performances—opening for Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 1947. His family had strict rules against all kinds of “devil music,” which eventually led to Richard leaving home, donning drag, and beginning to perform in small proto-R&B circuits.

From 1955, Richard began a barnstorming run of popular singles under Specialty Records. That year’s Tutti Frutti, one of Richard’s signature songs, became an instant hit, crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

His next hit single, Long Tall Sally, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart, followed by a rapid succession of 15 more in less than 3 years. By the time he left Specialty in 1959, Richard had scored a total of nine top 40 pop singles and seventeen top 40 R&B singles.

When inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it was stressed how the moniker of “Architect of Rock and Roll,” was duly issued to the man. But more importantly, he lent his musical genius and showmanship towards ending societal segregation, even while its legal counterpart remained intact. At his shows, whites and blacks entered segregated, then joined together to appreciate his performances and dynamite sound with dancing and joy. (1932)

22 years ago today, Ocean’s Eleven premiered on the big screen, a comedy heist drama starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the story follows Danny Ocean, an ex-felon, while he plans and executes a heist of $160 million from casino owner Terry Benedict (García), the lover of Ocean’s ex-wife (Roberts). His team of 11 thieves were played by the perfect ensemble cast, including Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, and Carl Reiner.

The film, with its surprise ending, was such a success at the box office (a worldwide gross of $450 million) and with critics that Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean’s Twelve in 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007. WATCH the epic trailer… (2001)

Happy Saint Nicholas Eve! Today is the day that is celebrated in the UK, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Netherlands, with children awaiting the arrival of Sinterklaas (in Dutch) or Santa Claus. Historically, Saint Nicholas, who lived in the 4th century, was deemed the patron saint of sailors, merchants, the falsely accused, thieves, children, and students.

68 years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama.

A seminal event in the civil rights movement in the United States, the campaign lasted for 1 year and 16 days — beginning the Monday after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person—to December 20, 1956, when the federal ruling Browder v. Gayle took effect, and led to a US Supreme Court decision that declared any law that segregated buses to be unconstitutional. (1955)

89 years ago today, Joan Didion, the American essayist and author was born. In 1991 she became the earliest mainstream media writer to suggest the Central Park Five had been wrongfully convicted.

She won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her autobiography The Year of Magical Thinking. She later enjoyed branching out by adapting the book into a Broadway play. In 2017, Didion was profiled in the Netflix documentary The Center Will Not Hold. (1934)

And, on this day in 1973, Paul McCartney released his most successful post-Beatles album Band on the Run. The majority of the LP was recorded at a ramshackle and under-equipped studio in Lagos, Nigeria in six weeks, during which he and his wife Linda were mugged at knife point while on a walk. Two members of his band Wings had quit the night before the flight, which made Paul more determined for success than ever. So McCartney ended up playing drums, bass, and lead guitar parts, with Linda on keyboards and Denny Laine on rhythm guitar. Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick recorded on just 8 tracks and when they all returned to London, the orchestral arrangements were taped at George Martin’s studio in a single day, conducted by Tony Visconti, who collaborated with Paul to write them in just 72 hours—including the 60-person orchestra for the title track. Both the songs Jet and Band on the Run became international chart-toppers.

The LP cover photo included four famous non-musicians, including actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee. And so began a period of public acclaim that reached its zenith with the Wings Over America Tour in 1976. Eventually the LP was certified triple platinum and sold 6 million copies worldwide, becoming EMI’s top selling album of the 1970s in the UK. WATCH a video about the LP’s making…

(WATCH Part 2 on YouTube)

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