August 5, 1924: "Little Orphan Annie" Debuts

August 5, 1924: The comic strip Little Orphan Annie debuts in the New York Daily News. It was created and written by Harold Gray, who continued to write and draw it until his death in 1968. It continued, written and drawn by others, until 2010. Starting in 2013, characters from Little Orphan Annie began to appear as supporting characters in a surviving strip from the same era: Dick Tracy.

In the strip, Annie, age 10, with her orange hair, white eyes with no pupils, and red dress -- and her dog, Sandy -- are adopted by millionaire Oliver Warbucks, or "Daddy Warbucks" as she calls him. Unfortunately, the racial stereotypes of the time prevailed: Warbucks' mansion was run by an Indian butler named Punjab, and opponents included the Egyptian villain The Asp.

Little Orphan Annie inspired a radio show in 1930, as mentioned in the 1983 film A Christmas Story. Films were made in 1932, starring Mitzi Green; and in 1938, with Ann Gillis. Both were  panned by the critics.

In 1977, the strip was adapted into the Broadway musical Annie, including the songs "Tomorrow" (as in, "The Sun will come out... "), "It's the Hard Knock Life" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." It was set in 1933, and suggests something of a rivalry between Warbucks, an avowed Republican, and the new President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat. Andrea McArdle was the 1st actress to play Annie on Broadway, and among those who succeeded her was future Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Andrea McArdle and Reid Shelton with Sandy

Unusually for such a recent debut, the musical has already been filmed 3 times. In 1982, John Huston directed Aileen Quinn as Annie, Albert Finney as Warbucks, Broadway legend Ann Reinking as his secretary Grace Farrell, TV legend Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, Tim Curry as her con-artist brother Rooster, and Edward Herrmann playing FDR (not for the first time, nor the last).

A version was made for the TV anthology The Wonderful World of Disney in 1999, with those roles going to, respectively, Alicia Morton, Victor Garber, Audra McDonald (again, better known for Broadway than Hollywood at the time of her casting), Kathy Bates, Alan Cumming and Dennis Howard. Andrea McArdle had a cameo.

A 2014 version brought the action to present-day Harlem, and both Annie and the Warbucks equivalent were black: Respectively, they were played by Quvenzhané Wallis and Jamie Foxx (as William Stacks, a mobile phone magnate who is running for Mayor). The secretary is played by Rose Byrne, and her real-life husband, Bobby Cannavale, is an advisor to Stacks, but has his own motives. (His character is adapted from a relatively minor one in the musical, and hires the stand-in for Rooster and his girlfriend, who masquerade as Annie's real parents.) Cameron Diaz played Miss Hannigan.

In 2021, NBC aired Annie Live! It went back to the original story set in 1933, with Celina Smith as Annie, Harry Connick Jr. as Warbucks, Nicole Sherzinger as Grace Farrell, Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan, Tituss Burgess as Rooster, and Alan Toy as FDR.

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August 5, 1924 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-2 at Navin Field (later renamed Briggs Stadium an Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Bullet Joe Bush started for the Yankees, but left the game with an injury in the 4th inning. Waite Hoyt pitched the rest of the way, and got the win. Babe Ruth went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Ty Cobb, by this point also managing the Tigers, went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at the Polo Grounds. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Cub shortstop Earl "Sparky" Adams mishandled Jimmy O'Connell's grounder, and allowed Heinie Groh to score the winning run.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers (known as the Robins from 1914 to 1931, while Wilbert Robinson was their manager) lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1 at Ebbets Field. Walter "Rabbit" Maranville, who made the Hall of Fame as a great-field-almost-no-hit shortstop, went 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Braves, 8-4 at Braves Field in Boston. Rogers Hornsby went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Ike Caveney singled Curt Walker home with the winning run in the top of the 11th.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at League Park in Cleveland. Indians player-manager Tris Speaker went 1-for-3 with a walk. Stan Coveleski pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-2 and 6-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Browns swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 2-0 and 4-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Urban Shocker pitched a 3-hit shutout in the opener. Over the 2 games, George Sisler went 1-for-7 with a walk.