This Weekend In History…

September 9, 1956

Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing Don’t Be CruelLove Me TenderReady Teddy, and Hound Dog. When Elvis sang Ready Teddy and began to dance, the camera zoomed in showing him only from the waist up. The show was viewed by 60.7 million viewers with an 82.6% share of the television audience, both television records at that time.
Ed Sullivan had previously vowed to never allow Elvis on his show due to his “obscene” dance moves. Sullivan finally relented after Elvis’ success on other shows and paid him an unprecedented $50,000 for three appearances. Sullivan had previously refused an offer for Elvis to perform on his show for only $5,000. Neither Sullivan nor Elvis were in the New York City studio for this episode. Sullivan was recovering from an automobile accident and Elvis’ segments were telecast from California where he was filming his first movie Love Me Tender at the time.

Marijuana Legalization

September 10, 1980

The U.S. approves the use of the drug marijuana for medical purposes such as to ease nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients.

September 11, 2001

Hijackers from the group al-Qaeda crash two jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Shortly after, both towers collapsed. A third jet was crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The official count was 2,997 deaths in the attacks including the hijackers.