September 26 in Pop Culture History
1687 – The Parthenon in Athens was partially destroyed in a gunpowder accident during the Morean War.
1933 – Machine Gun Kelly surrendered to the FBI, and shouted “Don’t shoot, G-Men!”, which became the nickname for FBI agents.
1957 – West Side Story opened on Broadway.
1960 – Longest speech in UN history at 4 hours and 29 minutes, was given by Cuba’s Fidel Castro.
1960 – American presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate on live television and radio. Radio listeners said that Nixon won, and television viewers gave the win the Kennedy. Look good, people!
1960 – #1 Hit September 26, 1960 – October 9, 1960: Connie Francis – My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own
1962 – The Beverly Hillbillies premiered on CBS.
1964 – #1 Hit September 26, 1964 – October 16, 1964: Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman
1964 – Gilligan’s Island premiered on CBS. Although scheduled for a fourth season, CBS changed the hour-long Gunsmoke to Mondays, displacing the 7 castaways.
1968 – Broadcast premiere of Hawaii Five-O on CBS
1969- The last Beatles album, Abbey Road, was released in the US.
1969 – The Brady Bunch debuted on ABC.
1973 – The Concorde made its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.
1981 – Nolan Ryan set a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.
1982 – Knight Rider premiered on NBC
1982 – At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert premiered, in syndication
1987 – #1 Hit September 26, 1987 – October 9, 1987: Whitney Houston – Didn’t We Almost Have It All
1990 – Cop Rock debuted on ABC
1990 – The Motion Picture Association of America announced a new rating of NC-17 to apply to adult films, replacing the “X” rating.
1992 – Roseanne Barr got her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
1995 – George magazine premiered, published by John F Kennedy Jr.
2001 – Star Trek Enterprise premiered on UPN
2010 (Volcano Eruption) Baroarbunga
2011 – History International was rebranded as H2 on cable television
2011 – On September 26th, 2011 Mikey Welsh posted on Twitter, “Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). Need to write my will today” followed by, “Correction – the weekend after next”. He died October 8th, 2011 from a heart attack in his sleep in a hotel room. In Chicago.