M is for Merman

         Ethel Merman

"The Undisputed First Lady of The Musical Comedy Stage"

                                    Years lived before 1921: Thirteen

                                    Years lived after 1921: Sixty-three 

                                                    

If I was struggling for a Z in this years A to Z challenge I may have been able to get away with Merman as she was born Ethel Zimmerman and removed the "zim" from it when she went into show business. Merman who studied to be a stenographer found that for her , there was no business like show business, which became her signature tune.  Merman is best known for her Broadway performances in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and Hello Dolly.  

 

Annie Oakley

Sharpshooting star Of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

                                         Years lived before 1921: Sixty-one

                                         Years lived after 1921: Five

"There's no Business like Showbusiness" Merman's signature song was from "Annie Get Your Gun" which is a musical about the life of Annie Oakley. Born Phoebe Ann Mosley in 1860 the 6 of 9 children to a Quaker family in rural Ohio.  She learned to hunt and trap at an early age out of necessity due to their family's poverty. Annie was a skilled shooter and was known locally for her expertise with a gun.  She met her future Frank Butler  husband, a travelling sharpshooter  when she was beat him in a shooting match.  He began courting her after his defeat and they were married in 1882 and joined Buffalo Bills Wild West Show in 1885.

A TO Z Easter Eggs

A To  Z Extra

Ethel Merman 28 years of "There's No Business Like Show Business" at Dave Out Loud. A rousing video splicing multiple performances of Merman's signature song including an appearance on The Muppet Show. 

   After you've looked at the additional content on my other blogs head back to The A to Z challenge and  continue exploring. .  

                                                    

Ethel Merman 28 years of "There's No Business Like Show Business"

L is for Lincoln

 

Robert Todd Lincoln

                                                                Years Lived Before 1921: Seventy-Eight

                                                                Years Lived After 1921: Five

Robert Lincoln was the first child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln and the only one who survived past the age of 18. He served as secretary of War under James Garfield and then Chester A. Artur after Garfield's assassination.  In 1889 Lincoln became the U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom. He was the last U.S. minister to the U.K. His predecessor was the first U.S. ambassador to the U.K. Lincoln served 15 years as president of the Pullman Car Company after the death of George Pullman.

Lincoln was 21 when his father was assassinated and was present when his father died.  In his role as Garfield's Secretary of war he was a witness to Garfield's assassination. In 1901 Lincoln was in Buffalo attending the Pan-American exposition as part of his duties as President of Pullman when he witnessed the assassination of William McKinley.  

K is for Kid

In 1890, The Philadephia Quakers baseball team of the National League changed their name to the Philadephia Phillies and have been so for almost 125 years,  That 1990 team had not one but two players on it that are on my a to z challenge pf people living in 1921.  Neither of those players are remembered  for being baseball players.  One was Baseball player turned evangelist Billy Sunday who was featured here way back on April 2nd.  The other is William Jethro "Kid" Gleason who was the manager of the infamous 1919 Black Sox.  

              Kid Gleason

Years lived before 1921: Fifty-Five

Years lived after 1921: Twelve

        

J is for John and Johnson

I apologize for the tardiness of my J. I was right about to post my Jimmy Stewart post last night when my wife inquired if my Katharine Johnson post was finished. I checked my master list and much to my chagrin I had Stewart moved from J to S to get Katherine Johnson and John Glen into our A to Z orbit. So the good news Stewart's post will be ready when S rolls around later this month. The bad  news is J will be my first late entry of this years challenge and probably not the last.  

Katherine Johnson

                                                                     Years lived before 1921: Three

                                                                     Years lived after 1921: Ninety-nine 

Katherine Johnson (Left) Barack Obama (Center) Willie Mays (Right)

2015 Medal of Freedom ceremony at White House

John Glenn

                                                                           Years lived before 1921: Zero 

                                                                          Years lived after 1921: Ninety-Five

             John Glenn entering Friendship 7.

In 1962, multiple fledgling IBM computers were determining the trajectory of the Friendship 7 from take off to splashdown.  John Glenn who, like many astronauuts of his era, was weary of putting his life in the hands of computing machines, asked that Katherine Johnson do all the calculations manually and said "if she says they're good, then I'm ready to go." The rest is NASA history.

Click here for more of the A to Z Challenge.