Sixty-one years ago today, this iconic image was born: Marilyn Monroe, laughing as the skirt of her white cocktail dress is blown up by the air from a subway vent.
Monroe had her famous skirt moment on the set of “The Seven Year Itch” for a scene with Tom Ewell filmed on Sept. 15, 1954. Her husband, baseball player Joe DiMaggio, was reportedly infuriated by the scene, and the couple divorced shortly afterward.
The iconic photo of the “flying skirt” moment was taken by Monroe's friend Sam Shaw.
Other notable Sept. 15 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1949: “The Lone Ranger” premiered on ABC.
• 1956: Elvis Presley started a five-week run at No.1 on the U.S. charts with “Don't Be Cruel.”
• 1961: A band from Hawthorne, Calif. called The Pendletones had their first recording session at Hite Morgan”s studio in Los Angeles. The band later changed their name to The Beach Boys. The song recorded that day was their famed first single, “Surfin”.”
• 1965: “Lost in Space” premiered on CBS, featuring theme music by a man who then preferred to be credited as “Johnny Williams,” just over a decade before the world would hear his score that transported them to a galaxy far, far away.
• 1979: The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride opened at Disneyland.
• 1997: The domain name google.com was registered.
• 1983: Huey Lewis and the News” “Sports” was released. Its album cover later appeared on a poster in Marty McFly”s room in 1985″s “Back to the Future.”
• 2004: Ramones guitarist John Cummings (better known by his stage name, Johnny Ramone) died in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.
Birthdays: “Mad Max: Fury Road” actor Tom Hardy (turns 38 today), “The Good Wife” actor Josh Charles (44), actress/model/cosplayer Chloe Dykstra, “Men in Black” actor Tommy Lee Jones (68), “House of Lies” actor Ben Schwartz (34), “JFK” director Oliver Stone (69), Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson (39)