MARILYN MONROE SINGS "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" TO JFK
President John F. Kennedy was serenaded tonight, at New York City's Madison Square Garden, by one of the most glamorous movie stars in Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe.
Miss Monroe, dressed in a skin-tight, flesh-colored, rhinestone studded dress, sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in a sultry, sexy voice.*
*The show's director put in a call to the President after rehearsal saying he feared Marilyn's style of singing "Happy Birthday" would be too "steamy".
JFK told him not to worry & to let her perform it the way she wanted.
The 15,000 in attendance were left aghast by both the dress & the performance.
Monroe sang another number with the words changed "Thanks for the Memories":
"Thanks, Mr. President
For all the things you've done
The battles that you won
The way you deal with US Steel
And our problems by the ton
We thank you so much."
After the songs, President Kennedy came to the podium & said:
"I can now retire from politics after having had 'Happy Birthday' sang to me in such a sweet, wholesome way."
In 1999, Paul Rudnick wrote in Time Magazine:
"Marilyn Monroe's tabloid appeal is infinite. At her peak, Monroe was very much like Coca Cola or Levi's - she was something wonderfully & impressively American."
(www.time.com)*
*Marilyn Monroe died on August 5, 1962 at the age of 36.
Marilyn Monroe
On the cover of "Yank Magazine"
June 26, 1945
Photo by David Conover, US Army
May 19, 1965
PETE TOWNSHEND WRITES "MY GENERATION"
Peter Townshend, lead guitarist for the British rock group "The Who," has written a song about his own generation of rebellious youth known as "Mods".
Townshend, who also celebrates his 20th birthday today, says that he wrote the lyrics of the song as he was riding on a train from London to Southampton.
The song is an expression of the generation gap between youth & their parents.*
*"Talkin 'bout my generation" follows each line
"Why don't you all fade away
And don't try to dig what we all say
People try to put us down
Just because we get around
Things they do look awful cold
I hope I die before I get old."*
*Rolling Stone named "My Generation" the 11th greatest of 500 great rock n roll songs.
Pete Townshend in Hamburg
Lead Guitarist "The Who"
photo by Heinrich Klaffs (1972)
May 19, 1967
USSR RATIFIES TREATY BANNING NUKES IN SPACE
The Soviet Union today joined other countries of the world in signing the treaty which will ban the use of nuclear weapons in outer space.*
*This treaty follows the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which President Kennedy believed to be his greatest accomplishment in office. That treaty banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere & under water.
JFK Signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
October 7, 1963
Photograph by Robert Knudsen
Kennedy Library
