This Day in (Revisionist) History - March 23
Today: Mussolini, Patrick Henry, John Belushi in "Samurai Night Fever"
Today's Birthdays:
Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998): legendary filmmaker, directed “Seven Samurai” and the Saturday Night Live sequel “Samurai Night Fever.” (Video: John Belushi doing his legendary samurai routine)
Chaka Khan, 71: singer, top hits include her 1975 Grammy-winning tune about a funky-sexy clairvoyant, “Foretell Me Something Good.”
Joan Crawford (1904-1977): teamed with Bette Davis in the 1962 psychological horror thriller about two aging sisters being driven insane by an annoying song, “Whatever Happened to Baby Shark?"
Keri Russell, 48: actress whose work in three cinematic franchises – Star Wars, Planet of the Apes and Mission: Impossible – led to a breakthrough role in the upcoming 2025 comedy “Mission Implausible: Obi-Wan Bonobo Strikes Back.”
Today’s Revisionist History:
On this day in 1775, Patrick Henry issued his famous plea for a glorious American revolution scored with a flamboyant piano soundtrack, stating “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Liberace or give me death!”
On this day in 1919, Benito Mussolini founded his precursor to the Fascist party, rallying supporters to the cause by stating "Give me Fascism, or give me death."
On this day in 1983, Barney Clark, the first human to receive an artificial heart, became the first patient to die of an artificial heart attack.
On this day in 1839, the term “O.K.” first appeared in a newspaper, the Boston Morning Post, beginning a linguistic journey that would see it become one of the most common slang abbreviations in the English language. The O.K. variation “okey-dokey” was made popular by Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand playing the polite police investigator Marge Gunderson in the 1996 dark comedy “Fargo.”