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May 1, 1935: The Premiere of Your Hit Parade

  May 1, 1935: the popular music program  Your Hit Parade  was aired for the first time on this day. Your Hit Parade   was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. Many listeners know the show under the incorrect title "The Hit Parade." The program's title was officially changed to "Your Hit Parade" on November 9, 1935. The program played the most popular and best-selling songs of the week every Saturday. The method of rate calculation remained a secret until now. Although there were some rumors about the method, the program was still able to attain a high reputation among its listeners.

April 30: Happy Birthday, Eve Arden

She was Our Miss Brooks ; she played a pickpocket in The Marx Brothers flick At The Circus ; and for an encore, turned in memorable performance s as the wacky high school principal in Grease and its sequel. Eve Arden , born on this day in 1908, was multi-talented and loved by millions for her roles in radio , TV, and film. The lovely strawberry blonde began her show biz career on the stage, as a teenager. But before long she was on the silver screen, finding a niche as the sidekick, witty and wise-cracking. Her prolific late- 30's film output inlcuded Oh, Doctor , Stage Door, Cocoanut Grove , and Having Wonderful Time. In 1948, after nearly two decades fighting in the show business trenches as a comic character actress, Arden landed a starring role, that of high school teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks . The literature teacher was likeable--in fact, praised by organizations of actual teachers--a strong female character who stood up to the shenanigans of the ske