By Kiesly Jameson
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, widely known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version of Card Sharks from 1986 to 1989. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio DJ work in 2000. It is in front of Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, where he worked during the first years of his broadcasting career. In 2005, he received a lifetime achievement Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
In 1966, Eubanks received a phone call from Chuck Barris, asking him to host a new game show, The Newlywed Game; the show premiered on ABC later that same year. During its debut, it was an immediate hit, and the show’s popularity led the network to expand the prime-time lineup, where it had run on the air for five years. Only 28 years old when he started hosting, Eubanks became widely popular for bringing a youthful energy to daytime television, pressing contestants into giving embarrassing and hilarious answers. The Newlywed Game was also ranked as one of the top three daytime game shows, for five consecutive seasons, between 1968 and 1973, and was ranked in the top three prime-time game shows, also for five seasons, between 1966 and 1971.
While not taping, he also pursued a career in the country music business, where he served as manager of such artists as Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell and Marty Robbins. The same year, he also signed Merle Haggard to an exclusive live-performance contract, producing more than 100 dates per year with the performer for almost a decade.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Died
- Galileo (astronomer) –
- Eli Whitney (inventor) –
- Terry-Thomas (comedian) –
- Dave Thomas (Wendy’s fast food entrepreneur) –
- Alexander Prokhorov (Russian scientist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 for work that led to the development of the laser) –
- Yvonne De Carlo (actress best known as Lily Munster on The Munsters) –
- Iwao Takamoto (cartoonist; created Scooby Doo) –
- Art Clokey (creator of Gumby and Pokey) –
Born
- Jonathan Belcher (Colonial governor and merchant) –
- John Carrol (founded Georgetown University) –
- Alfred Wallace (naturalist) –
- Frank Nelson Doubleday (publisher) –
- Larry Storch (actor) –
- Bill Graham (producer) –
- Elvis Presley (American entertainer ) –
- Bob Eubanks (game show host) –
- Graham Chapman (actor) –
- Stephen Hawking (physicist) –
- David Bowie (singer) –
- Jeff Francis (baseball player) –
- Gaby Hoffmann (actress) –
Events
- First State of the Union message, delivered by President George Washington –
- President George Washington delivered first State of the Union address –
- The 11th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, modifying the power of the Supreme Court, was ratified –
- First soup kitchens opened in London for the relief of the poor –
- Lewis and Clark saw a 105-foot-long whale skeleton in NW Oregon –
- Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812) –
- Joseph Lister published the results of his study of antiseptic surgical methods. His use of carbolic acid to sterilize instuments and wounds trebles the survival rate of his patients –
- President Wilson delivered his Fourteen Points speech, suggesting the creation of a League of Nations –
- The Dow Jones industrial stock average passed the 2,000 mark –
- Fergie Jenkins became first Canadian elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame –
- In Singapore, a barge accidentally rammed Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso, causing it to sink in the harbor (it was later raised) –
Weather
- New York City stayed below zero degrees F all day –
- Record cold hit Nevada, -50 degrees F at San Jacinto –
- January 6 to 8: A Nor’easter dumped record snow along the U.S. East Coast –
- Operation Recuperation began after ice storm hit New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec –
- 15,000+ troops began aid during a multiday ice storm in Ontario and Quebec. –
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