December 30, 1966: "One Million Years B.C." Premieres

December 30, 1966: The film One Million Years B.C. premieres. Produced by Britain's Hammer Films, which specialized in horror films, and directed by Don Chaffey, it was a remake of the 1940 film One Million B.C.

Like so many other films of the era with fantasy elements, the special effects were provided by the master of stop-motion photography, Ray Harryhausen. Like so many other films set in humanity's prehistoric era, it puts people alongside dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were wiped out around 65 million years ago, while humans emerged back 3 million years ago, with our species, Homo sapiens, developing about 300,000 years ago.

Even the timeline of dinosaurs tends to get messed up by such films: Brontosaurus, the long-necked dinosaur, and Stegosaurus, with its triangular fins along its spine, both lived around 155 to 145 million years ago; and Tyrannosaurus rex, whose terrifying appearance, standing with long, sharp teeth, tends to make it the most familiar dinosaur, and Triceratops, with its 2 front horns and its horned collar, developed about 69 million years ago, making it a comparatively short-lived species. In other words, Brontosaurus and Stegosaurus co-existed, and Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops co-existed; but the latter 2 were closer in time to humans than to the 1st 2.

The film features a rivalry between the dark-haired Rock Tribe and the fair-haired, more civilized Shell Tribe. John Richardson plays Tumak, cast out of the Rock Tribe, and Raquel Welch plays Loana, a member of the Shell Tribe who takes him in. She eventually has to fight his former girlfriend, Nupodi, played by Hammer veteran Martine Beswick. Despite Beswick's experience in "catfights," having won one in the James Bond film From Russia with Love, Loana wins. Finally, a volcano erupts, killing members of both tribes, and the survivors of each are forced to form a new tribe, working together to survive.

Having already appeared in the science-fiction film Fantastic Voyage earlier in the year, One Million Years B.C. made Welch a star, as she went from a futuristic skin-tight pressure suit to a cavewoman's fur-skin bikini. Already 26 years old, with a son and a daughter, and engaged to the 2nd of what would be 4 husbands, she became one of the leading sex symbols of her generation.

Don Chaffey died in 1990. Ray Harryhausen died in 2013. John Richardson died in 2021. As of December 30, 2022, Raquel Welch and Martine Beswick are still alive. (UPDATE: She died in 2023.)

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December 30, 1966 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL and the AFL were between the ends of their regular seasons and their Championship Games. The NHL had no games scheduled.

There was 1 game played in the NBA: The Detroit Pistons bat the Los Angeles Lakers, 124-121, on a neutral court at the Montreal Forum.

June 19, 1963: "Jason and the Argonauts" Premieres

June 19, 1963: The film Jason and the Argonauts premieres. Directed by Don Chaffey, it received a musical score by Bernard Herrmann, and special effects from the master of stop-motion photography, Ray Harryhausen. Herrmann, best known for his work on the films of Alfred Hitchcock, had previously teamed with Harryhausen on The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, and Mysterious Island.

Set around 1300 BC, in the Mycenaean Age of Greece, over a century before the Trojan War, and perhaps around the time of the Biblical Exodus, it is based on The Argonautica, an epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd Century BC. Pelias (played by Douglas Wilmer) usurps the throne of Thessaly, in what is now northern Greece, killing King Aristo. A prophecy states that one of Aristo's children will avenge him. Aristo's infant son Jason is spirited away by a soldier. Pelias, thinking it will eliminate a possible answer to the prophecy, slays one of Aristo's daughters after she seeks sanctuary in the temple of the goddess Hera (Honor Blackman). Because the murder has profaned her temple, Hera becomes Jason's protector. She warns Pelias to beware of "a one-sandaled man."

Twenty years later, Jason (played as an adult by Todd Armstrong) saves Pelias from drowning, an "accident" orchestrated by Hera, losing his sandal in the process. Pelias recognizes his enemy. Not knowing who he has saved, Jason intends to seek the legendary Golden Fleece, to rally support against Pelias. The Golden Fleece is wool from Chrysomallos, a winged ram, and a symbol of authority and kingship. Hoping Jason will die on the quest, thus eliminating another threat, Pelias encourages him to set forth.

