1.
Rose Parade
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The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Parade presented by Honda, is part of Americas New Year Celebration held in Pasadena, California each year on New Years Day. The parade includes flower-covered floats, marching bands, and equestrian units and is followed by the Rose Bowl college football game and it is produced by the nonprofit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. It is seen by millions more on television worldwide in more than 100 international territories and countries, the Rose Bowl is a college football game that was added in 1902 to help fund the cost of staging the parade. Since 2011, the parade has been sponsored by Honda, accordingly, the company has the parades first float, which like all floats, follows the parades theme. The 2017 parade featured 44 floats,19 equestrian units with approximately 400 horses, the Grand Marshals of the parade were Greg Louganis, Janet Evans and Allyson Felix. Members of Pasadenas Valley Hunt Club first staged the parade in 1890, since then the parade has been held in Pasadena every New Years Day, except when January 1 falls on a Sunday. In that case, it is held on the subsequent Monday and this exception was instituted in 1893, as organizers did not wish to disturb horses hitched outside Sunday church services. Many of the members of the Valley Hunt Club were former residents of the American East and Midwest and they wished to showcase their new California homes mild winter weather. At a club meeting, Professor Charles F, holder announced, In New York, people are buried in the snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear, lets hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise. So the club organized horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers, followed by foot races, polo matches, upon seeing the scores of flowers on display, the professor decided to suggest the name Tournament of Roses. Over the next few founding years, marching bands and motorized floats were added, by 1895, the event was too large for the Valley Hunt Club to handle, hence the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association was formed. Activities soon included ostrich races, bronco busting demonstrations, and an odd novelty race between a camel and an elephant, soon reviewing stands were built along the parade route and newspapers in Eastern Seaboard cities started to take notice of the event. Tournament House is the given the former home where the organization is headquartered. The first associated football game was played on January 1,1902, originally titled the Tournament East-West football game, it is considered to be the first Rose Bowl. The next game was not played until New Years Day 1916, the game derives its modern name from Rose Bowl Stadium, which was built for the 1923 game. In 2002 and 2006, the Granddaddy of em all was not held the day as the parade. Not all fans were pleased with the change, some thought the atmosphere, once the BCS title game was separated from the host bowl, it no longer affected the date of the Rose Bowl Game
2.
Forrest Gump
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Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, the film differs substantially from Winston Grooms novel, including Gumps personality and several events that were depicted. Principal photography took place in late 1993, mainly in Georgia, North Carolina, extensive visual effects were used to incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and to develop other scenes. A comprehensive soundtrack was featured in the film, using music intended to pinpoint specific time periods portrayed on screen and its commercial release made it a top-selling soundtrack, selling over twelve million copies worldwide. In 1995 it won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing. It also garnered other awards and nominations, including Golden Globes, Peoples Choice Awards. Since the films release varying interpretations have made of the films protagonist. In 1996, a restaurant, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The scene of Gump running across the country is referred to when real-life people attempt the feat. In 2011, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The plot is delivered in a number of flashbacks in the narrative of Forrest Gump as he sits at a bus stop with a suitcase full of mementos in Savannah. He initiates conversation with a stranger and recalls his childhood in Greenbow, Forrest is raised by a single mother who runs a bed and breakfast for travelling folk including at one point a young Elvis Presley, and has to wear leg braces to fix a crooked back. Despite having a diminished intellect, Forrest is admitted to school after his mother agrees to have sex with the principal. On his first day of school, Forrest meets Jenny Curran, the children bond, finding in each other a confidante and kindred spirit. With Jennys encouragement, Forrest runs away from a group of bullies, struggling until his leg braces break off and he features in the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door and listens to George Wallace. He then meets President John F. Kennedy as a member of the NCAA All-American team and they are sent to Vietnam under Lieutenant Dan Taylor. After four months of patrolling in rain, Bubba is killed during their first encounter, Lieutenant Dan sustains major injuries and loses both his legs. Forrest is wounded in the buttocks while saving members of his platoon—including Lieutenant Dan—and is awarded the Medal of Honor, while recovering from his wounds, Forrest discovers an aptitude for ping-pong, eventually playing against the Chinese in ping-pong diplomacy
3.
