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>