ON THIS DAY 6 22 2023

This Day in History: June 22

Featured Event

2008




American comedian George Carlin—whose “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” routine led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the right to determine when to censor radio and TV broadcasts—died at age 71.


Patrick Carlin, (born May 12, 1937, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died June 22, 2008, Santa Monica, Calif.), American comedian whose “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” routine led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the right to determine when to censor radio and TV broadcasts.
Carlin began working in the late 1950s as a wisecracking radio disc jockey and low-key stand-up comedian known for such whimsical routines as “Wonderful WINO” and the “Hippy Dippy Weatherman.” Beginning in the 1970s, however, he transformed himself into a provocative and incisive antiestablishment comic icon. Carlin was most closely identified with the monologue “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” in which he satirically analyzed the use and misuse of seven of the raunchiest obscenities in the English language. Carlin was arrested in 1972 for performing the monologue onstage, but a judge dismissed the case. In 1973 New York City radio station WBAI-FM triggered a lawsuit by the FCC after it aired a recorded version of the routine called “Filthy Words.” The landmark “Carlin case” was finally settled in 1978 by the U.S. Supreme Court: in a 5–4 ruling, it gave the FCC the ability to censor offensive content in radio and TV broadcasts.

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Featured Biography

Meryl Streep
American actress


Meryl Streep, original name Mary Louise Streep, (born June 22, 1949, Summit, New Jersey, U.S.), American film actress known for her masterly technique, expertise with dialects, and subtly expressive face.

Early life

Streep started voice training at age 12 and took up acting in high school. In 1971 she graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, with a degree in drama and costume design. After working in summer stock theatre, Streep studied drama at Yale University, where she earned a master of fine arts degree in 1975. She then moved to New York City to begin a professional career as an actress.





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