Walt Disney
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Walter Elias Walt Disney was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons, as a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors, several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing and he took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy, with Ub Iwerks, Walt developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success, he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, Disney became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons, the results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Bambi, furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella and Mary Poppins, in the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in 1955 he opened Disneyland. In 1965, he began development of theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city. Disney was a smoker throughout his life, and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed. Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private and he had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Although there have been accusations that he was racist or anti-semitic and his reputation changed in the years after his death, from a purveyor of homely patriotic values to a representative of American imperialism. Nevertheless, Disney is considered an icon, particularly in the United States. Walt Disney was born on December 5,1901, at 1249 Tripp Avenue and he was the fourth son of Elias Disney—born in the Province of Canada, to Irish parents—and Flora, an American of German and English descent. Aside from Disney, Elias and Calls sons were Herbert, Raymond and Roy, in 1906, when Disney was four, the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land. In Marceline, Disney developed his interest in drawing when he was paid to draw the horse of a neighborhood doctor. Elias was a subscriber to the Appeal to Reason newspaper, Disney also began to develop an ability to work with watercolors and crayons. He lived near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line and he and his younger sister Ruth started school at the same time at the Park School in Marceline in late 1909. In 1911, the Disneys moved to Kansas City, Missouri, before long, he was spending more time at the Pfeiffers house than at home
4.
Medal of Honor
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The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U. S. Congress. There are three versions of the medal, one for the Army, one for the Navy, personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version. U. S. awards including the Medal of Honor do not have titles and while there is no official abbreviation. The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States armed forces, because the medal is presented in the name of Congress, it is often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, the name is Medal of Honor, which began with the U. S. Armys version. Within United States Code the medal is referred to as the Medal of Honor, in 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as National Medal of Honor Day. The capture saved the fort of West Point from the British Army, although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. 539 Certificates were approved for this period and this medal was later replaced by the Army Distinguished Service Medal which was established on January 2,1918. Those Army members who held the Distinguished Service Medal in place of the Certificate of Merit could apply for the Army Distinguished Service Cross effective March 5,1934. There were no awards or medals at the beginning of the Civil War except for the Certificate of Merit which was awarded for the Mexican-American War. Scott however, was strictly against medals being awarded which was the European tradition, after Scott retired in October 1861, the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, adopted the idea of a decoration to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. Senator James W. Secretary Wells directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new military decoration, on May 15,1862, the United States Navy Department ordered 175 medals with the words Personal Valor on the back from the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia. Senator Henry Wilson, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, the resolution was approved by Congress and signed into law on July 12,1862. During the war, Townsend would have some medals delivered to recipients with a letter requesting acknowledgement of the Medal of Honor. By mid-November the War Department contracted with Philadelphia silversmith William Wilson and Son, the Army version had The Congress to written on the back of the medal. Both versions were made of copper and coated with bronze, which gave them a reddish tint,1863, Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration. On March 3, Medals of Honor were authorized for officers of the Army, the Secretary of War first presented the Medal of Honor to six Union Army volunteers on March 25,1863 in his office. 1890, On April 23, the Medal of Honor Legion is established in Washington,1896, The ribbon of the Army version Medal of Honor was redesigned with all stripes being vertical
5.
