The Rocky Horror Picture Show

August 14, 1975

The cult classic, starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry, and Meat Loaf, premieres in the UK. The lyrics and story were written by Richard O'Brien, who also starred as Riff Raff the butler.
Although the film did poorly during its regular theater run, it soon became a cult midnight classic. Schoolteacher Louis Farese, Jr., Theresa Krakauskas, and Amy Lazarus are credited with starting the convention of talking back to the screen, bringing props and making up one-liners. Originally, they were just doing it to amuse each other, not realizing they were starting a long-lasting tradition.

Record Robbery

August 14, 1962

A mail truck in Massachusetts is robbed of $1.5 million in cash. Known as "The Great Plymouth Mail Truck Robbery," it was up to that time the largest cash heist of all time. Two gunmen, dressed as police officers and brandishing guns, stopped a U.S. Mail truck that was delivering $1.5 million in small bills from Cape Cod to the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston, Massachusetts. They tied up the driver and guard and drove off in the truck, stopping to drop off money in various places. The truck and its two tied-up occupants were later abandoned. Shortly before the 5-year statute of limitations was to expire, four men and one woman were indicted for the robbery. One of the defendants disappeared right before trial and was never found. The other defendants were acquitted at trial. The money has never been recovered.
Boston mobster Vincent "Fat Vinnie" Teresa claimed in his book, My Life in the Mafia, that John "Red" Kelley planned the robbery.

First Photograph of Earth Taken from Space

August 14, 1959

The U.S. satellite Explorer VI takes the first photo of Earth taken from space. It was taken from about 17,000 miles (27359 kilometers) high and showed a sun-lighted area of the Central Pacific ocean and its cloud cover.

World War II - V-J Day

August 14, 1945

Japan surrenders ending the war. "V-J" stands for "Victory over Japan." Japan would sign formal surrender terms two weeks later aboard the USS Missouri.

Social Security Act

August 14, 1935

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, promising economic security for the elderly, the poor, and the sick.

First Successful National Radio Soap Opera

August 14, 1933

Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins debuts on Cincinnati's WLW. It began airing coast-to-coast on NBC the following December where it ran until 1949 and ran on CBS from 1942 to 1960. It starred Virginia Payne as Ma Perkins, who offered her homespun philosophy to troubled souls in need of advice. Payne began the role at the age of 23 and never missed a performance during the program's 27-year run.

First Flight - Two Years BEFORE the Wright Brothers

August 14, 1901

Gustave Whitehead makes the first publicized account of a powered-heavier-than-air flight. Reports were published in the New York Herald and the Bridgeport Herald and the event was witnessed by several people, including a reporter for the Bridgeport Herald. Children and youngsters who were present signed affidavits about 30 years later about what they saw. Reports said he started on the wheels from a flat surface, flew 800 meters at a height of 15 meters, and landed softly on the wheels. This was two years before the Wright brothers.

Cologne Cathedral Completed

August 14, 1880

It is the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe. Its reconstruction had begun 632 years earlier on August 14, 1248.

Steve Martin (Stephen Glenn Martin)

Born August 14, 1945

American Emmy-Grammy-winning comic, a wild and crazy guy. Film: The Jerk (1979, Navin Johnson), Plains Trains & Automobiles (1987), Bowfinger (1999), and The Pink Panther (2006, Inspector Clouseau).

Ernest Thayer

Born August 14, 1863 d. 1940

American journalist. Author of the poem Casey at the Bat (1888), which has become one of the best-known poems in American literature.
The original 1888 version:
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
the score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
a sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
they thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that –
they'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
and the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake,
so upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
for there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
and Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
and when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
there was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
it rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
it knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
there was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
no stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.
And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
and Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped—
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
and it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
he stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
he signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
but Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said: "Strike two."
"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and Echo answered fraud;
but one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
and they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
he pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
and now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
and somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
but there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.