“The Sting Wins Big with Joplin’s Music” and “Pope John Paul II Dies The - This Day in History – Apr 2nd

Scott Joplin’s Music Helps to Make “The Sting,” a Major Oscar Winner

Back in 1974, a classic movie named, “The Sting,” not only earned an impressive Seven Academy Awards but also showed recognition for ragtime musician, Scott Joplin.  This movie starred actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman as the good guy con men during the 1930s in Chicago, IL. Marvin Hamlisch was the composer of this musical score whom sought the music of Joplin to give this film its musical appeal. 

According to history.com, “The Sting and Marvin Hamlisch both had big nights at the 46th annual Academy Awards on April 2, 1974. The Sting won Best Picture, among seven total Oscars, and Hamlisch won three, including Best Song and Best Dramatic Score for The Way We Were along with the award for Best Song Score and/or Adaptation for The Sting. The win for the Joplin-based score of The Sting brought the ragtime revival to the mainstream. Less than two weeks after the Oscars, "The Entertainer" was released as an instrumental single, reaching #3 on the Billboard pop charts in mid-May, while the soundtrack album from The Sting reached the #1 spot on the album charts simultaneously. At the Grammy awards the following year, "The Entertainer" helped propel Marvin Hamlisch to a win in the Best New Artist category, prompting Hamlisch to call Scott Joplin "the real new artist of the year" in his acceptance speech.”

The People’s Pontiff, John Paul II Dies

Back in 2005, Pope John Paul II died at the age of 84 in his home in the Vatican.  This celebrated man who was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland in 1920 is the first non-Italian pope since the 16^th century.  A record two million people attended this funeral in the Vatican City, the biggest funeral for a pope in history. 

According to history.com, “A conservative pontiff, John Paul II s papacy was marked by his firm and unwavering opposition to communism and war, as well as abortion, contraception, capital punishment, and homosexual sex. He later came out against euthanasia, human cloning, and stem cell research. He traveled widely as pope, using the eight languages he spoke (Polish, Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin) and his well-known personal charm, to connect with the Catholic faithful, as well as many outside the fold.” 

“Pope John Paul II is remembered for his successful efforts to end communism, as well as for building bridges with peoples of other faiths, and issuing the Catholic Church s first apology for its actions during World War II. He was succeeded by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict XVI began the process to beatify John Paul II in May 2005.”

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/red-rum-wins-record-third-grand-national?catId=10