WARNER BROTHERS SIGNS PETER,PAUL & MARY
The folk music group, "Peter, Paul & Mary" has been signed to their 1st recording contract today by Warner Brothers.
Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey & Mary Travers were brought together by Greenwich Village's Albert Grossman, a co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival.
Grossman has successfully combined the "youthful good looks" of the group with the "political protest music" of today.
The group's debut album will appear later in the year & feature "If I Had A Hammer" & "Where Have All The Flowers Gone". They will release their biggest hit in 1963, "Blowin in the Wind" written by Bob Dylan.*
*Personal Note: Folk music was very popular when I was a teenager. In high school, I was part of a local folk group that we named "The Greenbriar Trio."
Although we patterned ourselves after the Kingston Trio, we performed some of the songs of Peter, Paul & Mary. I still have the Gibson guitar I played then.
January 29, 1964
"DR. STRANGELOVE" PREMIERS
The "black comic" film, "Dr. Strangelove" premiers today to both positive & negative reviews. The film is about a "rogue" US military officer who believes the communists are threatening Americans' bodily fluids.
Stanley Kubrick's "masterpiece" is critical of the polices of the superpowers including stockpiling of nuclear weapons & threats of massive nuclear retaliation.
January 29, 1968
LBJ WANTS $26.3 BILLION FOR VIETNAM WAR
Today, President Johnson has requested $26.3 billion to be appropriated by the congress for the continued war in Southeast Asia. He also calls for a tax increase to help pay for it.
The President has been given a positive report on the progress of the war by General William Westmoreland who recently said:
"...the end (of the Vietnam War) begins to come into view... (today the enemy) is certainly losing. The enemy's hopes are bankrupt."
January 29, 1979
CHINA & US SIGN ACCORDS IN WASHINGTON
Deputy Premier of the People's Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping, & President Jimmy Carter signed an agreement which will reverse decades of the American government's opposition to communist China.
Xiaoping, the 1st Chinese leader to visit our nation's capital, has long wanted to open China to foreign investment and initiate closer ties to the West.*
*The US will officially recognize the PRC later in the year.
JANUARY 29, 2002
BUSH DELIVERS "AXIS OF EVIL" ADDRESS
In his State of the Union address today, President George W. Bush denounces countries suspected of harboring terrorists and developing weapons of mass destruction.
The President vowed to fight terrorism & do whatever is necessary to ensure national security.
January 29, 1936
BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTS 1st MEMBERS
Ty Cobb, George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson & Walter Johnson were the 1st inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York today.
4 of the 5 inductees were present for the ceremony. Christy Mathewson passed away in October 1925.
The highest vote getter (75%+ required for induction) was Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers. Mr. Cobb was the dominant player of the American League having played from 1905 to 1926. He won 12 batting titles and hit over .400 three times.
