Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published in April 1950. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar, who felt that the church was not communicating its message effectively. Simultaneously disillusioned with contemporary children's literature, he and artist Frank Hampson created a dummy comic based on Christian values. Morris hawked the idea to several publishers, with little success, until Hulton Press decided to take it on. Following a huge publicity campaign, the first issue sold about 900,000 copies. Featured in colour on the front cover was the comic's most recognisable story, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future (pictured). Other popular stories included Riders of the Range and P.C. 49. Eagle also contained news and sport sections, and educational cutaway diagrams of sophisticated machinery. Amidst a takeover of the comic's publisher and a series of acrimonious disputes, Morris left in 1959; Hampson followed shortly thereafter. Although Eagle continued in various forms, a perceived lowering of editorial standards preceded plummeting sales, and it was eventually subsumed by its rival, Lion, in 1969. A relaunched Eagle ran for over 500 issues between 1982 and 1994.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(comic)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1801:
The U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as President and Aaron Burr as Vice President, resolving an electoral tie in the 1800 U.S. presidential election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1800
1872:
Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza, were executed in Manila, Philippines, by Spanish colonial authorities on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomburza
1913:
In the U.S. National Guard's 69th Regiment Armory in New York City, the Armory Show opened, introducing Americans to avant-garde and modern art. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armory_Show
1978:
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the La Mon restaurant near Belfast, Northern Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Mon_restaurant_bombing
2003:
The London congestion charge, a fee that is levied on motorists travelling within designated parts of Central London, came into operation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
bebother: To bring trouble upon. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bebother
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Time is the father of truth, its mother is our mind. --Giordano Bruno https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno