The Reynolds Rocket

On this date in 1945, American commercial traveler and enterprising businessman, Milton Reynolds, the initial batch of the successful ballpoint pens. He realized reliable ballpoint pens would succeed if he mastered their mass production. Hungarian, László Bíró, made a ballpoint pen in the many years earlier that would not dirty hands and clothes of writers, and not leave blots or smudge. Reynolds was quick to patent Bíró’s invention in the USA before the inventor and his partner, Eversharp, did. Sold under the brand Reynolds Rocket in Gimbels department store in New York City at the cost of $12.50, fifty police officers had to maintain order. With eight million made by Reynolds international pen company, over ten thousand sold out in days.

Note: An outraged Bíró sued Reynolds but did not defend the October 30, 1888 patent rights by John J. Loud, inventor of the first "ball tip" pen. In court, Reynolds referred to the earlier patent and his modification of the 1888 pen. He said his pen was a reduced copy and Bíró’s construction has nothing to do with it.

Boeing The First

 

On this date in 1957, the first production Boeing 707 jet-powered commercial airliner was rolled out at the Boeing aircraft assembly plant at Renton, Washington. The Model 707 was developed from the earlier Model 367–80, the “Dash Eighty,” prototype for an air-refueling tanker that would become the KC-135 Stratotanker. The new airliner had been sold to Pan American World Airways, the launch customer, as part of an order for twenty in 1955. The Boeing 707 was in production from 1958 to 1979 with military variants continuing until 1994. Over 1,000 were built.

Note: shown above during the airliner's second flight.

A Noted Television Composer

 

Richard Markowitz (1926-1994) was an American film and television composer. After composing for numerous low-budget films in the late Fifties and a hand full in the Sixties and Seventies, it was television that provided him steady work, composing for popular series between the Sixties to the Eighties, everything from Ben Casey, Mission: Impossible to Murder, She Wrote in which he received the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award for 1988, 1989, and 1990. But it was his unusual western theme for an unusual series, The Wild Wild West, for which he is best remembered. Prior, he wrote the theme for, The Rebel, most notable for it being sung by Johnny Cash.

A Television Transition

Wisely changing his name from Gustav William Tweer Jr. to Walter Brooke, he became a staple of television audiences for his supporting roles. He always was in command of those characters, whether playing the straight man in comedies, an unscrupulous businessman, a doctor, or any number of authority characters. After a string of uncredited film roles as a reporter or clerk in the Forties—opposite Flynn and Bogart and the like—Brooke quickly got on board the television express. He spent almost his entire career on the small screen. There were a few exceptions: the low-budget science fiction, Conquest of Space (1955), two infamous roles in, The Party Crashers (1958), and Bloodlust! (1961), then his small role with a big impact in the major hit, The Graduate (1967).

Born in New York City in 1914, Brooke landed roles in many popular series of the Fifties including five appearances on The Big Story (1952-59). But I will start with his two episodes of The Twilight Zone, four episodes of McHale's Navy, and three episodes of The Fugitive. He landed a regular role on The Green Hornet series as D. A. Frank Scanlon followed by several appearances in Judd For The Defense and Death Valley Days. He made the rounds on many popular series of the Seventies, including Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971-74), and then hit the cop shows from Mannix to Barnaby Jones, The Rookies, and notable roles on The Rockford Files before landing another recurring role on The Waltons as Clarence Johnson. He finished out his prolific television career through the end of the Eighties until his death in 1986.

Note: above is a capture from his first appearance on The Rockford Files, 1974.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

While working at a gas station in the southwest, Kimble and a customer are taken hostage. The doctor sucks the two violent thieves in on his own fabricated big robbery. The girl gets help from Kimble but she freaks out after seeing his photo on the newspaper's front page. And the criminals have their own plan for her future.

See Hollywood and Die, 1963
Guest stars Brenda Vaccaro, Lou Antonio, Chris Robinson

Not Your Average Flight

 

On this date in 1923, First Lieutenant Lowell Herbert Smith and First Lieutenant John P. Richter, Air Service, United States Army, flew a DH-4B from Sumas, Washington, to Tijuana, Mexico, non-stop. The 1,280-mile flight was made possible by two air-to-air refuelings from tanker airplanes pre-positioned over Eugene, Oregon, and Sacramento, California with the flight taking approximately 12 hours to complete. The DH-4B tanker over Eugene was flown by First Lieutenants Virgil Hine and Frank W. Siefert. The Sacramento tanker was flown by Captain Robert J. Erwin and First Lieutenant Oliver R. McNeel. At both locations, Smith and Richter made two refueling contacts before proceeding on their route. 

Note: Technically, the first American aerial refueling took place two years earlier with a wing-walker stuntman physically transferring to the other plane with a 5-gallon tank of gas on his back.

A International Pictures First

 

On this date in 1944, the American film noir, The Woman in the Window, premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was directed by Fritz Lang with a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. Arthur Lange's film score won the year's Oscar. Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, the ninety-nine-minute film, nationally released November 3, is the story of a deceptive femme fatale who murders her lover then entangles an unsuspecting psychology professor in the whole affair. The top-flight cast includes Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, and Dan Duryea. The film was chosen as the premier project for International Pictures. According to sources, the genre term "film noir" originated in part because of this film.