Little Israel came to the United States with his family at the age of four. His father died several years later, so Israel took to the streets of New York, singing on street corners and in saloons, and as a singing waiter, all to earn money to help support his family. It was the beginning of a wonderful career in song, stage and movies. A printer’s error on the music sheet for his composition, Marie from Sunny Italy, accidentally changed his name. The change became permanent.

Mr. American Music, better known to us as Irving Berlin, wrote more songs than we care to count including Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Always, Doin’ What Comes Naturally, Puttin’ on the Ritz, Blue Skies, Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning and Play a Simple Melody. This man, who could neither read nor write music, also composed a song titled, Smile and Show Your Dimple. You probably never heard of that one; but seventeen years later, when produced, it became a hit as Easter Parade.

Kate Smith was the voice he chose to sing God Bless America, which he wrote in 1917. It became her signature and a major contender to replace The Star-Spangled Banner as the U.S. national anthem.

Berlin wrote the scores for many Broadway shows (Annie Get Your Gun) and films (Top Hat). Winning an Oscar for his composition, White Christmas, Irving Berlin had the unique experience of opening the envelope that contained his name. He was the presenter at this segment of the Academy Awards for 1942 and upon opening the envelope, said, “This goes to a nice guy; I’ve known him all my life. The winner is ... me.”

The composer of There’s No Business Like Show Business truly knew the meaning of those words. 

 1894 - Martha Graham
modern dancer: Denishawn dance school and performing troupe, Graham company, established school of modern dance at Bennington College; choreographer: Cave of the Heart, Appalachian Spring; “The center of the stage is where I am.”; died Apr 1, 1991, geboren
Graham, die Begründerin des modernen Tanzes, entwickelte einen kraftvollen Stil, der auf der Harmonie von Atmung und Bewegung beruht. Im Zentrum ihrer Choreografien stehen willensstarke Frauen.

 1912 - Phil Silvers (Philip Silversmith)
Emmy Award-winning comedian: The Phil Silvers Show [Sgt. Bilko: 1955, 1956, 1957]; The Beverly Hillbillies, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; died Nov 1, 1985, geboren

Max Reger, Komponist (D), geb. 1873, gestorben
1916 Max Reger, Komponist (D) Leipzig), gestorben
 1916: Camilo José Cela, span. Schriftsteller, Nobelpreis für Literatur 1989, geboren
Cela schuf einen eigenen Stil, den Tremendismo: Detailgetreu, geradlinig und direkt präsentiert der Literaturnobelpreisträger von 1989 im Meisterwerk »Der Bienenkorb« (1951) in Hunderten von Porträts ein Panoptikum der Madrider Gesellschaft.

1927 Juan Gris, Maler und Graphiker (E) Paris), gestorben
 1927 - Mort Sahl
comedian: Broadway, night club acts, actor: Don’t Make Waves, Doctor You’ve Got to be Kidding, geboren

 1936: Die Stromlinien-Dampflokomotive 05 002 der Firma Borsig in Berlin stellt auf der Strecke von Berlin nach Hamburg mit 200,4 km/h einen neuen Weltrekord auf.
 

 1939 - Frank (Francis Ralph) Quilici
‘Guido’: baseball: Minnesota Twins [World Series: 1965], geboren

1946 - Jack Barry, a familiar face on TV game shows, hosted Juvenile Jury on WOR radio in New York City. The show was such a hit after five weeks on the air that it debuted on the Mutual Broadcasting System coast to coast. Maybe Barry became a bit too familiar in 1959. It was Twenty One, the enormously popular show that Barry hosted, that led to the Quiz Show Scandal that rocked television and the U.S. Congress.

1946 - B.F. Goodrich announced the development of the tubeless tire. If you guessed that Mr. Goodrich was from Akron, OH, you win the T-shirt.