On This Date In History – October 3rd

On this date in history: the greatest kid show in history debuted, a singer 'suicided' her career on 'Saturday Night Live', OJ was found 'innocent' and a college drop out headed the Forbes 'richest' list for the first time.

69 years ago: In 1945, a 10-year-old Elvis Aron Presley made his first public appearance in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show.  He won 2nd place and $5.

63 years ago: In 1951, Bobby Thompson of the New York Giants, hit 'The Shot Heard Round the World', a three-run homer in the bottom of the 9th of the final game in a three-game playoff against the Brooklyn Dodgers.  With that hit, the Giants won the pennant.

59 years ago: In 1955, "Captain Kangaroo", starring Bob Keeshan, debuted on CBS.  The fine show featured Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock, Mr. Moose and of course, Mr. Green Jeans!

59 years ago: In 1955, "The Mickey Mouse Club" premiered on ABC.

57 years ago: In 1957, "The Woody Woodpecker Show", debuted on ABC.

50 years ago: In 1964, "Underdog" debuted on NBC!

40 years ago: In 1974, Frank Robinson became Major League Baseball's first black manager when he took over the Cleveland Indians.

30 years ago: In 1984, Scott Baio's "Charles in Charge" debuted on CBS.

22 years ago: In 1992, Sinead O'Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul the 2ND on "Saturday Night Live", while saying "fight the real enemy".  NBC got more than 1,000 calls protesting. Ironically, Sinbad O'Connor had canceled a previously scheduled appearance on "SNL" because she found the "comedy" of Andrew Dice Clay offensive.  Two weeks later, she was booed off the stage during a Bob Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden.

22 years ago: In 1992, Bill Gates, the college-dropout co-founder of Microsoft, headed the "Forbes" 400 list of the richest Americans for the first time, with a net worth of $6.3 BILLION.  His fortune peaked at ten-times that amount in 2000, but now Bill Gates is down to his last $81 billion. He's still #1 on the "Forbes" list, though.

19 years ago In 1995, the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial found O.J. innocent of the slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.

16 years ago: In 1998, Roddy McDowall, star of the original "Planet of the Apes" movies, died of cancer at 70.

11 years ago: In 2003, Roy Horn, half of the hairless magic team Siegfried & Roy, was nearly killed on stage by one of his white tigers. Montecore bit him in the neck during a show. The bite severed an artery and caused a stroke which has left Roy partially paralyzed.

Three years ago: In 2011, convicted American murderer Amanda Knox had her sentence overturned in an Italian court. She was retried last year and re-convicted.  She was sentenced to 28 and a half years, but she's staying right here in the U.S. and appealing.