George Carlin

George Carlin hosted the first episode of the show we now know as Saturday Night Live. When the first show aired on October 11, 1975 with George Carlin as its host, it was called NBC's Saturday Night because ABC featured a program at the same time titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. After ABC cancelled the Cosell program in 1976, the NBC program changed its name to Saturday Night Live on March 26, 1977 (and subsequently picked up Bill Murray from Cosell's show).

During Its First Season, What Popular Pop Culture Characters Appeared in a Recurring Sketch?

Throughout its uneven first season, SNL was still trying to find its unique voice. One example of this is "The Land of Gorch" segment, a segment where Muppets creator Jim Henson tested his darker and more eccentric ideas, something he couldn't do on the much safer and child-friendly TV show he was known for. Although the segment helped influence some of his later work, such as the television series Dinosaurs, the segment was almost universally hated and was removed after the first season.

Who Hosted the First Episode of SNL?

Although celebrities from all over the entertainment industry have hosted Saturday Night Live over the years, the first man to do it was an iconic comedian; a choice that makes sense for a show that wanted to be taken seriously as the premier destination for sketch comedy on broadcast television. That comedian was George Carlin, comedy legend known for his biting cultural commentary. He was, in hindsight, the perfect choice to host a show like SNL, which would later go on to become a comedy and television institution.

How Did Columbus Return to Spain After His Third Trip to the New World

That nosedive in popularity we mentioned earlier was pretty justified. Columbus treated the natives of the land he discovered in truly horrific fashion. Now we look back on that era as a time when mistreatment of indigenous people upon discovering new land was commonplace and accepted, but even back then, people knew there was something wrong about all this. Some of his crew sent word back home about the terrible things Columbus was doing and the explorer was arrested and sent home in chains where he spent six weeks in jail. Though it would be wrong to represent everyone at the time as disapproving of Columbus' actions. The king granted him a full pardon and funded his next voyage.

What Was Christopher Columbus' Name?

There are, we have come to realize, many misconceptions about Christopher Columbus from when we learned about him in school. When he set sail, plenty of people believed the earth was round, and he did nothing to further prove the point. He never set foot in North America. He certainly wasn't a hero. And, it turns out, we don't even know his name. But he did sail the ocean blue in 1492, so there's that. While Columbus is associated with Spain, he was actually Italian, and born with the name Cristoforo Colombo. And his Spanish name was Cristobal Colon. Christopher Columbus is just an anglicized version of the original name. Oh, and as long as we're talking about stuff that wasn't the actual name, let's talk about Columbus' ships. Kids are taught in school that Columbus sailed the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. But the Nina and Pinta were actually nicknames, one of which was not the kind you'd want those aforementioned kids at school to be using. Nina is harmless, but Pinta means "the painted one" or "prostitute." We should really rework those textbooks.

Vice President Spiro Agnew

During his fifth year as Vice President Spiro Agnew was under investigation by the United States Attorney's office in Baltimore, Maryland, on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery and conspiracy. Agnew was formally charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000 while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President of the United States. On October 10, 1973, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President. Agnew is the only Vice President in United States history to resign because of criminal charges.

The First Man to Climb Mt. Everest

On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. Hillary later participated in expeditions to the South Pole and was among the first to reach the top of Mount Herschel. Hillary was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Sir Edmund Hillary, who had been cited as "New Zealand's most trusted individual," died on January 11, 2008, in Auckland.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side is a 2009 biographical sports drama film. The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who played for the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans, and currently is signed with the Carolina Panthers in the NFL. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringing, his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football, then finally becoming a first-round pick of the Ravens. Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress in the film.

Hulk Hogan

Rocky III is a 1982 film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. Rocky III marked the film debut of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan as the supporting character "Thunderlips". Sylvester Stallone was so impressed with Hulk Hogan’s wrestling skills and his larger-than-life persona, he cast the wrestler as "Thunderlips the Ultimate Male" in his 1982 movie. Over the next two years, Hulk Hogan would become the face of pro wrestling while WWF would transform into a pop culture enterprise.

President Obama--Avid Collector of Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian Comics

In a 2008 interview with one of Barack Obama’s advisers, it emerged that Obama collects “Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian” comic books. When Marvel Comics discovered the president was an avid collector of Spider-Man comics, they decided to have Obama the comic book character grace the cover of their The Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Jan. 2009), for the story “Spidey Meets the President!” This particular release proved extremely popular and sold out in a matter of minutes.

Bats--The Only Flying Mammal

Bats are flying mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of bats are webbed and developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums and colugos, glide rather than fly, and can only glide for short distances.

Michael Jackson's Pet Chimpanzee

Bubbles the Chimp was the one-time pet of Michael Jackson. Jackson’s often identically-dressed pet, was one of the most famous pets in the world. The animal was a frequent travel companion to the singer, whose attachment to the animal led to media mockery and, among other factors, to a public perception of Jackson as an eccentric. During the Bad World Tour, for example, Jackson brought Bubbles with him to Japan, where they both drank tea with the mayor of Osaka. Bubbles was known to sleep in a crib in Jackson's bedroom, used the singer's toilet and ate candy in the Neverland movie theater.

How To Rate a Hurricane

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a 1-5 rating based on the hurricane's intensity. To be classified as a hurricane, a tropical cyclone must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph (Category 1). The highest classification in the scale, Category 5, is reserved for storms with winds exceeding 156 mph. The scale was developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Bob Simpson, who at the time was director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The scale was introduced to the general public in 1973.

Deadliest Hurricane in U.S. History

The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 145 mph per hour, which made landfall on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas, leaving about 6,000 to 12,000 dead. It was the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. Unfortunately for the residents of Galveston, meteorology was far from an exact science at the end of the 19th century, and they received little warning about the storm's strength. Even if one uses the low estimate of 6,000 victims, this storm remains the deadliest ever to hit the United States.

Ray Kroc

Ray Kroc was an entrepreneur best known for expanding McDonald’s from a local chain into the most successful fast food operation in the world. It was in his role as a milkshake machine salesman that Kroc first became involved with McDonald’s. The McDonald brothers were clients who had purchased multiple milkshake mixers. Kroc approached the brothers about expanding their chain nationwide which eventually led to the birth of the McDonald's Corporation. In 1955, Kroc became president of the McDonald’s Corporation, and bought out the McDonald brothers six years later.