Lascaux cave paintings discovered
Near Montignac, France, a collection of prehistoric cave paintings are discovered by four teenagers who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog down a narrow entrance into a cavern. The 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings, consisting mostly of animal representations, are among the finest examples of art from the Upper Paleolithic period.
First studied by the French archaeologist Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil, the Lascaux grotto consists of a main cavern 66 feet wide and 16 feet high. The walls of the cavern are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings. The pictures depict in excellent detail numerous types of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, bovines, felines, and what appear to be mythical creatures. There is only one human figure depicted in the cave: a bird-headed man with an erect phallus. Archaeologists believe that the cave was used over a long period of time as a center for hunting and religious rites.
The Lascaux grotto was opened to the public in 1948 but was closed in 1963 because artificial lights had faded the vivid colors of the paintings and caused algae to grow over some of them. A replica of the Lascaux cave was opened nearby in 1983 and receives tens of thousands of visitors annually.
SPORTS
1995
Harlem Globetrotters’ 8,829-game winning streak snapped
On September 12, 1995, in Vienna, Austria, the Harlem Globetrotters tip off the third game of an 11-game exhibition series in Europe against a team of retired basketball stars led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, aptly named "Kareem's All-Stars."
INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1993
New floating bridge opens in Seattle; I-90 stretches from coast to coast
On September 12, 1993, the rebuilt Lacey V. Murrow Bridge over Lake Washington opens in Seattle. The new bridge, which was actually the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 (the westbound lanes cross the lake on a separate bridge), connects the city and its eastern suburbs.
RUSSIA
1953
Nikita Khrushchev elected Soviet leader
Six months after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev succeeds him with his election as first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Born into a Ukrainian peasant family in 1894, Khrushchev worked as a mine mechanic before joining the Soviet Communist Party in 1918. In 1929, he went to Moscow and steadily rose in the party ranks and in 1938 was made first secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party. He became a close associate of Joseph Stalin, the authoritative leader of the Soviet Union since 1924. In 1953, Stalin died, and Khrushchev grappled with Stalin’s chosen successor, Georgy Malenkov, for the position of first secretary of the Communist Party. Khrushchev won the power struggle, and Malenkov was made premier, a more ceremonial post. In 1955, Malenkov was replaced by Bulganin, Khrushchev’s hand-picked nominee.
BLACK HISTORY
1974
Violence erupts in Boston over desegregation busing
In Boston, Massachusetts, opposition to court-ordered school “busing” turns violent on the opening day of classes. School buses carrying African American children were pelted with eggs, bricks, and bottles, and police in combat gear fought to control angry white protesters besieging the schools.
WORLD WAR II
1942
The Laconia is sunk
A German U-boat sinks a British troop ship, the Laconia, killing more than 1,400 men on September 12, 1942. The commander of the German sub, Capt. Werner Hartenstein, realizing that Italians POWs were among the passengers, strove to aid in their rescue.
SPORTS
1951
Sugar Ray Robinson wins back belt
On September 12, 1951, former middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Randy Turpin to win back the belt in front of 61,370 spectators at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Robinson, a New York City native, had lost the belt to Turpin two months prior in Turpin’s native London.
U.S. PRESIDENTS
1953
John F. Kennedy marries Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island
Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, the future 35th president of the United States, marries Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island on September 12, 1953. Seven years later, the couple would become the youngest president and first lady in American history.
ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1972
Hopalong Cassidy rides off into his last sunset
After nearly 40 years of riding across millions of American TV and movie screens, the cowboy actor William Boyd, best known for his role as Hopalong Cassidy, dies on September 12, 1972 at the age of 77. Boyd’s greatest achievement was to be the first cowboy actor to make the transition from movies to television. Following World War II, Americans began to buy television sets in large numbers for the first time, and soon I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners were standard evening fare for millions of families. But despite their proven popularity in movie theaters, westerns were slow to come to the small screen. Many network TV producers scorned westerns as lowbrow “horse operas” unfit for their middle- and upper-class audiences.
ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1944
Singer-songwriter Barry White is born
Born in Galveston, Texas, on September 12, 1944, Barry White—or “the Maestro”—went on to stunningly successful career as a pop singer that spanned five decades, and made him a star of the disco era. Having written several new songs and recorded his vocals for demo purposes only,White was surprised and reluctant when 20th Century Records pushed him to release the songs under his own name. When he finally did so in 1973, he quickly established himself as a star. From 1973 to 1977, sometimes under his own name and sometimes under the name Love Unlimited Orchestra, White recorded a string of steamy soul classics that featured his rumbling bass voice speaking and singing over lush orchestral arrangements of subject matter clearly expressed in his song titles alone: “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe”; “Your Sweetness Is My Weakness”; “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me”; and “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby.”
ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1846
Poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning elope
Elizabeth Barrett elopes with Robert Browing on September 12, 1846. Barrett was already a respected poet who had published literary criticism and Greek translations in addition to poetry. Her first volume of poetry, The Seraphim and Other Poems, appeared in 1838, followed by Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Barrett (1844). Born in 1806 near Durham, England, at her father’s 20-bedroom mansion, she enjoyed wealth and position, but suffered from weak lungs and tended to be reclusive in her youth. She became even more so after the death of her beloved brother in 1840. However, her poetry was well received, and she met with Wordsworth and other renowned poets.
ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
2004
First season of “Entourage”—a TV show about life in Hollywood—comes to an end
On September 12, 2004, the first season of the television comedy series Entourage, about a hot young actor in Hollywood and the posse of people surrounding him, comes to an end on HBOheartthrob Vincent Chase, who is navigating his way through the pitfalls and excesses of Hollywood. Vince’s entourage includes Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly), his manager and childhood friend from Queens, New York; his half-brother, the C-list actor Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon, the real-life brother of the actor Matt Dillon); Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), another childhood friend from Queens who is content to ride Vince’s coattails; and Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), Vince’s aggressive, high-strung agent. Other recurring characters on the show included Vince’s sharp-tongued publicist Shauna (played by Debi Mazar) and Ari’s long-suffering assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee). The actor Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Three Kings, The Departed) served as one of the executive producers of Entourage and the idea for the show was reportedly based on some of his experiences as a rising star in Hollywood.. Entourage, which debuted on July 18, 2004, starred Adrian Grenier as the up-and-coming movie
NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
1988
Hurricane Gilbert slams Jamaica
Hurricane Gilbert slams into Jamaica, killing hundreds of people, on September 12, 1988. The storm went on to cause death and destruction in Mexico and spur a batch of tornadoes in Texas. On September 10, Gilbert attained hurricane status west of the Dominican Republic.
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