Richard Norton Tulfield was born on December 11, 1926.

While many will recognize the voice, he rarely appeared in front of the camera. He spent his career as an announcer beginning in the 1950s, through the 60s working on most of the TV series of Irwin Allen and into the 80s voicing narrations in cartoon series such as Thundarr the Barbarian and Spider-man.

He spoke the first words in three of Allen’s series along with Lost In Space, where he also served as the narrator he opened the first episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea with “This is the Seaview, the most extraordinary submarine in all the seven seas” and The Time Tunnel, “Two American scientists are lost…”

In the 1998 movie based on the series he once again voiced the Robot.

Bob May, who died on January 18, 2009 was the man inside the Robot in the TV Series.

It was first announced on the cover of the San Francisco Oracle first Issue as “A Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In.”

Timothy Leary, one of the featured speakers, made his first appearance in San Francisco at the rally where he cried out the phrase”Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”. Others to speak were Poets Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lew Welch, and Lenore Kandel.

Music was also featured from Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. These bands have come to be best known as the psychedelic sounds of San Francisco of the late 1960′s.

Allen Cohen one of the organizers characterized the event as a necessary meeting-of-the-minds. At the time there was two philosphically opposed factions of the late 1966 San Francisco-based counter culture. On one side were the Berkeley radicals, who were tending toward increased militancy towards the policies of the Vietnam war, and then there was the Haight-Ashbury hippies, who leaned towards peaceful protest and ongoing joyful celebration through peace and love.

After this everything seemed to want to be IN and helped to give the name to the popular comedy Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in.

The first female guest was Elizabeth Bentley, a former Soviet spy. She was interviewed on program on September 12, 1948.

Since its inception the show has had 11 moderators including co-moderaters Roger Mudd and Marvin Kalb (1984-1985). Kalb role of moderator would last into 1987. Others to moderated are Ned Brooks (1953–1965), Lawrence E. Spivak (1966–1975), Bill Monroe (1975–1984), Chris Wallace (1987–1988), Garrick Utley (1989–1991), Tim Russert (1991–2008), Tom Brokaw (2008) and David Gregory (2008 – Present).

Tim Russert sat on the moderator’s seat the longest and had it not been for his untimely death on June 13, 2008 he would still be there. When Russert took over the show it was in decline. Under his leadership the show moved away from being a televised press conference to a hard hitting question and answer show.

Russert would end the show with the phrase “That’s all for today. We’ll be back next week. If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.” He made it the number 1, Sunday Interview show and second only to CBS News Sunday Morning on Sunday morning.

Meet The Press is the longest running television network program.

Buster Keaton was born on October 4, 1895. His father was Joseph Hallie “Joe” Keaton a vaudeville showman and traveling show owner. Joe Keaton was the fifth man in his linage to be named Joseph and his son was the sixth. Joseph Frank Keaton probably earned his nick-name because of his talent of being able to fall without injury. The word buster often referred to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury.

Buster learned early how to fall without injury and before he had turned five he was part of an act created by his father that had him tossed around the stage, against the scenery, into the orchestra pit, or even into the audience. It was also during this period that he created his deadpan, stone face expression that would become his trademark. After being thrown and brushing himself off he would look to the audience with the expression that brought laughs.

While still working in the Vaudeville Theatre in February of 1917 he meet the comic film clown Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. Even though he had had some doubts about the medium, after studying the inter workings of a movie camera he decided to join Arbuckle. The two became close friends with the two working together for a number of years.

From their friendship and work for Joseph M. Schenck, Buster Keaton was given his own production unit. It was from this unit that he worked throughout most of the 1920s. But at the end of the decade he made what he considered the worst decision he made during his life and his career. He signed a contract with MGM. The company restricted his creativity to a point where he simply did as told.

The 1930s saw problems in his personal life as well. His first wife and he divorced and he began a bout with alcoholism. By the 1940s he became more stable, but his fame was behind him. He did work continuously until his death from Lung Cancer on February 1, 1966. He worked in television during its early days creating a film series Life with Buster. He also appeared in numerous Television commercials and in a couple of the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello Beach movies in the mid-1960s.

When Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on her attempt to be the first woman pilot to fly around the world in 1937 she was already a legend. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, set many other records and wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences. Even today many people are fascinated with her life and mysterious disappearance.

James Dean only appeared in three movies, two of them after his death in a motor vehicle accident on September 30, 1955. But he will always be remembered as The Rebel Without a Cause. He was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only person to have two such nominations posthumously.

It wasn’t one or even two but three of the children of Joseph P. Kennedy who died before their time. It’s not hard to forget the death of President John F. Kennedy on that day in Dallas in 1963 or Senator and Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy in 1968. But the Kennedys also lost their older brother Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in 1944 during the 2nd World War.

Janis Joplin was a hard living rocker of the 60′s. She blew away the crowd in Monterey during the pop festival there in 1967 as part of the Big Brother Holding Company. And she was reaching the top levels with her LP Pearl recorded just prior to her death via a drug overdose in 1970.

Heath Ledger was a star on the rise when he was discovered dead in New York City on January 22. He was only 28 and had already appeared in outstanding roles in movies such as The Patriot, A Knight Tale, Brokeback Mountain and the Batman film, The Dark Knight. His talent will be missed.

William Conrad had been considered to appear as Matt Dillion in the Television series, but it was determined that he was too heavy for the role on TV. The role was filled by James Arness.

When the show began it was a 1/2 hour show playing on Saturday Night from 10:00-10:30. Beginning in September 1961 the show would expand to an hour. There were 233 – 30 minute episodes and 402 – 60 minute.

The show was nearly canceled in 1967 due to low ratings. CBS president William Paley, he and his wife were big fans of the show, reversed the decision. He moved the show from Saturdays to Mondays and canceled Gilligan’s Island instead. The show would remain on the CBS schedule until 1975 lasting 20 seasons.

The only two characters that were on the series for its full run of 21 seasons was Matt Dillon played by James Arness and Doc played by Milburn Stone. Amanda Blake, who played Miss Kitty decided not to return for the last season.

Gunsmoke currently holds the record for the longest scripted Prime Time TV series along with NBC’s Law and Order. 60 minutes, a news program is the longest Prime Time show beginning in 1968 and still part of CBS’s Sunday lineup. The Simpson is the longest scripted comedy show and will be entering its 22th season in 2010.