… of television producer Norman Lear. He’s 84. Lear brought a revolution to TV when he introduced All in the Family in 1971. Sanford and Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Maude, One Day At a Time and other shows were also his.
… of Bugs Bunny, who made his first featured appearance in a cartoon released on this date in 1940, A Wild Hare. Bugs was modeled on Groucho Marx with a carrot instead of a cigar — and with a Brooklyn accent.
… of Bobbie Gentry; she is 62. No word yet on what it was she and Billy Joe threw off the Tallahatchee bridge.
… of Peggy Fleming, 58 today. Miss Fleming won her gold medal for figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
Baseball manager Leo Durocher was born 100 years ago today — “The Lip.” His Hall-of-Fame plaque reads in part:
COLORFUL, CONTROVERSIAL MANAGER FOR 24 SEASONS,
WINNING 2,008 GAMES, 7TH ON ALL-TIME LIST.
COMBATIVE, SWASHBUCKLING STYLE A CARRY-OVER
FROM 17 YEARS AS STRONG FIELDING SHORTSTOP FOR
MURDERERS ROW YANKS, GASHOUSE GANG CARDS, REDS
AND DODGERS. MANAGED CLUBS TO PENNANTS IN 1941
AND 1951 AND TO WORLD SERIES WIN IN 1954. 3-TIME
SPORTING NEWS MANAGER OF THE YEAR.
Durocher, who’s language was so salty he must have been from Deadwood, once recalled a remarkable home run by Willie Mays: “I never saw a f…ing ball go out of a f…ing park so f…ing fast in my f…ing life!”
The truce ending the Korean War was signed on this date in 1953. Read the report from The New York Times.
The first U.S. government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs (which became the Department of State), was established on this date in 1789.