Revisionist History (4/30) - Today: 1939 New York World's Fair Time Capsule
Also: Gal Gadot and Al Pacino in “Scent of a Wonder Woman.”
On this day in 1939, the New York World's Fair kicked off with a “World of Tomorrow” theme highlighting humankind’s ongoing “progress.” The exhibits included Elektro, a talking robot that “smoked” cigarettes, and the burying of the Westinghouse Time Capsule, not to be opened for 5,000 years … if Planet Earth survives humankind’s ongoing “progress.”
On this day in 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first U.S. president. His agent wisely cut him a deal to earn royalties each time a town, street, school or liquor store was named after him.
On this day in 1803, America doubled its size when Thomas Jefferson closed on the Louisiana Purchase, a "fixer-upper" he bought from some French realtors for $15 million. The French threw in a case of Bordeaux, a dozen baguettes and the Statue of Liberty.
On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head; a rare example of a “good suicide.”
On this day in 1859, the first installment of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” was published after Dickens shifted the focus to London and Paris around the French Revolution, a significant rewrite from his initial “two cities” – Mogadishu and Timbuktu.
Today's Birthdays:
Jane Campion, 70: filmmaker, won Best Director Oscar for “The Power of the Dog,” part of a trilogy that includes “The PowerPoint Presentation of the Dog” and the Tarantino-esque “Power of the Reservoir Dog.”
Kirsten Dunst, 42: actress, starred in “Spider-Man,” “Little Women” and "Little Spider-Women." Earned an Oscar nomination for the controversial political thriller “The Power of the Dog Whistle.”
Gal Gadot, 39: actress, starred in “Wonder Woman” (2017) then played the superhero in several additional films, including opposite Al Pacino in “Scent of a Wonder Woman.”
Ana de Armas, 36: actress, earned an Oscar nomination for “Blonde” (2022), the fictionalized drama based on Marilyn Monroe; currently in talks to portray the tragic Hollywood bombshell again in “Toxic Misogynists Prefer Blondes.”