: French inventor/film executive Leon Gaumont demonstrates his Chronophone system of showing films with synchronized phonograph cylinders.
November 7, 1902
November 4, 1907: The Chicago City Council Ordinance forbids the showing of “obscene and immoral pictures” and grants police permission to ban a movie’s release.
November 4, 1948: The treatment of the mentally ill is graphically depicted in The Snake Pit, starring Olivia de Havilland.
November 3, 1956: The Wizard of Oz makes its network broadcast debut on CBS; “Cowardly Lion” Bert Lahr and a 10-year-old Liza Minnelli are the hosts.
November 6, 1958: Steve McQueen battles that man-eating goo from outer space, The Blob, in his first starring film role.
November 8, 1966: Two years after retiring from the screen in The Killers (his first villainous role), Ronald Reagan is elected governor of California.
November 8, 1972: Cable TV takes a giant step when Home Box Office debuts in 350 homes in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The first movie shown is Sometimes a Great Notion.
November 4, 1980: America puts its first professional actor in the White House, as Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th President of the United States.
November 2, 1990: Pioneering silent comedy producer Hal Roach, who created Our Gang and teamed Laurel and Hardy, passes away at the age of 100.
November 4, 1994: After winning acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, Kevin Smith‘s $30,000 convenience-store comedy Clerks goes into general release.