This guy should probably have been in combat gear slogging through stifling heat on a Pacific island, but instead, today in 1942, he was getting a cheap thrill by checking out a reel called “Back to Nature.” Maybe he had bone spurs that kept him out of uniform. In any case, he’s using a coin operated mutoscope, which had been patented in 1894 and quickly became popular throughout the U.S. They were often stationed in arcades and carnival peep shows, and usually contained tittilating content—in this case a nudism vignette—though they sometimes showed travel, nature, or comedy. We weren’t sure whether the racier displays featured any actual nudity, but we quickly found out because the internet knows all. Some enterprising folks have uploaded various mutoscope reels, which you can see at a YouTube playlist here.
1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt
In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.