Happy Days on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: Happy Days, a sitcom about life in the 1950s, debuted on ABC on this day in 1974.

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from 1974 to 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most successful series of the 1970s. The series presented an idealized vision of life in the 1950s and early 1960s Milwaukee Wisconsin, and it starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as his friend Fonzie, and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross as Richie's parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham. Although it opened to mixed reviews from critics, Happy Days became successful and popular over time.

Initially a moderate success, the series' ratings began to fall during its second season, causing Marshall to retool it. The new format emphasized broad comedy and spotlighted the previously minor character of Fonzie, a "cool" biker and high school dropout. Following these changes, Happy Days became the number-one program in television in 1976–1977, Fonzie became one of the most merchandised characters of the 1970s, and Henry Winkler became a major star. The series also spawned a number of spin-offs, including Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Joanie Loves Chachi, Blansky's Beauties featuring Nancy Walker as Howard's cousin, and Out of the Blue.

The show had many notable guest stars over the years, including Hank Aaron, Lorne Greene, Suzi Quatro, Frankie Avalon, Tom Hanks, Morgan Fairchild, Cheryl Ladd, Dave Madden, The Amazing Randi, Robin Williams, etc.

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The Times Square Killer on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: American serial killer and rapist Richard Cottingham, who murdered a minimum of 12 young women and girls in New York and New Jersey between 1967 and 1980, was born on this day in 1946. He was nicknamed The Torso Killer and The Times Square Killer. In 2009, nearly 30 years after being convicted of five murders in New Jersey and New York in 1981–1984, Cottingham admitted to a journalist that he had committed at least 80 to 100 "perfect murders" of women in various regions of the United States, of which, since 2009, six have been subsequently confirmed and their cases closed. Cottingham was convicted of five murders, two in New Jersey and three in New York, plus multiple charges of kidnapping and sexual assault and other charges. Four surviving victims testified against Cottingham; he was convicted in three of the abduction-rape survivor cases and acquitted in one.

He earned the nicknames the “Torso Killer” and “Times Square Torso Ripper,” after two victims were found savagely dismembered and decapitated, then set on fire, in a Times Square motel in 1979. 

The remains incarcerated at the state prison in New Jersey to this day.

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