1776

1776 (MDCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (dominical letter GF) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday (dominical letter CB) of the Julian calendar, the 1776th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 776th year of the 2nd millennium, the 76th year of the 18th century, and the 7th year of the 1770s decade. Note that the Julian day for 1776 is 11 calendar days difference, which continued to be used from 1582 until the complete conversion of the Gregorian calendar was entirely done in 1929.

Events

January–February

Adult Swim

Adult Swim (stylized as [adult swim] or [as]) is an American cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network, both of which are owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner, Inc., every night from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time in the United States. The network is programmed by Williams Street Studios, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, which also developed two prior television programming blocks seen on Cartoon Network: Toonami (which later became a block on Adult Swim in 2012) and Miguzi. The name comes from a phrase used by public swimming pools to label designated times when children are restricted from using the facilities in favor of adults: "Adult Swim".

Debuting as a programming block on Cartoon Network in 2001, Adult Swim was established as alternative programming during the late night hours when Cartoon Network's primary target audience, children and teenagers between the ages of 7–15, would normally be sleeping. Much of Adult Swim's general content is known for its risqué, unorthodox and often bizarre presentation, while many of the series features are developed in stark contrast with traditional American television programs. The network was granted its own Nielsen ratings report due to differing target demographics, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. The block features stylistically varied animated and live-action shows including original programming, syndicated series mainly consisting of Fox animated programming, short films, OVAs, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content.

Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken is an American stop motion adult animated sketch-comedy television series, created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root for Adult Swim. The writers, especially Green, also provide many of the voices. Senreich, Goldstein, and Root were formerly writers for the popular action figure hobbyist magazine ToyFare.Robot Chicken has won an Annie Award and four Emmy Awards.

Production history

Robot Chicken is based on "Twisted ToyFare Theater", a humorous photo comic-strip appearing in ToyFare: The Toy Magazine. The show's name was inspired by a dish on the menu at a West Hollywood Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined; the series originally was intended to be called Junk in the Trunk.

The show was created, written, and produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, and produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (ShadowMachine Films Seasons 1-5) in association with Stoop!d Monkey, Williams Street, Sony Pictures Digital, and Sony Pictures Television. The series first appeared as Sweet J Presents on the Sony website Screenblast.com in 2001.Sweet J Presents ended after 12 episodes and moved to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2005 as Robot Chicken, premiering on Sunday, February 20, 2005. In the first episode ("Conan's Big Fun"), Conan O'Brien was a featured character, voiced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane (2005–present).

William Daniels

William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild (1999 to 2001). He is known for his performance as Dustin Hoffman's character's father in The Graduate (1967), as Howard in Two for the Road, as John Adams in 1776, as Carter Nash in Captain Nice, as Mr. George Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World and its sequel, Disney Channel's Girl Meets World, as the voice of KITT in Knight Rider, and as Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere, for which he won two Emmy Awards.

Early life

William Daniels was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Irene and David Daniels, although he has spoken with a Boston Brahmin accent (with some transatlantic influence) in many of his roles. His father was a builder. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1949, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

Career

William Daniels began his career as a member of the singing Daniels family in Brooklyn, New York. He made his television debut as part of a variety act (along with other members of his family) in 1943, on NBC, then a single station in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1945 in Life With Father, and remained a busy Broadway actor for decades afterwards. His Broadway credits include roles in 1776, A Thousand Clowns, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and A Little Night Music. He earned an Obie Award for The Zoo Story (1960).

American Revolution

The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America.

Starting in 1765, members of American colonial society rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them without colonial representatives in the government. During the following decade, protests by colonists—known as Patriots—continued to escalate, as in the Boston Tea Party in 1773 during which patriots destroyed a consignment of taxed tea from the Parliament-controlled and favored East India Company. The British responded by imposing punitive laws—the Coercive Acts—on Massachusetts in 1774, following which Patriots in the other colonies rallied behind Massachusetts. In late 1774 the Patriots set up their own alternative government to better coordinate their resistance efforts against Great Britain, while other colonists, known as Loyalists, preferred to remain aligned to the British Crown.