This Week In History

RetroPlanet's Planet Retro Blog posts a weekly "Retro History" item, and this week is full of all sorts of interesting anniversaries from the Swing Era, in a variety of areas.  
World News & the American Experience:

1930 – Ruth Nichols becomes the first woman pilot on a transcontinental flight from New York to California.  It took 7 days.

1942 – A tragic fire at the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, MA kills nearly 500 people.

Movies & TV:

1940 – Woody Woodpecker is seen for the first time in the theatrical short Knock Knock.

1942 – Casablanca premieres at Hollywood Theatre in New York City.

1948 – Hopalong Cassidy premieres on TV.
Music & Radio:

1932 – Groucho Marx performs on radio for the first time.

1944 – The FBI in Peace and War is broadcast by CBS radio for the first time.

1949 – Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, by Gene Autry, becomes the musical hit of the Christmas season.

1956 – Bandleader Tommy Dorsey dies at the age of 51. His records sold more than 110,000,000 copies.

Arts & Entertainment:

1936 – The first issue of Life magazine, created by Henry R. Luce, is published.

Technology & Inventions:

1944 – Johns Hopkins Hospital performs the first open heart surgery.

1948 – The Zoomar Lens is patented by Dr. Frank G. Back of New York City.  It becomes a popular lens most often used in television production.

1948 – The first Polaroid camera is sold.