No iceberg needed...
Hold the iceberg, the weight of the 11 Oscars alone would have sunk the "Titanic". By winning 11 Oscars, the movie takes its place alongside "Ben-Hur" and "The Lord of the Rings [The Return of the King]", with 11 Academy Awards. The only awards that were nominated but didn't win were Kate Winslet for "Best Actress", Gloria Stuart for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" and "Best Makeup" [I'd list the names but unless you're one of their parents, you wouldn't know them anyway]...
The 70th Academy Awards was hosted by the always funny Billy Crystal who parodied "Titanic" in the opening of the show. No surprises here about the movie winning multiple awards. The only surprise was in the number of awards...
The movie premiered on December 19, 1997 [see my December 19th blog in the archives for more on the film]. The Academy Awards were presented on this date in 1998...
More March 23 Memories...
1775] Patrick Henry calls for America's independence from Britain, telling the Virginia Provincial Convention: "Give me liberty or give me death"...
1839] The 1st recorded use of "OK" is used in the Boston Morning Post...
1857] Elisha Otis installs the 1st modern passenger elevator in a public building at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway in Manhattan...
1858] Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patents the cable streetcar [and is then promptly escorted out of his neighborhood for having the first name, "Eleazer"]
1901] Dame Nellie Melba reveals the secret of her now famous toast [and if you think we're going to share that secret, think again friend]...
1903] The Wright Brothers obtain an airplane patent...
1942] During WWII, the U.S. government begins evacuating Japanese-Americans from West Coast homes to detention centers...
1950] "Beat the Clock" premieres on CBS-TV, hosted by Bud Collyer [the original show will run through February 16, 1958 when the show switches to ABC-TV until January 11, 1961. A syndicated version hosted by Jack Narz and then Gene Wood will run from 1969 to 1975 and then Monty Hall revives the show for one season in September of 1979]...
1961] Elvis Presley records "Can't Help Falling in Love"...
1963] The Beach Boys release "Surfin' U.S.A."...
1970] Mafia Boss Carlo Gambino is arrested for plotting to steal $3 million...
1973] Yoko Ono is granted permission to live in the U.S. permanently [half of the tenants living in the Dakota ask to see their leases]...
1977] Hall & Oates are #1 with "Rich Girl"...
1981] Blondie, recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are #1 with "Rapture"...
1983] President Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative aka "Star Wars"...
1983] Dr. Barney Clark dies after living 112 days with a permanent artificial heart...
1983] The 1st song from "Thriller", "Billie Jean" is #1 for Michael Jackson...
1985] Billy Joel and his "Uptown Girl", Christie Brinkley exchange wedding vows...
1989] Joel Steinberg is sentenced to 25 years for killing his adopted daughter [he's been released and now lives in a halfway house in Manhattan, lucky us]...
1994] Wayne Gretzky breaks Gordie Howe's NHL career scoring record with his 802nd goal [hard to believe but it's true and if you don't believe me, you wanna bet ?]
1998] The movie "Titanic" ties a record with 11 Academy Awards [see feature story]...
2003] A U.S. Army maintenance convoy is abushed in Iraq, 11 soldiers are killed and 7, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch are captured...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
Happy Birthday To...
1922] Wacky Marty ["Hello dere"] Allen [of "Rossi & Martin"]...
1949] Ric Ocasek of the Cars, or "Cahhhhhs" in New England...
1953] Chaka Khan ["Chaka Kahn...Chaka Kahn...Chaka Kahn"]
1954] Basketball Hall of Famer Moses Malone...
1973] New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd...
[Today is the 82nd day of 2006 with 283 days remaining in the year and just 9 days until opening day]
