70 years ago today, Mickey Mouse welcomed BBC back to the airwaves for the first time after World War II.
The television service had been shut down for nearly seven years when broadcasting ceased during the war.
The 1933 cartoon Mickey”s Gala Premier was the final program broadcast on BBC on September 1, 1939 before it went off the air, and it was the first program transmitted when BBC was back in 1946. The cartoon chronicles Hollywood celebrities joining Mickey and Minnie at Grumman”s Chinese Theatre for the premiere of a new Mickey Mouse movie.
Other notable June 7 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1955: The game show The $64,000 Question premiered on CBS. It became one of the shows involved in the 1950s quiz show scandal.
• 1963: The Rolling Stones” first single, a cover of Chuck Berry”s “Come On,” was released.
• 1969: The Johnny Cash Show premiered on ABC.
• 1969: At the 22nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Marcus Welby, M.D. won Outstanding Drama Series, and My World and Welcome to It won Outstanding Comedy Series, though it was canceled after one season.
• 1972: Grease premiered on Broadway, having moved to the Broadhurst Theatre from Off-Broadway venue Eden Theatre. It originally debuted the year prior in Chicago – the script was based on the musical”s writer Jim Jacob”s experience at high school in Chicago.
• 1975: John Denver”s “Thank God I”m a Country Boy” hit No.1 on the U.S. singles chart.
• 1985: The Goonies opened in theaters.
• 1986: Madonna”s “Live to Tell” hit the top of the Billboard singles chart.
• 1987: Les Misérables won Best Musical at the 41st Tony Awards, along with six other awards that night. Another big winner was August Wilson”s Fences, which won Best Play and earned James Earl Jones a statuette for Leading Actor in a Play. It was the first award Jones won that would lead him to getting an EGOT (if you count his 2011 Academy Honorary Award).
• 1987: Billy Crystal movie City Slickers opened in theaters.
• 1991: Spike Lee film Jungle Fever opened in U.S. theaters.
• 2000: The festival “Prince: A Celebration” kicked off in Chanhassen, MN on Prince”s birthday. (He would have turned 58 today.) The seven-day festival welcomed fans into the artist”s Paisley Park studios. This was just a few weeks after he”d returned to using the name “Prince.”
• 2002: Kim Possible premiered on Disney Channel.