Shirley Temple
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Shirley Temple Black was an American actress, singer, dancer, businesswoman and diplomat who was most notable as Hollywoods number one box-office star from 1935 to 1938. As an adult, she was named United States ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia, Shirley Temple began her film career in 1932 at age 3. In 1934, she found fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. Licensed merchandise that capitalized on her image included dolls, dishes. Her box-office popularity waned as she reached adolescence and she appeared in a few films of varying quality in her mid-to-late teens, and retired from films in 1950 at the age of 22. Temple returned to business in 1958 with a two-season television anthology series of fairy tale adaptations. She made guest appearances on shows in the early 1960s. She sat on the boards of corporations and organizations including The Walt Disney Company, Del Monte Foods, in 1988, she published her autobiography, Child Star. Temple was the recipient of awards and honors, including the Kennedy Center Honors. She is 18th on the American Film Institutes list of the greatest female American screen legends of Classic Hollywood cinema, Shirley Temple was born on April 23,1928, in Santa Monica, California. She was the child of Gertrude Amelia Temple, a homemaker, and George Francis Temple. The family was of English, German, and Dutch ancestry and she had two brothers, George Francis, Jr. and John Stanley. The family moved to Brentwood, Los Angeles and her mother supported her young daughters singing, dancing, and acting talents, and in September 1931, enrolled her in Meglins Dance School in Los Angeles. About this time, her mother began styling her daughters hair in ringlets, while at Meglins, she was spotted by Charles Lamont, a casting director for Educational Pictures. Although Shirley hid behind the piano while in the studio, Lamont took a shine to her, invited her to audition, Educational Pictures were about to launch their Baby Burlesks, multiple short films satirizing recent film and political events, using preschool children in every role. Baby Burlesks was a series of one-reelers, another series of two-reelers called Frolics of Youth followed, with Shirley playing Mary Lou Rogers, to underwrite production costs at Educational, she and her child co-stars modeled for breakfast cereals and other products. She was lent to Tower Productions for a role in her first feature film in 1932 and, in 1933, to Universal, Paramount. After Educational Pictures declared bankruptcy in 1933, her father purchased her contract for $25, while walking out of the viewing of her last Frolics of Youth picture, Fox Film songwriter Jay Gorney saw the little girl dancing in the movie theater lobby
6.
Buzz Aldrin
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Buzz Aldrin is an American engineer and former astronaut. As the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, he was one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, and the person to walk on it. He set foot on the Moon at 03,15,16 on July 21,1969 and he is a former U. S. Air Force officer with the Command Pilot rating. Aldrin was born January 20,1930, in Mountainside Hospital, in Glen Ridge and his parents were Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr. a career military man, and Marion Aldrin, who lived in neighboring Montclair. He is of Scottish, Swedish, and German ancestry, Aldrin was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Tenderfoot Scout. The nickname Buzz originated in childhood, the younger of his two elder sisters mispronounced brother as buzzer, and this was shortened to Buzz, Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988. Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft, the June 8,1953, issue of Life magazine featured gun camera photos taken by Aldrin of one of the Soviet pilots ejecting from his damaged aircraft. That same year, he graduated from the Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and he flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in the 22d Fighter Squadron. In January 1963, Aldrin earned a Sc. D. degree in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, if only I could join them in their exciting endeavors. On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut, Aldrin was selected as a member of the third group of NASA astronauts in October 1963. Because test pilot experience was no longer a requirement, this was the first selection for which he was eligible, after the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to backup crew for the mission. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission and he set a record for EVA, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft. Aldrin was chosen for the crew of Apollo 11 and made the first lunar landing with commander Neil Armstrong on July 20,1969. The next day, Aldrin became the person to walk on the Moon. Aldrins first words on the Moon were Beautiful view, then, in response to Armstrong asking, Isnt it magnificent. He was also the first person to urinate while on the Moon, there has been speculation about the extent of Aldrins desire at the time to be the first astronaut to walk on the Moon and its impact on his pre-flight, in-mission and post-flight actions. Also, Armstrong was the Mission Commander, and other astronauts who would command later Apollo missions were not sympathetic to Aldrins views
7.
