Paul Layendecker’s “WAY BACK WHEN” for Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025
1950 Charles M. Schulz comic strip featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and pals debuted. Its original run lasted until Schulz’ death in 2000, and then it continued with reruns. Peanuts has also spawned several popular TV holiday specials.
1954 Elvis made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Not impressed, the Opry talent manager Jim Denny suggested he go back to driving trucks. Elvis vowed to never again play at the Grand Ole Opry.
1959 The TV show The Twilight Zone debuted on CBS, starring Rod Serling, its narrator and host. His classic opening narration: “You’re traveling through another dimension… a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead—your next stop: The Twilight Zone!”
Music History:
2017 American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer Tom Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in cardiac arrest and was taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he died at 8:40 pm. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later announced that Petty had died accidentally from mixed drug toxicity. He was the lead singer and guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976.
Notable Birthdays today:
Actress/Talk Show Host Kelly Ripa 55
(Gordon Summer) aka: Singer/Police front man ‘Sting’ 74
‘American Pie’s’ Don McLean 80
Credit to:
Thisdayinmusic.com and Thisdaytrivia.com
