RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. It
was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business
was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) theater chains and Joseph
P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) studio were brought
together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in
October 1928. RKO has long been celebrated for its cycle of musicals
starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid- to late 1930s.
Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first
major successes at the studio. Cary Grant was a mainstay for years. The
work of producer Val Lewton's low-budget horror unit and RKO's many
ventures into the field now known as film noir have been acclaimed by
film critics and historians. The studio produced two of the most famous
films in motion picture history: King Kong and Citizen Kane. Maverick
industrialist Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948. After years of
decline under his control, the studio was acquired by the General Tire
and Rubber Company in 1955. The original RKO Pictures ceased production
in 1957 and was effectively dissolved two years later.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RKO_Pictures>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1799:
French soldiers uncovered the Rosetta Stone in Fort Julien,
near the Egyptian port city of Rashid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone>
1806:
The Pike expedition, led by Zebulon Pike to explore the
Louisiana Territory, began near St. Louis, Missouri.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_expedition>
1815:
Aboard HMS Bellerophon, Napoleon surrendered to Royal Navy
Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland to finally end the Napoleonic Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)>
1870:
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories were established
following the transfer of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory
from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territories>
1916:
William Boeing incorporated the Pacific Aero Products Company,
which was later renamed Boeing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing>
2009:
Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed in northwestern Iran,
killing all 168 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Airlines_Flight_7908>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
effluvium:
A gaseous or vaporous emission, especially a foul-smelling one.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/effluvium>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's a great need in our government right now for honesty. I speak my
mind. You might not always like what you hear, but you're gonna hear it
anyway. I call it like I see it; I tell the truth. And if I don't know
something, I'll say so. Then I'll try to find the answer.
--Jesse Ventura
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura>