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BROADCAST ON WNYC TODAY IN…
1948: Grover A. Whalen, Chairman of the Committee of the Golden Jubilee Celebration, reports on plans for the event. (Note: The Golden Jubilee was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the consolidation of the five boroughs of New York City into the Greater City of New York).
1956: The American Friends of Hebrew University present a program on the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls.
1964: WNYC Director Seymour N. Siegel interviews Hugh Dingwall, former President of the Seattle World's Fair and current President of the San Antonio World's Fair on this edition of City Close-Up.
1976: Margaret O'Connell discusses her book, The Magic Cauldron on The Reader's Almanac. She talks about the history of witches, including the Salem trials, and tells show host Walter James Miller about misogyny and the stereotype of bad witches.
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Tea Magnate and Yachtsman Stops in New York on way to America's Cup Race
Sir Thomas Lipton (1848-1931) holding the WNYC microphone on the gangplank between the Leviathan (commercial liner) and the S.S. Macom (the city's official welcoming boat) with Chief Announcer Tommy Cowan (l) and official greeter Grover Whalen (r) August 16, 1930. Lipton arrived for his fifth attempt at the America's Cup. (Photo: International Newsreel Photo/Radio Digest)
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LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS
Sir Thomas Tongue-Tied at WNYC Mic
"One radio announcer, with the combined radio stations of the National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the official station of the City of New York, WNYC, and the shortwave broadcast on Columbia's 2XE, carried the arrival of [Sir Thomas] Lipton to every corner of the earth. Thomas Cowan of WNYC was the announcer... Sir Thomas for the first time in his life was suffering from a bad case of stage fright, and only when Cowan told him the whole world was listening in... did he slowly draw a crumpled piece of paper from an inside pocket, and with the remark that he had prepared a short speech for the radio, began to read it. He prefaced his remarks by saying, 'Tell 'em I won't make a speech till after the race ... maybe not then.' he added as an afterthought.
"The passengers on board the Leviathan were cheering and yelling 'Good Luck, Tommy!' Sir Thomas, though a trifle hard of hearing, stopped his prepared speech for a bit to say, 'Tommy sounds better to me than 'Sir Thomas' and I hope the folks back home hear 'em.' "
Source: Excerpts from "Grand Old Man of the Sea: Sir Thomas Lipton Shakes Hands with Mayor Jimmy Walker and Gets 'Mike Fright' at Welcome Party," Radio Digest, October, 1930 pgs. 69 & 89.
Note: Lipton created the Lipton tea brand and is said to have been the most persistent challenger in the history of the America's Cup.
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