vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news
Based on a novel by mystery writer Margery Allingham, the film Tiger in the Smoke tells the tale of knife killer Jack Havoc. Jack has a scheme that involves convincing a widow her husband has returned from the dead, but the main draw here is the post-war London atmosphere and a villain with the most badass name this side of Mike Hammer. As if one great name isn’t enough, Havoc’s aka happens to be Johnny Cash. Bonus coolness. Tiger in the Smoke opened today in London in 1956.
The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).
LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.
A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.
The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.
American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.
