Happy 83rd Birthday to Harry Blackstone Jr.

By Tom Interval

1934 was an eventful year:

• 

  Harry Blackstone Jr., Pittsburgh, 1981

  The first Flash Gordon comic strip was published.

• Nepal and Bihar experienced one of the worst earthquakes ever to hit those areas.
• Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., now known as Fujifilm, was established.
• The famous “surgeon’s photograph” of the Loch Ness Monster was first published (and dismissed as a hoax some 60 years later).
• The first Three Stooges short, Woman Haters, was released.
• Bonnie and Clyde were killed by a posse of four Texas officers.
• The Dionne quintuplets—the first quintuplets to survive infancy—were born.
• Donald Duck debuted in the short film, The Wise Little Hen.
• Adolf Hitler became the Führer of Nazi Germany.

That was the era in which Harry Blackstone Jr., “America’s foremost magician,” was born, on this day 83 years ago.

I’ve written about Harry on this blog a few times before, so I don’t have a lot to say today accept, simply, happy birthday, Harry. You were one of the great entertainers of my era and truly a kind soul. Thank you for the magic you’ve added to your audiences’ lives over the years and for the inspiration you’ve sparked in the hearts of many aspiring magicians.

Here’s to your memory, Harry.

Of Worthy Note:  Also born on this day were Bill Bixby, star of the 1970s prime-time television show, The Magician; feminist Gloria Steinem; Major League baseball player Roberto Clemente; and astronomer Carl Sagan.

 

 

 

 

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