Jackie Robinson
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Jack Roosevelt Jackie Robinson was an American professional baseball second baseman who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15,1947. The Dodgers, by signing Robinson, heralded the end of segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, Robinson had an exceptional 10-year baseball career. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers 1955 World Series championship, in 1997, MLB universally retired his uniform number,42, across all major league teams, he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new tradition, Jackie Robinson Day, for the first time on April 15,2004. Robinsons character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the basis of segregation which then marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement, Robinson also was the first black television analyst in MLB, and the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full oNuts. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, in recognition of his achievements on and off the field, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom. Robinson was born on January 31,1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo and he was the youngest of five children born to Mallie and Jerry Robinson, after siblings Edgar, Frank, Matthew, and Willa Mae. His middle name was in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt, after Robinsons father left the family in 1920, they moved to Pasadena, California. The extended Robinson family established itself on a residential plot containing two small houses at 121 Pepper Street in Pasadena, Robinsons mother worked various odd jobs to support the family. Growing up in poverty in an otherwise affluent community, Robinson. As a result, Robinson joined a gang, but his friend Carl Anderson persuaded him to abandon it. In 1935, Robinson graduated from Washington Junior High School and enrolled at John Muir High School, recognizing his athletic talents, Robinsons older brothers Mack and Frank inspired Jackie to pursue his interest in sports. At Muir Tech, Robinson played several sports at the varsity level and lettered in four of them, football, basketball, track and he played shortstop and catcher on the baseball team, quarterback on the football team, and guard on the basketball team. With the track and field squad, he won awards in the broad jump and he was also a member of the tennis team. In late January 1937, the Pasadena Star-News newspaper reported that Robinson for two years has been the athlete at Muir, starring in football, basketball, track, baseball
8.
Louis Zamperini
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Louis Silvie Louie Zamperini was a US prisoner of war survivor in World War II, a Christian evangelist and an Olympic distance runner. Zamperini took up running in high school and qualified for the US in the 5000m race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and he finished 8th in the event. In 1941 he was commissioned into the United States Army Air Forces as a Lieutenant and he served as a bombardier in B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission, mechanical difficulties forced Zamperinis plane to crash in the ocean, after drifting at sea for 46-47 days he landed on the Japanese occupied Marshall Islands and was captured. He was taken to a camp in Japan where he was tortured. Following the war he initially struggled to overcome his ordeal, later he became a Christian Evangelist with a strong belief in forgiveness. Zamperini is the subject of two films, the 2014 Unbroken and the 2015 Captured by Grace. Zamperini was born January 26,1917 in Olean, New York, to Anthony Zamperini and Louise Dossi and he had an older brother named Pete and two younger sisters, Virginia and Sylvia. He was raised in a strict Catholic household, the family moved to Torrance, California, in 1919, where Louis attended Torrance High School. Zamperini and his family spoke no English when they moved to California and his father taught him how to box in self-defense. Soon he claimed to be beating the tar out of one of them. He added, but I was so good at it that I started relishing the idea of getting even, I was sort of addicted to it. To stop him getting into trouble, his older brother Pete got Zamperini involved in the school track team where Pete was already a star. Pete took Louis on training runs, at the end of his freshman year, he finished 5th in the All City C-division 660-yard dash. It was the recognition, nobody in school, except for a few of my buddies, then, as I started winning races, other kids called me by name. Pete told me I had to quit drinking and smoking if I wanted to do well, I decided that summer to go all out. I wouldnt even have a milkshake, after a summer of running in 1932, starting with his first cross-country race, and throughout the last three years of high school, Zamperini was undefeated. He started beating his brothers records, in 1934, Zamperini set a world interscholastic record for the mile, clocking in at 4,21.2 minutes at the preliminary meet to the California state championships
9.
