Monday, June 6, 2005

 

Spotlight: The first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, NJ, on this date in 1933. Essentially an open field with a large screen, the audience would drive into the "theater," park next to a post which had a speaker attached to it, and view the movie from the car. Drive-ins were especially popular with parents who didn't want to have to pay extra money for a babysitter; it was common to see whole families in their cars, with the kids all in pajamas, watching the movie together.

Quote: "He's too nervous to kill himself. He wears his seat belt in a drive-in movie." – Neil Simon

Word of the day: retrophilia: a love of things of the past (retro objects); drive-in movie theaters are considered very retro. (© )

Holiday: Sweden's Flag Day (Gustavus I became king in 1523)

Today's News:

• Saddam: prosecutors to focus on 12 charges (story)
• Napoleon: died of arsenic poisoning, not stomach cancer (story)
• Australia: is its native flora taking over the world? (story)

Today's History:

• Chrysler Corp.: founded by Walter Percy Chrysler (1925)
• established: YMCA (1844), US Securities and Exchange Commission (1934)
• D-Day: Allied invasion of Normandy was launched (1944)

Today's Birthdays:

• Bjorn Borg: Swedish tennis star (49)
• Paul Giamatti: movie actor, American Splendor and Sideways (38)