This Was Television On July 14

By Andrew Daglas, July 14, 2012

1789: The people of France storm the Bastille

In the wake of the crown’s dismissal of populist finance minister Jacques Necker, Parisians stormed the prison/fortress in search of ammunition against a perceived threat of coming violent oppression. At the time an isolated incident, it later became regarded as a milestone on the path to the world-shattering French Revolution. 

You might believe that the fundamental realigning of the polities of 18^th and 19^th century Europe has little to do with TV history, but you would be wrong. Without the French Revolution, Napoleon never comes to power. France never sells Louisiana to America, which never develops the ethos of Manifest Destiny. The Mexican War is never declared. California never becomes part of the United States. The entertainment industry never establishes a headquarters from which to capture the world’s imagination. And then where would your precious television be, huh? -A.D.

Today’s Birthdays: Polly Bergen, 1950s playhouse player (82); Matthew Fox, tropical doc (46); William Hanna, animation legend (d. 2001); Jane Lynch, a caterer first in our hearts (52); Vincent Pastore, the first wire on HBO (66); Scott Porter, Streets ahead (33); Harry Dean Stanton, bigly loved (86).

2 Responses to “This Was Television On July 14”

1. This Was Television: Best of 2012 « This Was Television December 19, 2012

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2. Happy First Birthday, This Was Television! | This Was Television June 11, 2013

   […] 365 days of television by finding the events and people that mattered, occasionally having to dig very, very deep to find […]

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