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The Spectacular Sixties This eighth grade exit project is on the spectacular sixties. During each of these ten years something spectacular happened. Many of these topics are still watched, used, read, or talked about today. 1960 was an amazing year all because of “The Flintstones” airing. “The Flintstones” was inspired by the 1950’s show called “The Honeymooners”. “The Flintstones” was about a prehistoric family who live in a town called Bedrock. The Show used many modern devices, like the car, but they were adapted to the Stone Age. The third season was when their famous theme song “Meet the Flintstones” was used, before the theme song was “Rise and Shine”. The furniture in the Flintstones’ home was changed almost every episode. The color of their pet dinosaur changed throughout the program. Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first couple to be shown in bed together on primetime television. “The Flintstones” was originally meant for adults, so it was co-sponsored by Winston Cigarettes. “The Flintstones” was one of the first ever cartoon sitcoms to ever be successful with an adult audience. This show was the first and longest running animated situation comedy shown on primetime television. Before “The Flintstones”, cartoons were on 3 or 4 minutes, or 30 minute shorts. “The Flintstones” was the first show that lasted a half hour and was one episode within that time. “The Flintstones” went off in 1966. Since the airing of “The Flintstones” there have been many movies and other shows made about “The Flintstones”. “The Flintstones” are still showed in commercials, movies, and children products, and they are a cultural iconic television show for all families. In 1961, The Fantastic Four was created. The Fantastic Four was created by Marvel Comics and was also the first superhero title produced by Marvel Comics. The Fantastic Four formed a cornerstone of Marvels 1960s rise from a small division to a pop culture conglomerate. This comic was about a group who gained superpowers after exposure to cosmic rays on an outer space mission. The comic was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Lee, who was planning on leaving the comic world, decided not to because of The Fantastic Fours’ unexpected success. The team of the Fantastic Four consisted of The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, The Thing, and Mr. Fantastic. This team of superheroes is portrayed as a loving yet dysfunctional family. The team is also well known for its struggle with reoccurring characters. There have been three volumes of this series in comic books. As of November 2009 volume 1 has 490 issues, volume 2 has 13 issues, and volume 3 has 70 issues. The publication dates for volume 1 is November 1961 to September 1996, volume 2 is November 1996 to November 1997, volume 3 is January 1998 to August 2003, and volume one continued is September 2003 to present. The early were complete narratives. The Fantastic Four is one of several Marvel titles originating in the silver age of comic books that is still in publication today. The Fantastic Four became a TV series in 1967 with the same producer as “The Flintstones”. Since the comic book was made the Fantastic Four has been adapted into other media. 1962 was an amazing year but one of the most amazing things was the creation of Spiderman. Spiderman was published by Marvel Comics. Spiderman was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Spiderman first appeared in issue number fifteen of Amazing Fantasy. Stan Lee got his inspiration from seeing a fly crawl on the wall. Lee originally got Jack Kirby to draw Spiderman but he didn’t like Kirby’s version and got Steve Ditko to draw him instead. Spiderman appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962 and The Amazing Spiderman came out in 1963. Spiderman gets his powers by being bitten by a radioactive spider. Unlike most teen heroes, Spiderman did not have a mentor and had to learn by himself “with great power there must also be great responsibility.” In 1962 Spiderman won the Alley Award for the best short story “Origin of Spiderman” by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Amazing Fantasy #15. This was a major event since the first Alley Awards started in 1961. Spiderman has won over 17 Alley Awards which are an American series of comic book fan awards. Spiderman has been in comics, cartoons, movies, coloring books, novels, records, and children’s books. Spiderman has become one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world. Spiderman has been used to sell toys, games, cereal, candy, soap and many other products. Spiderman is now often used as the marvel company mascot. On February 17th, 1963 inBrooklyn,New York, Michael Jordan was born.Jordan grew up inWilmington,North Carolina. He lived with four other siblings.Jordan failed at making his high school basketball team as a sophomore, but he continued to practice and made it the next year. Michael Jordan was accepted to theUniversity ofNorth Carolina or UNC Chapel Hill with a basketball scholarship. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference, or the ACC, Rookie of the Year.Jordan led the ACC in scoring his sophomore and junior year. After his junior year,Jordan left UNC to enter the National Basketball Association, or NBA, draft. In the summer of 1984,Jordan was on theUnited States Olympic basketball team. TheUnited States won the gold medal in basketball that year.Jordan was the third overall pick in the NBA draft. He was selected by the Chicago Bulls.Jordan retired with the Bulls in 1993.Jordan tried Minor League Baseball before returning to the Bulls in 1994.Jordan retired with the Bulls again in 1999. In 2001,Jordan returned to the NBA to play for the Washington Wizards.Jordan retired for the final time in 2003. Michael Jordan has won many awards including 5 regular season Most Valuable Player awards or MVP’s, 6 Finals MVP’s, and 3 All-Star game MVP’s. In 1964, the first American-made affordable sports car, the Ford Mustang, was released. In 1961, Lee Iacocca, Vice President, of the Ford division had a vision. The vision was of a car that seated four people, had bucket seats, a floor mounted shifter, to be no longer than 180 inches, weigh less than 2,500 pounds, and cost less than 2,500 dollars. The idea of the Mustang was approved in 1962. The first Mustang was produced in Dearborn, Michigan. The Mustang came off the assembly