Revisionist History (7/12): Bullets fly at Family Feud; Disco promo triggers riot at Chicago ballpark
Birthday creep Bill Cosby (87 today) jokes about giving women “Spanish Fly” sex drug
Today’s Birthdays:
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2019): artist, best known for his 1948 painting of a woman sitting in a field gazing up at a house while contemplating a dystopian future ruled by Big Brother and the Thought Police, “Christina's Brave New World.”
Bill Cosby, 87: disgraced comedian who drugged and sexually assaulted women; joked about drugging women with Spanish Fly in his 1969 comedy album “It’s True. It’s True.” (Video: Cosby talking about Spanish Fly in a 1991 Larry King interview)
Cheryl Ladd, 72: actress; starred in the black-and-white silent film series, “Charlie Chaplin’s Angels.”
Today’s History
On this day in 1976, popular game show “Family Feud” began airing on ABC. However, gunfire broke out moments after host Richard Dawson introduced the two competing families, the Hatfields and the McCoys.
On this day in 1543, King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr. Because the king had killed two of his previous five wives, Parr insisted on a pre-nup that included a “no beheading” clause.
On this day in 1979, the Chicago White Sox hosted the infamous “Disco Demolition” riot. The Sox packed Comiskey Park with rowdy rock fans, then blew up a dumpster full of disco records between games of a double-header as fans stormed the field starting fights and fires, leading to 39 arrests and a forfeit of the second game. Fortunately, Donna Summer and the Bee Gees were not burned at the stake.