Rocco F Laspisa (1926 - 2004)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Rocco's lifetime.

In 1926, in the year that Rocco F Laspisa was born, on November 15th, NBC was founded. It was the U.S.'s first major broadcast network. Ownership of the network was split between RCA (a majority partner at 50%), its founding corporate parent General Electric (which owned 30%), and Westinghouse (which owned the remaining 20%).

In 1940, when he was merely 14 years old, on July 27th, the cartoon character Bugs Bunny debuted in his first film A Wild Hare - voiced by Mel Blanc. He has since appeared in more short films, feature films, compilations, TV series, music records, comic books, video games, award shows, amusement park rides, and commercials than any other cartoon character. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "What's up, Doc?"

In 1950, he was 24 years old when on October 2, Charlie Brown appeared in the first Peanuts comic strip - created by Charles Schultz - and he was the only character in that strip. That year, Schultz said that Charlie was 4 years old, but Charlie aged a bit through the years.

In 1960, at the age of 34 years old, Rocco was alive when on September 26th, the first televised debate for a Presidential campaign in the United States - Kennedy vs Nixon - was held. Seventy million people watched the debate on TV. The debate pre-empted the very popular Andy Griffith Show.

In 1974, he was 48 years old when on August 9th, Gerald R. Ford became the 38th President of the United States. He had been Vice President for 8 months when he became President due to the resignation of President Nixon.