lines on 1964, 18 months after the original idea had been approved, the Mustang was introduced to the public at New York’s world fair. The first Mustang was later called the 1964 ½ model. The 1964 ½ model was released April 16th, 1964. People “attacked” showrooms. Over 22,000 were sold on the first day. The 1964 ½ had two models the coupe and convertible. There was a total of 121,538 Ford Mustangs produced during the 1964 ½ model run. By Mustangs one year anniversary 418,812 were sold. In September 1964 the Mustang appeared in the James Bond movie Goldfinger. There were over 1 million units sold in Mustangs first two years on the market. The ponycar class that the Mustang created is the only class of muscle cars that still exits today. There as been five generations of Mustangs each generation is a rebuild of the Mustang. In 1965, The Sound of Music came out. The Sound of Music was a book and then German filmmakers made it a movie in 1956 called Die Trapp Familie meaning The Trapp Family. In 1959 the Rodgers and Hammerstein play called The Sound of Music came out. The film The Sound of Music finally made its debut in 1965. The Sound of Music is a film about a woman who leaves a convent to become a governess to a naval officer widower with 7 children. The film starred Julie Andrews as the governess and Christopher Plummer as the naval officer widower with 7 children. Taglines for the movie were “Radiance that floods the screen… and warms the heart”, “The more you see it the more it becomes one of your favorite things!”, and “The happiest sound in all the world”. This film was named 1965 best picture of the year. At the time of theBerlin wall The Sound of Music was the only foreign film allowed to be shown inRussia. The characters did not have the same names of the real Von Trapp kids. The governess Maria, came and married Mr. Von Trapp and had 3 children to go along with the 7 other children from his first marriage. After Maria and Mr. Von Trapp’s 3 children were born there were 10 Von Trapp Kids. Maria actually married Mr. Von Trapp 11 years before the leftAustria. Before Maria got there, the Von Trapp children were already musically inclined the family did not travel secretly over the Alps to freedom inSwitzerland with heavy suitcases and instruments. People knew they were leaving. They were leaving on a train toItaly then were going toAmerica. In 1966, Star Trek T.V. Series aired. September 8, 1966 marked the premiere of Star Trek. Star Trek was created and produced by Gene Rodenberry. The Show was rumored to cancel after 2 seasons. 1967 was the mark of Star Treks 2nd season. Star Trek only lasted 3 seasons. The last show aired June 3rd, 1961. The opening lines were “to boldly go where no man has ever gone.” William Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk. Many known phrases like “beam me up Scotty”, “live long and prosper”, and “to boldly go” are still kept alive. There is a 11 foot model of Star Treks Ship Starship Enterprise on display in the Smithsonian. The communicator used by enterprise crew members is said to have to been inspiration for the cellphone. In the 70’s fans held a convention were original actors from Star Trek would speak, thousands of people attended. NASA named its first space shuttle Orbiter Enterprise after Starship Enterprise. There have been many spinoffs from Star Trek. From 1979 to today Star Trek films are still being made. On January 15th, 1967, the first Super Bowl was held inLos Angelos,California in the Memorial Coliseum. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers played the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. The thought of a Super Bowl was determines after the National Football League or NFL and the American Football League or AFL decided to take the winner of each leagues championship and let them play each year in a single game to determine the “world champion of football”. Tickets were six to twelve dollars. The stadium was only two-third filled. The game was played in front of 61,946 people. The television audience was estimated at 60 million. Columbia Broadcasting System and National Broadcasting System paid 1 million dollars each for TV rights. This was a 2.5 million dollar event with gate receipts estimated at 7.5 million dollars. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers won 35 to 10 and each Packer won 15,000 dollars and each Chief won 7,500 dollars. The championship game was finally named the super bowl in 1969. In 1968, Evel Knievel jumped Ceaser’s Palace fountains. Robert “Evel” Knievel was born in 1938. On New Years Day 1968 Evel Knievel jumped 151 feet across the Ceaser’s Palace fountains in Las Vegas, Nevada. The owner let Knievel jump for publicity. Knievel asked ABC to film the jump. ABC turned down the idea to film it to start with. ABC then decided to film it anyway and considered showing it. Knievel's jump ended up being aired on ABC’s Wide World of Sports putting him in the national spotlight. Knievel cleared the fountains but crashed resulting in injuries. Knivel fractured his skull from the crash and was in a coma for 29 days. Knievel broke thirty-seven bones in his lifetime which is the world record. The Smithsonian Institution has Knievel's customized Harley, his jumpsuit, and his boots. Knievel died November 30th, 2007 at the age of 69. Knievel’s legacy lives on forever. In 1969, Sesame Street aired. Sesame Street aired November 10th, 1969. The first episode was sponsored by letters W, S, and E and numbers 2 and 3. The original characters were Big Bird, Kermit, Bert and Ernie, Oscar, Grover, and Cookie Monster. The theme song is “can you tell me how to get/ how to get toSesame Street”. 74 million Americans have watchedSesame Street. An estimated 8 million Americans watch the show each week. In the history of kidsTV Sesame Street is on of the longest running and currently produced shows. Big Bird has been played by Carol Spinney since the show first aired. Sesame Street has won several Emmy’s for most outstanding preschool series. Sesame Street has aired in more than 120 countries and is the most widely viewed children’s programs in the world. Since it has aired,Sesame Street has added many new characters. Elmo did not appear until 1980.South Africa’s version introduced a 5 year old moppet who was HIV-positive to help children living with diseases. Abby Cadabby was introduced in 2006 and she was positioned to encourage diversity and provide a strong role model for girls.