The Last Waltz was released on 26 April 1978.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, with cinematographers Michael Chapman, László Kovács, and Vilmos Zsigmond, the film documents the “farewell” performance of the Band on Thanksgiving Day in 1976 (the audience was served turkey dinners before the show) at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA.

While the film has been cited as one of the best concert documentaries ever made, it has also been criticized for its focus on Robbie Robertson over other members of the group. Levon Helm was especially critical of the film, calling it “the biggest fuckin’ rip-off that ever happened to the Band” and arguing that while Robertson received money, the rest of the group did not.

Akira Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel was released in Japan on 27 April 1948 (it was not released in the US until December 1959).

The film is the first collaboration between Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. They would go on to make 15 more films together.

Produced and released during the US occupation of Japan, Kurosawa’s film was heavily censored by the US government (Kurosawa was not allowed to show bombed buildings, or criticize the occupation).

The Supremes’ 19th studio album was released on 26 April 1970.

It was the first album without Diana Ross (who was replaced by Jean Terrell).

Right On produced 2 Top 40 singles (”Up the Ladder to the Roof,” which peaked at #10, and “Everybody’s Got the Right to Love,” which peaked at #21). The album sold more than 225,000 copies and peaked at #25 in the US.

Andy Warhol and Alfred Hitchcock photographed by Jill Krementz in New York City on April 26, 1974. 

Seven Samurai was released in Japan on 26 April 1954.

Inspired by a story Akira Kurosawa had read about six samurai protecting a group of farmers, Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Hideo Oguni secluded themselves for 6 weeks to write the screenplay, adding a samurai to the mix (Kurosawa thought that six was a boring number).

Seven Samurai was the most expensive film made in Japan at the time, and the longest film (207 minutes) since Gone with the Wind (221 minutes). It was a commercial and critical success (the 2nd-highest grossing film in Japan in 1954) and is frequently cited as one of the best films of all time and one of the most influential (1960s The Magnificent Seven is a direct remake, and is the title Seven Samurai was released as in the US in November 1956).

Outkast's debut album was released on 26 April 1994.

André 3000 and Big Boi had met in 1992 when they were 16 and began making music together. They signed a recording contract with LaFace in 1993 and were given $15,000 to make an album.

Cited as a "southern hip hop album," Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik mixed funk and soul and elements of pop as the group wanted to depict their teenage life in Atlanta.

The album was a critical and commercial success, peaking at #20 on the Billboard Albums chart (spending 26 weeks on the chart) and selling more than 1 million copies.

62-year-old Johnny Cash's 81st album was released on 26 April 1994.

After seeing Cash perform in 1992, producer Rick Rubin approached him about making a record together. Cash was skeptical, but agreed after Rubin promised him he could do whatever he wanted.

Cash and Rubin decided on a spare production, with only Cash and his guitar, recorded in Cash's cabin in Tennessee or Rubin's home studio in LA. Selecting an eclectic mix of songs, ranging from Cash's own repertoire (he had recorded "Delia's Gone" and "Oh, Bury Me Not" in the early 1960s) to new songs written specifically for him ("Thirteen" by Glenn Danzig and "Down There by the Train" by Tom Waits), American Recordings re-introduced Cash to old fans, and introduced him to an entirely new generation.

The album received almost universal acclaim and received a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. It has been named as one of the best albums of all time (Rolling Stone) and would lead to 5 more American Recording releases.

Bernard Malamud (26 April 1914 – 18 March 1986)

On 25 April 1951, Edward Dmytrk - after 5 years on the blacklist for refusing to provide names of other suspected Communists to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and after fleeing to England to avoid imprisonment for contempt - made another appearance before HUAC and provided the names of 26 colleagues.

Dmytryk defended his betrayal by claiming, “Not a single person I named hadn’t already been named at least a half-dozen times and wasn’t already on the blacklist. Because I didn’t know that many. I only knew a few people, literally a handful of people, all of whom had been in the Party long before I was, all of whom were known by the FBI and were known to the Committee.”

Contempt charges against Dmytryk were dropped and he returned to his career in Hollywood, notably directing The End of the Affair and The Caine Mutiny in 1954 (Caine Mutiny was nominated for Best Picture), The Left Hand of God (1955), Raintree County (1957) and The Young Lions (1958).

2Pac performing “Out on Bail” during the first Source Awards at the Madison Square Garden’s Paramount Theater in New York City on April 25, 1994.

Photos by Al Pereira

51-year-old Akira Kurosawa‘s 20th film, Yojimbo, was released in Japan on 25 April 1961.

While Kurosawa has stated that his primary influence in writing the story was the 1942 film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s 1931 novel The Glass Key (directed by Stuart Heisler), the plot has more in common with Hammett’s 1929 novel Red Harvest.

Yojimbo reunited Kurosawa with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashomon), his 13th collaboration with Toshiro Mifune, and his 12th collaboration with Takashi Shimura.

Yojimbo was the 4th-highest grossing film in Japan in 1961, and was released in the US in September. Mifune received the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival, and Yoshirō Muraki was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars was considered so close to Yojimbo that Kurosawa sued, and Leone’s film was delayed release in the US but it’s release in the US was delayed 3 years due to Kurosawa’s lawsuit against Sergio Leone, which was ultimately settled out of court.

The Portuguese Revolution of 25th of April, 1974, by Alfredo Cunha

Hank Azaria (born 25 April 1964)

Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937)

After fracturing her foot in 1979, Jane Fonda looked for another way to exercise and began taking aerobics and strengthening classes from Leni Cazden. Fonda then turned Cazden’s teachings into Jane Fonda’s Workout Book, which was published in 1981 and became a sensation, spending more than 6 months at the top of the bestseller list.

A videotape version of the book was released on 24 April 1982, and became one of the bestselling VHS tapes of all-time, selling more than 17 million copies.

Fonda used the earnings from her workout books and videos to fund the Campaign for Economic Democracy, which had been founded in 1976 by her then-husband, Tom Hayden. CED promoted solar energy, environmental protection and renters’ rights policies, as well as candidates for local office throughout California, more than 50 of whom would go on to be elected to office.

This Gun for Hire was released on 24 April 1942.

Based on the 1936 Graham Greene novel (published in the UK as A Gun for Sale) – which had been acquired by a number of studios before Paramount put it into production – screenwriters W.R. Burnett and Albert Maltz stayed mostly true to the novel, while moving the action from Europe to the US.

Alan Ladd (who had appeared mostly in small parts) was cast late and given 4th billing, but even before the film had been released the studio knew This Gun for Hire would make him a star and hired him for another film, with Veronica Lake (The Glass Key, based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1931 novel).