December 27, 1904: Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up premieres at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. The play is written by James M. Barrie, who would later expand it with his 1911 novel Peter and Wendy. A legend is born.
The title role, that of a character who appears to be a teenage boy, is played by Nina Boucicault. This begins a tradition of Peter being played by women: Betty Bronson in the 1st film version in 1924, Mary Martin in the 1954 Broadway musical, Martin again in a famed 1955 TV production of the musical, and Sandy Duncan and former gymnast Cathy Rigby in later revivals of the musical. A notable exception is the 1953 Disney cartoon, where Peter is voiced by Bobby Driscoll.
Barrie was knighted in 1913, and died in 1937. Nina Boucicault died in 1950.
In 1991, Steven Spielberg tried a new take on the story, Hook. Robin Williams played Peter Banning, an adult with a wife and children, who goes to London finds out that his wife's elderly grandmother is the original Wendy Darling, and that he was Peter Pan, who lost his memory of his adventures when he did grow up, and has to fight Captain Hook all over again. Hook is played by Dustin Hoffman, and Tinker Bell by Julia Roberts.
UPDATE: In 2023, Disney released a live-action Peter Pan & Wendy, starring Alexander Molony.
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December 27, 1904 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. The college football season had ended. Professional basketball did not exist. Professional football and hockey barely did. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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