Felix the Cat is a cartoon character. Created in 1922, his black body, white eyes and giant grin, coupled with the surrealism of the situations his cartoons placed him in, combined to make him one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world. Felix was the first cartoon character to attain a level of popularity sufficient to draw movie audiences based solely on his star power. Felix the Cat had his origins in cartoons starring an animated Charlie Chaplin that Messmer created while working at the animation studio of Australian émigré Pat Sullivan. Felix reached the height of his worldwide fame in 1925. Sullivan marketed the cat relentlessly, making up all sorts of tall tales about the character's origins and even taking credit for being the character's sole creator.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_the_Cat
Today's selected anniversaries:
1532 Francisco Pizarro and his men captured Incan Emperor Atahualpa and his nobles. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atahualpa)
1885 Canadian rebel leader of the Métis and "Father of Manitoba", Louis Riel, was executed for high treason. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel)
1973 Richard Nixon signed legislation authorizing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans%2dAlaska_Pipeline_System)
1981 Luke and Laura marry on General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in American daytime television history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_and_Laura_Spencer)
2002 What is believed to be the first outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) began in the Guangdong province of China. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome)
Wikiquote of the day:
"Every now and then a clear harmonic cry gave new suggestions of a tune that would someday be the only tune in the world and would raise men's souls to joy." ~ Jack Kerouac in On The Road (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_The_Road)
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