Hermes (Michael Gwynn), messenger of the Greek gods, takes Jason to Mount Olympus, their home, where Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) rules over all, with his wife, Hera, by his side. (The film, with the Hays Code still in effect, doesn't mention the part of Greek mythology that says that Zeus frequently cheated on Hera, with goddesses and mortal women alike.) Zeus decrees that Hera can help him only five times, the same number of times that Jason's murdered sister called on her for protection.

He has a ship built, by Argus (Laurence Naismith). In his honor, Jason names the ship the Argo, and calls his crew the Argonauts. and recruits a crew. Among them are Hercules (Nigel Green), the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, and thus said to be the strongest man in the world. Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods, has made armor for the Argonauts.

En route to finding the Fleece, the Argonauts have several adventures, including the rescue of Medea (Nancy Kovack), high priestess of the goddess Hecate. She falls in love with Jason. Jason faces the Hydra, a multiheaded beast, where if one head is cut off three more rise in its place. He prevents this by burning the stumps, until they were all gone.

In the film's most familiar scene, seven armed skeletons charge the Argonauts. Jason, Phalerus (Andrew Faulds) and Castor (Ferdinando Poggi) fight the skeletons long enough for Medea and Argus to take the Fleece and get back in the Argo. Phalerus and Castor are killed by the skeletons, but Jason gets away, back to the Argo, and the remaining Argonauts sail home.

There, the film ends. But the myth goes on. The Argonauts -- including Peleus (not to be confused with Pelias, and he does not appear in the film), King of Phthia, who turns out to be the father of Trojan War hero Achilles; and Laertes, King of Cephalonia, who turns out to be the father of Trojan War hero Ulysses, a.k.a. Odysseus -- make it home safely, and Pelias ends up killed not by Jason, or any other child of Aristo, but by his own daughters, who are nonetheless inspired by Jason and Medea, thus sort-of fulfilling the prophecy. But because of this, Jason is told he cannot become King of Thessaly.

He and Medea settle in Corinth, becoming that city's King and Queen. They are together for 10 years, after which Jason betrays Medea by announcing he will divorce her and marry Glauce, daughter of King Creon. According to the tragedy written by Euripides, Medea, daughter of the sorceress Circe and thus granddaughter of the Sun god Helios, uses her magic to kill Creon, Glauce, and even the children she had with Jason.

The most successful team in the Canadian Football League was named the Toronto Argonauts, in honor of the myth. In the Hercules/Xena media franchise, Jeffrey Thomas played Jason, and his friendship with fellow Argonauts Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (a character created for the TV series, played by Michael Hurst) is alluded to a few times. In the Argonauts' honor, Xena (Lucy Lawless) named her horse Argo.

In 2000, NBC remade the story as a miniseries, with Jason London as Jason, Jolene Blalock as Medea, and an all-star cast that also included Frank Langella, Natasha Henstridge, Derek Jacobi, Olivia Williams, Angus Macfadyen, Dennis Hopper and Ciarán Hinds.

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June 19, 1963 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Bouton outpitched Claude Osteen. Mickey Mantle was injured, and did not play. Roger Maris did, and hit a home run. Other than that, the Yankees only had 4 hits, and Bobby Richardson had 3 of them.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-4 at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Bill White hit a home run for the Cards. Stan Musial, in his last season, went 2-for-3 with a walk. Duke Snider drew a pinch-hit walk for the Mets.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* A doubleheader was split at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Cleveland Indians won the opener, 5-4. The Baltimore Orioles won the nightcap, 6-2. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4, then 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Leo Cárdenas singled Frank Robinson home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Robinson had walked in the inning, but otherwise went 0-for-4. Rooke Pete Rose went 1-for-5.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Colt .45s, 9-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Braves 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-5. Hank Aaron hit his 328th career home run.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 12-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run.

* A doubleheader was split at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Los Angeles Angels were groundsharing until their stadiumin Anaheim could be built. The Angels won the 1st game, 4-2. The Kansas City Athletics won the 2nd game, 4-3.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Juan Marichal outpitched Don Drysdale, and went 1-for-3 in his own cause. Willie Mays did not play, but Willie McCovey and Chuck Hiller hit home runs.