ON THIS DAY 6 27 2023

This Day in History: June 27

Featured Event

1862




During the first Battle of Cold Harbor in the American Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacked Union troops, driving them back in disorder and forcing them to withdraw to the south side of the Chickahominy River.

Featured Biography

Bob Keeshan
American television producer and entertainer




Bob Keeshan, in full Robert James Keeshan, byname Captain Kangaroo, (born June 27, 1927, Lynbrook, New York, U.S.—died January 23, 2004, Windsor, Vermont), American television producer and entertainer who was best known for his role as Captain Kangaroo on the children’s program of the same name (1955–84).
When Keeshan was a senior in high school, he landed a job as a page at NBC in New York City. After high school he served in the marines. In 1946 he returned to New York and to his job at NBC and also attended Fordham University. His desk at NBC was next to Buffalo Bob Smith’s office, and Keeshan soon was helping Buffalo Bob with a Saturday morning children’s radio show. The next year, when Buffalo Bob starred in an afternoon show, he featured a puppet—Howdy Doody—and Keeshan was invited to join the cast. On January 3, 1948, he debuted as Clarabell the Clown on what later became The Howdy Doody Show, and by 1950 the show had moved to television and was highly popular. Keeshan’s next stint was as Corny the Clown on ABC’s Time for Fun, and he then performed on that network’s Tinker’s Workshop.


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