Today in History: October 18

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On October 18th, 1922, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was formed.

The company announced one of the biggest shake-ups in its 82-year history in December 2005.

At the time, company sources said Britain’s well-respected public broadcaster planned to axe at least 10 percent of its jobs and trim £320 million in costs.

On this day in 1931 the great American inventor Thomas Edison died. In his lifetime, Edison held more than 1,000 patents, the most famous being the electric lamp, the phonograph and the motion picture projector.

He also created the world’s first industrial research laboratory.

October 18, 1961 saw the release of the acclaimed musical film West Side Story, an adaptation of a Broadway play, in American theatres; it won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The film received rave reviews from critics and viewers and became the highest-grossing film of 1961.

In 1988, the American sitcom Roseanne, starring Roseanne Barr, premiered on ABC and became hugely popular, noted for deriving humor from the everyday struggles of middle-class families and for tackling controversial issues.

During the initial run, the series remained in the top four for six of the nine seasons, and in the top 20 for eight.

During a short-lived revival, the series reached number three, with an average of 18 million viewers per episode within the span of its nine episodes.

On this day in 2007, the first-ever fashion show on the great wall of china debuted.

A total of 88 models displayed designs by designers Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi during the show.