Allyson Felix
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Allyson Michelle Felix is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters,200 meters, and 400 meters. At 200 meters, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a 3-time World champion, at 400 meters, she is the 2015 World champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist. She has won five additional Olympic gold medals as a member of the United States womens relay teams, the 2012 U. S. Olympic 4 x 100 meters team also set the womens 4x100 meters world-record that still stands. Felixs 200 meters best of 21.69 secs from 2012, in 2013, she broke the world best for the rarely contested 150 meters distance, running 16.36 secs.72. As a participant in the US Anti-Doping Agencys Project Believe program and she is coached by Bobby Kersee. Her older brother Wes Felix is also a sprinter, also running the 200 m, he was the USA Junior Champion in 2002 and the Pac-10 champion in 2003 and 2004 while running for USC. Wes now acts as the agent for his sister, Felix describes her running ability as a gift from God, For me, my faith is the reason I run. I definitely feel I have this gift that God has blessed me with. But Felixs slightness was at seeming odds with her speed on the track and strength in the gym and she credits much of her success to her coach, Samson Young. Felix began to discover her athletic talents after she tried out for track in the ninth grade, just ten weeks after that first tryout, she finished ninth in the 200 m at the CIF California State Meet. In the coming seasons, she became a winner at the meet. In 2003 she was named the national girls High School Athlete of the Year by Track, as a senior, Felix finished second in the 200 m at the US Indoor Track & Field Championships. A few months later, in front of 50,000 fans in Mexico City, she ran 22.11 seconds, Felix graduated in 2003, making headlines by forgoing college eligibility to sign a professional contract with Adidas. Adidas paid her a sum and picked up her college tuition at the University of Southern California. She has since graduated with a degree in elementary education.18, Felix became the youngest gold medalist sprinter in the 200 meters at the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 and then successfully defended her title at Osaka two years later. At Osaka, Felix caught Jamaican Veronica Campbell on the bend and surged down the straight to finish in 21.81 seconds, after the final she stated that I feel so good, I am so excited. I have been waiting for so long to run such a time and it has not been an easy road, but finally I managed, said Felix. At that time, she addressed her future, saying, My next goal is not the world record, I want to take it step by step
10.
Bill Cosby
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William Henry Bill Cosby, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, and singer. Cosbys start in comedy began at the hungry i in San Francisco and was followed by his landing a starring role in the 1960s television show I Spy. He was also a regular on the television series The Electric Company during the shows first two seasons. Throughout the 1970s, Cosby starred in a number of films, after attending Temple University in the 1960s, he received his bachelors degree there in 1971. In 1973, he received a degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His dissertation discussed the use of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids as a tool in elementary schools. The sitcom highlighted the experiences and growth of an affluent African-American family, Cosby has been the subject of publicized sexual assault allegations since about 2000. He surrendered to authorities on December 30,2015, and was released on $1 million bail, Cosby is scheduled to go on trial on or before June 5,2017. Cosby was born on July 12,1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he is one of four sons of Anna Pearl, a maid, and William Henry Cosby Sr. who served as a mess steward in the U. S. Navy. During much of Cosbys early childhood, his father was away in the U. S. armed forces, as a student, he described himself as a class clown. Cosby was the captain of both the team and the track and field team at Mary Channing Wister Public School in Philadelphia. Early on, though, teachers noted his propensity for clowning around rather than studying, at FitzSimons Junior High School, Cosby began acting in plays as well as continuing his devotion to playing sports. Cosby went on to Philadelphias Central High School, a magnet and academically rigorous university prep school where he played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track. In addition, Cosby was working before and after school, selling produce, shining shoes and he transferred to Germantown High School, but failed the tenth grade. Instead of repeating, he got a job as an apprentice at a repair shop, which he liked. In 1956, Cosby enlisted in the Navy, serving at the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland and at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. During his four years in the Navy, Cosby served as a Hospital Corpsman working in therapy with Navy. He finished his equivalency diploma via correspondence courses and was awarded a track, there, he studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the universitys football team
11.
