All Women's Talk

January 14 ... on This Day ...

By Neecey

On this date in 1954 Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio

This was a dream All-American romance. She was the glamorous Hollywood star who would become and remain an icon for decades. He was the tall handsome baseball player. Together they made a magical couple.

The couple met in 1952 when DiMaggio, who played for the New York Yankees, arranged a dinner date with the model turned actress whose star was in the ascendancy. The press got hold of the story and pursued them relentlessly although the pair tried to keep their romance and meetings low key. They didn’t manage to keep their wedding low key and when they shared vows at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, 1954, they were mobbed by reporters and fans.

But the marriage wasn’t a fairytale. Monroe’s sexy looks were being exploited and DiMaggio was not enamored of her growing reputation. He was particularly upset with that now infamous scene of Marilyn in a white dress billowing over a subway grate. The marriage proved to be brief and volatile, lasting just 274 days and ending in divorce in October1954. Marilyn cited her husband for mental cruelty.

Despite this, it was DiMaggio who, in 1961, secured his ex-wife’s release from a psychiatric clinic after the breakdown of her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller. They remained good friends for the rest of Marilyn’s short life and it was Joe DiMaggio who arranged for the funeral after she died of a drug overdose on August 5, 1962. He sent roses to the grave weekly until his own death in 1999.

Also on this day:

1784: The Continental Congress ratifies the Second Treaty of Paris, ending the American War for Independence.

1878: Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone for Queen Victoria.

1907: 1000+ people are killed in an earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica.

1970: Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their final concert.

1985: Martina Navratilova won her 100th tournament. She joined Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert Lloyd as the only professional tennis players to win 100 tournaments.

1999: The impeachment trial of U.S. President Clinton began.

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