On this day – April 30
Posted on: Fri 30 Apr 2021
On this day in 1952, Mr Potato Head became the first toy to be advertised on TV in America. Originally just consisting of body parts on pins to be pushed into a vegetable of a child’s choosing, preferably a potato, the kit eventually evolved to include a plastic potato body.
The commercial is also regarded as the first time a toy was marketed towards children rather than their parents.
In 1975, American actor Johnny Galecki was born, and fellow actor Kunal Nayyar was also born on the same day in 1981. These actors ended up working together on American TV show The Big Bang Theory.
The show finished in 2019 with a whopping 279 episodes over 12 seasons, and was nominated for 50 Emmys, winning 10.
From seasons eight to ten, the main cast, including Galecki and Nayyar, made $1 million USD per episode, before taking a pay cut of $100,000 per episode each so that two of their co-stars could get a pay rise.
In 1973, British-American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings released their second studio album, Red Rose Speedway. The lead single, ‘My Love’, was originally written as a love song from Paul McCartney to his then-wife and bandmate Linda.
Breakfast’s Tom Mann and Paul Davies speak to producer Sezen Bakan about what happened on this day in history.
Produced by Sezen Bakan
Image source: Flickr