Fred Rogers
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WQED developed his own show in 1968 and it was distributed nationwide by Eastern Educational Television Network. Over the course of three decades on television, Fred Rogers became an icon of American childrens entertainment and education and he was also known for his advocacy of various public causes. Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, some forty honorary degrees, and he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, was recognized by two Congressional resolutions, and was ranked No.35 among TV Guides Fifty Greatest TV Stars of All Time. Several buildings and artworks in Pennsylvania are dedicated to his memory, Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania,40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, to James and Nancy Rogers, he had one sister, Elaine. Early in life, he spent much of his time with his maternal grandfather, Fred McFeely. He would often sing along as his mother would play the piano, Rogers graduated from Latrobe High School. He studied at Dartmouth College, then transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, Rogers was also a trained general aviation pilot. At Rollins, he met Sara Joanne Byrd, an Oakland, Florida native and they had two sons, James and John. Rogers was red–green color blind, swam every morning, and neither smoked nor drank and he was a vegetarian on ethical grounds, stating I dont want to eat anything that has a mother. Despite recurring rumors, he never served in the military and his office at WQED Pittsburgh famously did not have a desk, only a sofa and armchairs, because Rogers thought a desk was too much of a barrier. Fred Rogers had a moment when he first saw television in his parents home. He entered seminary after college, but, after his first experience as a viewer and he thus applied for a job at NBC in New York City in 1951 and then worked on musical programs including Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and The Voice of Firestone. He also worked on Gabby Hayes show for children, ultimately, Rogers decided that commercial televisions reliance on advertisement and merchandising undermined its ability to educate or enrich young audiences, so he quit NBC. In 1954, he began working at WQED, a Pittsburgh public television station, Rogers began wearing his famous sneakers when he found them to be quieter than his work shoes as he moved about behind the set. The show won a Sylvania Award for best childrens show and was briefly broadcast nationally on NBC, during his off hours, he would leave the WQED studios during his lunch breaks to study theology at the nearby Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Rogers, however, was not interested in preaching, and, after his ordination and he had also done work at the University of Pittsburghs program in Child Development and Child Care. Many of his famous set pieces—Trolley, Eiffel Tower, the tree, Mr. Dressup also used some of the songs that would be featured on Rogers later program. The two of them co-starred on Butternut Square on CBC TV between October 19,1964, and February 10,1967
12.
Mary Pickford
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Gladys Louise Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress, writer, director, and producer. She was a co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Known in her prime as Americas Sweetheart and the girl with the curls, Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her name and she was awarded the second ever Academy Award for Best Actress for her first sound film role in Coquette and also received an honorary Academy Award in 1976. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute ranked Pickford as 24th in its 1999 list of greatest female stars of classic Hollywood Cinema, Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892 at 211 University Avenue, A Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her father, John Charles Smith, was the son of English Methodist immigrants and her mother, Charlotte Hennessey, was of Irish Catholic descent and worked for a time as a seamstress. She had two siblings, Charlotte, called Lottie, and John Charles, called Jack, who also became actors. To please her husbands relatives, Pickfords mother baptized her children as Methodists, John Charles Smith was an alcoholic, he abandoned the family and died on February 11,1898, from a fatal blood clot caused by a workplace accident when he was a purser with Niagara Steamship. When Gladys was age four, her household was under infectious quarantine and their devoutly Catholic maternal grandmother asked a visiting Roman Catholic priest to baptize the children. Pickford was at this time baptized as Gladys Marie Smith, Charlotte Smith began taking in boarders after being widowed. One of these was a stage manager. At his suggestion, Gladys was given two roles, one as a boy and the other as a girl, in a stock company production of The Silver King at Torontos Princess Theatre. She subsequently acted in many melodramas with Torontos Valentine Company, finally playing the child role in their version of The Silver King. By the early 1900s, theatre had become a family enterprise, Gladys, her mother and two younger siblings toured the United States by rail, performing in third-rate companies and plays. After six impoverished years, Pickford allowed one more summer to land a role on Broadway. In 1906 Gladys, Lottie and Jack Smith supported singer Chauncey Olcott on Broadway in Edmund Burke, Gladys finally landed a supporting role in a 1907 Broadway play, The Warrens of Virginia. The play was written by William C. deMille, whose brother, Cecil, David Belasco, the producer of the play, insisted that Gladys Smith assume the stage name Mary Pickford. After completing the Broadway run and touring the play, however, on April 19,1909, the Biograph Company director D. W. Griffith screen-tested her at the companys New York studio for a role in the nickelodeon film, Pippa Passes
