"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away"...
Each of the 6 Star Wars films opened with that same fairy tale line. There were actually 5 movies with the 1st movie re-released under a different title as the original Star Wars would become "Star Wars Episode IV; A New Hope" when it was re-released. Confusing ? You bet. I mean I gave up on the story timeline back in, oh I dunno, maybe 1980 when the second movie was released...
It seems to me that the cast of the original movie was the strongest as George Lucas introduced us to Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Chewbacca (what was the species of the hairy one anyway ?) and the robotic two-some of C-3PO and R2-D2. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher were hotter than Taylor Hicks in the late 70's...
Whether you were hooked on Star Wars or not you have to admit that this was one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons ever. In addition to theater box offices printing money with each ticket sold, there were Star Wars books, comics, video games, spin-off films, television series and on and on into that "galaxy far, far away"...
Okay, so how much money did (and still does) Star Wars rake in ? Forbes Magazine estimated the overall revenue generated by the entire Star Wars franchise since its start in 1977 at $20 billion. It might even be worth more than "American Idol"...
More May 25 Memories...
1787] The Constitutional Convention opens in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding...
1844] Stuart Perry patents the gasoline engine (just think how valuable a gasoline engine that can run on ethanol would be or am I asking for too much from Stewie ?)...
1844] The 1st telegraphed news dispatch, sent from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, appeared in the Baltimore Patriot. This was the message: ...-...-.-..-.-..-.-.-....-...-...
1925] John T. Scopes is indicted in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution...
1927] "Movietone News" is shown for the 1st time at the Sam Harris Theatre in New York City...
1935] Babe Ruth hits his 714th and final home run as a member of the Boston Braves (the blast reportedly went "more than 600 feet"...
1951] Future Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays debuts with the New York Giants...
1961] President Kennedy asks America to work toward putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade...
1962] The Isley Brothers release "Twist and Shout"...
1965] Cassius Clay (not Ali yet) retains his heavyweight championship with a one-round TKO of Sonny Liston (there were those in the crowd that felt this fight was fixed as they yelled "Fake, fake, fake")...
1968] The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is dedicated (I always thought a roller coaster from the top of the arch and running down each side would have been beyond great)...
1968] The Rolling Stones release "Jumpin' Jack Flash"...
1969] "Midnight Cowboy" premieres in New York...
1969] The Hollies record "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (on the piano is Elton John)...
1973] Carole King plays and sings in Central Park for an audience of 100,000...
1975] Freddy Fender is numero uno with "Before the Next Teardrop Falls"...
1977] "Star Wars" premieres as the largest grossing film to-date (feature story)...
1978] Keith Moon performs with The Who for the last time...
1979] An American Airlines DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International in Chicago killing all 271 on board and 2 on the ground...
1983] Irene Cara is #1 with "Flashdance...What a Feeling"...
1986] An estimated 7 million form a line for "Hands Across America" to raise money for the nation's hungry and homeless...
1988] After a run of 6 years, "St. Elsewhere" bows out with their final episode that turns into a dream seen in a snow globe by Dr. Westphall's autistic son. This series, one of my all-time favorites featured this cast: Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, Alfre Woodard, Howie Mandel and Ronny Cox (unbelievable!)...
1992] Jay Leno debuts as the new host of NBC-TV's "Tonight Show", succeeding Johnny Carson...
1994] Ranger captain Mark Messier makes good on a public guarantee, scoring 3 goals to lead the Rangers to a come from behind, 4-2 victory over the Devils. It marks the turning point in the series as the Broadway Blues will win this series 2 nights later and in 3 weeks the Rangers will win the Stanley Cup ending a drought that started in 1940...
2004] The Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese announces the closing of 65 of its 357 parishes because of financial problems caused by sex abuse...
2005] Carrie Underwood is named the "American Idol". The 22-year old Oklahoma native beats out rocker Bo Bice (and last night it was Taylor Hicks beating out Katharine McPhee)...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
1921] Hal David (how about that Burt Bacharach segment last night ?)...
1929] Beverly Sills (does anyone know why her nickname is "Bubbles" ?)...
1932] Celtic great and Baseketball Hall of Famer K.C. Jones...
1939] Dixie Carter ("Designing Women")...
1939] Ian ("Da Vinci Code", "Lord of the Rings") McKellen...
1943] Leslie Uggams...
1947] Karen Valentine...
1969] Mike Myers...
1969] Anne Heche...
1975] Lauryn (Fugees and solo) Hill...
[Today is the 145th day of 2006 with 220 days remaining in the year and just 4, count em, 4 days until Memorial Day)
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