May 15, 1900: The Lumière brothers dazzle audiences at the Paris World’s Fair with films projected onto an enormous 82′ x 49′ wide screen.
May 10, 1912: The screen’s earliest romantic pairing, Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne, first gaze into each other’s eyes in The House of Pride.
May 11, 1927: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is founded. There are 36 members, presided over by Douglas Fairbanks.
May 15, 1928: Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks debut their first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy. It isn’t picked up by a distributor until a soundtrack is added the following year.
May 16, 1929: The first Academy Awards are handed out in a brief ceremonial dinner at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel; 12 awards–including Outstanding (Best) Picture to Wings–and two honorary statues are given out.
May 11, 1931: Germany’s first sound film, Fritz Lang‘s M, is released, featuring stage actor Peter Lorre in a chilling portrayal of a child murderer.
May 14, 1938: Errol Flynn–playing a role first planned for James Cagney–hits a bullseye with critics and audiences in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
May 13, 1942: Ten-year Hollywood veteran Alan Ladd becomes an “overnight sensation” as a ruthless killer in This Gun for Hire.
May 12, 1944: Roy Rogers makes his first movie with future wife Dale Evans, The Cowboy and the Senorita, but saves his screen kisses for Trigger.
May 15, 1948: A U.S. Supreme Court ruling against “monopolistic practices” will, over the next two years, force studios to divest themselves of their theaters.
May 15, 1948: Billionaire businessman/aviator/would-be filmmaker Howard Hughes buys a controlling interest in RKO for $8.8 million.
May 13, 1955: The Universal horror film Revenge of the Creature opens. Making his screen debut as a lab assistant: Clint Eastwood.
May 13, 1956: After leaving a dinner party given by Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift gets into a devastating car accident that seriously scars his face.
May 13, 1961: Screen star Gary Cooper, 60, in films from 1925’s The Vanishing American until this year’s The Naked Edge, dies of cancer.
May 11, 1963: An Italian court sentences director Pier Paolo Pasolini to four months suspended sentence for “public defamation” because of his work in RoGoPaG.
May 10, 1977: Joan Crawford, star of Mildred Pierce and Johnny Guitar and famous Hollywood “mommie,” dies at the age of 73.
May 10, 1980: Teen-slayer Jason Voorhees, not yet wearing his trademark hockey mask, makes his screen debut in the original Friday the 13th.
May 16, 1986: Navy jets, volleyball, and Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis add up to the year’s biggest hit, Paramount’s Top Gun.
May 12, 1987: Woody Allen and Ginger Rogers are among the Hollywood notables speaking out against the colorization of vintage films before Congress.
May 14, 1987: Red-headed screen sex siren Rita Hayworth (Gilda) dies from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease at 68.
May 15, 1987: Hollywood wags will have a new synonym for “bomb” with the failure of the $40 million Warren Beatty/Dustin Hoffman comedy Ishtar.
May 16, 1990: Muppet creator and family entertainment guru Jim Henson, 53, and actor-singer-dancer Sammy Davis, Jr., 64, die.
May 14, 1998: “The Voice” is finally silenced, as legendary singer and Oscar-winning actor Frank Sinatra faces the final curtain at age 82.
May 16,2002: Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones debuts with an $80 million opening weekend.